Paulo Pezzolano, new Watford head coach, has been hired by one of Brazil’s greatest players of all time, has two spells with Liverpool, and spent a season playing in China.

As a coach, he has two South American league titles and a promotion in Spain to his credit.

The 42-year-old has played and managed in Europe, including a loan spell with Mallorca in 2010 and his current role as head coach of Real Valladolid in La Liga.

The vast majority of his 243 senior career appearances came with Liverpool Montevideo, the Uruguayan Primera Division club in Pezzolano’s hometown.

He appeared in 132 games and scored 41 goals for the club, which derived its name from the links between Montevideo and Liverpool, particularly the fact that coal ships would arrive in the Uruguayan port after leaving Merseyside.

Pezzolano spent two stints at Estadio Belvedere, first from 2008 to 2011, then again from 2012 to 2016.

In between, he spent 17 games on loan at Spanish club Mallorca, a season with Zhejiang, formerly known as Hangzhou Greentown, and a dozen games with Club Necaxa in Mexico.

Gilligan and Robinson leave Watford after impressing the board with their training ground work.

His playing career began in Uruguay’s Segunda Division with Rentistas when he was 18 years old, followed by a brief stint with Atletico Paranaense in Brazil.

Pezzolano returned to Montevideo in less than six months, joining Defensor Sporting in 2006 and helping them finish third in the Primera Division and advance to the 2007 Copa Libertadores quarterfinals.

His next move was to Penarol, one of Uruguay’s most successful clubs, but he only played 13 games before joining Liverpool Montevideo.

When his second spell ended in 2016, he moved to Torque in the Segunda Division, where he scored eight goals in 21 games.

In November 2016, he retired at the age of 33 and became Torque’s manager.

He led Torque to the second division title before leaving in 2017 to rejoin Liverpool Montevideo, where he had spent the majority of his playing career.

After two years, he left for Mexico, taking over at Pachuca and leading them to the Liga MX play-offs in 2021.

He left by mutual consent in November 2021, and a few months later was appointed head coach of Brazilian Serie B Cruzeiro, which is owned by Brazilian legend Ronaldo.

Under Pezzolano, they advanced to the final of the 2022 Campeonato Mineiro and were promoted to Serie A.

Pezzolano left Cruziero in April 2023 to become manager of Real Valladolid in Spain, which is also owned by Ronaldo.

The La Liga side was in disarray after Ronaldo fired the club’s sporting director and recruitment team on the eve of the season.

 

Pezzolano was unable to save Valldolid from relegation when he was brought in, but Ronaldo stuck by him, and his loyalty was greatly rewarded.

The Uruguayan led Valladolid back to La Liga at the end of the 23/24 season, finishing second in Segunda Division, just two points behind champions Leganes.

Back in the top flight, Pezzolano and Valladolid started the season with a 1-0 victory over Espanyol, but they did not win again for eight games.

In the middle of that sequence was a 7-0 thrashing at Barcelona, with Raphina scoring a hat-trick, prompting Pezzolano to say after the game: “I want to apologise to the supporters and the city; they do not deserve it. We did not compete today. It was pitiful. There’s no other word, and no excuses.”

A 3-2 win away at Alaves in mid-October provided some relief, but Valladolid lost four of their next five games, and a 5-0 home defeat by Atletico Madrid on November 30 brought Pezzolano’s tenure at Estadio Jose Zorrilla to an end.

This season, the Uruguayan managed Valladolid’s 16 league and cup games, winning three, drawing three, and losing ten.

They have not fared better since his departure, falling 15 points behind in La Liga and facing relegation at the end of the season.

During his time at Cruzeiro, he began by playing 4-2-2-2, but later switched to a 3-4-3/3-4-1-2 formation and largely stuck with it, earning a reputation for 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 had the third-highest possession percentage in the Segunda Division, at 55.6%.

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