Carlos Corberán will sit on the Mestalla bench this Friday, January 3, to lead Valencia against Real Madrid. It will be his debut in LaLiga as head coach after having spent almost half his life in different positions and functions, including that of head coach, in various competitions and countries.
This is a huge challenge, taking into account the team’s situation, second to last, with two victories in the last 25 League games. And for Corberán, in addition to being a job, it is also a personal challenge. Trained as a goalkeeper in the Paterna youth academy, one of his childhood memories is that of a Valencia shield on a lit stove that heated the living room of his house in Cheste (Valencia). He soon interrupted his path on the grass and at the age of 23 he had already directed his career towards the technical area.
Being unknown to the general public, he did not even think about it when in March 2023 the possibility arose of meeting three of the most successful recent coaches that Valencia has had. Corberán was the first coach of West Bromwich Albion (WBA) – a club he had to pay compensation to sign for the black and white – and joined a very football-oriented gathering in which Rafa Benítez, Unai Emery and Marcelino took the lead.
It was after the recording of the episode ‘Technicians speaking’ of LaLiga Talking Football on March 28, 2023. The episode, a conversation guided by journalist Guillem Balagué in which tactical issues and anecdotes were mixed, was recorded at the University of Staffordshire , in the town of Stoke on Trent. Carlos Corberán joined the subsequent dinner, who the previous year had astonished by qualifying the modest Huddersfield for the playoff for promotion to the Premier. Also joining that table were Damià Vidagany, who had just been appointed director of football at Aston Villa; coach Fran Constancio; and other well-known communication advisors such as Miguel Ángel Vara (Benítez) and Rodrigo Errasti (Marcelino).
In that gathering they talked about Valencia, of course. In the middle of the League break in March 2023, the black and white team that Rubén Baraja had just joined was in a critical situation in relegation positions with 13 games remaining. That was an absolutely surprising and unknown situation for coaches who had won titles or played in the Champions League regularly in that same place.
Now, Corberán has taken charge of a Valencia team four points from safety and with one game less. He does not have a long history as a head coach, but he is not a newcomer to elite football either. “The more knowledge we can have, the better we can work,” he explained in 2022 in an interview on the Línia de Fons program, on Apunt Ràdio. That contact was surely priceless.
