Rita Guarino has been appointed as the new head coach of West Ham, replacing Rehanne Skinner.
Skinner was sacked by West Ham after taking just five points in the opening half of the Women’s Super League season.
Her last result was a 2-2 draw against relegation rivals Liverpool, despite the Reds being reduced to 10 players early in the game.
Below, SheKicks takes a look at the new West Ham head coach.
Who is Rita Guarino?
New West Ham head coach Rita Guarino is a former Italian international, who has had managerial spells with European giants Juventus and Inter Milan.
As a player, she represented the Italian national team as a striker, finishing just one cap away from reaching a century.
She played for clubs including Juventus, Torino, Reggiana, Fiammamonza, Torres and Lazio in Italy.
Her coaching career began with a spell with the Italian U17 side, before she took on the role as head coach of Juventus in 2017.
During her four years in charge of Juventus, she won four Serie A titles, a Coppa Italia and two Supercoppa Italiana trophies.
She left Juventus at the end of the 2020-21 season and controversially moved to rivals Inter Milan.
We are delighted to announce the appointment of Rita Guarino as the Club’s new women’s Head Coach ⚒️
— West Ham United Women (@westhamwomen) December 22, 2025
During her time with Inter she failed to win any trophies and achieved a best Serie A finish of third in 2022-23.
Guarino left Inter Milan at the end of the 2023-24 campaign, where they finished fifth – 25 points behind champions Roma.
The 54-year-old now returns to management with West Ham after a year and a half away from the game.
West Ham hope for big improvement under Guarino
After winning just one WSL game in the first-half of the campaign, West Ham are hoping for a much better second-half of the season under experienced head coach Guarino.
After losing 5-1 to Manchester City on Sunday in the Women’s League Cup, the Hammers have officially started their winter break.
Guarino will have some time to get to know her new players before they are next in action against Chelsea on January 11th.
She will hope to pull West Ham away from the relegation fight, as they sit just two points above bottom-of-the-table Liverpool.
However, there is no guarantee that the team that finishes bottom will be relegated, due to the WSL’s expansion to 14 teams next season.
The side that finishes bottom will face a playoff with the team that finishes third in WSL 2, to determine who plays in the top-flight in 2026-27.
