Currently managing Roma of Italy, Rudi Garcia remains one of the most under-rated mangers in Europe. Approaching his 50th birthday he remains a youthful manager, but could he be on the way to managing one of the elite sides in Europe?
The Frenchman first started to establish himself as manager with top potential following successful stints at Dijon and Le Mans, where he played attractive attacking football which also brought about results.
But it was at Lille the name Rudi Garcia exploded onto the scene. Managing a club that had talents like Eden Hazard, Gervinho and Rio Mavuba on their books, he guided the side not only to their first trophy since 1955 with a Coupe De France win over PSG, he also completed the double in the same year winning the league in 10-11 season.
Rudi Garcia at Lille was the man who gave Eden Hazard his chance in the first team and nurtured his footballing development, got the best out of forward Gervinho which would later see him join Arsenal and made Moussa Sow into one of the most sought after strikers in Europe.
Garcia's football at Lille saw them become one of the most feared sides in France under his reign, known for their fast, flowing, fluid football that favoured attack rather than defence. In his double winning season he was deservedly crowned manger of the season and became a well respected manager in France.
Not quite established in Europe, Garcia was appointed the manager of Roma in the summer of 2013 following a disappointing season under a second stint at the club from Zednek Zeman and then Aurelio Andreazzoli. To begin with, much scepticism surrounded his appointment from the passionate Rome faithful.
This soon changed. Under Garcia, a reinvigorated Roma side hit the ground running and created history, winning their first ten Serie A games beating Juventus' previous record of nine. This ground breaking run in Italy made the whole of Europe sit up and take notice of this more than impressive Roma side.
Although they haven't quite continued the incredible form they began the season with, Roma remain one of the few sides that are challenging Juventus for the Serie A title. Most pundits consider them the only side that could end Juventus' Italian dominance of recent years, with both Milan sides in dire form and Napoli being too inconsistent under Rafael Benitez.
So how did Garcia transform a severely weakened Roma side following high profile departures such as Eric Lamela and Marquinhos into a title challenging side? Garcia is known for bringing the best out of players, something he has shown in his rejuvenation of Gervinho who was a shadow of his former self at Arsenal and guiding Totti into rolling back the years with a string of impressive performances following a few disappointing seasons. Clever signings have also seen him add solidity and flair, bringing in sought after Kevin Strootman who has been a stand out player for the side and decisive creativity in Adem Ljajic and Gervinho.
So what could the future hold for Garcia? Promising displays at Lille and currently at Roma will soon see him become the target of many top clubs that may need a change. If he decides to continue at Roma it will not be long before he guides them to some form of silverware. However, this is just the short term future. Still young and with a long managerial career ahead of him, he could well go down in history as one of Europe's top managers.
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