Manuel Ruiz

Not to be confused with Manuel Ruiz Sosa.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Ruiz and the second or maternal family name is Pérez.

Manuel "Manolo" Ruiz Pérez (born 3 December 1962) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and a current manager.

Manolo Ruiz

Personal information
Full name	Manuel Ruiz Pérez
Date of birth	(1962-12-03) 3 December 1962 (age 61)
Place of birth	Jerez de la Frontera, Spain
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Youth career
	Melilla
	Sanluqueño
	Xerez
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1980–1983	Xerez	16	(0)
1983–1990	Zaragoza	9	(0)
1984–1986	Zaragoza B	68	(0)
1987–1988	→ Deportivo La Coruña (loan)	0	(0)
1990–1991	Levante	18	(0)
1991–1993	Estepona	69	(0)
1993–1994	Almería	28	(0)
1994–1996	Melilla	57	(0)
1996–1997	Sanluqueño
Total		265	(0)
International career
1981	Spain U18	8	(0)
Managerial career
1997–2004	Xerez (assistant)
1999	Xerez
2001	Xerez
2003	Xerez
2004	Xerez
2004–2005	Levante (assistant)
2005–2007	Getafe (assistant)
2007–2008	Real Madrid (assistant)
2010–2011	Beşiktaş (assistant)
2015–2016	Linense
2017–2018	Extremadura
2019	El Ejido
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Ruiz was born in Jerez de la Frontera, Province of Cádiz, Andalusia. After playing youth football for UD Melilla and Atlético Sanluqueño CF, he signed for Xerez CD in 1979. Four years later, he moved to La Liga with Real Zaragoza, making his debut on 4 December 1983 in a 0–0 away draw against FC Barcelona.^[1]

During his four-year spell with the Aragonese, however, Ruiz only played in a combined nine league matches, barred by Andoni Cedrún which would later become a legendary player for the club. In 1985–86 he featured prominently for Zaragoza's reserves in Segunda División, in an eventual relegation-ending season.

Before retiring, Ruiz also played professionally for Deportivo de La Coruña – no appearances whatsoever due to a serious injury^[2][3]– and Levante UD, suffering another second division relegation with the latter side.

Coaching career

In 1997, shortly after retiring, Ruiz started coaching, starting with his first senior team Xerez and helping the Andalusians return to the second level in 2001 after a three-year absence. Subsequently, he was part of Bernd Schuster's staff at the Estadio Municipal de Chapín (in six matches comprising two separate seasons, he would also act as an interim manager).^[4][5]

Schuster signed with FC Shakhtar Donetsk in 2003, and Ruiz was one of four coaches as Xerez finished ninth in the second tier. When the German returned to Spain to join Levante UD,^[6] Ruiz re-joined his coaching staff, continuing to work with him at his following clubs, Getafe CF and Real Madrid, until he was dismissed from the latter in December 2008; amongst other tasks, he was charged with designing the teams' strategic set pieces.^[3][7][8]

Ruiz started a career as manager in his own right in 2011,^[9] being linked to AD Alcorcón and CE Sabadell FC in 2013. On 24 December 2015, he was named Real Balompédica Linense coach after replacing the fired Rafael Escobar.^[10]

Managerial statistics (second division)

Nat	Team	From	To	Record
				G	W	L	D	Win %	GF	GA	+/-
	Xerez	2003	2003	3	2	0	1	66.67%	9	6	+3
	Xerez	2003	2004	3	0	1	2	0%	3	7	-4
Total Career				6	2	1	3	33.33%	12	13	-1

References

1. "Los Blaugrana, nerviosos hasta lo indecible, no vieron puerta" [The Blaugrana, nervous beyond words, did not find the net]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 5 December 1983. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
2. "Manolo Ruiz, ayudante de Bernd Schuster, militó en el Dépor el año del gol de Vicente al Santander" [Manolo Ruiz, Bernd Schuster's assistant, represented Dépor in the year of Vicente's goal against Santander]. La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 27 October 2006. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
3. Ruiz, Marco (25 July 2007). "Manuel Ruiz es el cerebro de las jugadas ensayadas" [Manuel Ruiz is the brain behind set pieces]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 November 2010.
4. Revaliente, Á. (14 June 2003). "Schuster: "No quería pasar otro año igual"" [Schuster: "I did not want to have another similar year"]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 October 2016.
5. "Esteban y Portugal, despedidos" [Esteban and Portugal, fired]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 8 June 2004. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
6. "El Levante UD prescinde de Schuster y José Luis Oltra es el nuevo entrenador del primer equipo" [Levante UD release Schuster and José Luis Oltra is the new first team manager] (in Spanish). Levante UD. 1 May 2005. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
7. "Manolo Ruiz: ´Para pelear por tres títulos vendrían bien ayudas ofensivas´" [Manolo Ruiz: 'To fight for three titles some attacking additions would be welcome']. La Opinión de Murcia (in Spanish). 1 August 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
8. "Las embarazosas relaciones de Schuster" [The embarrassing relations of Schuster]. El Confidencial (in Spanish). 10 October 2007. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
9. [Manolo Ruiz, Schuster's assistant, starts a new era as manager]. El Norte de Castilla (in Spanish). 6 June 2011. Archived from the original on 30 October 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
10. "Manolo Ruiz es el nuevo técnico de la Balona" [Manolo Ruiz is the new manager of Balona]. Marca (in Spanish). 24 December 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2016.

External links

• Manuel Ruiz at BDFutbol
• Manuel Ruiz manager profile at BDFutbol