Two experienced Piedmontese. A Lazio player, novice, but with a future of considerable prospect. The choice for the Bari bench is being played out on the Turin-Rome axis, awaiting the formalization of Giuseppe Magalini in the role of sporting director. Three of the hottest names: Moreno Longo, Andrea Sottil and Alberto Aquilani. From the series “there will only be one left”, it is among these profiles that the future red and white coach is “hiding”. Out of the brawl came Inzaghi, for whom only the announcement of his new position in Pisa is awaited, D’Aversa, destined to lead the newly promoted Cesena, led by the USA, and also Vivarini, who after announcing his farewell to the Catanzaro seems destined for the bench of Venezia, in Serie A, or that of Frosinone. At the moment the percentages of a return to Puglia are very low.
Moreno Longo
It is not the first time in recent history that Bari and the 48-year-old from Turin have become close. It had already happened four months ago, before Iachini’s arrival, after Marino’s dismissal. Then the right feeling did not arise between the parties. Furthermore, Longo, fresh from his surprise dismissal from Como on 13 November, was probably not entirely convinced of taking charge of a complicated situation, as was then amply demonstrated by the red and whites’ season finale. The profile coincides with the identikit sought by Bari for the restart: an experienced and winning coach. In his career, the Piedmontese coach won a promotion to Serie A with Frosinone, at the end of the 2017-2018 Serie B championship, after beating Palermo in the playoff final. 2020 was the year of salvation in Serie A with Torino, after replacing Mazzarri. In the following season he led Alessandria to win the Serie C championship.
Andrea Sottil
Also in this case the approach to the Bari bench has often occurred in the recent past, in particular due to the excellent relationship with Ciro Polito. At the end of December 2020, during his management at Ascoli, the former red and white sporting director had focused on the 50-year-old from Venaria Reale to try to reach safety. After taking the second-to-last Bianconeri, Sottil managed to stay in Serie B, also avoiding the playout lottery. His professional successes also include promotion to Serie B with Livorno in 2018. However, he had an unhappy last season at Udinese, which ended with a dismissal last October, leaving the Friulians third to last in the standings.
Alberto Aquilani
Make way for young people. This can only be the motto to be included at the foot of the possible contract of the 39-year-old Roman, inspired in his coaching career by his friend and colleague De Zerbi. «I like him because he manages to give a precise identity to his teams», he declared last July during his presentation as coach of Pisa. The last championship marked the debut in Serie B for the former Roma midfielder after his triumphs as coach of the Fiorentina Primavera, where he won three Italian Cups in a row, thus obtaining the award for best coach in the category. In 2019 he was the technical collaborator of the former red and white coach Inchini.
Forms
Although they are very different personalities, there is a common denominator between Longo, Sottil and Aquilani: all three love the 3-man defence, in particular the former Como player who adopts it in different variations. The other two are more “versatile”, also oriented towards 4-3-1-2 and 4-3-3.
