Barcelona's Dani Olmo makes it 6-0 against Real Valladolid in August 2024. (Image: Action Images)
Hired by one of Brazil’s greatest players of all time, two spells with a club called Liverpool and played in China for a season – new Watford head coach Paulo Pezzolano possesses a varied and quite colourful CV.
As a coach he has two league titles in South America to his credit, as well as a promotion in Spain.
Not a name that will be too familiar with English football fans, the 42-year-old has played and managed in Europe – a loan spell on the pitch with Mallorca in 2010, and his most recent role as head coach of La Liga side Real Valladolid.
The vast majority of his 243 senior career appearances as a player came at Liverpool Montevideo, the Uruguayan Primera Division club in Pezzolano’s home town.
He made 132 appearances and scored 41 goals for the club that took its name because of the links between Montevideo and Liverpool, not least that coal ships would arrive in the Uruguayan port having left from Merseyside.
Pezzolano had two spells at Estadio Belvedere, initially between 2008 and 2011, and then returning for a second stint between 2012 and 2016.
In between, he did a bit of travelling: 17 games on loan at Spanish side Mallorca, a season with Zhejiang, the Chinese side formerly known as Hangzhou Greentown, and then a dozen games for Club Necaxa in Mexico.
His playing career started in Uruguay’s Segunda Division with Rentistas in 2001 as an 18-year-old, before a very brief stay in Brazil with Atletico Paranaense.
Pezzolano was back in Montevideo after less than six months, signing for Defensor Sporting in 2006 and helping them finish third in the Primera Division and reach the quarter-finals of the 2007 Copa Libertadores.
His next move was to one of Uruguay’s biggest and most successful clubs, Penarol, but he played just 13 games before his first move to Liverpool Montevideo.
When his second spell there ended in 2016, he joined Segunda Division side Torque, where he scored eight times in 21 appearances.
It was upon his retirement, at the age of 33 in November 2016, that he became Torque’s manager.
He led Torque to the second division title before leaving in 2017 to return to the club where had spent most of his time as a player, Liverpool Montevideo.
After two years there, he left and went to Mexico, taking over at Pachuca who he led to the 2021 play-offs in the Liga MX.
He left by mutual consent in November 2021, and a couple of months later was appointed as head coach of Brazilian Serie B Cruzeiro, who were owned by Brazilian legend Ronaldo.
Under Pezzolano they reached the finals of the 2022 Campeonato Mineiro, and were promoted to Serie A.
In April 2023, Pezzolano left Cruziero to take the manager’s job at Spanish side Real Valladolid – also owned by Ronaldo.
The La Liga side were in a bit of turmoil, with Ronaldo having sacked the club’s sporting director and recruitment team on the eve of the season.
Pezzolano couldn’t save Valldolid from relegation when he was brought in, but Ronaldo stuck by him, and his loyalty was very much vindicated.
The Uruguayan steered guided Valladolid back to La Liga at the end of the 23/24 season, finishing second in Segunda Division, only two points behind champions Leganes.
Back in the top-flight, Pezzolano and Valladolid began the new season with a 1-0 success over Espanyol, but they didn’t win again for eight games.
In the middle of that sequence was a 7-0 thrashing at Barcelona – Raphina grabbing a hat-trick – prompting Pezzolano to say after the game: “I want to apologise to the supporters and the city, they don't deserve it. We didn't compete today. It was pitiful. There's no other word, there are no excuses.”
A 3-2 win away at Alaves in mid-October brought some respite, but Valladolid lost four of their next five and a 5-0 home trouncing by Atletico Madrid on November 30 brought Pezzolano’s time at Estadio Jose Zorrilla to an end.
The Uruguayan took charge of 16 league and cup games with Valladolid this season, winning three, drawing three and losing 10.
They have not fared any better since he departed though, and are 15 points adrift at the foot of La Liga and will be relegated at the end of the season.
In his time at Cruzeiro, he started by playing 4-2-2-2 but later switched to a 3-4-3/3-4-1-2 shape and largely stayed with that, earning a reputation for a brand of energetic and high-octane football.
While in Spain with Valladolid, he tended to play 4-3-3, using the extra bodies in the centre of midfield positively with the aim of dominating the ball before picking off opponents as they tired.
During his promotion season, Valladolid averaged the third-highest possession percentage of 55.6% in the Segunda Division.