Renzo Ulivieri. An Italian icon. A legend. How could you say otherwise? 42 years as a working coach. 42 years! And even now, with it being 15 years since his last post, Ulivieri remains at the forefront of Italian coaching as boss of the Football Managers’ Association.
At 82, Ulivieri is as enthusiastic as ever about local coaches and local coaching. The tactics. The innovations. The personalities and achievements. Ulivieri, in conversation with Tribalfootball.com, spoke openly and passionately about today’s rise of Italian coaching and last season’s success in Europe of Serie A teams.
“There are coaches who started their career from the top and other coaches who started their career from the bottom,” says Ulivieri. “I think that with Coverciano we have a good school for our coaches. But an important factor is also our championships – Serie A, Serie B, etc. – they prepare our coaches better than most.”
On the sudden appeal of Italian coaches across Europe, he adds: “I would not say it’s about the appeal of the Italian coaches, but it’s about their knowledge, their professionalism and understanding of football.
“These coaches are worthy, and this is something other leagues are seeing.”
Among those making an impact is Roberto de Zerbi of Brighton. The former Sassuolo coach led the Seagulls to Europa League qualification last season – a first for the club.
“De Zerbi is a coach with a gradual growth from Serie C,” says Ulivieri. “He has had different experiences in different teams. He is a coach who has had a continued evolution because our thought is a coach should not stay with the ideas and thoughts of one or two years before it becomes old. He needs to evolve. De Zerbi is a coach of the future.”
In Serie A, another young coach has drawn comparisons with De Zerbi. Thiago Motta, now of Bologna, has won great praise not only from the usually critical local press, but also from his peers. Ulivieri is delighted watching Motta’s progress and admits he sees him reaching the elite level – though recommends he doesn’t jump too soon.
“Thiago had a difficult experience at Genoa after he managed an important championship with Spezia. It has been an important championship with Bologna, as he arrived in a difficult moment after the death of (Sinisa) Mihajlovic.
“Motta at Bologna brought the fans closer to the team, played beautiful football, and it was a group made for him because Bologna was a technical team.
“In the end, I think he made a good choice to remain as coach of Bologna because another year there will be very valuable in his journey.”
Another local which Italian football has high hopes for is Alberto Gilardino. The former AC Milan and Fiorentina striker is preparing for his first season as Serie A coach after leading Genoa to promotion.
Gilardino only took charge midway through last season, but Ulivieri believes he has all the attributes to handle the step up: “Alberto is a serious person.
“He knows football and understands it. I think that he has the experience and character to continue the good job he started in Serie B with Genoa.”
Famous for leading Sampdoria back to Serie A over 40 years ago, where he would spend three years, Ulivieri was also eager to mention his old club and the appointment of Andrea Pirlo.
The former Juventus coach has returned to Italy after a year away in Turkey with Fatih Karagumruk. Pirlo agreeing to take charge of Samp after last season’s relegation and sale to the Andrea Radrizzani-led consortium.
Ulivieri admits he’s happy seeing Pirlo back in Italian football – and with his old club.
“I am very happy regarding Sampdoria and their decision to hire Pirlo as the new coach,” he smiled. “I hope that everything goes well for Pirlo and Sampdoria.
“But I am sure that Andrea has all the characteristics to lead Sampdoria back to Serie A.”
And as this wide-ranging conversation came to an end, we just had to get Ulivieri’s opinion on the man in charge of AS Roma. The pair had crossed swords last season in the local press. But when pushed, Ulivieri insists the impact of Jose Mourinho has only been positive for Serie A and local coaching development.
“In my opinion, he’s had a positive impact,” declared Ulivieri. “And not only regarding the trophy (Europa Conference League) he won.
“He also offers us an example of the importance of the stature a coach can have.”
