Who is Carlos Corberan? The Leicester City manager candidate has proven to be one of English football’s brightest prospects

West Bromwich Albion boss Carlos Corberan has emerged as the favorite to succeed Enzo Maresca at Leicester City if the Italian completes a move to Chelsea.The Spaniard has earned a well-deserved reputation as one of English football's most promising managers after guiding both Huddersfield and West Brom into the play-offs, as well as playing a key role in Bielsa's backroom staff at Leeds United .A failed goalkeeper by his own admission, Corberan found his talents better applied as a coach in his 20s. After youth coaching roles with Spanish sides Villarreal and Alcorcon, as well as a pair of first-team assistant roles in Saudi Arabia, Corberan gained his first experience in senior management with a pair of short spells with Cypriot sides Doxa and Ermis .Next Leicester City Manager OddsOdds correct as of 15:00 Monday 28 May as provided by BetFairCarlos Corberan: 9/4Graham Potter: 3/1David Moyes: 7/1Mark Robins, Steve Cooper: 8/1Marti Cifuentes, Oscar Garcia: 9/1Liam Rosenior, Carlos Cuesta: 10/1Rob Edwards: 1/14Michael Carrick, Mauricio Pochettino, Frank Lampard, Gerhard Struber, Scott Parker, David Wagner, Will Still: 16/1Kjetil Knutsen: 20/1Huddersfield Town under Carlos Corberan: from relegation to play-off finalBut Corberan's rise to prominence - at least in English eyes - came at Leeds United, where he took over as under-23 coach in 2017. A year later, Marcelo Bielsa stepped in as head coach and promoted Corberan to serve as an assistant with the youth. team tasks.Corberan came to the attention of Huddersfield Town in 2020 and they controversially moved to sack Danny and Nicky Cowley - who had just guided them to avoid a second successive relegation - to bring in the Spaniard as their new head coach.The clamor quickly subsided after a promising start to the covid-hit 2020/21 season, but results dipped midway through the campaign. Corberan used an intensive man-to-man marking system, inspired by the unique approach that Bielsa used to great effect at Leeds, but Huddersfield had a far inferior team who were unable to get anywhere near the same level.The best features, fun and football quizzes straight to your inbox every week.Danny Cowley has been controversially sacked from Huddersfield (Image credit: Getty Images)Meanwhile, a growing list of significant first-team injuries has left an already depleted squad, which a poor January transfer window did little to alleviate, but Huddersfield did enough to hold on and survive the fall once more.There was a feeling in that first season that Corberan was too dogmatic, asking players to do jobs and implement training methods that were beyond their abilities. Corberan was heavily criticized in the local press (in fact by this writer himself), but the club held on to the belief that, with a better squad at their disposal, Corberan was still the head coach they needed to take them forward.The decision was more than justified. An excellent summer transfer window – headlined by the arrival of Chelsea loanee Levi Colwill – and a change in approach from Corberan had a profound effect on their fortunes in their second season at the club.Levi Colwill prospered under Corberan (Image credit: Michael Regan - FA/FA via Getty Images)Where he had previously been resistant to the removal of Plan A, Corberan suddenly became a master pragmatist. The man-marking system was abandoned over the summer in favor of a more conventional zonal approach, but the high press remains.A small covid crisis in the squad led to the discovery of Sorba Thomas, the Welsh defender signed from non-league the previous January, who had never started a Championship game but immediately became a key player and motivated Corberan to stick with a 3-4-3.When opponents realized Town had a brief spell of poor form in November, Corberan turned it around again. Instead of using a single regular formation, Corberan proved to be incredibly adept at devising strategies to combat certain opponents.The result was a run of 54 points in 26 games until the end of the season, with Huddersfield playing seven different formations and never using the same one for more than two games in a row.Still a little lacking in quality but incredibly fit, hard-working and tactically well-coached - all qualities typified by star midfielder Lewis O'Brien - Huddersfield were rarely dominant but always resilient and supremely clinical.15 of their 24 wins that season came by just one goal, with Corberan's side showing an uncanny knack for picking up wins from games where the suggested goals should have been tied.Incredibly, and against all odds, Huddersfield ended the season in third place, beating Luton Town to reach the play-off final, where a pair of controversial penalty decisions helped Nottingham Forest win 1-0 via a unlucky own goal by Colwill – although it's also worth saying that a nervous-looking Huddersfield failed to hit the target in that game.However, Huddersfield were in disarray off the pitch: midway through the season, 25% owner and effectively silent partner Dean Hoyle was forced to step back to take control of day-to-day operations of the club after the businesses owned by majority owner Phil Hodgkinson went into administration.That left Town facing an uncertain future, with Corberan feeling he had taken the club as far as he could - an analysis that has proved correct over the past two years. On what was supposed to be the first day of the preseason, he resigned as head coach.Olympiacos came calling later that summer, but expectations were high and he failed to meet the club's lead with six draws and just two wins in his 11 games in charge. The ax fell after just six weeks.Carlos Corberan, while manager of West Bromwich Albion (Image credit: David Rogers/Getty Images)It took less time than that for Corberan to make a Championship comeback with West Bromwich Albion, where he replaced Steve Bruce with the club second from bottom with just two wins from their first 16 games.The Baggies themselves found themselves in dire straits off the pitch under then-owner Lai Guochuan, with the club racking up considerable debt that cast doubt on their ability to continue in business.However, Corberan was able to dramatically improve results at the Hawthorns as West Brom narrowly missed out on a play-off spot, finishing just three points outside the top six.This form continued into the 2023–24 season, with Corberan again showing his flexibility, starting the team in a 3-4-3 before ditching it in favor of a 4-2-3-1 for a large part of the rest of the campaign. .With the Spaniard in charge for a full season – and their off-field worries put to bed by a mid-season takeover by American businessmen Shilen and Kiran Patel – West Brom finished fifth.However, Corberan again suffered play-off pain with Southampton putting in a typically loose display in the second leg after the teams shared a goalless draw in the first leg.Would Carlos Corberan be a good fit for Leicester City?Corberan seems poised to replace Maresca (Image credit: Getty Images)Still only 41, Corberan's five full seasons of first-team football experience produced promotion to Leeds and play-off qualification at Elland Road (before Bielsa's side were promoted the following year), Huddersfield and West Brom, he is undoubtedly one of the brightest managers in the country.He deserves an opportunity in the Premier League and has shown his ability to get on and get the job done even when there is drama behind the scenes - which can be very vital at Leicester given the looming risk of being found in breach of financial fairness. the rules of the game and entering the season with a points deduction.The ability and willingness to be pragmatic that he showed at Huddersfield would serve Corberan well at a newly promoted Premier League club, especially after seeing Burnley fail to get results trying to stay up true to the dominant free-flowing style he achieved. they promoted them.But Corberan also has big ideas about how he'd ideally like to play given the wherewithal to do so, making him an ideal marriage between a firefighter and a long-term asset who can develop things long-term.More stories about Leicester City and the Premier LeagueChelsea have appointed Enzo Maresca as their next manager - here's why, according to the transferWhy Leicester City face a potential points deduction next seasonChelsea line up 'smart' transfer deals including Manchester United and Arsenal target to bolster Enzo Maresca's hopes: report window.reliableConsentGiven.then(function(){ !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function() {n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)} ;if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n; n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=();t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)(0);s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script','https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); fbq('init', '230404523817416'); fbq('track', 'PageView'); })

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