José Joaquín Moreno Verdú (born 6 January 1975), known as Josico, is a Spanish former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, currently a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. His 16-year professional career was mainly associated with

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...

and

Villarreal Villarreal (officially, in ) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's capital ( ...

(six years apiece), and he amassed

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

totals of 240 matches and 13 goals over nine seasons.

Playing career

Born in

Hellín Hellín is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain located in the province of Albacete, Castilla–La Mancha. The municipality spans across a total area of 781.66 km2. As of 1 January 2020, it has a population of 30,200, which mak ...

Province of Albacete Albacete () is a province of central Spain, in the southern part of the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. As of 2012, Albacete had a population of 402,837 people. Its capital city, also called Albacete, is by road southeast of Madri ...

, Josico made his debut in

with

Albacete Balompié Albacete Balompié is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 5 July 1939, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish foo ...

in the 1995–96 season, immediately after joining from local amateurs

Hellín Deportivo Hellín Deportivo was a Spanish football team based in Hellín, Province of Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. Founded in 1989 and dissolved in 2016, it last played in Primera Autonómica Preferente – Group 1, holding ...

. He played 28 matches (scoring twice), but his team was relegated after five consecutive years in the top division; his first game in the competition occurred on 18 November 1995, featuring the full 90 minutes in a 3–0 away loss against

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

. Josico went on to represent

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas S.A.D. is a professional association football, football club based in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. The club will compete in Segunda División, the 2nd division in the Spanish football league syst ...

for four seasons, joining

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Villarreal, in the Province of Castellón, Castellón province of easte ...

for the 2002–03 campaign, where he played a major part in the club's domestic and

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

consolidation: in 2004–05 the player made 29 appearances – 28 as starter – as the

Valencian Community The Valencian Community is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wit ...

side finished third, as well as being their

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. Deemed surplus to requirements by Villarreal boss

Manuel Pellegrini Manuel Luis Pellegrini Ripamonti (; ; born 16 September 1953) is a Chilean professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the head coach of Real Betis. As a coach, he has managed clubs in S ...

, Josico joined Fenerbahçe S.K. on 28 August 2008 as the

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

side was coached by former

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

manager

Luis Aragonés Luis Aragonés Suárez (; 28 July 1938 – 1 February 2014) was a Spanish football player and manager. Aragonés spent the majority of his career as a player and coach at Atlético Madrid. He was a prominent player and then coach of the succes ...

. After just one season in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, where he was used sparingly, he was released, and quickly signed with one of his first clubs, Las Palmas in the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

, at the same time of former teammate Antonio Guayre. In late May 2011, after having contributed 25 matches to help his team to avoid relegation, the 36-year-old Josico announced his retirement from professional football. He returned to the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

the following year, being charged with watching the opposing teams.

Coaching career

Josico was appointed Las Palmas' first-team manager on 26 May 2014, replacing the fired

Sergio Lobera Sergio Lobera Rodríguez (born 16 January 1977) is a Spanish professional football manager who is currently the head coach of Indian Super League club Odisha. Managerial career Lobera was born in Zaragoza, Aragon. After impressing with Dosa Sal ...

after a 2–3 home loss against

Recreativo de Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Huelva, Andalucia, Spain. Founded on 23 December 1889, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play in , holding home ...

. He still managed to lead the side to the sixth position in the regular season, then ousted

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting is a Spanish professional association football, football club from Gijón, Principality of Asturias. Founded on 1 July 1905, it plays in the ...

2–0 on aggregate in the top-flight promotion playoffs. On 3 July 2014, Josico moved to the Canarians'

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

. In the following years, he continued working in the lower leagues.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Las Palmas *

: 1999–2000 Villarreal *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Spain U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Josico 1975 births Living people People from Hellín 20th-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from the Province of Albacete Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Albacete Balompié players UD Las Palmas players Villarreal CF players Süper Lig players Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Spanish football managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers Segunda Federación managers UD Las Palmas managers UD Las Palmas Atlético managers FC Jumilla managers CD Atlético Baleares managers Elche CF managers UD San Sebastián de los Reyes managers