Two old acquaintances from Parma’s recent past meet again… and meet Parma again in Serie A. They are coaches Roberto D’Aversa and Marco Piccioni.
The announcement from Empoli FC came today and marked the return to the bench of the coach born in 1975 in Stuttgart, after his adventure (which ended badly) with Lecce last season. With a total of 174 official benches in yellow and blue (and a 37% victory rate), D’Aversa coached Parma in two stints: first, he was the great architect of the double promotion from C to A and consequently of the double salvation in the top flight; then, after his return in which he collected only 8 points, he was shipwrecked in 2020/2021 together with the team that went down a category in the first year of Krause’s management.
In his new adventure with the Azzurri he will meet again his technical assistant and match analyst Marco Piccioni, with him at Parma from 2017 to 2021. The former Sassuolo defender, after having made a “solo” cameo in amateur football as head coach of Colorno (Eccellenza 2022/2023), has decided to return to be part of D’Aversa’s staff. The two, together, will try to save the Tuscans for the first time in their history at their fourth consecutive participation in Serie A: it would be another feat after the beautiful three-year period (2017-2020) spent in the Duchy, where they will return in the next Serie A as opponents. But only for one day.
Below is the official announcement released today by Empoli.
Empoli Football Club announces that it has entrusted the technical guidance of the first team to Roberto D’Aversa.
The coach has signed a contract until June 30, 2026.
In addition to mister D’Aversa, Salvatore Sullo will join the technical staff of the first Italian team as assistant coach, Marco Piccioni as technical assistant, Luigi Turci as goalkeeping coach, Danilo Massi and Riccardo Ragnacci as athletic trainers.
Roberto D’Aversa is an Italian coach born in Stuttgart, Germany, on August 12, 1975. He grew up in the youth sector of Milan, and as a footballer he played almost 500 games for professionals, wearing the shirts of Prato, Casarano, Monza, Cosenza, Pescara, Sampdoria, Ternana, Siena, Messina, Treviso, Mantova, Gallipoli, Triestina and finally Virtus Lanciano. After finishing his career as a footballer with the Abruzzo team in the summer of 2013, he became responsible for the technical area of the Rossoneri team and then a year later signed the contract as coach of the Frentana club. After an initial salvation in Serie B, in December 2016 he was called by Parma, in Lega Pro, where he won, after the playoffs, promotion to B. Confirmed on the ducal bench also in the following season, he made the double leap, bringing Parma back to Serie A. He remained at the technical helm of the Emilians for another two seasons, obtaining a fourteenth place in his debut as a coach in Serie A and an eleventh place in the following season. After ending his experience with Parma in 2021, he coached, always in Serie A, first Sampdoria and in the last season Lecce.
