Place of birth Beasain, Spain Role Football manager Name Pako Ayestaran | 1996 Osasuna (assistant) Years Team Manages Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. | |
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Full name Francisco Martin Ayestaran Barandiaran Date of birth (1963-02-05) 5 February 1963 (age 52) 1997–1999 Extremadura (assistant) Team coached Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. (Head coach, since 2014) Similar People Eran Zahavi, Oscar Garcia Junyent, Slavisa Jokanovic, Jordi Cruyff, Paulo Sousa |
Gerrard can become a top manager | Pako Ayestarán
Francisco Martín "Pako" Ayestarán Barandiarán (born 5 February 1963) is a Spanish football manager.
Contents
- Gerrard can become a top manager Pako Ayestarn
- Desert island goalsteaser with pako ayestaran
- Assistant manager
- Managerial beginnings
- Managerial statistics
- Honours
- References
He spent 11 years as assistant to Rafael Benítez at clubs including Valencia and Liverpool, and has since managed in his own right in Mexico, Israel and at Valencia.

Desert island goalsteaser with pako ayestaran
Assistant manager

Ayestarán was born in Beasain, Gipuzkoa, and had a short stint as a youth player at Real Sociedad. After starting his career as a fitness coach, he was appointed Rafael Benítez's assistant at Osasuna, and remained behind the manager at Extremadura, Tenerife, Valencia and Liverpool. On 1 September 2007, Ayestarán announced his departure from The Reds after 11 years partnering Benítez. Benítez accused Ayestarán of "betrayal" as Ayestarán "contacted other clubs behind his back" while Ayestarán rejected the accusations, claiming instead that Benítez "forgot his principles".

Ayestarán joined Real Sociedad as sporting director in 2008, but left after a few weeks due to conflicts with the club president. He then served as fitness coach at Benfica and Valencia, leaving the latter in June 2010 for "professional reasons". In mid-2011, Ayestarán was named Quique Sánchez Flores' assistant at Al-Ahli Dubai, but left the club roughly a year later.
Managerial beginnings

On 24 August 2013, Ayestarán took up coaching, being appointed at the helm of Estudiantes Tecos. On 29 May 2014, after failing to win promotion despite reaching the final of the tournament, Ayestarán announced his departure from Tecos, saying he had "no intention of continuing to manage in the Ascenso MX".

On 26 August, he was appointed Maccabi Tel Aviv manager, replacing fellow Spaniard Óscar García. Ayestarán led Maccabi to a first ever treble in Israeli football, winning the Premier League (the club's third in a row), the State Cup and the Toto Cup. On 20 August 2015, however, he resigned from the club.

On 20 August 2015, Ayestarán returned to Mexico, being appointed at the helm of Santos Laguna. On 21 November 2015, he and the club terminated his contract "upon mutual consent" after a 15th-place finish in the Apertura 2015.
On 14 February 2016, it was announced that Ayestarán would join Gary Neville's backroom staff at Valencia. On 31 March, he was appointed manager of the club for the remainder of the season after the sacking of Neville. He suffered defeat against Las Palmas in his debut match before recording consecutive La Liga wins over Sevilla, Barcelona and Eibar in April.
On 24 May 2016, Ayestarán was appointed Valencia manager until 30 June 2018. However, he was sacked on 20 September with the team in last place in the league table, having lost all four games of the season and 8 of his overall 12 fixtures.