Real Madrid legend Raúl Gonzalez made waves by visiting Tottenham Hotspur’s training session as part of his coaching badge requirements.
Raúl Gonzalez, known simply as Raúl, will forever be known as one of Real Madrid’s all-time great players. Over the course of his sixteen year career at Real Madrid, Raúl won sixteen trophies and scored 323 goals, the second biggest career goal haul of any Real Madrid player, just behind one Cristiano Ronaldo.
Now, Raúl is hoping to translate his prowess on the pitch into a career as a coach. Raúl recently began his training with the Spanish FA’s coach training program, aiming to get his UEFA A and B certifications which would allow Raúl to coach a team at the highest levels of European competition.
As part of his coaching certification process, Raúl paid a visit to the Tottenham Hotspur during a recent training session. One of the requirements for the coaching badge involves visiting professional clubs during their training to observe the training methods of their coach. You might remember when Zinedine Zidane visited Pep Guardiola for a training session at Bayern Munich.
I would like to thank @SpursOfficial and their technical staff for their great reception. It was a pleasure to share one day with you guys!⚽️🙌🏻 pic.twitter.com/mw3FlLpXXA
— Raúl González Blanco (@RaulGonzalez) May 4, 2018
Tottenham Manager Mauricio Pochettino is widely thought of as one of Europe’s best up-and-coming manager. Pochettino is credited both for his tactical acumen and man management skills, getting the best out of a young and hungry Tottenham squad year after year. Raúl will be hoping to learn everything he can from Pochettino before he begins work as the coach of Real Madrid’s Juvenil B.
While these observational visits are a routine part of coach training for managers at the highest level, Raúl’s trip to Tottenham was sure to cause some controversy. Due to the persistent transfer links between Real Madrid and Tottenham talisman Harry Kane, the arrival of Raúl at Tottenham set off a healthy bit of banter on football Twitter.
Is Raúl actually a secret double agent bent on pilfering away another one of Tottenham’s stars for Los Blancos? After all, Raúl has previously praised the Tottenham striker, saying that he thinks Kane would make an excellent addition to Real Madrid’s squad.
If Raúl is a double agent, Pochettino certainly didn’t get the memo. Pochettino spoke extensively to the media, heaping praise on the Real Madrid legend for the valuable time he spent with Tottenham’s squad:
"“It was fantastic to share the whole day with him yesterday… To choose Tottenham to try to learn to see how we work, that is a massive plus for us… I wanted to say thank you because he was hoping to meet our younger players too – it was a fantastic 45 minutes talking about his career, giving advice to the younger players.”"
It’s great to see Real Madrid’s legends begin moving into the next stage of their career. Zinedine Zidane provided a blueprint for former Real Madrid players looking to find their way in the coaching world.
Next: Could Harry Kane be Real Madrid's next Galactico?
It will be interesting to see how Raúl works with the Real Madrid youth players, and whether that may provide the foundation for a future gig as first team manager. Only time will tell.