Colombian learned from the likes of Ferguson, Houllier and Keegan while studying in Liverpool in the Nineties
Wednesday 4 July 2018 12:23, UK
Mexico manager Juan Carlos Osorio tells Sky Sports how a spell living in England 20 years ago played a pivotal role in shaping his subsequent coaching career.
Osorio takes his Mexico team to this summer's World Cup finals with belief riding high that the North Americans can make it past their round-of-16 hurdle at the tournament.
'El Tri' finished top of the CONCACAF qualifying section for the first time since 1997 under their Colombia-born coach, although that will come as little surprise to those who know the 56-year-old's unusual route to the top.
Osorio was a mediocre player, albeit one who represented South American giants Internacional in the 1980s, before being forced to hang up his boots aged just 26 due to injury.
However, having moved to New York and graduated from Southern Connecticut State University with a B.A. in Exercise Science, Osorio made a dramatic decision and one that would change his life forever.
The Colombian sold the small gym he owned and jetted off to Liverpool, temporarily leaving his wife back home across the Pond, to study a Science and Football degree at John Moores University.
And it was there that his love affair with English football began as Osorio, after finishing his studies every day, tried to catch a first-hand glimpse of how Liverpool trained at Melwood under then joint-managers Gerard Houllier and Roy Evans.
There was one problem, though.
He [Alex Ferguson] would say just a couple of things, but they were worth me waiting the whole two hours... they were words of wisdom that still stick in my head
"They never allowed me in there!" he recalls in an exclusive interview with Sky Sports. "But I do remember that once they allowed me into the Everton training ground. Dave Watson allowed me inside to watch a training session at Finch Farm."
Undeterred, however, Osorio somehow managed to persuade a local Everton-supporting family - whose house overlooked the Reds' training ground - to rent him their spare room in order to be close enough to observe Houllier and Evans at work.
"I thought that besides getting my Masters, I must make my time worthwhile," he says. "So what I did was find a house right across the street from Melwood training ground so I could watch Liverpool train there every single day.
"I got the chance to live in a house with the McManus family so then, not only could I go over the fence on a ladder if the weather was OK!
"But if the weather was rainy, then I could watch them train from the window. So it was great for me."
The-then 35-year-old ended up staying in the small room at the top of the McManus house on Crown Road for two whole years while he completed his degree, enough time to get fully acclimatised with the game not only on Merseyside, but in the north west as a whole.
"That was a great, great experience for me", says Osorio. "I wanted to get familiar with English football, and not just Liverpool, but Everton in the same city.
"I remember going to watch football every single weekend, and not just those two, as very close by were Blackburn and Bolton. That was the perfect time for me to get familiar with English football and at that point it was very well refined and direct football.
"Because I came from a Latin country where everything was short passes and Tiki-taka, then coming to England learning the complete opposite way of playing was very, very productive for me. And in itself, it has strengthened me a great deal."
The McManus family remember Osorio as always scribbling down endless notes on scraps of paper, trying to take in everything before him.
Looking back now, though, what did he learn from all those hours spent peering over the wall at Melwood?
"The way the sessions were very well structured and there was a strange combination between a French manager Gerard Houllier and an English manager Roy Evans," he says.
"They worked quite well and I learned a lot. I used to write all the notes and all the sessions. And one thing that was very important for me was that at that particular point in 1997-98, they still had their youth programme at night.
"I would watch the first team in the morning and the youth team at night, so I learned a lot."
Osorio returned to the US in 1997 to become assistant manager at the Metrostars - now the New York Red Bulls - only for then Man City boss Kevin Keegan to hire him as the club's conditioning coach four years later.
It was during his four-year spell at City - where he went on to become assistant manager - that Osorio got to meet then Man Utd manager Alex Ferguson, someone he credits with teaching him the art of rotation.
"I do have to say that the rotation and the tendency of me to give everyone an opportunity came from Mr Ferguson," says the man who famously once used three different goalkeepers in the Copa America Centenario group stage two years ago.
"In 2001 when I first came to Man City, if you recall City were in the Championship, so I went across to Carrington and met Mr Ferguson. And I asked him to allow me to watch the practices," Osorio says.
"I remember waiting patiently in every single practice until he would come down to the training pitch for maybe five minutes in his long coat and all dressed up.
"He would say just a couple of things, but they were worth me waiting the whole two hours there because one of the main things was about why and how to rotate the squad.
"And I thought at that point, and I still think, they were words of wisdom that still stick in my head."
Does that mean then that we should expect Osorio to ring the changes when Mexico take on world champions Germany, Sweden and South Korea in Group F this summer?
"Obviously, if you look in the Confederations Cup, the Copa America and the qualification games, I kept about seven or eight players in every game," he explains.
"But I do believe that depending on the opposition and how they play, the style of play, what the best players are - and considering also the way we can play and win that match and what should be our most influential players on the system we decide to play - there are always the chance of three or four tactical alternatives.
"That is how I look at rotation. So we might do two or three, but we will try for the most part to keep the basic of the team."
Osorio is nicknamed 'El Recreacionista' because of his unconventional training methods, but he is also known as someone with meticulous attention to detail who leaves no stone unturned in his pursuit of victory.
And that includes the use of a mental coach for his players at Russia 2018, something he picked up from studying the all-conquering New Zealand rugby union team.
"The sport that I admire the most is rugby and I admire rugby players as they are as honest as they come," says Osorio.
"I think they are the most underpaid athletes in the world because of the way they train and how they make sacrifices in terms of nutrition and recovery every day and every day for hard training sessions.
"Then I wanted to find out what they do and they all have mental coaches. So I tried to bring one for us and I think it is working very well.
"If you look at the All Blacks, they are probably the best team ever in my opinion. I do admire them greatly, I have read all the books and am more familiar with the Haka.
"And I thought that if it worked out for such a tough, tough sport, then it has to work out for football."
All in all, then, Mexico appear to be in good hands as the North Americans try to make it to the quarter-finals of a World Cup (not held on home soil) for the first time in their history this summer.
