Former Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri has been appointed by Chelsea Football Club as their new manager after sacking fellow Italian Antonio Conte. The 59 year old Naples born coach has signed a three year deal with the London club.
Who is Maurizio Sarri?
The Italian coach is a former banker turned coach. Sarri’s love affair started a long playing as an amateur footballer as well as working with Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena in Tuscany. Sarri worked in the bank in the morning, and trained and played in games in the afternoon and evening. At 40, he switched into coaching, following the same schedule he kept for his entire work life. After securing a role with minor side Tegoleto, he decided to quit his job to devote himself exclusively to his coaching career. His first professional coach job was in Serie B with Pescara in 2005 and perhaps his biggest achievement till date was securing Serie A promotion with Empoli in 2013-14 season and keeping them in the big league the following season. His rare success did not go unnoticed, Napoli president Aurelio Di Laurentiis convinced him to sign for the club after Rafa Benitez left for Real Madrid in 2015.
Sarri was a breath of fresh air in Napoli, he provided attacking football in contrast to Benitez defensive approach. In his first season, the club finished runners up with striker Gonzalo Higuain scoring 36 league goals to equal a record set by Gino Rossetti in 1928/29 season. After the departure of the Argentine striker, he opted not to spend the huge transfer fee received on a like-for-like replacement rather it was invested in improving the squad. Dries Mertens was drafted in as center forward and has performed.
Juventus’ recent dominance of the Italian top flight was almost ended by Sarri’s daring Napoli side last season. They ultimately fell short finishing four points behind the Old Lady, who wrapped up a seventh consecutive Scudetto but Sarri’s team fought hard against the Italian champions. His performance have been recognized by his players, club and even rival coaches. In 2017, he won the Enzo Bearzot Award in recognition of the work.
What to expect.
He is a coach that gives priority to improving his player’s technical and mental aspect of the game. Dries Merten, Piotr Zienlinski, Kalidou Koulibaby, Lorenzo Insigne are some of the Napoli players who have flourished better under Sarri’s guidance. The Italian coach is also a contrverisal figure; he is well known for his smoking habit, and is often seen smoking during games. RB Leipzig had to build a special smoking section in the locker room area in their stadium specifically for Sarri when the German club hosted Napoli in the Europa League. Sarri is well known for organizing his team to play attractive football. In his three year stint with the Naples club, his team was one of the most thrilling sides in Europe. Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, after playing against Napoli in last season’s Champions League, said: “We faced one of the best sides I faced in my career – probably the best.”
The former Empoli coach isn’t one to back down from a fight. He has been involved in heated exchange of words with several coaches in the Serie A including a memorable spat with Roberto Mancini then head coach of Inter Milan in 2016. We can expect fireworks on the touchline or media room when he comes face-to-face with Jose Mourinho and Jurgen Klopp.
It took him three months to settle in well in Napoli and bed in his philosophy, it would be interesting to see how much time Chelsea hierarchy give to this special tactician with the new Premier League campaign scheduled to start less than a month from now.
Chelsea open their 2018/19 campaign at the John Smith stadium away to Huddersfield Town.