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Many Watford fans felt Xisco Muñoz was dismissed too soon after leading them into the Premier League as Championship runners-up in 2021, only to be ousted less than two months into the new season. He is remembered fondly at Vicarage Road, an emblem of the churn-and-burn of the Gino Pozzo era.
But unless you continued to follow the Spaniard’s career closely, you would struggle to guess where he manages now. The life of a football manager is varied and unpredictable, but how has the former Watford head coach ended up in charge of a club 6,500 miles away and on the verge of an extraordinary world record?
Not one averse to adventure – since moving into coaching Xisco has taken jobs in Georgia, Cyprus and Slovakia – the former Valencia and Betis midfielder agreed last summer to take over at the Malaysian Super League side Johor Darul Ta’zim, based just across the border from Singapore.
A remarkable amount of pressure rests on their opening game of the Malaysian Super League season against Kuching on Friday. Avoid defeat and they will set the world record for unbeaten league matches, 109, surpassing the benchmark set by the Ivorian side Asec Mimosas that has stood for 32 years.
Xisco likes the idea that, in a football world dominated by the financial clout of European clubs, this is a record none of the household names are ever likely to surpass.
But he stresses that while JDT are backed by the resources of the Malaysian royal family – ever since His Royal Highness Major General Tunku Ismail ibni Sultan Ibrahim, known more aptly as the Crown Prince, bought the club in 2013 and turned them into a sort of Manchester City of Malaysia – it is by no means easy.
“It’s difficult to not lose one game,” Xisco says from his office in their 40,000-seater Sultan Ibrahim Stadium. “Something might happen – one day someone is sleeping, or after 10 minutes the whole team is sleeping, or maybe you don’t 100% concentrate in the first minutes and you concede two goals and it’s difficult to change the game.”
He credits “the work of the boss in the last 13 years” for putting them in this position. Their 108-game unbeaten streak started in April 2021. “Now it’s only one game. The line is very close between success or frustration. This is important. We are so close to making history for unbeaten games in a row. This isn’t normal in football.”
When Xisco was first approached by the Crown Prince, he was sold on “the project” – not only winning trophies in Malaysia but raising the standards of the country’s football and its standing on the global stage. There has been a deliberate effort to follow the European model. JDT’s chief executive is Luis García, the former Champions League winner with Liverpool. The academy director, Javier Ribera, arrived from Valencia. Xisco says JDT’s facilities are comparable to those in the Premier League.
In Europe finances have created a rigidity that is hard to break, with the best players ending up at a handful of clubs. By contrast Xisco believes Asian football is filled with growth potential. He points to the dominance of Real Madrid and Barcelona in Spain, Paris Saint- Germain in France, a clutch of clubs in England. “Every day it’s more difficult to find good players. It’s totally different here. Asia is a place for the future. Europe has problems with their economies. They are in one place and it’s difficult to progress.”
Xisco finds it refreshing to work for an owner who demands the highest standards and supports them financially. If he or his staff need something – a new piece of gym or medical equipment, anything they believe could raise their level – the Crown Prince provides it. “Sometimes you are in some jobs, every time trying to cut some things because you have problems. Here, no. Always try to give the best to reach a high level,” Xisco says.
The Crown Prince is relentlessly ambitious, signs off on everything and even attends many training sessions, arriving with scores of security staff, either in supercars or lengthy motorcades.
“I like everything about him. It’s true. I don’t know how long I will be here. I never know, because football is about results. But right now I’m happy. I feel well with him. He’s a positive voice. He pushes us. He helps me a lot.”
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JDT have completed Malaysian football – winning 12 consecutive titles – but the next frontier is the Asian Champions League. Last season, they reached the quarter-finals, the furthest so far by a Malaysian club, losing to the Saudi giants Al-Ahli, whose team included Ivan Toney and Riyad Mahrez. The competition represents another significant cultural shift from Europe. To play the Japanese J1 League side Machida Zelvia away is a 6,000-mile round trip.
“In England, you have one hour 30 minutes by plane to get back. Here maybe you need 10 hours or 12 hours if you go to Japan in the Champions League. You need to manage a lot of situations that are totally different. The culture is totally different between Europe and Asia.”
Their domestic dominance can also become a hindrance when a team so used to attacking is forced to defend and players struggle to adapt to new tactical requirements. To counter this, Xisco organises competitive XI v XI training matches, utilising JDT’s vast 40-player squad – a necessity given how many competitions they play – to work on deficiencies.
It helps having Arif Aiman – a 24-year-old known in these parts as the “Asian Messi” who scored in the recent friendly against Chelsea, which ended 3-3. He reminds Xisco of João Pedro, whom he coached at Watford.
Xisco loves his unpredictability and invention, how you can’t take your eyes off him because you might miss him completely change the game. “In modern football, sometimes we don’t have this type of class.”
He adds: “He was one of my big surprises. Sometimes you have a young player, like João Pedro at Watford, in 10 minutes you say, wow, this player is different. Arif is the same. Arif has the same capacity – the capacity to change the game.”
