The former defender talks about the coach who trained him with the Juventus Primavera: “The future? I advise him to go to a big team”
May 24, 2024
When the thought of Gian Piero Gasperini It gets inside you, it stays with you forever. Many players who have worked with the Piedmontese coach say it, he confirms it Happy Little One. The former defender met the future Europa League winning coach during his youth days. And with him he shared a triumph at the Viareggio Tournament: until a few days ago, the only coaching trophy put on Gasp’s board. He ran the year 2003the technician was driving the Juventus Spring to the victory over Slavia Prague in the final: 1-0, decisive goal by Close. In the ranks of the Bianconeri, the then 19-year-old Piccolo. The springboard that would then lead him to wear, among others, the shirts of Reggina, Lazio, Empoli, Chievo, Speziaas well as that of the Italian youth national teams.
“He taught me everything”
But Piccolo remembers his ‘Gasperinian’ period very well: “Years of joys and conflicts. Gasperini gets completely inside you, from a blood point of view,” the former player tells LaPresse. “Throughout my career I have had around forty coaches, but what I carried inside has a root and this root is his, together with the sacrifices you make as a child, the satisfactions, the pains. Gasperini he taught me everything and to him I can only say, simply, thank you”.
“When you are coached by him, you have already won”
Already in the Primavera days we could glimpse the winning ‘recipe’ of the coach from Grugliasco. “When you are coached by himfrom an athletic, technical, tactical point of view, you have already won. His teams impose themselves with duels, with boarding games. All things – he explains – that he applied already when he coached us kids. And which over the years he has then applied at ever greater levels. From the point of view of athletic work, Gasperini I then saw him again in Delio Rossi, Zeman, Conte. With Antonio we know that the work is very hard: under him, workforce equals victory. Gasperini’s method is a sort of mix. Innovative ideas with a solid root, based on daily work. To simplify: you start strong on Tuesday and on Sunday, in the match, it’s a walk in the park. And then – Piccolo underlines – one thing distinguishes it very happy connection between athletic and technical work. And it also keeps you entertained. Which is not at all secondary.” Gasperini’s fame, confirmed by some of his players, is that of iron sergeant. “Of course, he has his methods. He doesn’t mince words, he tells you things to your face” says the former defender. “If you are with him, follow his line in every way. But with the certainty that, if you follow him, you will carry with you over the years everything he transmits to you. And Gasperini gets straight to the essence of football. There are those who perhaps experience these things in a ‘traumatic’ way, even if it is ‘only’ about football. And who, under his management, managed to take the step forward. If you look at the players he coached in the youth teams, you will see that most of them arrived in Serie A. It’s not a casuality”.
“Palladino? It was clear that he had the makings of a mister.”
By the way: he also played in the Juventus Primavera that year Raffaele Palladino, who shined at the helm of Monza. “I have had teammates who later became coaches and I would never have bet on some that they would end up on a bench. On Palladino, however, I would have bet. You could see he had what it takes. He always positioned himself in the right way, he was direct, he listened a lot. Certain, I didn’t expect it to move forward so quickly. The same goes for Gilardino and Inzaghi. Simone, as a player, had a great personality, he was a diplomat, he could manage any type of situation. Qualities – he underlines – which have led him to the triumphs he recently experienced with Inter”.
The future of Gasp? “I advise him to go to a big one”
These are the days in which Gasperini’s future is decided: Is it better to stay in his kingdom in Bergamo or is it time for new adventures? “We need to understand if the destination is a club where they are looking more for a ‘manager’ of players or a coach who teaches football, who wants to ‘train’ the players on a daily basis. For sure, Gasperini is a technician who when he makes a decision he must be supported in every way from society. I would advise him to take the leap. Landing in a big one with which to perhaps try to attack the Champions League. He won in Bergamo, after many years he can apply his methods to teams with bigger ‘engines’. Gasperini deserves it. Also because I fear – he concludes – that it will be difficult with Atalanta to repeat the extraordinary things made in recent years.”
