CPL Coach of the Year. Canadian Premier League regular-season champion. The architect behind Kuwait’s historic AFC U-23 qualification. A developer of future LaLiga stars at Atlético Madrid.
Few coaches in modern football embody adaptability and tactical intelligence like Carlos González. From transforming Atlético Ottawa into title contenders in Canada to guiding Kuwait to a historic milestone in Asia, and shaping elite players in Spain, González has built a global reputation as a coach who delivers both immediate results and long-term development.
Conquering Canada with Atlético Ottawa
In 2022, González crossed the Atlantic to lead Atlético Ottawa, a struggling team that finished last place the previous season, owned by Atlético Madrid. One season later, they were Canadian Premier League regular-season champions, and he was CPL Coach of the Year.
His success came down to what he calls the formula:
“Success = Talent + Work x Time.”
They built a balanced squad of youth and experience, implemented a flexible tactical identity, and created a culture of ambition and accountability. At home, Ottawa was proactive, dominating possession and controlling tempo. On the road, where travel distances and fatigue were major factors, his side became compact, disciplined, and deadly on the counterattack. This balance between principles and pragmatism defined Ottawa’s rise to the top.
González also emphasized player development within the collective framework. Young Canadian players thrived under his guidance, gaining confidence and technical improvement, while experienced internationals found renewed purpose in his system, resulting in a team that combined youthful energy, tactical structure, and competitive edge.
Kuwait: A Masterclass in Adaptability
In 2021, González made a bold move: taking charge of Kuwait SC while simultaneously coaching the U-23 national team. His impact was immediate. Kuwait SC’s results improved dramatically, and the U-23s achieved a historic milestone, qualifying for the AFC U-23 Asian Cup and defeating Saudi Arabia for the first time in history.
Later, as interim senior national team coach, he faced European opposition in friendlies against Bosnia and the Czech Republic, gaining insights into the physical and tactical demands of top-tier international football.
“Adaptability is everything,” he reflects. “A good coach is someone who gets the best out of what they have in any context.”
Academic Foundation: Science Meets Tactics
Before stepping into professional coaching, González pursued Sports Science degrees at Alfonso X El Sabio University and the University of Granada. He also earned an RFEF degree in Fitness Coaching. This academic foundation became his competitive edge.
“Training in any sport involves teaching. Those years gave me the tools to develop a method aimed at improving teams both individually and collectively.”
His first professional role came at Rayo Vallecano, where he started applying those principles. It wasn’t long before his name was associated with some of Spain’s most prestigious youth academies
Developing LaLiga Talent at Málaga & Atlético Madrid
At Málaga CF, González worked under respected academy leaders like Manel Casanova and Francesc Arnau, learning high standards, discipline, and how to shape “street players” into structured, competitive professionals.
Then came Atlético Madrid, where González thrived in an environment that demanded excellence. Rising through the ranks, he adapted his philosophy to Atlético’s DNA: high pressing, intensity, and vertical play. His crowning achievement came with the U-19s, leading them to an undefeated league title and Copa del Rey final, all while promoting players who now feature in LaLiga.
“Bringing together a team with so much individual talent around the same goal was my proudest moment,” he says.
The Philosophy: Combinative, Vertical, and Player-Centric
González’s approach blends modern principles with pragmatism:
- In possession: A combinative but vertical style, ensuring fluidity and unpredictability.
- Out of possession: Aggressive pressing and compact defensive organization.
- Adaptability: Systems tailored to the strengths of his players and the competitive context.
Crucially, González believes individual development drives team performance. “Once the team’s game philosophy is clear, excellence depends on improving players individually,” he says.
Global Perspective, Future Vision
Having succeeded in Spain, the Middle East, and North America, González has mastered the art of cultural adaptation. “I always analyze what works locally and introduce my ideas without creating resistance,” he explains. Language skills and strong communication have been his key assets in bridging cultures.
Looking ahead, his ambition is clear:
“My goal is to embark on an ambitious project that challenges me and helps a club achieve great things. I’m not limited by geography; my methodology adapts anywhere.”
With a track record of winning titles, developing elite players, and transforming organizations, Carlos González is more than a coach, he’s a strategist, a builder, and a leader for the modern game.
Our Exclusive Interview with Carlos González
How did growing up in Granada influence your early passion for football and your eventual transition into management?
I was born and raised in a town on the coast of Granada (southern Spain) called Almuñécar, where there was a strong football culture. From a very young age, I started playing on the street, on the beach, at school and later in federated clubs, probably influenced by my father, who was passionate about the sport.
You pursued sport science studies at Alfonso X El Sabio University and the University of Granada. How have these academic experiences shaped your approach to coaching?
I believe that training in any sport involves teaching. It was during my time as a student that I began to develop my methodological and teaching skills. I had good teachers who worked with high-level athletes, and I soon began to put these skills into practice at Rayo Vallecano, where I started working. These studies gave me a solid foundation for developing a method aimed at improving my teams both individually and collectively.
What did you learn during your time at Málaga’s academy, and how did that environment prepare you for future roles?
Málaga was a period of great learning, where I took important steps in my formation, as the people who ran the academy were top experienced and proven professionals. Manel Casanova and Francesc Arnau gave me the opportunity to move from assistant to head coach, and Andrés Carrasco was a role model in many ways, especially in terms of discipline and high standards at work. Thanks to them and the working environment they created, I realized how to train players with the determination to win, as competing and the results are very important aspects in elite players formation. I also started to have a deeper understanding of the needs of the “street” player, how to help them better understand the game with the aim of exploiting their natural strengths more often during a match. Andalusia, and Málaga in particular, are still places where children continue to play football in the streets.
Can you walk us through your progression at Atlético Madrid’s academy and how you adapted to greater responsibilities?
At Atlético de Madrid, I felt at home from the start. It was a familiar city and a club with values that were deeply rooted in me, which accelerated all the processes and made me feel very comfortable at work.
The idea of football that I brought with me from Málaga was effectively adapted to the style of play at Atlético de Madrid, creating an intense and pressing style of football without the ball and a combinative but vertical style in attack that was in tune with the academy’s philosophy and the profile of players they wanted to develop for the club’s first team.
Emilio Gutierrez & Miguel Angel Ruiz (Academy Director & Sporting Director) quickly began to trust me to promote within the structure, while I helped, as part of the methodology department where the guidelines and working principles for all the teams were set.
Leading Atlético Madrid’s U-19s to the 2019 final was quite an achievement. What strategies or leadership tactics did you employ throughout that tournament, and how did you reflect on the final outcome?
It was an exceptional season. By creating a very demanding work environment, we managed to win the league (undefeated). This was against great rivals such as a great generation of Real Madrid players. We had a good run in the UEFA Youth League, and as you asked, we also reached the final of the Copa del Rey despite the large number of players who were unable to compete for a very good reason: to rest and prepare for the new pre-season with the first team. Without a doubt, the greatest achievement of that season for me was bringing together a team with so much individual talent around the same goal. We played great football, being brave and showing personality with the ball, but also being very ambitious in pressing and disciplined when we were losing. The vast majority of that generation now play at the highest level, and for me that is a greater source of pride than the trophies we won.
Your first senior role came with Kuwait SC in February 2021. What motivated you to take this bold step, and what were your initial objectives?
That’s right, and I was very clear about it. For me, it was a step with a great area of opportunity. The club requested my loan from the Kuwait FA while I remained in my position as U23 coach. They wanted me and the federation allowed it, so I took that step.
It was undoubtedly a great experience and personal challenge, taking over a team mid-season that was in a negative dynamic in terms of results and expectations, and at the same time testing my level by coaching and convincing experienced players. Those were very demanding months where we combined two FIFA dates with the national team while we were in charge of the club, but with great support from my staff, and good organisation, we were able to move everything forward. The club improved its dynamic significantly, remaining in contention for the title until the last two league games, and we later qualified the team in the group stage of the AFC Cup continental competition played in Jordan.
Simultaneously managing Kuwait SC’s first team and the U-23 national side must have been demanding. How did you manage priorities across both roles?
Absolutely, as I said, we were able to do it successfully thanks to having a high-caliber and relatively large staff, with some staying at the federation and others staying at the club. Only one of my assistants and I would go to the national team’s training camp for 10 days and do both jobs at the same time. My other assistant stayed at the club with the fitness coach and goalkeeping coach. The work carried out at the club during this period was mainly maintenance, as a large number of players from the squad were away with their national teams, which is why we left the work for this period planned prior to the FIFA breaks. At that point, the priority shifted to the national team, although without neglecting the work at the club.
At the end of those dates, we reversed the equation, and the club became the priority. For me, both occupations were very important, but we did pay more attention to the urgent matters, which were what we had at hand at any given moment.
You guided Kuwait’s U-23 squad to qualify for the 2022 Asian Cup final tournament. What were the key challenges and pivotal moments during that qualification campaign?
All houses are built from their foundations, and in this case, as a national team manager, the foundations are choosing the right players for the style of play that you believe will work in the context in which you are competing. There was a good generation of young players, and I believe we made the right choices in the selection process for what we were looking for. Convincing the federation that we had to play with a back three to get the most out of the team was not easy, as these systems were no longer in use in Kuwait.
In this type of group qualifying tournament, for me, you just must think about playing one match, the first one, as that is what will determine your mental state going into the next ones. That’s why we tried to instill in the team from the preparation phase onwards that they should only think about the match in front of them. And it worked. We beat Bangladesh, which gave us a big morale boost going into the match against the favorites, Saudi Arabia. We played a very intelligent second match, taking them where we wanted them to go, controlling the first half and creating a bit more chaos in the second half, where we were able to punish them when they took more risks. It was a historic milestone for the country, as it was only the second time in history that this had been achieved, and the first time we had beaten Saudi Arabia.
Your appointment as Kuwait’s senior national team coach came with a busy friendly schedule. How did those matches against the Czech Republic, Lithuania, and Libya help you assess the team’s development and your own adaptability?
It was certainly unexpected, but at the same time a huge opportunity in a very complex context. I think you touch on the key word in the question, which is “adaptability”. I see a good coach as someone who is able to get the best out of what they have in different working contexts, and for me, that is only possible if you are adaptive.
We took a continuity approach with the senior team, promoting some players from the U23s and backing them up with experienced players who were in great form with their clubs. This proved to be a good combination when it came to competing in the demanding matches we had. The first was against Bosnia and Herzegovina, and we put in an incredible performance, losing 1-0 at the end of the match but having chances to come away with a draw. The match against the Czech Republic was a reality check, highlighting the significant physical difference that still exists between top teams and countries such as Kuwait. We then played against teams of a more similar level, such as Lithuania and Libya, where the team showed periods of dominance, and we were very satisfied with the level of play.
On February 24, 2022, you became head coach of Atlético Ottawa, a team owned by Atlético Madrid. What drew you to this role, and how did the club’s philosophy resonate with your own managerial outlook?
I felt very comfortable in Kuwait, but the truth was that I often missed the day-to-day work with a team, having the ability to improve a player and evolve the team throughout the week, and as a national team coach, I didn’t have that.
Several aspects of this proposal attracted me. First, of course, where I came from (Atlético Madrid). And second, the great challenge it would entail in turning around a project that wasn’t achieving the expected results.
After accepting the proposal and analyzing the problems the team was having, the competitive environment we were in, and, above all, examples of successful teams there, we opted for an idea that would allow us to be competitive in every game and get us closer to winning.
Maintaining the essence of vertical football, given the profile of the athleticism of Canadian players, we wanted to be a team that handled different resources depending on where we played or the moments of the game we were in. At home, we were more proactive with and without the ball, taking risks in many situations. And away from home, mainly due to the handicap of long journeys and the muscle fatigue they caused, we opted to be more reactive, conceding very little and moving forward to counterattack as soon as possible.
Leading the team to first place in the Canadian Premier League’s regular season and earning CPL Coach of the Year honors, what were the reasons behind that stellar campaign?
I think many things were done well that season, of course the design of the squad. It was balanced in terms of youth and experience, not too long (everyone committed and involved), and complete in terms of player profile to meet all the team’s needs and demands throughout the season.
For me, and based on my experience, you’re usually near to win when you follow this formula, “the formula for success”: Success = T+WxT. The first T stands for “Talent”, and in that squad there was definitely; W, for “Work”, the idea, and the ability to convince players with the philosophy of work and football we conveyed on the field; and finally, the T for “Time”… prolonging that idea and work over the months, and that can only be achieved if there’s hunger and ambition in the group. This team had all of that throughout the year, a great talented group of players who bought into the idea and the working method we proposed and who showed great ambition as the weeks went by.
How would you describe your overall chapter in the Canadian Premier League?
I think we can rate this stage as a high or outstanding achievement. We were entrusted with bringing Atlético Ottawa to the level of the best clubs in Canada, and we did so, in both the most visible aspects (results) and the lesser-known aspects (protocols, work processes, professional working context, etc.). I think that, of course, together with Fernando López, the great reference of that project, and Canito from a distance, we were able to help create a very solid foundation for the club to continue competing for great things in the future.
On a personal level, it has been a stage I will always remember with a smile, as I only take away positive things. I believe that working abroad, both in Kuwait and Canada, has made me a much better coach, not only because of the language challenge but also because of my ability to adapt to different cultures and work environments. I see this as a differentiating factor for my professional future.
Across your roles, from youth setups to senior teams, how has your tactical philosophy evolved? Do your methods/ philosophies need to change with different age groups and countries?
Of course, my approach to football has evolved, and I consider myself a much more versatile and adaptable coach than I was during my formative years at Málaga and Atlético Madrid.
Back then, I stuck to classic formations such as 1-4-4-2 or 1-4-3-3, which I used to maintain in both offensive and defensive phases. Throughout my evolution to the present day, I have used a multitude of systems, adapting them to the strengths of the players we had. I believe that in order to perform well, it is essential to position players in a way that facilitates their performance, where they can show their strengths more naturally.
Today, I seek to ensure that, from a starting position, our attack is fluid and dynamic in order to be less predictable and better able to attack our opponents’ weak points. The main premise is to always occupy certain mandatory spaces, so that we can threaten the opponent between the lines (base and pockets) while also threatening in width and, of course, depth.
All this while maintaining a style of play that I identify with most: combinative but vertical play, being a pressing team when we lose the ball and compact once we are overtaken. I believe that the key as a coach is to provide your team with the tools to be highly competitive and able to win games in different ways.
Working with youth players and national squads, how do you prioritise individual development alongside team performance?
I believe that the margin for improvement for a footballer as a national team coach is minimal; a national team coach is a performance maximiser. You have little time, and you are looking for immediate collective results. Of course, you can have a small impact on the player and help them with some details that could potentially improve them, but you lack time and process.
As a club coach, you do have that time, especially in the pre-season, to lay the foundations for the player’s development. We usually create a strategy for their individual improvement, both in terms of understanding the game (based on our model) and understanding and demands of their position, and of course technical and physical improvement.
I firmly believe that much of a team’s improvement comes from individual development. Once the team has an established game plan, executing it correctly or doing so in an excellent manner will come down to the individual development you have achieved in the different players and the internal competition that this generates on a daily basis.
You have coached and developed many great Laliga players. What qualities did you see from the top professional players compared to a regular academy player?
Individual talent, whether offensive or defensive, and the audacity to execute it regardless of who you are facing, therefore mentality. All the players I have coached and seen evolve to the top level have one or more abilities that make them stand out when facing teammates and opponents at their level.
But those who really make it and establish themselves are the ones who break down doors, that is, those who are promoted for their abilities and continue to demonstrate them in much more demanding contexts. Whether it is when they train at higher levels, but especially when they compete in categories above those they are supposed to be in.
That is why I believe in the rapid promotion of players, as this will improve their speed of decision-making and execution when they are involved in the game.
How do you balance the strategic demands of club ownership (e.g., Atlético Madrid in Ottawa) with the on-field realities and player capabilities?
At the end of the day, when you start a new project, you have some goals set from the top down, and other process goals that you set yourself on a day-to-day basis. In my opinion, both should be ambitious but realistic, so that once you’ve completed the cycle, all or most of them have been achieved. I sincerely believe that this is the only way you can leave feeling satisfied with the work done.
For a project to work, I believe in transparency to communicate those goals from the board to the players, and that all the pieces of the machine are aligned from day one so you know where the club wants to go. Fortunately, I’ve achieved success in every project I’ve been involved in, and for that, it’s essential not only to have tools that match the goal but also an ambitious mindset and a focus on the here and now.
You’ve worked in diverse environments such as Spain, Kuwait, Canada. What have been the biggest cultural and professional adjustments, and what skills did they help you cultivate?
The changes or differences I’ve experienced in these three different continents have been substantial, ranging from religion, language, climate, food, or even Football styles.
To do this, the most important thing for me has been to analyse what worked in the place I’ve been, and how to introduce my idea and method without making abrupt changes that would provoke rejection. Knowing what I wanted to do and executing it while adapting to the environment I found myself in.
To do this, the skill that has undoubtedly helped me the most has, of course, been my language skills and the ability to communicate and convey my message.
Looking ahead, are you aiming to return to Europe, continue exploring international roles, or pursue projects in emerging leagues?
My goal is to embark on an ambitious project that will help me continue to advance and grow in my professional career, where I can face new challenges and help the club achieve its objectives.
I am not closed off geographically, as I believe that my personality and methodology can be adapted to different cultures and working contexts.
