There is a well-trodden path when it comes to being a football coach. You play professionally, do your badges and then attempt to work your way up the coaching ladder from there, but new West Ham United Head of Performance and Assistant Coach Óscar Caro’s route to prominence and the Premier League has been far from conventional.
Playing on the streets of Málaga as a kid, Caro dreamed of making it into the professional game. But as he soon realised any potential career in football wasn't going to come on the pitch, he began his remarkable route into coaching.
Caro graduated from the University of Granada with a degree in sports science in 2008, before studying for a Master’s degree in sports injury prevention and rehabilitation at Málaga University.
While completing his studies, Caro began his professional career as a fitness coach at junior club CD Puerto Malagueño in 2008, before first joining Antequera CF in 2010, then linking up with La Liga club Málaga CF the following year.
However, it was in 2013, when Caro moved to Qatar to work at the Aspire Academy, that he met and impressed Julen Lopetegui with his coaching work and passion for the game, all while earning a doctorate at the University of Granada, before completing his UEFA Pro Licence.
The 38-year-old initially joined Lopetegui’s staff with the Spanish national team in August 2016 and has followed the Head Coach to Real Madrid and Sevilla as assistant coach and fitness coach, before taking the roles of assistant coach and head of sports science at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
“I am really proud to be a part of the Hammers family now,” said Caro. “It is amazing [to be back working in the Premier League]. We had a good experience working at Wolverhampton and it made me realise how big it is to work in the Premier League. There are many people who want to come here to work and now we are here again, but it is even better that we are here again with West Ham United, and I think this mix will create a very nice experience in the country of football
“I work within Julen Lopetegui’s coaching staff and all the people who are involved within the staff all have the roles and ideas, which is to help assist Julen with anything that he needs because he has to focus on many things, so we have to make his day-by-day easier and that is our main role. I am the Assistant Coach and Head of Performance because I am the lead between the Head Coach and the different departments supporting the team.”
As mentioned, Caro’s path to the Premier League is perhaps different from the ‘usual’ coaching path, but has explained how his route has helped him become very successful in his role.
“I think it began when I was a child because I was always playing football with my father and I was a player, a hard-working player, but also a very bad player!” Caro laughed. “When I started to study at university, I had to move from Málaga to Granada, and left my life as a player to put all my focus and energy into my education.
“When I finished university, I very quickly began to work in different clubs around Malaga, and before I started as a professional coach, I had a very good experience in Qatar, where I met Julen, and when I went back to Spain I met Julen and we had different chats, conversations and when we spoke we had the same ideas and had the same passion for this game, and from this day he considered that I was a good person to be part of his coaching staff and for me it was a pleasure. It has been eight or nine years now and now we are still here working together.
“I love this game, so that is why I want to know and have as much knowledge as I can about this sport. When I finished my Sports Science degree, I asked myself one more question which was ‘what more can I do now?’ and I thought to get the UEFA Pro License was good to increase my knowledge and to create in myself a profile that can develop different roles in the coaching staff and that’s why I did different courses, a new license and even my PhD is about match analysis.”
Caro, who has worked with Lopetegui for nearly a decade, is one of six coaches working under Lopetegui at West Ham, alongside Pablo Sanz, Juan Vicente Peinado, Borja de Alba, Edu Rubio and Xavi Valero. He opened up on the importance of working with someone he knows so well and how he will provide support to our new Head Coach.
He continued: “It is something very important, especially now that we are at a new Club. I know Julen very well, know what he needs, what he wants and with only one look I know what he needs. He also knows me very, very well and it is something that is very important to make quick decisions and do things that are running much quicker and better and it is important as we are starting in a new environment.”
The Hammers are closing in on the end of their week-long training camp in Kitzbühel, Austria, and Caro said he is feeling very happy to see all the preparation behind the scenes ready to be shown on the pitch, and how he is expecting the players to grow as pre-season progresses.
He continued: “It is true that in the last week we have been working a lot because we had to do many things to prepare and organise everything [for pre-season] but the main thing was that we were enjoying this work a lot because we are very happy to be a part of this big Club now.
“This kind of trip in pre-season is good for the training process because we can increase the training load but it is also very important to spend a lot of time with the amazing staff that West Ham United have here, and to spend more time with the players so we know each other much better and to create the basis and connection for the next couple of weeks which will be very important.
“Behind every training session are many, many hours of work, designing and organising everything and now we are running and doing this work on the pitch, which is something we love a lot as a coach and that is why we are enjoying it a lot, because the players are doing quite good things and are pushing a lot and are very focused to understand all the new concepts that the gaffer wants to transfer into them, so we are enjoying it even more as the players are doing a really good job.
“The focus is to create the basis because we have to create the basis in all aspects whether that is physical, tactical knowledge and now at this stage where we are transferring new habits, a new concept and increasing the players’ training load and we have to grow upwards in the next couple of weeks.
“Behind every training session are many, many hours of work, designing and organising everything and now we are running and doing this work on the pitch, which is something we love a lot as a coach and that is why we are enjoying it a lot, because the players are doing quite good things and are pushing a lot and are very focused to understand all the new concepts that the gaffer wants to transfer into them, so we are enjoying it even more as the players are doing a really good job.
“The focus is to create the basis because we have to create the basis in all aspects whether that is physical, tactical knowledge and now at this stage where we are transferring new habits, a new concept and increasing the players’ training load and we have to grow upwards in the next couple of weeks.”
Caro admits that most of his time will be spent in the offices at Rush Green preparing training sessions and looking for patterns, for holes, for weaknesses for the Hammers to exploit in opponents.
He has visited London Stadium once before, however, with Sevilla, when West Ham earned a memorable comeback win to progress to UEFA Europa League quarter-finals in the spring of 2022.
But now he is proud to be a new ‘Londoner’.
“I have memories [of that night] because in that period we were at Sevilla, where we had a very good experience at that club, both in my professional and personal life and I still have family who live there,” he recalled. “But this day [of the UEFA Europa League round of 16 second leg] was bad because we got knocked out, but I remember the environment and how the supporters pushed the team.
"My brother was in the stadium, and he even told me after the game about how amazing the environment and atmosphere was. West Ham won the game by a goal in extra-time, and this probably came from the energy off the supporters because it was really strong. Now, I am excited for 17 August at London Stadium to feel the same feeling but now with the Hammers crest [when we host Aston Villa in the Premier League].
“We are in a very beautiful city, and it is an amazing place to live for sure. I will not have much time to experience it as we will spend many hours in Rush Green, but of course if we have time, if I have time to enjoy, then I know we are in one of the best cities in the world and it’s a pleasure to be a new Londoner.
“I knew many things about West Ham United and this big Club, but before I arrived here, I knew about the stadium and how amazing it is after the experience of our match against Sevilla. I also know that it is one of the clubs in England with the most supporters, that the Academy is working well and is named the ‘Academy of Football’ which is very nice for us. I knew this was a top club in England and now we are here and are learning more things about it.”
West Ham United's opening pre-season game under Lopetegui and his staff, against Hungarian champions Ferencváros, will be streamed live and for free on the Club’s official Website, App, YouTube, TikTok and Facebook channels, with coverage starting 15 minutes before kick-off at 3.45pm CEST (2.45pm BST).
Monday's warm-up fixture will see the Irons wear our new 2024/25 Away Kit - the Cockney Kit - for the first time. To order yours now, click HERE.
