AC Milan are always looking to improve their youth sector after some difficult years for the Primavera, and they have added David Rodriguez de Prado as a coach.
Something stuck out from Ignazio Abate’s interview with Milan TV on Thursday night in which he spoke about the fact that he has a new assistant, mentioning a man from Spain joining his team.
“My assistant has changed, I thank Marco Visconti who was with me last year and gave me a huge hand, we bonded a lot from a human point of view,” he said.
“Now a young man has arrived who has already coached in Spanish youth teams. I’m happy, maybe he can open my mind on many things, he can give me a different view on many things, there will be some ideas to discuss and improve.”
The club have confirmed to us that the man in question is David Rodriguez de Prado, a 31-year-old coach. Armed with the information, ScoutCalcio has done some research on him.
David graduated in business administration and management. He is an expert in Big Data applied to football and recently graduated as Sports Director by the RFEF (Royal Spanish Football Federation).
These are examples of the desire to expand his sports and academic training, trying to add skills that place him in the spotlight of professional football in the near future.
He worked previously for:
➤ Getafe U19
➤ Alcorcón/Alcorcón U19
➤ CD Pedroñeras (he was the youngest coach in the Categoria Nacional)
➤ Betis CF
➤ Valladolid Youth
Asked about his style of play in an interview, he expressed some interesting principles.
“I really like attacking and combinative football, that is brave when the ball is released and has a lot of pressure without it,” he said.
“The objective is to try to reach attacking zones by controlling the game and the ball, by generating numerical or positional superiorities from initiation and creation zones.”
Asked about if he has a tactic that characterises, he added: “I am not one to stick to a single structure. In the end, you have to have a clear idea of identity and build on it, define a style and try to take the initiative with it.
“In the same way, you have to adapt to the needs of the rival and transform lines. Without the ball, in defence, I would say a 4-1-4-1, while in attack I have played 4-3-3 in different stages, looking for constant mobility to disorganise the opponent.”
He was also asked who his favourite coaches are: “Since he started coaching and up to now, it’s still Pep Guardiola. I don’t like him because he wins a lot, which he does, but because of how he achieves it and the transformation that his teams undergo.
“From my point of view he is on another level than the rest. From there I have several references, from Juanma Lillo, for the content and wisdom of the game that he has.
“Even Roberto de Zerbi or Gasperini for the courage they show in their game. Mauricio Sarri is also special, because of his football proposal and because we share a past in the world of banking.”
Talking about analytics and data: “Beyond the congresses, I always try to add information that allows me to grow in knowledge and give me a broader vision of current football.
“I have recently been appointed Sports Director by the Royal Spanish Football Federation. In addition to the rise of Big Data in sports, which caught my attention, I then delved into it with specific training in data analysis applied to football.
“I sincerely believe that it is very useful for making better decisions, both on the field and in sports management,since you are dealing with information that can be decisive.”
Rodríguez is therefore a very interesting addition to Ignazio Abate’s staff, who has already seen a lot of Football around the world, has a clear vision of his ideas and draws inspiration from some coaches who are regarded as visionaries or emerging stars.
Dia sama sekali tak mengidolakan Pioli , karena Pioli pelatih Grasak Grusuk
Sounds like preparations for him pushing Abate to the side next season…
You took the words out of my mouth.
Seem he more smarter than pioli, ok goodluck lad
In a good spirited jest for all of you hating tonali and tatarusano this always cracked me up.
Its funny and from their presenttations at the private milan team but filmed on phone.