García Pimienta

Francisco Javier García Pimienta (born 3 August 1974), known as García Pimienta, is a Spanish football manager and former player. He is the current manager of UD Las Palmas.

Francisco García Pimienta
García Pimienta with Barcelona youth in 2012
Personal information
Full name Francisco Javier García Pimienta
Date of birth (1974-08-03) 3 August 1974
Place of birth Barcelona, Spain
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Winger
Team information
Current team
 Las Palmas (manager)
Youth career
1986–1992 Barcelona
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1993–1995 Barcelona C 15 (2)
1995–1999 Barcelona B 68 (11)
1997 Barcelona 1 (0)
1996–1997 → Extremadura (loan) 4 (0)
1998 → Figueres (loan) 9 (1)
1999–2003 Hospitalet 78 (12)
2003–2004 Sant Andreu 22 (3)
Total 197 (29)
International career
1990 Spain U16 4 (4)
Managerial career
2006–2015 Barcelona (youth)
2015–2017 Barcelona B (assistant)
2017–2018 Barcelona (youth)
2018–2021 Barcelona B
2022– Las Palmas
*Club domestic league appearances and goals
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is García and the second or maternal family name is Pimienta.

A left winger, García Pimienta made his senior debut with Barcelona's C-team, and later represented the reserves before making his first team debut in 1997. He featured in a further four La Liga matches with CF Extremadura, and subsequently went on to resume his career in the lower leagues. As a coach, he worked for Barça for twenty years, being named in charge of the B-side in 2018 but being dismissed in 2021.

Club career

Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, García Pimienta joined FC Barcelona's youth setup in 1986.[1] After making his senior debut for the C-side in Tercera División, he first played as a professional with the reserves in Segunda División.[2]

García Pimienta made his first team – and La Liga – debut on 26 May 1996, starting in a 2–2 away draw against Deportivo de La Coruña.[3] On 14 July, he was loaned to fellow top tier side CF Extremadura for one year,[4] but appeared rarely after suffering a serious injury which kept him out for the majority of the campaign.

Upon returning, García Pimienta was assigned back to the B-team, achieving promotion from Segunda División B. After a four-month loan at fellow league team UE Figueres, he moved to CE L'Hospitalet in a permanent basis.[5]

García Pimienta retired in 2004 at the age of 29, after playing for UE Sant Andreu.[6]

Managerial career

In 2001, while still a player, García Pimienta was the assistant of Álex García at Barcelona's Cadete squad. He left the club in 2003, only returning three years later now as manager of the very same category.

After progressing through the youth setup,[7] García Pimienta was named Gerard López's assistant at the B-side on 21 July 2015.[8] On 25 October 2017, he replaced Gabri at the helm of the Juvenil A squad.[9]

After winning the 2017–18 UEFA Youth League,[10] García Pimienta was appointed at the helm of the reserves on 25 April 2018, after the sacking of Gerard.[11] His debut in senior coaching was three days later, a 1–0 loss at UD Almería in the second division as his team ended the season relegated.[12]

In three full seasons in charge of Barcelona B in the third tier, García Pimienta made the playoffs in the latter two campaigns, losing the 2020 final 2–1 to neighbours CE Sabadell FC,[13] and the semi-final on penalties to UCAM Murcia CF a year later.[14] On 11 June 2021, following the latter defeat, he was dismissed after the club terminated his contract.[15]

On 24 January 2022, García Pimienta was named manager of UD Las Palmas in the second division, replacing Pepe Mel at a team in eighth place and three points off the playoffs. Having fallen to 14th after a poor start, he led them to an 11-game unbeaten run with nine victories to reach fourth place and a post-season berth, where they were eliminated in the semi-finals by Canary Islands rivals CD Tenerife. By the anniversary of his appointment, he had taken 63% of the available points from 42 league games.[16]

Managerial statistics
As of 28 October 2023
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team Nat From To Record Ref
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Barcelona B Spain 25 April 2018 11 June 2021 102 45 28 29 142 107 +35 044.12 [17]
Las Palmas Spain 24 January 2022 Present 75 33 26 16 84 59 +25 044.00 [18]
Total 177 78 54 45 226 166 +60 044.07 —

Honours

Manager
Barcelona

References
  1. "García Pimienta, sangre azulgrana y 'fundador' de La Masia" [García Pimienta, red-and-blue blood and 'founder' of La Masia] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 25 April 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  2. "Los nuevos" [The new ones] (PDF) (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 2 September 1994. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  3. "Guardiola: "Rexach se lo merece"" [Guardiola: "Rexach deserves it"] (PDF) (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 27 May 1996. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  4. "García, Duré y Gluscevic, tres nuevos delanteros para el Extremadura" [García, Duré and Glusevic, three new forwards for Extremadura] (PDF) (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 14 July 1996. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  5. "Paulo Sergio se va al Bayern" [Paulo Sergio goes to Bayern] (PDF) (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 10 June 1999. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  6. "Garcia Pimienta, nou entrenador del Barça B" [Garcia Pimienta, new manager of Barça B] (in Catalan). Betevé Web. 25 April 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  7. "Former players on the FC Barcelona coaching team". FC Barcelona. 9 July 2014. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  8. "García Pimienta, segundo de Gerard López" [García Pimienta, second of Gerard López] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 21 July 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  9. "Garcia Pimienta to be new Barça U19A coach". FC Barcelona. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  10. "Barcelona win their second UEFA Youth League". Marca. 23 April 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  11. "Garcia Pimienta: 'I believe strongly in the Barça way of playing'". FC Barcelona. 25 April 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  12. García, Nico (28 April 2018). "Fran Fernández lo vuelve a hacer" [Fran Fernández does it again]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  13. Mainez, Rafa (26 July 2020). "El Sabadell vuelve a Segunda cinco años después tras remontar ante el Barça B" [Sabadell return to Segunda after five years following comeback against Barça B]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  14. "El UCAM se lleva el frenético choque de subcampeones desde los once metros" [UCAM take the frenetic clash of runners-up from eleven metres] (in Spanish). 16 May 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  15. "Termination of García Pimienta's contract". FC Barcelona. 11 June 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  16. Izquierdo, Jesús (24 January 2023). "García Pimienta ha instalado el estado de ilusión tras un año en Las Palmas" [García Pimienta has installed a state of excitement after a year at Las Palmas]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  17. "García Pimienta: Francisco Javier García Pimienta: Matches 2017–18". BDFutbol. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
    "García Pimienta: Francisco Javier García Pimienta: Matches 2018–19". BDFutbol. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
    "García Pimienta: Francisco Javier García Pimienta: Matches 2019–20". BDFutbol. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
    "García Pimienta: Francisco Javier García Pimienta: Matches 2020–21". BDFutbol. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  18. "García Pimienta: Francisco Javier García Pimienta: Matches 2021–22". BDFutbol. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
    "García Pimienta: Francisco Javier García Pimienta: Matches 2022–23". BDFutbol. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
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