With Guerra hire, Phoenix Rising show a desire to win this season

When Juan Guerra was an assistant coach at Phoenix Rising last season, he would often tell manager Rick Schantz that he felt bad for whomever took the job after him.

“Have you seen Rick's numbers?” Guerra said. “They're good numbers man.”

Indeed, over the past five seasons, Schantz won 80 of 134 games. He led Rising to two Western Conference regular season titles and two USL finals. He built a fanbase and a winning culture, turning Phoenix into one of the USL’s premier destinations — despite this season’s struggles that led the club to part ways with him last week.

Now,  Guerra, who met with the media on Tuesday, is the man faced with the unenviable task of replacing Schantz.

The move is an unusual one in that this season, Guerra was the manager of Oakland Roots — one of Rising’s rivals in the Western Conference playoff race — before his appointment Monday. Typically, midseason managerial changes lead to interim hires until a permanent decision is made in the off-season.

Rising’s ambitions, though, necessitated a different path.

“This ownership group, this organization is focused on this year,” general manager Bobby Dulle said. “We're committed to this year. We believe that we can still get it done.”

Although Rising has won just once since the beginning of June, the club still has a legitimate shot at the playoffs. They have 10 games to make up just five points on El Paso Locomotive. And, critically, they’ve played fewer games than nearly every other team in the Western Conference.

As such, ownership and the front office are united in their commitment to turning this season around. Last month, they bolstered that ambition by trading Marcus Epps — who is under team control through 2023 — for striker J.J. Williams, who has had a better season but is out of contract after this year.

And now, it’s part of the reason why they brought in Guerra.

“We believe in the support staff that is here, but for us, there's still too much to play for right now (to hire an interim manager),” Dulle said. Dulle also mentioned the ability to build the groundwork for next year, with both players and staff, as part of the reason to hire a full-time manager immediately.

Once Rising made the decision to eschew an interim, Guerra immediately jumped to the front of their short list.

Because he was an assistant in Phoenix last year, he has relationships with multiple key players, such as Aodhan Quinn, Kevon Lambert and James Musa. And as a Venezuelan who speaks Spanish as his first language, he has especially strong rapport with Spanish-speaking players like Santi Moar, Luis Seijas and Arturo Rodgriguez — many of whom have disappointed this season. Moar and Seijas, in particular, had shown signs of strained relationships with Schantz.

“I understand the culture of Arizona,” Guerra said. “I understand the culture of the people that come here and watch our games. So I'm very identified with that and I also believe and I share the same beliefs. So we're gonna try to put together on the field a team that reflects that.”

That prior experience eliminates much of the acclimation period typically required for new managers.

“He certainly had relationships and experiences that he can build upon,” Dulle said. “His ability to relate to the players and get the most out of the players and even as an assistant, his man management skills were extremely strong.”

The move was quickly finalized for two reasons. Guerra wanted to move to Phoenix because of the resources available and support from ownership, both of which are unique at the USL level. And his contract with Oakland did not have a clause preventing him from leaving.

But while the hire checks nearly every box on paper, there will still be some adjustments, especially tactically.

“Rick was more vertical than I was,” Guerra said. “I want to keep the ball a bit more. This was a lot of the arguments that we had in the office last year. So you're probably gonna see a team that is going to keep the ball a bit more than with Rick. Rick was very transitional. And we want to have the ability to be transitional. We want to have the ability to be vertical and attack spaces with speed. But I just want to have the ball a little more.”

Guerra, though, feels more prepared for those adjustments than he did six months ago, when he had never before been a manager.

“Good things take time,” Guerra said. “You have to make sure that you believe in your idea. Your north has to be clear. … Because adversity will come. It will happen, it happens to absolutely everybody.”

Theo Mackie covers Arizona high school sports and Phoenix Rising FC. He can be reached by email at theo.mackie@gannett.com and on Twitter @theo_mackie.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Rising’s Guerra hire shows a desire to win this season