30-year-old Czech coach conquers rugby land! Rudolf Mozr spoke not only about football in New Zealand

Being a major league coach at 30? Not very common. Prague native Rudolf Mozr has made it though, coaching Manukau United in New Zealand. What is football like in the rugby country, how did he get his job and what are his goals? He revealed all this in an interview with Ruik.

The road to coaching

At the age of 30, Rudolf Mozr is the coach of the New Zealand premier league team Manukau United. For his age, he already has a lot of experience, especially from abroad. In high school he went to Australia, specifically to Sydney, where he not only studied but also played football.

“I was there for about six months. Then I came back to the Czech Republic and finished my schooling, but I got an offer to play football in Australia. So I went and played in the second Australian league. But I started to feel homesick,” the Prague native described his beginnings in the southern hemisphere.

After returning to the Czech Republic, he played in the junior team of Mladá Boleslav, but then he was tempted by Australian football again. But not for long.

“I was given the opportunity to move to New Zealand, where I won the league and the national cup as a player. But I tore a ligament in my knee repeatedly and had to start thinking about what to do. I’ve always enjoyed coaching, I had a penchant for it in my youth. I started getting my coaching license while I was still playing. So I started coaching the local youth. ”

And coaching has been great for him. He was getting results, so he got the opportunity to be an assistant with the men. He had success in that role as well, which then gave him the opportunity to take the helm as head coach in the second league. This was Bucklands Beach, where he spent two years and made a great name for himself. He received several offers from major league clubs.

The current engagement

As already mentioned, Rudolf Mozr is the coach of Manukau United. However, he originally joined the club as sporting director.

“However, after the start of the season there was a change of coach. As soon as I took over the team, we had a good record, out of 14 games we won 5, 6 ended in draws and only lost 3. In two of the three games we lost, we played with 10 players most of the time. We are close to the top of the table and the club decided to sign me to a multi-year contract,” revealed the youngest coach of New Zealand’s top competition.

Why did he choose Manukau out of several offers? The answer is simple: ” They put their trust in me first. There’s a lot of potential, public interest and support from the management who want to go in for success and I think it was the right choice. There is a lot to repay.”

Mozr tries to practice attacking football, however, the New Zealand First League is not professional. So he has to work with what he has at his disposal.

“Most of the time I try to play 4-3-3, but sometimes it changes depending on the opponent and the players we have available. A lot of goals are falling in our games. But it’s also because we have a lot of younger players who sometimes make mistakes out of inexperience. But overall I am satisfied with the work and attitude of my players, they want to improve all the time,” he described his team’s matches.

” I’m an employee of the club, although of course it’s not the same as in pro football. Some coaches work at it, others are just dedicated to football. It depends on the club, everyone has different options. Personally, I want to devote all my intensity to coaching and give it my utmost attention so that I can move on in my career.”

The New Zealand league is divided into two groups. One is made up of teams from the South Island and the other is made up of those from the North Island, where Manukau United currently play. The top four teams from both groups then advance to the national competition, where they fight for, among other things, promotion to the Oceania Champions League. And that’s exactly where the Czech coach would like to take his team next season.

The winner of the aforementioned Champions League advances to the World Club Championship, where, for example, Auckland City from Zealand finished third in 2014, having lost to San Lorenzo, the Copa Libertadores winner, in the semi-finals and beating Mexican side Cruz Azul in the bronze medal match. Real Madrid won the competition then. Naturally, Mozr would like to be in that company.

Yet he makes no secret of his goal, which is to move to Europe in the future. He hopes that one day an offer might come from the Czech Republic. He is aware of the fact that most coaches gain experience at home and then go abroad, whereas he himself has it the other way around. I have nowhere to rush to, but if I get the opportunity, I would be happy,” he admitted.

But one thing complicates his career move. The borders in NZ have been closed for two years, so he can’t get to the Czech Republic, where the pro licence entrance exams are being held this year. He would like to get to that as soon as possible and hopes to get the opportunity to get more education and get the highest possible coaching license. However, he is aware that at 30 years old, he already has such a big head start on his peers.

New Zealand football

New Zealand is known as a rugby country, but football is the most played sport here. But as Rudolf Mozr says, rugby can be seen at every turn, even though the level of football has really improved in the seven and a half years he has been here.

“There are interesting players here. A lot of them are getting opportunities in the national team. Quality-wise, the top competition here could be at the level of the Czech second league. Training here is almost like in professional football, usually 3 or 4 times a week, players have their own programmes in the gym, etc. But the training facilities are nowhere near the level of the Czech Republic. In this respect, it is closer to third-league teams than second-league teams,” the Czech coach described the level of competition.

However, the facilities are gradually improving. Surprisingly, however, until now, only the final play-off matches were televised, when the best teams from the northern and southern parts of the table competed. Of course, let’s look to rugby for everything. However, thanks to the growing popularity of football, this should change from the new season and there should be more matches on TV.

Then there are a lot of foreigners in the league, which until recently benefited Mozr’s club. But in 2021, the rules have changed decisively:: “Each club can only have 4 foreign players, so that more local young players can develop in the top competition. In addition, as a coach, you must put two players under 20 in the match from the start.”

“We paid the price for this rule in the beginning. Our club is multicultural, our players were from everywhere and our club didn’t have many young players who could play at that level. But gradually it is improving, we have interesting young players at the moment.”

“The club has always believed that football is for everyone and everyone deserves a chance. We had a lot of foreigners and suddenly we had to make a team out of local players. Of course, it took some time to settle down but we have only lost once in the last ten games,” the 30-year-old coach admitted of the complications in his quest to conquer NZ.

It may be interesting to note, then, that there have not been many changes at the coaching position during the season. There were only two changes last season and seven in the post-season.

“After the season, the board sits down and looks not only at the results but also at the performance. That’s why it’s nice for me to know that other clubs are interested in me. I guess we have to do something right,” Mozr is clear.

Life in New Zealand

New Zealand has been Rudolf Mozr’s home for 7 and a half years now. He has built up a very good position, taking one step at a time to get to where he is. He appreciates the fact that it wasn’t a fluke. He even has a local fiancée.

“Life is good here, it’s quiet. But sometimes I think the peace is too much. Sometimes you wish it was more exciting. Thestandard of living and safety here is really high,” the talented coach praises life in the southern hemisphere.

However, he also found negatives. “ I love football and to catch up on what’s happening in Europe I have to watch games late at night or early in the morning. My life is set between European and Zealand time.”

In the end, though, he is happy. All that’s left is to back it up with some football success, which the Czech football public would certainly like to read about.

Source:: Rudolf Mozr