Alfredo Tena will join Javier Aguirre at Espanyol

Alfredo Tena will join Mexican counterpart Javier Aguirre at Espanyol, after former Mexican national team skipper Aguirre reached out to the former Club America coach.

More than other factors involved in joining a La Liga coaching staff, Tena said in an interview with TDW that he is interested in the chance to coach in one Europe’s premier leagues.

“Being an assistant is not my thing,” the coach who led Mexico to Olympic glory this summer said. “But I think the experience in Spain, even if it’s as an assistant, will help me grow.

“It’s going to expose me to another type of football, other types of trainings and systems. I think it can be a very beneficial experience, and we’re going to approach it and give everything to do the best we can.”

Captain Fury, as Tena is known in Mexico, has been part of the Mexican league coaching rotation since 1994, with various stints at Pachuca, America, and Veracruz among others.

The former Liga MX champion coach revealed that since his last managerial post, his services had been sought out in Mexico, but nothing of interest to him had come up.

“I had projects, but always with strings attached,” Tena said. “One team offered me five games. You can’t accomplish anything in that time period.”

Javier Aguirre, Tena’s new boss, coached Mexico to two World Cups, and has coached in La Liga at Osasuna, Atletico Madrid, and Zaragoza. He takes over a struggling Espanyol team currently mired in last place in La Liga.

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