Enrique "Quique"Sánchez Flores (Spanish pronunciation:[ˈkikeˈsantʃeθˈfloɾes]; born 5 February 1965) is a Spanish footballmanager and former player who played as aright-back.
He began his professional career withValencia in 1984, going on to amassLa Liga totals of 304 games and 16 goals over 12 seasons and also appearing forReal Madrid andZaragoza in the competition, retiring in 1997. Internationally, he representedSpain atunder-18,under-21 andunder-23 levels, appearing with the senior side at the1990 World Cup.
In 2001, Flores began his managerial career when he took charge of Real Madrid's youth team. His first senior post came in 2004, withGetafe, and he also managed Valencia,Atlético Madrid – where he won the2010 Europa League – andEspanyol in the top division. Abroad, he had spells atBenfica in thePrimeira Liga andWatford (twice) in thePremier League, as well as stints in the United Arab Emirates and China.
Born inMadrid, Flores spent his first ten years as a senior withValencia, starting in1984–85. The club was relegated in hissecond season, and when it returned toLa Liga in the1987–88 campaign, finished 14th. However, from that point until1994 the team never ranked lower than seventh, with him as first-choice.[2]
Flores moved toReal Madrid in summer 1994 on a four-year contract, and stayed with thecapital side for two seasons, winning the league title inthe first one[3] but being deemed surplus to requirements early into the 1996 preseason after complaining to newly-arrived managerFabio Capello of toenail pains.[4] Subsequently, he had a brief spell withReal Zaragoza, retiring from professional football at the age of 32 with Spanish top flight totals of 304 games and 16 goals;[5] in hisonly season in theSegunda División, as Valencia won the championship, he posted career-highs with 40 matches and nine goals.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]
Flores began his coaching career in 2001 by taking charge of Real Madrid's youth teams. After earning plaudits during his three seasons with the youth teams, he caught the eye of the newly promotedGetafe, also in Madrid.[16]
After the2004–05 campaign with Getafe, in which they finished in 13th place, Flores was given the opportunity to coach his former club Valencia, succeedingClaudio Ranieri.[17] In hisfirst year, he guided them to third place and thusqualified for theUEFA Champions League where the team went on to reach the quarter-finals, being knocked out byChelsea.[18]
In May 2007, theChe achieved atop-four league finish and consequently a place inthe next Champions League. On 29 October, however, the board of directors dismissed Flores after a string of poor results.[19]
On 28 September 2013, only three months after leaving the country, Flores returned to theUnited Arab Emirates, being appointed atAl Ain.[31] However, his tenure was brief, as he was dismissed on 8 March 2014 due to poor results.[32]
After nearly nine months without a club, Flores returned to Getafe on 5 January 2015 to succeedCosmin Contra as the new manager, following the latter's departure to China.[33] His first match in charge took place two days later, and it ended with a1–1 away draw againstAlmería in the domestic cup;[34] on 26 February, however, citing personal reasons, he resigned.[35]
However, despite going on to lead the team to a comfortablemid-table position andthe semi-finals of theFA Cup, it was announced on 13 May 2016 that Flores would be leaving at the end of the season.[38]
On 9 June 2016, Flores returned to Spain, signing a three-year deal to replaceConstantin Gâlcă as manager ofEspanyol.[39] His second signing wasJosé Antonio Reyes, with whom he had previously worked at Benfica and Atlético.[40]
Flores was dismissed on 20 April 2018, after achieving poor results towards the end ofthe season.[41] In July, he was on a four-man shortlist for the vacantEgyptian national team manager job.[42]
Flores returned to Watford on 7 September 2019, replacing his compatriotJavi Gracia who was dismissed the same day.[45] His team completed a comeback from 2–0 down to draw 2–2 withArsenal atVicarage Road in his first game back on 15 September.[46] However, one week later, they were defeated 8–0 at theCity of Manchester Stadium byManchester City, with the opposition scoring five goals in the first 15 minutes for their biggest ever Premier League win.[47]
On 30 November 2019, Watford went away toSouthampton and lost 2–1. The next day, Flores was sacked after securing only a single victory in his second stint in charge.[48]
On 6 October 2021, Flores was presented as Getafe manager for the third time, afterMíchel was dismissed for not winning any of the first eight games ofthe season.[49] His team were eliminated from thesecond round of the Spanish Cup on 16 December with a 5–0 loss atAtlético Baleares of thePrimera Federación,[50] but seventeen days later achieved the first victory over Real Madrid in nearly nine years with a lone goal byEnes Ünal.[51]
Flores' side finished 15th in his first campaign back.[52] On 27 April 2023, he was relieved of his duties as they fought relegation withseven matches remaining, and was replaced by another returnee,José Bordalás.[53]
During a match at Getafe on 30 March 2024, Sánchez Flores, ofSpanish Gypsy ancestry, was the victim of racist abuse from behind the coaches' benches. As a result of chants againstMarcos Acuña in the same game, the hosts were ordered to close sections of their stadium for three matches and fined. However, as the insults against the manager were not mentioned in the referee's report, no action was taken with regards to them.[57]
On 18 May 2024, having secured survival, Sánchez Flores announced he would be leaving theRamón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium on 30 June.[58]
Flores is the nephew offlamenco singer and dancerLola Flores.[59] His father,Isidro, was also a footballer and a defender,[60] andAlfredo Di Stéfano was his godfather.[61] His brother and son, named Isidro and Enrique respectively, played football at lower levels.[62][63]
^"1–2: El Valencia ya es líder" [1–2: Valencia have climbed to first place].Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 11 September 1986. Retrieved9 June 2015.
^Domínguez, Miguel (3 November 1986)."2–1: Este Valencia sigue sin convencer" [2–1: This Valencia still fail to convince].Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved9 June 2015.
^Domínguez, Miguel (17 November 1986)."3–1: Traca del Valencia" [3–1: Valencia fireworks].Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved9 June 2015.
^Domínguez, Miguel (29 December 1986)."1–0: Quique volvió a salvar al Valencia" [1–0: Quique rescued Valencia again].Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved9 June 2015.
^Domínguez, Miguel (6 April 1987)."3–1: El Valencia fulminó al Logroñés" [3–1: Valencia blindsided Logroñés].Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved9 June 2015.
^abDomínguez, Miguel (31 May 1987)."2–0: El Valencia ya está en Primera" [2–0: Valencia are already inPrimera].Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved9 June 2015.
^Mínguez, Antonio (11 June 1995)."Un pasillo y muchos bostezos" [Guard of honour and yawns aplenty].Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved4 September 2015.
^Perearnau, Francesc (30 October 1986)."¡¡¡Campeones!!!" [Champions!!!].Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved5 June 2014.
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