In January 2009, Mauricio Pochettino began his career as a manager at RCD Espanyol, where he had previously had two spells as a player (1994-2001 and 2004-2006). This was his response when asked if it was not too risky to start out as a manager taking over a struggling team. Espanyol were in LaLiga’s relegation zone at that time, but at the end of the season they managed to stay up.