Former Real Madrid assistant coach Pablo Franco Martin was appointed as AmaZulu FC head coach at the beginning of the season and got a rude awakening when he failed to get a win in four matches. Not only that, the team failed to score a single goal in those four encounters. It must have been a strange start for a coach who comes from leagues and clubs where goals have never been in short supply… at least according to him. However, Usuthu are slowly showing signs of a side that is fast improving and the softspoken mentor reckons the second round of the season will see a lot of people standing up and taking notice of the KZN outfit. In this interview with Soccer Laduma's Zola Doda, the Spaniard talks about his early connection to football, his transition to coaching and his career in Spain. He also shares his thoughts on what will it take to change the side's fortunes around.
Zola Doda: Coach, welcome to the pages of Soccer Laduma. Where did your love for football come from?
Pablo Franco Martin: When I was very young, my father used to take me to Santiago Bernabeu to watch Real Madrid games. I also started playing when I was young. I played for many years and when I was studying Sport and Physical activities in University, I realised that I didn't just like playing but to also teach players how to play. That is when I started coaching in the grassroots and from there, every year my passion got big and bigger. I've been coaching for 23 years, since that day. For over 40 years, my life is linked to football, be it playing or coaching, and I cannot imagine my life without football.
ZD: You also worked for some of the biggest teams, like Getafe…
PFM: I worked in the grassroots before moving to the First Division and, at the time, most of the teams played more direct football – there was no tiki-taka. What we did was similar to tiki-taka and that is what everybody saw and from there, I had an opportunity to move to the First Division. I went to Getafe reserve team, before I was promoted to the senior team. The following season, after I had left, they were relegated. That is when I started my career abroad because abroad, a Spanish coach is treated better than in his own country. Abroad, you can get opportunities and even better salaries. But my career in Spain was huge and successful. Every year, I was growing and I'm proud that I'm a former First Division coach of a Spanish club.
ZD: How was the experience after you moved abroad?
PFM: I moved to Georgia in 2016 (FC Saburtalo Tbilisi) and I was there for one season, and then I had an opportunity to go to China in 2017 and that was a good experience as well. At the time, football in China was big, it was like how it is in Saudi Arabia right now. You had the best players from the big leagues in Europe and there was a lot of money involved in the competition. I went there at a very good time. In 2018, I was called by the Real Madrid coach, Julen Lopetegui, to join him as his assistant, so I went back to Spain, not necessarily as a coach but as an assistant of the best team in the world. In 2019, I had an opportunity to go to Kuwait, where I coached Al Qadsia, and then I moved to Africa, where I first coached Simba SC in Tanzania and later AmaZulu FC.
ZD: When you coached Simba last year, you had an opportunity to play against Orlando Pirates in the CAF Confederation Cup.
PFM: It was an amazing experience. It's a pity that season when I arrived, the season was already over. The club had already been knocked out of the CAF Champions League, they had no expectations in CAF (Confederation Cup), in the league they were far from the first position. They were thinking of building the team for the next season, but in one month we improved a lot and showed that we were capable of competing for the CAF Champions League. We fought for the league and qualified the team to the CAF Confederation Cup quarterfinals. In the group stages, we played against really good teams, better than us, like Berkane and ASEC Mimosas. To play against Orlando Pirates in the quarterfinals was a good experience, we beat them at home and lost on penalties away. What we achieved that season was huge and the following season, the club spent more money and bought better players, but they didn't get a single title. They were incapable of doing the same job that we did. But I still have a good relationship with them and they are often calling me asking me about my situation. Probably, in the future I will go back to Tanzania. But also, because of personal reasons I had to leave. After coaching Simba, many teams in South Africa started calling me. I had many offers from here and finally, I accepted the one from AmaZulu FC because I think this project is nice and if we are patient, in the second part of the season we are going to be a very strong team. From next season, we are going to be one of the important teams in Africa and I wish we can represent South Africa on the continent.
ZD: What specifically attracted you to the club?
PFM: I've been following AmaZulu and I knew some of the players. I got information about the club and the culture. For me, South Africa was a target and I knew that I was going to come here sooner or later. I like the vision of the club and I also share it. As a Spaniard, this is where we started the 2010 World Cup campaign when we lost to Switzerland but we went on to be champions. We also played the semi-final against Germany (at Moses Mabhida) … I had memories for 13 years. There is the club, the city, the project and the memories. And now I have an opportunity to enjoy it and I hope that we are going to be very successful.
ZD: You drew the first three games 0-0 and lost your fourth match against Kaizer Chiefs without scoring. What did you make of that?
PFM: I saw that this competition is tough, not only the first four matches but the next ones as well, but we are improving and we can see this improvement. But through improvement, it's very difficult to get the results. We are still having a huge problem with the lack of accuracy in finishing. We are creating many chances. We are still having the same problem, but it's a problem that many teams in the league also have. For me, it was strange because I come from coaching big teams and in big teams we were used to winning and scoring many goals. In the first four games, we didn't score any goal, but the good thing is that we are creating many chances and from there, sooner or later we are going to score. But it's a difficult competition. Even in the last two games (against Chippa United and Moroka Swallows), we only scored one goal and we missed many, many clear chances.
ZD: We hear you…
PFM: We are improving from last season and we don't have to forget where the team is coming from. We come from fighting relegation and finishing in position 12. Right now, we are in the process that is going to take time. We had many injuries at the beginning of the season, we missed many of our key players in attack as well. When you see things in perspective and you try to be fair, you realise that the work we are doing is good and players are improving a lot. We should be having more points than we have and I wouldn't be surprised if we were in the second position of the table instead of the middle, but sometimes because of our lack of accuracy and decision-making, we are not there. But I wouldn't be as worried as I was at the beginning of the season, even though it was very strange for me not scoring goals. When you see what the players are doing and what we are doing daily, the way we are playing and the chances we are creating, we just have to keep working and trusting the process. We know that results are coming and things will be better. Sometimes you need players who can add quality in the last third of the field, but unfortunately, we couldn't sign those players because of problems with visas and injuries, and it was a pity because the club did a good job trying to find those players. Now we are going to wait for January to sign someone who can strengthen the team.
ZD: Where will these players be coming from?
PFM: We are talking about Vincent Oburu, who came here with a knee problem and from the medical side he couldn't pass the test. But he is someone we already knew, he even played in the CAF Champions League against AmaZulu. Everyone knows that he is a good player and a good striker. But we cannot complain, we need to work with what we have. I'm very happy with the team that we have, not only in terms of quality but in terms of commitment. It's something that is important to emphasise because in the last two years, the team had a problem with a lack of discipline. This season is different. We are on the right path and we are also improving a lot in terms of what we want to be and the identity we want to have as a club.
ZD: You've already signed Taariq Fielies and Ben Motshwari. How are the two players settling in?
PFM: Very well. The spirit in the team is good. Everyone in the team has accepted them and is trying to help them to adapt as quick as possible. Taariq had already played two games and his level was high before he joined. For Ben, it was a little bit more difficult because unlike Taariq, he hadn't played matches this season. Physically, he was not as fit as Taariq, but he had a chance to make his debut against Swallows and performed very well. Now it's been two weeks without matches (because of the international break) and they need to take advantage and learn everything regarding our methodology and systems, and also to know more and more about their teammates because they need to co-operate with them when playing. But so far, I'm happy because the players are giving extra quality to our team.
ZD: Based on what you've seen so far, what do you make of Mzansi football?
PFM: I think it's a very competitive league and the difference between the teams is really small. There is a team which is superior to the rest of the teams and there is also a team that is showing that they are inferior to the rest of the teams because they are not getting any points, but I've seen there and there they are playing good football. Let's see now if they are going to improve. But I'm sure they are going to fight and get better results. What is clear is that this is different football, it's very physical, it's a football where teams are taking advantage of set-pieces, counter-attacks, mistakes of the opponents, but not because they have continuity playing good football and creating many goalscoring chances. It's also a league that has a joy of people who come to the stadiums to have a lot of fun. You can see the joy and happiness all around football matches and this is something nice to see. I'm really happy and enjoying the process. Football is nice, but there is also a margin to improve. The World Cup stadiums make it more interesting.
ZD: What would you like to achieve with Usuthu?
PFM: I know what I want to achieve, I'm here to fight for the top four and qualify for international competitions. But right now, we are not ready yet for that objective. Up front, we need something else if we are really going to fight for those objectives. With time, we are going to be a good team not only in South Africa but also on the continent. The second part of the season is going to be better and probably next season is when AmaZulu is going to be ready to fight for things.
