Six seasons with Verona, some ups and downs between Serie A and Serie B, a thousand battles as a midfield pair, a whirlwind of coaches (Prandelli above all) and many football chats, on and off the pitch. Leonardo Colucci defines Vincenzo Italiano as “one of my godsons”, even if the former midfielder and former coach of the rossoblù youth teams (4 years as a player and 4 as a youth team coach) is only five years older than the new Bologna coach: Colucci was born in ’72, Italiano in ’77.
Colucci, which player was Italian?
“A great metronome, gifted with a fantastic throw: from seventy meters he could put the ball at your feet. For the qualities he had I think I can say that he could have had an even better career”.
And the Colucci-Italiano couple?
“In Verona he resisted all the changes of coach. We were well matched but above all we were united by the ability, and at the same time the desire, to read all the game situations: it can be said that we spoke the same language. And we didn’t just talk about it on the pitch : even when we were outside we always ended up talking about football and tactics.”
What warning light comes on in a footballer who will grow up to be a coach?
“The passion of being on the pitch, the desire to raise the bar, the fact of looking for the right solution every day to improve performance. In this, Vincenzo and I in Verona had a great teacher: Cesare Prandelli. Prandelli involved you, he explained things to you: it was a pleasure to work with him”.
Now the call from Bologna has arrived for Italiano, with the very inconvenient legacy of Thiago attached.
“Motta has made an important journey in Bologna, together with the players, the managers and the owners. In his place comes a coach, Italiano, who resembles Motta in courage. Vincenzo has the courage to always play the game: he certainly ‘does not let the game play him'”.
And the form?
“He has his own beliefs, but be careful: he never puts them before the team. In the sense that he has the intelligence to shape his idea of football on the technical material that the club will make available to him.”
Zirkzee, Calafiori, the two new signings: what Bologna is emerging?
“I think that Zirkzee will go away, while I would like Calafiori to stay: but the important thing is that motivated players remain in Bologna. In this I trust the club a lot and to describe the path that Saputo’s Bologna has taken I use the metaphor of the farmer : the club has plowed, fertilized, sown and is now reaping the fruits. Nothing happens by chance.” Is it just a coincidence, returning to Italiano, that he went to the final three times and lost three times?
“Whoever makes this observation makes me angry. They say: if you lose three finals it means you don’t have a winning mentality. But sorry, isn’t the path that leads you to play in a final a winning mentality? In football there are episodes and those orient all the judgements: but it’s not that only those who win are right. I love the Olympics for this very reason: because those who come third also celebrate.”
Spalletti’s Italy, on the other hand, was a Greek cry: or rather a Swiss one.
“Out of a form of respect, even if I have my own ideas, I don’t judge the city’s work. I say, however, that, beyond everything, our players lacked competitive fury: and that is independent of the coach. However, Switzerland On Saturday he had four cities: Yakin on the bench, plus Xhaca, Freuler and Aebischer on the pitch. Those three dictated the pace of the game, they decided when to accelerate and when to slow down. And it’s nice to know that two of those three are wearing the Bologna shirt.”
