Carlos Cuesta: ‘Leaving was maybe the most difficult decision of my life’
The Parma manager Carlos Cuesta on his Arsenal exit, Arteta’s impact and coaching for half of his lifetime at 30 ‘You can feel there has been success here and also there have been many ups and downs’ 27 Dec 2025 - THE GUARDIAN / Sport Nick Ames Carlos Cuesta, towards the end of his first major interview, briefly lets himself wonder how far his journey will take him. “Maybe one day it brings the Maldives,” he says with a laugh, the joke being football managers can quickly be banished from view, twiddling their thumbs on the beach, once their star has faded. Still, would that be so bad? “It could be better or worse, it depends when or why. If it’s because you want it, or if it’s because somebody told you to go.” If soaking up rays sounds like anathema to Cuesta it is because he has barely wasted a minute. In June, shortly before turning 30, he took the reins at Parma and became the youngest head coach in Serie A since 1939. Half of his life had been spent building up to that moment. “I f...