A 19-month long experience, from that cold Monday 7 November in which Venezia announced his arrival on the orange-green bench in place of Andrea Soncin and after the dismissal of Ivan Javorcic. The team was floundering in the bottom of the table and needed an electric shock, the kind capable of turning a season around. There he is, Paolo Vanoli from Varesecombative and sanguine leader, former assistant coach with Antonio Conte at the helm. A deputy so determined, says those who know him well, “that he is the only one who can send the current Napoli coach to hell without consequences”.
Born in 1972, he arrived late on the big football scene, with Turin choosing him after what was done in Venice. Two exciting rides, both of which ended in the playoffs, the second of which resulted in promotion to Serie A. Yet it wasn’t all roses and flowers, far from it. Brought to Venice by Alex Menta, current market man of Triestina, he saw his corporate references change very soon, with the arrival in the control room of Filippo Antonelli, directly from the Galliani home. Since his arrival on the bench, things have not improved immediately. Indeed, in January, before the conclusion of the winter transfer window, Venezia were last in the table with equal points. But the second part of the season was extraordinary, with the team able to make an extraordinary progress until reaching eighth place, the last place needed to enter the playoffs. Never dogmatic, never stuck on the 3-5-2 of his mentor Conte, Vanoli was able to change at least three formations during his Venetian experience. He has often seen the 4-3-3, but also the 4-4-2 system, when every attempt was made to bring together the two cuirassiers Gytkjaer and Pohjanpalo.
Mission accomplished, looking at the numbers of the season just ended: 22 goals for the Finnish captain, 11 for the former Monza giant, author of the decisive goal for promotion to Serie A. When the vast majority of experts were betting on the failure of that apparent tactical gamble, Vanoli was able to make them coexist.
And it is this pragmatism, combined with exemplary management of the group, that unquestionably represents its strong point in view of the Turin adventure. The coach from Varese is a shy manwho doesn’t like the limelight too much, who lived the city with intensity, who never lacked contact with the fans and who always sought confrontation, sometimes even heated, but always with the attitude of someone who wants to create something i lasting.
«I know it doesn’t seem like it, but I’m religious», he said in one of his last press conferences, adding immediately afterwards that «there are much more important things in life than football». A man of one piece, he has a smoking-hot character that, for certain outings, recalls Ivan Juric. Like when at the beginning of February, furious about the sale of Dennis Johnsenwas the protagonist of a memorable press conference in which he attacked the club head-on: «We scored an own goal – he thundered – it is incomprehensible to strengthen a direct competitor to Serie A. Not with the market closed and not to strengthen a direct competitor, it means that the economic objectives do not correspond with the sporting ones and therefore we must clarify ourselves». That rough and direct exit provoked a harsh reaction from sporting director Filippo Antonelli. The two had a heated confrontation and, at that moment, Vanoli made the decision to leave at the end of the season. Now the Bull, a new adventure. With many hopes and new certainties. To make the Granata people fall in love.
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