Juan Carlos Osorio grew up in Colombia and spent his adult life playing and coaching in the United States. Not the usual background of a English Premier League coach.

''You could say I had two stigmas,'' says Osorio, the fitness coach/assistant coach of Manchester City. ''South American coaches are practically unheard of in England, and MLS, where I came from, doesn't get as much respect as it should.''

But when Manchester City sought a fitness coach, it contacted American conditioning guru Vern Gambetta. He recommended Osorio, then an assistant with the MetroStars. Osorio, who played at Southern Connecticut State University and in the A-League, had collected coaching badges from around the world and a science & football degree at John Moores University in Liverpool.

Manchester City hired Osorio to help the Blues return to the Premier League. Traditionally, English clubs used ex-pros to handle fitness training, which usually meant a lot of running.

''Most coaches regard fitness conditioning as one thing and soccer as another,'' says Osorio, who arrived in 2001. ''I don't.''

Because Osorio almost always includes ball play, his methods were an immediate hit with the Blues, who finished first in the First Division to win promotion. They finished ninth in the Premiership last season, and Osorio was credited for making soft-tissue injuries a rarity.

Osorio and his wife, Juliette, have two children, 3-year-old Sergio and 5-month-old Sebastian. They miss the United States, but Osorio is enamored by English soccer.

''The Spanish League may be the best technically, and the Italian League the best tactically,'' he says, ''But when it comes to end-to-end, action-packed soccer, players committing 100 percent, speed of play, dynamism and stadium atmosphere, the Premier League is No. 1.

''In the last eight to 10 years, as clubs brought in more foreign players, fewer teams play Route 1 soccer – long balls to the top for a big, strong lad to flick on – and you have at least half the teams really playing football, working the ball out of the back.''

British teams, like South American teams, usually line up in 4-4-2 formations, but Osorio points out a key difference.

''South American midfielders don't attack much down the wings,'' he says. ''Two defensive midfielders play behind the attacking midfielders, so it's almost a 4-2-2-2. In England, two midfielders always play wide.''

by Soccer America Executive Editor Mike Woitalla