Omer Riza On Arsenal, West Ham, Turkey, And More | OneFootball

An interview with Ömer Riza, by Ben McFadyean.

A product of the Arsenal academy, the former centre-forward Ömer Riza made 204 professional appearances, scoring 70 goals. The two-time Turkey U23 international played for West Ham United for three seasons before moving to the Eredivisie and ADO Den Haag. Two seasons in the Super Lig with 7-time champions Trabzonspor were the highlight of a five-season spell in Turkey, followed by further spells with Cambridge United, Shrewsbury Town, Barnet, and later Chelmsford City, during his active career.

After gaining the UEFA Pro Licence, Riza was appointed Assistant Manager of League 2 club Leyton Orient in 2016-17, under Andy Edwards, and then Daniel Webb, before being promoted to Manager.

The forty-six-year-old then joined Watford, initially as U23 manager, later promoted to Assistant to First Team Manager Valerien Ismael, with the club finishing 15th in the Championship.

The London-born Coach then had two seasons as Assistant manager to Tom Curtis with the England U-17 national team, where the side reached the last 16 of the 2023 FIFA World Cup in Indonesia, and the quarter-finals of the 2023 UEFA European Championship in Hungary.

Riza then joined as Assistant Manager at second-tier side Cardiff City under Erol Bulut, before taking over the reins as Manager in season 24/25.

The interview took place at the Radisson Hotel, just outside Berlin, in January 2026.

You started off your career playing with Arsenal, and with an array of players among the top in the game. Which players or coaches have influenced your career the most?

“I’ve been fortunate enough to come up through the Arsenal academy with some of the best, players like Dennis Bergkamp, Ian Wright, Paul Merson, Tony Adams, Dave Seaman, and Patrick Vieira, and I am really grateful to have been coached also by Arsene Wenger, it was a privilege having the chance to be part of the world class academy for the first 5 years of my career, I learnt so much from that experience.”

“At West Ham, I joined up with players like Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Jermaine Defoe, Michael Carrick, Trevor Sinclair, and David James, all English internationals at the time, and Paolo Di Canio to boot. It was tough going, but I wouldn’t miss that time, although I did have to deal with injuries that held me back, a great club I’m proud to look back on, in spite of the challenges of breaking into a highly successful side.”