The serial champions’ new manager brought instant improvement in win over Sampdoria with a flush of youth It did not take Andrea Pirlo long to get back in character as Il Maestro. On Monday he had been a student, successfully defending his thesis to complete his Uefa Pro Licence course at the Manager’s School in Coverciano. On Sunday, he was a teacher, helping the new kids at Juventus to integrate with their returning classmates whilst ensuring that the highest standards were maintained. Related: European roundup: Real Madrid held goalless by Real Sociedad Related: Roma’s Marash Kumbulla: ‘I liked to watch Smalling. I tried to learn from him’ Continue reading...
Will the rookie manager steer Juventus to a 1oth straight title or could Inter, or Lazio or Atalanta, finally topple them?Millions of Italian children went back to school on Monday. So did the manager of Juventus. Andrea Pirlo was completing the final stage of his Uefa Pro licence course, defending a thesis he had submitted two weeks earlier under the title “My Football”.His writings will soon be made available, joining those of every other coach who has passed through Italy’s famous Scuola Allenatori (Managers’ School), in the library of the technical centre in Coverciano. Most of us, though, will get our first real insight into Pirlo’s vision for how the game should be played when Juventus host Sampdoria in their...
Serie A teams spent the first weekend of August bringing down the curtain on a campaign that launched 49 weeks agoCalcio d’Agosto. The words translate simply to ‘August football’ but in the Italian sporting lexicon they have a specific place: deployed every summer to stop fans from getting carried away. Your team just beat Barcelona in a friendly, conceded six goals to a team of local lumberjacks at training camp, or even lost the league opener to newly-promoted opponents? Calm down, forget about it, it’s only ‘calcio d’Agosto’. The games that matter won’t come until the spring. Related: Serie A roundup: Immobile equals scoring record as Roma win at Juventus Related: Ciro Immobile: 'Goldilocks' footballer or deserved goal record-chaser? |...
The Lazio striker stands one shy of Gonzalo Higuaín’s record and, 14 penalties or not, he has enjoyed a stellar campaignTo listen to Ciro Immobile on Wednesday night was to wonder whether he might be in the wrong line of work. “I hate it when I absolutely have to score,” he said at the end of Lazio’s 2-0 win over Brescia. “It just doesn’t sit right.”A surprising sentiment, for a man who has made his living scoring goals – and who happens to be very good at it. Immobile netted his 35th of this Serie A campaign just a few minutes earlier, running on to Joaquín Correa’s through-ball and sweeping one of his calling-card sidefoot finishes beyond the goalkeeper Lorenzo...
As the city reconnects two years after tragedy, Genoa and Sampdoria played a Derby della Lanterna unlike any other“Can happiness be sad?” The question was posed by Fabio Quagliarella in an open letter published this week by Gazzetta dello Sport. The Sampdoria captain was looking ahead to Wednesday’s derby against Genoa, but also to the imminent inauguration of the Saint George bridge, built to reconnect a city divided since the Morandi bridge collapsed two years ago.As Quagliarella observed, the new construction will benefit everyone who lives in Genoa. Designed by the renowned architect Renzo Piano, its lights and supporting pillars have been shaped to evoke sailing vessels and reflect the city’s maritime traditions. Yet its existence will always be a...