The past two weeks were remembered for personnel changes in teams from the bottom of the table. Three clubs changed their head coaches right away, which should somehow give them a boost.. Perhaps it is timely resignation that will save some of them? These three stories turned out so expressive that the name of the classic "Spaghetti Western", filmed in 1966 by Italian director Sergio Leone, came to mind.. Please do not treat issued specifications as literal..
“Good” Udinese Gone: Julio Velasquez Came: David Nikola A dubious idea - to appoint the head coach of a little-known foreign specialist, who had previously worked mainly in the Spanish Segunda. Somehow too much even for Udinese. Velazquez started relatively well, but when the Friules were down at the peak (one point in seven games) and finally lost to the competitors in the person of Empoli, radical measures were needed. The Spaniard should thank only for the progress of Rodrigo De Paul, who is really impressive this fall..
New choice Udinese inspires confidence. David Nikola - a man with an exciting and sometimes tragic biography. He became the hero of the miraculous rescue of Croton the year before last. A modest club from the very south of Italy, which formed the line-up mainly due to rentals, seemed to be doomed to fly out: nine rounds before the end, Crotone fell behind 17th place by eight points, but managed to close the gap, beating Inter and Lazio in passing. This, without exaggeration, Nicola dedicated his sensational success to his 14-year-old son, who died two years earlier while riding a bicycle.. The coach in the offseason arranged a bike ride across the country: 1300 kilometers from Crotone to the site of the tragedy in Piedmont. Extremely touching story.
Nikola is able to fight for survival, and this trait attracted the leadership of Udinese. There are, however, several reservations. Firstly, David himself has an extraordinary character.. A year ago, he left Crotone (the team, we note, went outside the relegation zone), not finding a common language with the president of the club - he went into the locker room during a break in the match that he categorically did not approve of. Secondly, mostly Italian footballers played in Croton, while Udinese, on the contrary, is pointedly international - based on only two local players (Lasagna and Mandragora), and even Scuffet, the goalkeeper, who competes with Argentine Mousso. But the skill level of these players is higher than in Croton, so for Nikola it is still a step forward..
"Bad" Chievo Gone: Giampiero Ventura Came: Domenico Di Carlo If Nicol is easily guessed by the "good" character, it is still more obvious with the "bad". It's hard to find a more hated person in Italian football than Giampiero Ventura. Under his command, the Italian national team failed for the first time in 60 years to qualify for the World Championship, and Ventura was remembered for persistence in decisions (4-2-4 bet, then ignoring Lorenzo Insigne) and inappropriate behavior following the results of the play-offs with Sweden, when instead of instant resignation he began to wait monetary compensation for dismissal.
His career, alas, continues to derail. For almost a year Ventura did not work and finally accepted Chievo who were stuck in the minuses because of three points taken before the start of the season. He changed the lineup to a module with three defenders, but the team did not help: homemade 1: 5 from Atalanta, followed by two more defeats and, finally, a draw with Bologna that allowed the “flying donkeys” to go to zero. Immediately after this match, the coach unexpectedly resigned, and Sergio Pellisier, the club’s legend, accompanied Ventura’s departure with a characteristic comment: “I haven’t seen this in 22 years of professional career. This is madness. Ventura showed from the first day that he wanted to leave. Do not act like he ".
New coach Chievo - Domenico Di Carlo. He twice (2008-2010 and 2011-2013) has already worked at this club.. He didn’t achieve much success, but at least he didn’t let the team fly out, although his second arrival ended up with the dismissal. Since then, Di Carlo worked in Serie B, and last season did not save Novaru from relegation. It seems that his appointment is the best option possible, since a queue of those who do not want is not lining up in the now hopeless Chievo.. Even before the appointment of Ventura, there was talk of David Nicholas, but now he is busy.
Well, what about Ventura? He, already a 70-year-old man, is fit to complete his coaching career that has lasted as much since 1980.. He seemed to have occupied his niche in 2009-2016, when he headed Bari and Torino, where many strong players (Bonucci, Ranocchia, Immobile, Belotti) opened up under his leadership, but the invitation to the national team turned out to be fatal - in Italy it is extremely critical for coaches who have failed with “Squadra Azzurra”, it is enough to remember how inconspicuously the “post-selection” career of Roberto Donadoni and Cesare Prandelli. It was even sadder at Ventura, whose fate reminded the stories of people who won the lottery, after which in record time they lost everything they could.
“Evil” Empoli Gone: Aurelio Andreatstsoli Came: Giuseppe Yachini Alas, Andreauzzoli didn’t get a new Maurizio Sarri or Marco Giampaolo - specialists who earned a ticket to high society in Empoli. Hope was, and far from scratch. Empoli spectacularly rivals in Series B, and in the elite he began with dignity.. Even ordinary matches of this team turned into a show, and Tuscans went to giants like Juventus and Napoli boldly, playing almost the first number.. Shots, accuracy of transfers, possession of the ball - according to all these indicators Empoli is in the top ten. The quality of the game, however, did not turn into a result, the attacking style played a cruel joke.. Insane 3: 3 with Frosinone and 1: 5 in Naples (Ancelotti said after the match that Empoli played better, but you will not add a compliment from Papa Carlo to the table) predetermined the fate of Andreatstsoli, who will now be snapped up in the clubs below.. This mentor deserves to return to Serie A once, he definitely has a memorable style..
His place was taken by Giuseppe Yakini, the coach is much more experienced. Appropriate appointment. A year ago, Yakini successfully worked as a crisis manager in Sassuolo.. “NeroVerdi” experienced the passing of Di Francesco, the inexperienced Christian Bucca failed, and Yakini, who came during the season, put things in order: there were not enough stars from the sky, but the team did not fight for survival.
Empoli is unlikely to avoid the hassle, because even Frosinone was cheered up, but the chances are quite working, since the team has a talented playmaker Hare and the typical “regional scorer” Caputo. Yakini's debut was extremely successful: thanks to the victory over Udinese, the team caught up with the Friuli. The coach himself was so nervous during the fight with his ex-club that he turned out to be disqualified “for blasphemy” (we’ll clarify that this is only an excessively rude expression, in Italian society the most dirty curses, in fact, blasphemous). Now perfectly fit into our text with the characteristic "evil".
Well, perhaps Empoli is needed here and now, not a beautifully playing romantic, but this practical specialist wearing a characteristic baseball cap (this is not for style, Yakini has vision problems). Who knows: perhaps the expected rise of Empoli and Udinese will twist the intrigue in the struggle for survival so much that at least a third of the league teams will be involved there? Italian Championship sometimes gives scripts worthy of the pen of Italian directors.