It was November 16, 2003, in group B of C2 Sangiovannese and Aglianese in the province of Arezzo faced each other: on one side on the bench there was Maurizio Sarri and on the other a certain Massimiliano Allegri. It ended 0-0 without a shot on target, a festival of boredom that triggered one of the few fans in the stands who shouted from behind the benches: “If you two are coaches…”. Implied: “I can coach too”. A match that Sarri (but also Allegri) always recalls and that he wanted to remember today too, on the sidelines of the “A coffee with Maurizio” initiative, one of the events that is part of the series of meetings planned throughout the municipal territory by the coalition in support of Valerio Pianigiani Mayor, from the centre-left area and which was held at the Arci del Matassino club, which was sold out for the occasion. On the occasion, the former coach also spoke about his future, his youth, his bond of friendship with the former president of the Superior Council of the Judiciary David Ermini and politics, which disappointed him.
Sarri and the possible future in Bologna
In recent weeks, Sarri’s name has been linked to the Premier League, to Turin and above all to Bologna, where he could inherit Thiago Motta’s bench, but the Tuscan coach shies away: “My future? Now I’m going to have lunch with my dad. I still have ties with Lazio and therefore I can’t do it. Although, I must say, in these twenty days I have heard a lot of c…In 2-3 years however I will stop and I will focus on helping my territory and the people who deserve it for what they have done over the years”.
It is a strong bond between the Sarri family and Figline Valdarno. Not only because Maurizio, son of a worker, Amerigo, a former amateur and independent cyclist, despite being born in Naples, grew up in this corner of Tuscany, but also because he fully experienced the social and associative life of the town. Despite the distance for professional reasons: “I am anchored in Figline, I grew up in the square. Then I played in the Figline youth team and five years in the first team. I have to give thanks to those who raised me, the coaches and all those who have been part of my career. And today I’m here having a coffee with my lifelong friend Valerio Pianigiani. Just as in recent days I stopped at a local Under 12 training session and saw real football. I returned home with a sense of contentment.”
Sarri and disappointment with politics
He told an anecdote about his bond with Ermini. “One day, during an interview with the Gazzetta dello Sport, a journalist asked me about a photo taken at the elementary school in Figline. In that photo it was me and David. I reminded him that the teacher told us that we were the only two who didn’t understand anything”, he said, amidst general laughter”. He is no longer as passionate about politics as he once was and he said he was disappointed. “Today we are witnessing a lack of ideals which is very dangerous. So we have to choose people.”
Sacchi’s praise and thanks to Berlusconi
We cannot fail to praise Sacchi with whom there is mutual respect: “Arrigo is one of the few who changed football. There is a before Sacchi and an after Sacchi in the last century”. Galliani also liked Sarri and could have coached Milan but Berlusconi’s veto arrived: “If Berlusconi’s no to Milan hadn’t come for me, I would never have coached that great Napoli.”
