If it can’t be him, let it at least be someone very similar. A few hours have passed since the summit which marked the abrupt turning of the page for Catanzaro from Vivarini’s management – with everything it represented in terms of enthusiasm, successes and smiles – to the unknown future. Having digested the clear no from the Abruzzo coach to continue the adventure on his own bench – differences of opinion in the line stated by the interested party, absence of stimuli on his part that which is instead filtering through via Gioacchino da Fiore – the club immediately started motorcycle to find the right figure to whom to entrust the restart for the coming new year. The indication now seems clear: everything up Alberto Aquilani. Precisely because, as mentioned, the desire is not to deviate too much from the tactical system of the Abruzzese, to maintain as much as possible the underlying philosophy that has guided these last two years of victories, but filling it with a healthy breath of freshness that ex Pisa – until two seasons ago at the helm of the beautiful Fiorentina Primavera – would bring as a gift.
DNA – Curious to think that only a few months ago, right in the press room of the “Ceravolo”, Aquilani himself found himself commenting on the label given to him by insiders as the “heir” of Ari’s colleague. «I don’t feel like it – he said almost mockingly – he has been coaching for many years, while I have only been coaching for a handful of games in Serie B».
Yet the comparisons have been abounding for the entire time, proving to be well-founded both from the point of view of the game and of thought. His Pisa have a chameleonic set-up: set on a four-man back line with two screens in front of the defence, three floating pawns in the midfield and a striker at the top; something very similar, upon closer inspection, to Vivarini’s front-wheel drive 4-4-2 with the wingers in midfield very high, the two central defenders more blocked, Iemmello acting as director behind one of Ambrosino or Biasci. It is clear that the Giallorossi also represented a source of inspiration for him – “If I have to watch football on TV, I watch Catanzaro” was another pearl – a model that he could now also enjoy retouching if – as is the desire of the society – the joystick should end up in his hands.
THE OPERATION – Contacts have already been started, practically immediately after the relationship with Vivarini ended. Captain Iemmello – teammate of Aquilani in Sassuolo and of his deputy Agnelli in Foggia – may also have had a certain weight in the race, who just yesterday on the stage of the Ceravolo Prize defined him as «excellent coach, already mature», cutting it short with a « we’ll see” to questions on the status of the negotiations.
In the same hours in which the Giallorossi world gathered to reward De Zerbi – as it happens, assisted by the same agent as the former Roma and Milan midfielder – the official announcement of the interruption of the relationship between the Tuscans and L’Aquila; Reggiana – who had moved for him before the eagles – instead accepted Aquilani’s request for time. Positive signs? We will see. But we will also have to pay attention to Frosinone who has turned the spotlight on him.
