[Abe Sargent]

Chapter 6



Of course, this is not the end of the Essex story, and not even the half way mark.

He brought his talents to FC Bayern Munchen and was just as good there. He knew how to spot talent. It was never about what people had done, but about what they could do. He had a way with players and bringing them in. And he always had a plan When his first choice to replace Mario Rondon ended up rejecting him and singing elsewhere, he just grabbed Stepinski, his second choice. All Stepinski did was win numerous awards, including Player of the Cup and Golden Boot of the Cup in Champions play the year they won it all. He didn't always get his top choices, but he often did.

The story of how he got Andreas Rocker, the player today most identified with him, is very compelling. Andreas Rocker, and fellow midfielder Sebastian Pflugler, were young players together on the FC Bayern Munchen team that struggled a bit. Neither of the young lads saw much play. The current manager certainly thought well of them, but left them exposed contractually.

Then Essex reviewed the scout reports on them, as well as some other,s he had stored form scouting the team in Champions Group play. Bayern had abunch fo talented folks in that class, and after sending out some scouts to verify the earlier reports., these were two class gentlemen. But Essex had a ringer. Pierre-Emile Hjobjerg, from Norway. he had signed with Essex and left Bayern as another hot youth prospect and loved it. Essex swiftly became a favorite of Hojbjerg. And he had just been playing with Rocker and Pfluger for a few years.

So Hojbjerg and Essex talked about the pair. And the very minute the clock struck, and their contracts would end up expiring 6 months later, Essex called each of their agents in turn and offered them huge financial deals as key players on his squad. These young lads, not even 20, were understandably upset that the current manager had let them get to this point. So they seriously considered going together and joining Essex. Their manager found out and made the a counter offer. Two days later. For much less money. And just to remain prospects. Go play, together with Hojbjerg for a team winning its division each year for a ton of money and key players? Or stay for less money, and wait to see the field?

They left. And the rest is history. And Essex made what he said was the best signing of his life. Is was so good, he made it twice!

It was the perfect way to end the old Bayern Munchen and enter the new era. To close the cover on the previous managers. Essex brought back the player who should never have left. And with one of the single best strikers in Europe back on the team that he should be playing for, domination began. Rocker is still on that team today, blasting through defenses. He's just 28. He has a lot more to go!

Meanwhile Essex would spend six years at Munchen restoring their glory. He won the Champions Cup with them twice, and lost a third time in one of the most ironic matchups of all time to Paris Saint-Germain, who had signed both Joao Luis-Rodrigues, and Hernani Costa from Madeira, and they knew Rocker well enough to shut him down in the game.

On the international stage, he retired from South Africa in order to concentrate on FC Bayern Munchen full time. he ws finding it increasingly difficult to manage the time demands of Madeira with that of international football. But he did take up the Brazilian U23 squad again for old times sake and won silver in 2024. As we know, the Brazilian National Team was in its darkest era. From 2016 through 2026, no Brazilian senior squad had made it past the quarter finals of any international competition - not the Copa, not the World Cup, nothing. That was an embarrassment for the nation.

As Essex left, and resigned from South Africa, you may recall that Portugal, who had just been embarrassed by not qualified for the Euro, lost their first two World Cup Qualifier group games. Scared, they fired a guy who they had hired just 13 months before. They offered the post to Essex, who had famously applied for it before, and was not chosen.

He gave a famous, epic press conference. He extolled the virtues of Portuguese football, talked about all of the things he had learned here. All of the players he had developed, and all of the impact he had made. He was proud of the seven years he had spent in Portugal, and was considered the Top Manager in the Hall of Fame they opened in Lisbon. (With Sporting's relegation, Lisbon football fans had to find something to do with their time).


And he pointed out that last year, the top football manager in Portugal applied for the senior squad manager, and was turned down for someone who wasn't. And that person had no international experience either. Essex knew the squad better, raised many players, and was more successfully, both internationally and domestically. I love that part where Essex looks at the camera for the first time and just says plainly, "If you had hired me, you would still be in the Euro. But you didn't. And now my chapter in Portugal had ended. And I will not be accepting this great honor today."


And he just walked off to Germany.

Now, we all know that Brazil has made many managerial changes. And through it all, Essex kept applying to it. But just to Brazil, no one else. He would joke with the media about it in press conferences. And he said, again and again, I will be the first manager of Brazil who is not from the country.

And the longer Brazil's Long Dark Night lasted, the more people remembered his successes. He was the last manager to win a championship with the club, even if it was the Olympics of 2016.

So, in 2026, after a disastrous World Cup campaign saw them get knocked out in a Group by USA and Italy, they finally offered him the job. And he asked them to wait for a month while he finished up the Bayern campaign. They did, and FC Bayern Munchen finished 1st again, for the 5th time in his 6 years as manager there. And he resigned from Bayern to focus on bringing Brazil back. That would also be a full time job. He left the Bayern as one of the more successful managers they had, but not the most by any stretch.


Two years ago, he took over that Brazilian squad. and at first he tried to what he did with South Africa. He tried to fit the top talent of Brazil into an attacking strategy. But as he pointing out later, it seemed like all of the strikers, and attacking midfielders must have migrated across the border to other nations. He had the best deep lying playmaker in Europe for Man Utd, and he rocked some of the best fullbacks and defensive players in the world.

His team was not the Brazil of before. Perhaps only a non-Brazilian could have seen that and made the changes to a 5-4-1, which better suited their talent level. Often accused jokingly of Germaning the Brazilian squad, nevertheless he unleashed them in a variety of friendlies and qualifiers.

But then last year all jokes were pushed aside as Essex's highly defensive team won the Copa America again, 2-0 over Mexico, bringing it back to Brazil for the first time in two decades. Now Essex's team is ranked highly again, and winning changes all things.

And like Essex did in Madeira, and then in South Africa and other place,s he brought in tactics that suited the players. And he's learned. Because apparntly, you can have a tactic worth without two strikers.

Brazil is quickly becoming a darling of international football again, and not just an exporter of talent to European football leagues.


And those are just some of the many untold stories of James Essex. There are many others. I focused more on researching his first 7 years in Portugal and international play.

How come he never requested a new stadium in Funchal?
What are his biggest regrets at Madeira?
Who was his favorite player he ever managed there?
What play from South Africa stands out?
Why were local league managers so upset at him despite how successful he was with the national squad?
What did he say to Brazil at half time to inspire them to win at the Olympics?
What one player galvanized the South African team behind the scenes at the African Cup, 2019?
What board request did he always wish would have happened?
Why did he focus on bringing in so many staff, couches, and even scouts who had been capped?
What training regimen is hugely overrated?
Who was the favorite team in Portugal, other than Madeira?
Who was his favorite player who never played for him?
Why did he go against the advice of every coach and name Rafa the captain?
How did he find Merab Totladze, a GK who is now so good he starts in Serie A for AC Milan?
How was he the only one that knew Rui Pereira would be the next Renaldo?
Did he intentionally bring in Marin Komorski, a Croatian, a year early to learn nuder Skolnik, another Croatian? Or was that just happenstance that they were both from the same nation?
What is is favorite moment interacting with he fans? What is one thing about fandom he just doesn't get?
Does he have a player who was just robbed of an award?