Albert Riera – a man of conviction | OneFootball

The new Eintracht head coach has found his way all the way from Manacor to the banks of the Main and lessons learned under the likes of great names as Aragonés, Terim and Torrent.

Who is Albert Riera?

A quick Internet search shows that Albert Riera Ortega has had more of an impact as a player than a coach to date. When you hear him speak however, on the 45-minute ‘Arena Sport Slovenija’ vodcast or his guest appearance on ‘The Coaches’ Voices’, it is clear to see that he quite simply loves football, however he is involved in the sport. His favourite place is out on the pitch: “No office, I need green”, as the man himself puts it.

RCD Mallorca came calling for Riera the age of 12, and by the age of 18 he was playing in La Liga under Luis Aragonés, who would later call him up for the Spanish national team. The coach made quite an impression on the player, particularly in the way that he spoke almost exclusively with those on the substitutes’ bench after matches, to give them a sense of being part of the team.

Mallorca won the Copa del Rey in 2003, with Riera living out his dream of being a regular for his home-town club and driving them on to success. As such, he was not overly keen on a move when Girondins de Bordeaux showed an interest in him. Football is a business, however, and the club needed the money that was on offer…

“Best mistake I ever made” in Barcelona

Looking back, being reluctantly dragged out of his comfort zone is something that Riera sees as a blessing in disguise, as he was forced to confront what he was resisting and then emerge stronger from the experience. It was the first of a number of sliding-doors moments that have helped to make him the person that he is now. For example, Bordeaux team-mate Mauricio Pochettino brought him back to Spain two years later to play at Espanyol. During his time in Catalonia, Riera made what he describes as “the best mistake I ever made”. A natural left-sided player, he saw himself as a winger but Miguel Ángel Lotina did not have that position in his system. The new coach wanted to use Riera as an attacking wing-back, and with the benefit of hindsight, it may well be that Riera’s current preference for versatility on the pitch can be traced back to this enforced change.

To begin with, the new position did not come with a whole lot of playing time, and Riera went out on loan to Manchester City. He came back toughened and more mature, and helped to propel Espanyol – now with Ernesto Valverde at the helm – to the 2007 UEFA Cup final. He even scored the opening goal, but Spanish rivals Seville ended up getting their hands on the trophy after a penalty shoot-out. 

The following year, it was Liverpool’s turn to show an interest. Rafael Benitez held the managerial reins at the time while Pepe Reina, Álvaro Arbeloa, Xabi Alonso and Fernando Torres added to the Spanish contingent out on the pitch. More important for Riera though was the privilege of getting to rub shoulders with such high-calibre players. Again, this has had an influence on his philosophy as a coach, namely that if a player is not fulfilling their potential, it might not be solely down to them as an individual, as the environment is equally as important.

What you know and who you know

Riera is part of a WhatsApp group with other Spanish holders of the highest coaching qualification, namely the UEFA Pro licence, and he is quick to underline how beneficial it is to be able to talk with the likes of Xavi Hernández, Xabi Alonso, Raúl González, Marcos Senna and Joan Capdevila.

Learning from those around you is perhaps what Riera does best. At Galatasaray and Olympiacos, he spoke not only of the “positive, fanatical supporters” but also the members of his staff, who taught him the ins and outs of coaching on a daily basis.

Learning from Terim and Torrent

After playing his final season as a pro with Koper in Slovenia in 2016 and completing his coaching qualifications by 2019, Riera got the call-up from former boss Fatih Terim at Galatasaray to join his staff in 2020. Domènec Torrent replaced Terim the following year, giving Riera a chance to continue his learning curve with a different mentor.

“Discipline, organisation, group management, character and personality” are what Riera took away from his time under the experienced Turkish coach, while Torrent, who was Pep Guardiola’s number two at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City, was a major influence in terms of footballing ideas. 

Doing the double in Ljubljana

Riera’s first job as a head coach came in 2022 with NK Olimpija Ljubljana in Slovenia. Things did not get off to an easy start, with his opening press conference attended not only by journalists but also a number of undercover fans who were unhappy with the way the club was being run. Riera was not about to throw in the towel at such an early juncture, however, and knew that he was in there for the long haul, stating that he was simply the coach and that all that he was interested in was football, football and more football. By the end of the season, the results spoke for themselves, with the club doing the league and cup double.

Success with Celje

After a brief stint in the French Ligue 2 with Bordeaux, Riera returned to Slovenia in 2023 to coach NK Celje, taking them to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Conference League and the final of the domestic cup competition last year. In the latter, they swept Koper aside 4-0, but on the European stage, they lost out to a highly-fancied Fiorentina, although they only went down 4-3 (2-1, 2-2) on aggregate.

Shining on the international stage

This season, the club is again faring well both domestically – leading the league by a comfortable margin – and in Europe, finishing 13th in the Conference League after the league phase. In that latter competition, Riera and his team showed that they had the courage of their convictions, eschewing a cautious, defensive style and playing the kind of dominant football that has served them well in the Slovenian league. Celje’s 59 per cent possession rate is third-highest behind Shakhtar Donetsk and Sparta Praha, while the 88.2 per cent of successful passes is second only to Strasbourg.

The side tends to operate in a 4-3-3 formation which becomes a 3-2-2-3 in possession, with the left-back slotting in as a second pivot. Although Riera is not fixated by set definitions, he did speak of having “23 to 25 different playing systems” in his mind in one interview.

His new charges will not have to worry about learning those two dozen formations in the early going, however, if the past is anything to go by. “I don’t talk tactics or systems on the first day,” the new Eintracht coach said previously. “We talk about people and individuals, respect, discipline and how we approach one another. Then after that, we’ll talk about how many goals we’ll score and how well we defend. People come first, football after that.”