NorthEast United FC have placed their faith in new head coach Gerard Nus, and the Spaniard will be charged with improving the fortunes of the Highlanders in Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2020-21. At just 35, Nus has coached across four continents and boasts an impressive body of work.

Unlike most professional coaches, Nus does not have much experience as a player. He began working on his coaching badges at a very young age. He also has a degree in sports science from the Universitat de Lleida.

Having received his UEFA Pro license at 22, Nus moved to England to join Liverpool’s youth academy as a coach. His abilities were soon recognized by then Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez, and Nus soon joined the Merseyside club’s backroom coaching staff.

Nus briefly joined South Korean first Division side Chunnam Dragons as an assistant manager before moving back to England to join Brighton and Hove Albion FC as head of their coaching academy. Next year in 2013, he moved to A-League Aussie club Melbourne Heart as assistant to Dutch manager John van 't Schip.

In 2014, Nus got his first taste of International football coaching when he worked alongside former Highlanders head coach Avram Grant with the Ghana national team. He had two stints with the Black Stars: in his first stint the team reached the final of the 2015 African Cup of Nations, and then two years later in his second stint the team reached the semis in the same tournament. 

Nus has also held hierarchical positions at different clubs. He has worked at Elche CF as the club’s Managing Director, and as Deputy Technical Director at Rayo Vallecano, both in Spain. It was at Rayo Oklahoma City (club owned by Rayo Vallecano) that Nus got his first job as a head coach. The American team reached the North American Soccer League semi-finals under him.       

This was followed by a brief stint as head coach of Kazakh side Irtysh Pavlodar, and then as Methodology Technical Director at Athletic Eskilstuna in Sweden.

NorthEast United FC will be the Spaniard’s third club as a head coach, and Nus has made his intentions clear as to what he wants.

“We have to make our supporters proud and in order to achieve that, we need a clear identity of play, be brave with the ball and be confident that every time we step on the pitch, we are there to win and to represent the club in the best way possible,” he has said in an interview to the indiansuperleague.com.

The Spaniard has also written a book named ‘Warm up in football: training sessions & matches’, and has developed a coaching application called ‘Efficiency Match Sports’, which allows you to design drills, create animations, manage teams and take notes and statistics from games.          

With a strong CV and 13 years of impeccable know-how, fans can expect Nus to get the Highlanders to play an expansive brand of football with good results.