Have Coaching Manual, Will Travel

Food, design and culture have long been Italy’s main exports yet football coaches are climbing rapidly up that particular list. Fabio Capello in England, Giovanni Trapattoni first at Austria Salburg and then the Republic of Ireland, Luigi De Canio at QPR and Gianni de Biasi at Levante all took their coaching philosophies abroad over the past twelve months and now they’ve been joined by Roberto Landi at Livingston.

Not that his name is likely to register with too many people back home. Indeed you’re only likely to get a flicker of recognition if you mention him to a Ravenna fan, albeit one with anorak tendencies, as that is the club where Landi grew up and went on to play in goal a handful of times in the mid-seventies.

Landi’s career is certainly atypical. After Ravenna he moved on to Modena, Piacenza and Siena, always as the backup keeper, before seemingly getting the big break to play for Pisa in the Serie A. Sadly, the deal fell through: his image – long hair and rugged look typical with youths of the era – didn’t sit comfortably with those in charge of the club. So, at twenty-three, he decided to look elsewhere.

And he really meant elsewhere. He went to Vancouver Whitecaps, where he would eventually be succeeded by a certain Bruce Grobbelaar, and followed that with stints in Chicago and even South Africa at Kaizer Chiefs. By the time he returned in America in 1983 to play for NASL legends New York Cosmos, soccer’s boom as well as the money had long since dried away. Yet, Landi remained, not only playing but also coaching goalkeepers at the club’s academy.

He eventually returned to Italy to play for semi-professional outfits like Cervia (later to achieve notoriety of sorts as the side at the centre of a football themed reality show on Italian television) and Marciano before quitting at 30. The links with America, however, remained. He was retained as consultant with the NCAA and traveled the country doing conferences. At the 1990 and 1994 World Cups he was even the national team’s goalkeeping coach. Yet that was before the MLS when there was little money doing the rounds and coaching there on a permanent basis impossible.

So he turned to Eastern Europe that was at the time opening up to foreign influences and eager to learn from foreign coaches. An able agent in Ivan Benes got him the Georgian U21 national team job – where he was in charge of a side containing Kakha Kaladze and Shota Arveladze - which was followed by a similar post in Lithuania. Then came the call from Romania.

At the time, Landi was mulling over the offer to manage Ghana (where another Italian, Roberto Dossena, had been coach) when Walter Zenga, the former manager of National Bucharest, was asked by the club’s owner whether he knew of a good coach who could speak fluent English. Zenga remembered about Landi and put him in touch. The job was soon his and he promptly settled in, leading the side to a title challenge before quitting, officially for personal reasons but more likely because of the internal politics that characterized the club.

In Romania he returned soon afterwards when he briefly took charge of FC Soporon having been at the head of the Qatar U21 side in between.

All the while, he pined for a job at home, something that for all his experience was still practically impossible: no one knew who he was. Yet, whilst Italian clubs continued to shy away, he had made his mark on Angelo Massone and when the Roman lawyer bought Livingston FC, he quickly announced that Landi would be taking over.

His knowledge of Eastern European and world football, ability to work with young players, huge contacts book – he turned to Goerge Weah and Abedi Pele for advice when he was offered the Ghana job – and fluency with the English language made him almost too perfect for a job in Britain.

Landi won’t be the first Italian to coach in Scotland – Ivano Bonetti bet him to that accolade – but surely no one has ever come to the country with such a varied CV. Just as there can’t be many coaches who can boast travelling to the Ukraine to learn from Valeri Lobanovsky or sitting through Luis Van Gaal’s training sessions in order to review the Dutch master’s methods.

Their fluid styles of play have inevitably made their mark on him yet Landi remains a pragmatist. Initially, his teams will play with in a basic 4-4-2 formation just as he has always done upon taking over a new team. It is the most easily understood system and the most practical one when you’re still learning about the abilities of your players. That, however, will evolve as he gets to know his team and the level of football they’re playing in.

That is the sort of tactical nous and approach that has made Italian coaches such a sought after commodity. Landi might not enjoy the same reputation as Capello and Trapattoni, but perhaps that is what makes him all the more appropriate for a club like Livington.

Win and Hope For Donadoni

Win or bust. That is what is facing Italy tonight, putting aside that it could be win AND bust if results elsewhere don’t go their way. That too is the reality for Roberto Donadoni: contract or not, if Italy go out then so too would the national coach.

For many, that would be the predictable conclusion of a rushed decision. Prior to taking the Italy job, Donadoni’s only previous experience was at Livorno where he was famously sacked by the Aldo Spinelli, the club’s president, on national television.
In truth, his track record there wasn’t at all negative – Livorno were heading for UEFA Cup qualification when he was dismissed – yet not enough to suggest that he could take over the national team especially with the added pressure of guiding the world champions weighing him down.

It was and remains a surprise decision, particularly as there were other much more qualified candidates like Fabio Capello and Carlo Ancelotti who would have willingly taken the job. Yet it was also the peak of the calciopoli scandal at a point where no one knew who was in charge of Italian football following a series of resignations and dismissals.

Donadoni has never managed to shake off that impression about him being in the job by virtue of someone failing to really tackle the issue. His lack of popularity was reflected in the Italian federation’s reluctance into renewing his contract, apparently happy to go into a major championship with a coach whose future was undecided.

To his credit, Donadoni has grown into the role. Having been outclassed by France in his first game of qualification, he has slowly been shaping the side on his own mentality and so as to handle the loss through retirement of two key players like Francesco Totti and Alessandro Nesta.

By the end of qualifications, it was as if the Italy of old was back: determined, clinical and capable of playing attractive football. That rumours of an apparent interest by Milan to make him their manager started to surface hinted that Donadoni might be starting to win people over, not to mention finally got him a contract renewal.

Then came Holland and the biggest defeat in a major championship for almost forty years that was followed by an unimpressive draw with Romania. The critics started crawling back out, even if Donadoni was at least cut some slack thanks to the erroneous referee decisions – perceived or not – as well as the injury to Fabio Cannavaro that has exposed the lack of alternatives at the back.

Not that Donadoni is blameless. His decision – or deferral thereof - to appoint two captains following the injury to Cannavaro sent out the wrong message, one whereby he was either too undecided or else incapable of managing his players to decide between Del Piero and Buffon.
It was the same after the opening game defeat when he suddenly swept away all that had been prepared in the run up to the championships and opted to bring in five new players. Some of these were undoubtedly through personal choice or rethinking but there was also the feeling that media pressure had played a role, and an important one, in his decisions.

Even so, Donadoni appears uncertain about his best formation. Antonio Cassano and Simone Perrotta could play just behind Luca Toni up front tonight meaning more changes that feel too much like being experimental to really be of much comfort.

In this respect, the contrast with Marcello Lippi couldn’t be more marked. True, Lippi frequently changed his sides but that was to give them different tactical inflections something that proved to be crucial in the World Cup. He knew how to face each team and which players suited which opponent.

Donadoni, on the other hand, seems to be making changes in hope rather than belief. Just as talk of hope has been making the headlines for the past days, with talk of whether Holland will be putting much of a fight against Romania. Because, ultimately, whatever Donadoni and his players do today could prove to be futile.

Just like his best efforts to convince people of his worth.

In Search of a Perfect Ending

'Meiu poci che nisu'. Better a few then none.

Those are the words on a banner, written in the Bergamasco dialect, that has been touring Italy with Albinoleffe this season and it couldn't be any other way. With an average home attendance of barely 2,400 - only a dozen or so travel with the team for away games - they are by far the smallest club in the Serie B. Smaller even then Chievo Verona.

Yet, like Chievo, they too could be playing in the Serie A next season. Seperating them are 180 minutes against Lecce in the Serie B play-off which, if successful, would signal the biggest fairy tale in Italian football since, well, Chievo's first promotion.

Albinoleffe was formed just ten years ago through the merger of two local rivals in the form of Albinese and Leffe. It wasn't exactly a happy marriage - Leffe fans felt that it was a degrading move for a club that had spent most of the nineties in the Serie C1 - yet with the arrival of coach Elio Gustinetti feelings quickly changed.

With a policy strictly in favour of local players largely from Bergamo and the surroundings, they got promotion to the Serie B and surprisingly stayed there. Gustinetti left and in his place came Emiliano Mondonico who last season led the club to their best ever season. When Mondonico left there was only ever going to be one candidate to take over: Gustinetti.

And how he took over, making slight tactical alterations to a side that played very attractive football but which made them more efficient. Coupled with the explosion of striker Marco Chiellini and they raced to the top of the division.

Which is where they've stayed ever since even if a late string of negative results cost them the possibility of direct promotion. Those results also cost Gustinetti his job, a surprise decision with a game to go, and he was replaced by the former youth team chief Armando Madonna who is also the father of current midfielder Nicola.

It was a surprise decision but not one that has really had a negative impact. Against Brescia in the semi-final they showed their character to recover from an unjust 1-0 away defeat in which Chiellini was wrongly sent-off. It is the sort of character show that they must show against Lecce to conclude their fairy tale in the best possible manner.

Del Piero's Rebirth

If Alessandro Del Piero was looking for closure then there could have barely hoped for a better stage for the European Championships: it was here that his career first went into a freefall.

It is the 2nd of July, 2000 and Italy are taking on World Champions France in the final of the European Championships. The French are firm favourites whilst Dino Zoff’s azzurri can hardly believe their luck in being there. In the semi-final they had somehow overcome Holland who had missed two penalties in normal time before going on to, fittingly, lose the penalty kick-off.
Yet it was the Italians who went ahead and looked to be heading for a win. Then Sylvain Wiltord popped up with a dramatic final minute goal to send the game into extra-time and then David Trezeguet did likewise to win it by scoring the golden goal.

Many back in Italy blamed Del Piero for that defeat. Two marvelous chances to score the second goal and kill off the game had fallen at his feet. Del Piero had missed them both.

By that time he had long since stopped being Italy’s golden boy. If anything, he had become a burden, a player retained by both Juventus and Italy because of his past achievement rather than his current contribution. A serious injury suffered two years earlier had apparently killed off whatever special talent there had been.

Not everyone, however, was willing to discard Del Piero. Not only Dino Zoff but also Carlo Ancelotti and Marcelo Lippi had kept faith in him as well as the Juventus fans. Most stayed by his side when Fabio Capello rode in from Roma and suddenly started treating Del Piero as a glorified squad player.

Del Piero, in turn, remained faithful to Juventus when things suddenly and dramatically went bad. He was one of the few star players who immediately confirmed that he would stay with them even in the Serie B and fittingly it was during that season that his reputation started to resurface.

Twenty one goals in a majestic campaign where Juventus breezed through the division added another title to his name. Yet if the sight of Del Piero doing well in the Serie B had been expected, his sudden return to form in the Serie A wasn’t. Many have argued that 2007-08 was the best of his career, with his twenty-one goals marking him out as the league’s top scorer and a main reason for Juventus’ claiming third spot in the league.

Those goals and his form saw him regain his place in the national squad. To a degree, public pressure saw to that as Donadoni has never seemed a big fan of his. He too, however, ultimately realized the importance of having someone like Del Piero not only because of his undoubted footballing merits but also because omitting him might have burdened the team with too much un-needed media pressure.

That, however, is as far as he has gone. The starting slot that many felt should belong to Del Piero will instead go to Uinese’s Antonio de Natale who at least made life easy for Donadoni by scoring a brace in the final friendly against Belgium. Even if Donadoni himself didn’t seem to eager to facilitate things by naming Del Piero as captain after the injury to Fabio Cannavaro. For a brief instant, that decision caused a flurry of rumours that he would be starting the game before it transpired that the captaincy had only passed to Del Piero because he was the senior member in the squad. On the pitch against Holland, the captain will be Gigi Buffon.

Yet for Del Piero the opportunity remains there. If anything it is even better for he is left with the prospect of changing the direction of games as a substitute and finally exorcise the demons that have been harrying himself for eight long years.

Life in Midfield

There was a time when I was well into the melancholic rock of Luciano Ligabue. Not so much into him any more but, inspired by the posting on the excellent Any Major Dude With Half a Heart, and seeing that (thankfully) the tradition of having an official song hasn't yet reached Italy I've decided to do a post about his Una Vita Da Mediano (roughly translated Life as a Defensive Midfielder / Midfield Workhorse) song on the eve of Euro 2008.

The song is about all those who do the dirty work that doesn't get noticed but which is vital for others to shine. I like it partly because I feel like one myself and partly as my favourite players have always been that type.

Ligabue is, of course, one of the many famous Inter fans (although in his case the passion is genuine) and even puts in a mention to Gigi Oriali, the mediano in the Grande Inter side of the sixties and seventies. Un Vita Da Mediano was also the title of Ligabue's autobiography.

I'm sure that I can't do the song much credit but here's my attempt at translating the lyrics.

winning balls
born without good feet
working on your lungs
a life in midfield
with a fixed role
and to cover a certain area
and giving your all
always there
in the middle
as long as you've got you stay there
a life in midfield
one of those who don't score much
who the ball
must give to those
who can conclude
life in midfield
seeing that nature
didn't give you
neither the speed nor the finish
of the number ten what a pity
there
always there
in the middle
as long as you've got you stay there
stay there
always there
in the middle
as long as you've got
as long as you've got
stay there
life in midfield
as one who
gets burnt out quickly
because when you've given a lot
you've got to make way
workin like Oriali
years of work and hits
and maybe win the World Cup
there
always there
in the middle
there
always there
in the middle
as long as you've got you stay there
stay there
always there
in the middle
as long as you've got
as long as you've got
stay there

And here's the original text
recuperar palloni
nato senza i piedi buoni
lavorare sui polmoni
una vita da mediano
con dei compiti precisi
a coprire certe zone
a giocare generosi
sempre li'
li' nel mezzo
finche' ce n'hai stai li'
una vita da mediano
da chi segna sempre poco
che il pallone
devi darlo a chi
finalizza il gioco
una vita da mediano
che natura
non ti ha dato
ne' lo spunto della punta
ne' del dieci che peccato
li'
sempre li'
li' nel mezzo
finche' ce n'hai stai li'
stai li'
sempre li'
li' nel mezzo
finche' ce n'hai
finche' ce n'hai
stai li'
una vita da mediano
da uno che
si brucia presto
perche' quando hai dato troppo
devi andare e fare posto
una vita da mediano
lavorando come Oriali
anni di fatiche e botte
e vinci casomai i mondiali
li'
sempre li'
li' nel mezzo
finche' ce n'hai stai li'
stai li'
sempre li'
li' nel mezzo
finche' ce n'hai
finche' ce n'hai
stai li'

And, finally, here's the song itself:

Death of a Forgotten Legend

History tends to deal exclusively with the successful. They are often the ones given prominence with the rest being relegated to mere footnotes irrespective of how vital their contribution. It is only by looking at the human element behind every story that real heroes start to emerge.

The news of Paulo Amaral’s death got very little mention in Brazil and almost none at all in Italy. Yet he played a crucial role in both countries’ footballing history.

Officially, Amaral was called in to help in the physical preparation of the two-time World Cup winning Brazilian teams of 1958 and 1962. Qualified in physical education and a huge athletics’ enthusiast, his methods were common practice in his favourite sport but nothing short of revolutionary in the football world of the 1950s. where he had initially been invited to work by Pirillo at Botofogo in 1957.

It was at Botofogo, upon the request of coach Pirillo, that he started out in 1957 but his popularity soon spread out. A year later he made his way to Sweden with the national team where Pele and many of the side’s young players quickly became fans of his methods.

Unofficially, the rumour is that it wasn’t simply the players’ bodies that he took care of: Amaral is said to have been the one who prepared the team tactically even if the coaches of the sides were Vicente Feola and Aimoré Moreira.

Whatever the truth, in 1962 he did take up a managerial role at Juventus where he had been chosen by the then head of Fiat, Vittore Catella. It wasn’t a popular appointment and Amaral was massacred by the critics yet in his outlook on how the game should be played there was Amaral’s main redeeming feature.

The Brazilian was one of the pioneers of zonal marking, and wanted his teams to press and play entertaining football, a philosophy that went against that of the most successful Italian teams of the era, the catenaccio obsessed Inter side of Helenio Herrera and the AC Milan one of Nereo Rocco.

And he almost succeeded. Up till the end of his first season his technically inferior side fought hard to win the title, pulled forward by the talent of Omar Sivori – with whom Amaral worked his magic and got motivated enough to train hard – and the raw power of Brazilian striker Miranda. Yet they didn’t make it, ultimately falling away to finish third.

That was to be as good as it got for him. A year later he was sacked and, after an unsuccessful year with Genoa, he was off to Porto before returning home to Brazil.

Thirty years later, another man tried his luck with a similar system to that adopted by Amaral. His name was Arrigo Sacchi and, having been considerably more successful, he has gone down as one of the games visionary. Amaral, on the other hand, will have to make do with the tag of the Physical Education teacher who went on to coach Juventus, a footnote in the history of the game for all apart from those willing to look closer.

Paulo Amaral: 1924 - 2008

Andrea Dossena: Local Boy Done (Surprisingly) Good

Verona fans still can’t believe it. Not that their team is in the Serie C1 – although there is incredulity there as well – but rather that Andrea Dossena has become so good.

Often when a local player, particularly one who had come through the ranks to establish himself in the first team, gets to move on this is coupled by expressions of sadness and disappointment. Not for Dossena, however for whom few tears shed. The over-riding feeling was the he simply wasn’t that good.

Of course, the same was said when Massimo Oddo left Verona for Lazio. And when Marco Cassetti moved to Roma. Yet both have gone on to establish themselves among the top players in the Serie A, both have played for Italy and, in Oddo’s case, even gone on to win the Champions League.

Dossena has done the same albeit in a more roundabout manner. His move to Treviso was triggered by the small club’s surprise promotion to the Serie A a tavolino and their desperate attempt to find affordable players irrespective of ability.

With such a strategy, a return to the Serie B was inevitable yet they did strike it lucky with Dossena. He did enough to catch Udinese’s attention who saw in him the ideal replacement for the retiring Vincent Candela.

It was a surprise choice but, as often with Udinese, also the correct one. Given confidence from the start, he has slowly emerged as one of the left-backs in the league.

Such was his progression that last December came his first appearance in an Italy shirt that was soon followed by speculation linking him to a move to Juventus. Many had likened him to Gianluca Zambrotta, the World Cup winning defender, for his strength, ease with which he moves forward and defensive capabilities.

Realistically, he’s not at that level yet but he has improved massively over the space of the past three yeas and gives impression of being a very intelligent defender. He’s shown great tactical flexibility, performing equally as well within a traditional 4-4-2 formation and in a more attack oriented 4-3-3.

Tellingly, however, it is in the latter system – the one preferred by current Udinese coach Pasquale Marino – that he has done best. By his own admission, the freedom to press forward suits him better even if defensively very little changes. It has certainly placed him more in the spotlight: apart from Juan Vargas there arguably wasn’t a better left-back in the Serie A last season.

Much to the continued amazement of Verona fans.