José María Bakero Escudero (born 11 February 1963) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played mainly as an attacking midfielder, currently a manager.
In a 17-year career, spent mainly with Real Sociedad and Barcelona, he amassed La Liga totals of 483 games and 139 goals, winning a total of 17 titles. A Spain international for seven years, he represented the nation in two World Cups and Euro 1988.
Bakero began working as a manager in 1999.
Club career
Born in Goizueta, Navarre, Bakero made his senior debut with Real Sociedad on 6 September 1980 when only 17, coming from the bench in a 3–2 away loss against Valencia, and finished his debut season with 27 scoreless appearances. Featuring only in two games in 1981–82 due to a serious injury, he was however part of the Basque sides that won back-to-back La Liga titles, his teammates including Luis Arconada, Jesús María Satrústegui and Jesús María Zamora.
Bakero then signed for Barcelona, where he was joined by several other Real and Basque players: Txiki Begiristain, Luis López Rekarte, with Julio Salinas coming from Atlético Madrid but having also played with Athletic Bilbao, as another Real player, Jon Andoni Goikoetxea, joined two years later – they would form the backbone of the legendary Dream Team. He (who scored 47 league goals in his first four years) played 347 competitive matches for the Catalans during his spell, being instrumental in their league conquests from 1990 to 1994 and also appearing in the historic 1992 European Cup final; in the latter tournament, as his team was trailing 3–0 at 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the second round after a 2–0 home win, his 90th-minute header secured qualification.
Having appeared scarcely during 1996–97, his last game coming on 18 November 1996 in a 6–1 home thrashing of Real Valladolid in which he scored, Bakero retired later that campaign after a small abroad stint with Mexico's Veracruz. He also had unsuccessful trials with Middlesbrough and Norwich City.
International career Bakero earned 30 caps for Spain, netting on seven occasions. His debut came on 14 October 1987 during an UEFA Euro 1988 qualifier against Austria, replacing future Barcelona teammate Francisco Carrasco in a 2–0 home win.
Bakero would subsequently represent the nation at Euro 1988, as well as in two FIFA World Cup editions, 1990 and 1994.
Player profile Bakero began his career as a forward, not being a prolific scorer, but was converted into an attacking midfielder. He possessed passing and scoring ability (with both his right foot and his head, the second despite his short stature) and great leadership skills.
Coaching career Bakero moved into management after retiring in 1997, first as an assistant under both Lorenzo Serra Ferrer and Louis van Gaal. He also worked as a sports adviser with the Generalitat de Catalunya and, in 2004–05, had his second head coaching experience, joining Málaga's B side in January 2005 and helping them narrowly escape relegation from Segunda División.
In August 2005, Bakero was appointed director of football at Real Sociedad, and would be promoted to coach towards the end of 2005–06. Seven games into the following season, he was sacked.
In October 2007, Bakero joined Ronald Koeman's (another Barcelona teammate) coaching staff at Valencia, being dismissed in late April 2008. On 10 November 2009, more than a year after his last job, he signed with Polonia Warsaw, again as head coach. While the team was last in the league at that point, not only did he manage to prevent relegation but also led them to a win against city neighbours Legia Warsaw, the first in ten years. He was relieved of his duties on 13 September 2010, after suffering the first loss of the campaign.
Bakero signed with another club in the Ekstraklasa on 3 November 2010, now Lech Poznań. In his official debut, he led the side to a 3–1 victory over Manchester City in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League.
On 25 February 2012, following a 3–0 away loss to Ruch Chorzów, Bakero was fired. In 2013, he moved to South America to coach Juan Aurich from Peru, being dismissed in September of that year due to poor results.
In 2015, Venezuelan club Deportivo La Guaira hired Bakero as interim technical director, to help the new coaching staff by running training sessions. He returned to Barcelona on 10 July 2017, as head of the youth academy alongside former teammate Guillermo Amor.
On 19 June 2023, Bakero became manager of Slavia Sofia in the First Professional Football League (Bulgaria). In September, having collected six losses and one draw in seven matches, he was fired.
Personal life Bakero was the third of 11 children. His brothers Santiago and Jon were also footballers, and both forwards. After he joined Polonia as a coach he was accompanied, at his request, by Jon as an assistant.
Bakero's sister, Itziar, was also a footballer, who played at international level. His son, Jon, played college soccer in the United States for Wake Forest University, winning the Hermann Trophy in 2017.
Career statistics Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupLeague cupContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsReal Sociedad1980–81La Liga27020—20—3101981–82La Liga2000—20—401982–83La Liga33451—61204661983–84La Liga31108241——43131984–85La Liga3098420——40131985–86La Liga291643———33191986–87La Liga391184———47151987–88La Liga321787—40—4424Total223674321611412028890Barcelona1988–89La Liga221000—622230141989–90La Liga301371—202041141990–91La Liga341341—610044151991–92La Liga331110—931144151992–93La Liga37931—305048101993–94La Liga34510—92214681994–95La Liga34400—73104271995–96La Liga32641—103—46101996–97La Liga4100—101061Total26072204—531414434794Career total4831396325616715164635184
International Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Bakero goal. + List of international goals scored by José Mari BakeroNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 18 November 1987 Benito Villamarín, Seville, Spain 1–0 5–0 Euro 1988 qualifying2 2–03 5–04 19 December 1990 Sánchez Pizjuán, Seville, Spain 9–0 9–0 Euro 1992 qualifying5 20 February 1991 Parc des Princes, Paris, France 1–0 1–3 Euro 1992 qualifying6 16 December 1992 Sánchez Pizjuán, Seville, Spain 1–0 5–0 1994 World Cup qualification7 24 February 1993 Benito Villamarín, Seville, Spain 2–0 5–0 1994 World Cup qualification
Managerial statistics
TeamFromToCompetitionRecordGWDLWin %GFGAGDPueblaJuly 1999September 1999Liga MX611–5Total611–5Málaga BJanuary 2005August 2005Segunda División1325–12Total1325–12Real Sociedad23 March 200626 October 2006La Liga1824–6Copa del Rey14–3Total1928–9Polonia Warsaw10 November 200913 September 2010Ekstraklasa2320+3Total2320+3Lech Poznań3 November 201025 February 2012Ekstraklasa5327+26Polish Cup137+6Europe64+2Total7238+34Juan Aurich5 January 20137 September 2013Peruvian Primera División3839–1Copa Sudamericana26–4Total4045–5Career totalsLeague151146+5Cup1411+3Europe64+2South America26–4Total173167+6
Honours Real Sociedad La Liga: 1980–81, 1981–82 Copa del Rey: 1986–87 Supercopa de España: 1982
Barcelona La Liga: 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94 Copa del Rey: 1989–90 Supercopa de España: 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996 European Cup: 1991–92 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1988–89, 1996–97 UEFA Super Cup: 1992
See also List of FC Barcelona players (100+ appearances) List of La Liga players (400+ appearances)
References
External links