Jose Torrealba
The former Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns striker has begun his coaching journey and ill not rule out a return to the PSL.
Former Kaiz zer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns forwardf José Torrealba is looking to o achieve success in the coachin g arena. The 40-yearold has been n honing his craft in Venezuela overo the last three years, where he ha as emerged as one of his nation’s mos st promising tacticians, earning the opportunity to serve as the techn nical assistant at topflight side DeportivoD Lara. In an exclusive int terview with KICK OFF’s Liam Bekker r, Torrealba delves into his makings s as a football coach, touch hing on a close conne ection to the state of Lara and his tact ical philosophy, while also revealin ng his aspiratio ons to one day return to South Africa an football.
More than a decade after bidding farewell to South African football, José Torrealba is making a name for himself as a pprominent coach in his homeland, Vene zuela, where he currently serves as the techn nical assistant at Primera División side Depo ortivo Lara.
The e former Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sund downs star joined the club in February this yyear when he was appointed as the secon nd-in-charge to Argentine manager and fformer teammate Martín Brignani, retur ning to the team where he previously spent t 18 months during his playing days. Torre ealba’s move to Lara came as the latest t step in his young coaching career, which h includes a spell at another of his forme er sides, Estudiantes de Mérida, and which h has seen him emerge as one of the coun try’s most promising trainers.
“First of all, it was a great feeling to know that I would return to Lara,” he reflects when n asked about his homecoming. “I have a special love for the team and the city. MMy father is from Barquisimeto, which is the e capital of the Lara state. He was born in thi is city, and even my favourite baseball team m is the Lara Cardinals.
“Beesides that, Lara gave me the chance to rev vive the latter years of my career and allow wed me to participate in international cups for a club in Venezuela again, playing in the e Copa Sudamericana twice and in the CCopa Libertadores.
“TThis gave me the opportunity to score mor re goals and remain in the memory of the e team and the supporters who, since da ay one, have shown me their joy to k now that I was back at the club.”
‘Facing Santos of Brazil was a challenge’
Between July 2012 and the end oof 2013, Torrealba starred alongside the likes of José Manuel Rey and Miguel Mea Vitali as one of a host of established Venezuelan internationals who were on the books of Lara and played an important role in the club’s continental campaigns at the time.
Today, the Cabudare-based side no longer boasts the abundance of experience it once did but has instead consolidated its efforts and finances into youth development, which has helped the side remain a competitive force both domestically and in the continental competitions.
Earlier this year, in the preliminary stages of the Copa Libertadores, Lara highlighted this fact after narrowly missing out on a famous upset against last season’s beaten finalists, Santos.
Lara were ultimately unable to leave their mark on South America’s premier club competition after being eliminated on an aggregate score line, but Torrealba is adamant that his side will do all they can to ensure they get another shot next time around.
“Lara as an institution is more consolidated, both economically and in terms of the structure, especially at the lower level,” he explains.
“We have very good young players who train with the club now, whereas, when I was playing here most of us were established players in Venezuelan
“I ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT I WOULD STAY INVOLVED IN FOOTBALL BUT NEVER AS A COACH.”
football, many of us with national team status. And of course, facing a team like Santos of Brazil was a significant challenge as they were the runners up of the Copa Libertadores, but Lara has been a leading team in Venezuelan football in recent years.
“We [myself and Brignani] arrived here in February, so the expectations were high, and I think as a team we gave a good account of ourselves by only losing 2-1 in Brazil and drawing 1-1 in Venezuela, which meant we were just one goal away from a penalty shootout.
“Reaching the next phase of the competition would have been historic for a Venezuelan team. But, after those matches, we have continued our preparation for the Primera División with the goal of being competitive once again and securing our spot at the international tournament for 2022.”
Breaking ground with Brignani
Prior to re-joining Lara earlier in the year, Torrealba spent nearly three seasons at the club’s domestic rivals, Estudiantes, where he similarly served as the technical assistant to Brignani. The duo, who previously played together for Los Académicos, developed a strong working relationship during their time in Mérida and in 2019 claimed the Torneo Apertura title after winning the opening tournament of the Primera División.
That triumph saw Brignani become the first person to win silverware with the club as a player and coach, and served to boost both coaches’ burgeoning reputations in Venezuela.
“It has been almost three years now that I have been working with Martín,” Torrealba says on the secret to their success as a coaching unit. “During this time, I think we have been able to develop a good working dynamic where, as a team, we respect each other’s spaces and roles. At the same time there is a lot of participation and respect of each other’s opinion, which I think it has been very important for us.”
While Torrealba is content to continue to learn and grow in his secondary role for the time being, he showed during his spell at Estudiantes that he was capable of leading the first team when called upon, as was the case last year following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
In May, Brignani returned to Argentina in order to visit his family but he was unable to secure a return flight to Venezuela in time for the club’s Copa Libertadores campaign, which kicked off in September.
Instead, the responsibility to guide the team fell on Torrealba and the rest of the technical team who, with regular virtual input from the head coach, were able to secure third spot in their group.
That outcome, which included a famous come-from-behind win over Peru’s Allianza Lima, was not enough to secure Lara’s spot in the competition but was sufficient to ensure that the club would meet their target of at least competing in the knockout stages of the continent’s secondtier Copa Sudamericana.
“Because of the pandemic, I was in charge of Estudiantes together with the technical team for the 2020 Copa Libertadores, for two and half months before Martín’s incorporation back into the team,” Torrealba explains. “It was a great experience for me, a lot of learning and responsibility. Thanks to the results we achieved, we secured the third place in our group and with it the right to play the second round of the Copa Sudamericana.”
Transition from player to coach
Despite making a seamless transition from the playing field to the dugout and getting his first taste of the top job in the process, coaching was not always on the agenda for Torrealba.
The former Sundowns and Chiefs forward reveals that he always intended to remain in the game in some form or another, but that it was only towards the end of his playing career that he started considering coaching to be a genuine option.
“To be honest, I always thought that I would stay involved in football but never as a coach,” he explains. “It was only in the final years of my football career that I started seeing it as a possibility. I had long conversations with a former teammate and friend of mine, Ricardo Páez, about the game, the tactics and styles, and the ways to see and understand it all.
“That attention to detail and the care you need to have for your team and teammates, especially the younger players, made me seriously think about preparing for a career as a coach.”
Now, nearly three years later, Torrealba’s coaching identity has begun to take form and it unsurprisingly mirrors many of the qualities that made him such a successful player on the pitch. As rivals of Chiefs
“I WILL ENCOURAGE VENEZUELAN PLAYERS TO GO TO SOUTH AFRICA AND LIVE THE EXPERIENCE OF MZANSI.”
and Sundowns’ can attest, the former Venezuela international was one of the most intelligent forwards to have graced the PSL, where his movement and skill was complimented by a relentless energy and proficiency in the attacking third.
That forward-thinking approach has carried over into his coaching style and ties in well with the philosophy at Lara, where high-octane football is demanded of all of the players.
“Certainly, the fact that I was an offensive player has influenced the approach of practicing an offensive style, one that encourages control of the ball and engaging the opponent instead of waiting for them to generate goal options, and to try to recover the ball once it’s been lost as quick as possible,” Torrealba expands.
“We do many training drills in reduced space, giving special attention to mobility, intensity in the game, constant communication and also defensive work in tactical order and finalizations.”