Italian: "Bologna, here we are. On the bus, the last push to stay"
Bologna, May 31, 2025 – He has never had any saints paying for his lunch. Because when you come from the province, you always have to travel further than others. At the end of that road, however, on a Sunday in late May, Vincenzo Italiano found forty thousand people celebrating him . He built his Piazza Grande cobblestone after cobblestone. And now he can enjoy a bit of the sun of his Sicily, after days, the last ones, that to the people of Bologna seemed endless. Until that signature . The signature.
Italian, many teams wanted you, one in particular, Milan. You chose to stay. What convinced you?
“My priority has always been Bologna, the priority was to talk to the managers and I was convinced that everything would go well. It's a question of human and technical values. Here there is a great desire to remain at high levels, the team is strong, otherwise you don't win an Italian Cup. Here I met people who made me feel good, from Saputo to the managers, passing through everyone who works at Casteldebole. And then the relationship I built with the boys, the empathy, what we shared: this is worth a lot to me”.
Then we could have saved ourselves this suffering…
“How long did this soap opera last? Twenty-four hours? There’s no point in even calling it a soap opera. I already had clear ideas, there were never any problems.”
Was there a specific moment when you said to yourself “I'm staying here”?
“Yes, when I found myself on that open bus, at the parade: that red and blue sea, an indescribable emotion. There, I had already decided, but my decision was sealed there. The affection of the people, of Bologna, struck me. When you have to decide, these things weigh a lot on me”.
He had promised it a year ago: “We will try to bring people back to the streets”. Quite a risk, eh.
“I said that sentence because I wanted to send a message to the group: they had done something historic with the Champions League and I wanted to shake them up, I was afraid of a full belly. Then we really filled the square: so let's say I was 'true to my word'”.
Yet, at the beginning it was difficult. The victory that did not come. Have you ever thought: but who made me do it?
“Never thought, never.”
Not even after the whistles from Dall'Ara at the end of Bologna-Empoli? She went in front of the cameras and said: "We all have to start from scratch".
“Whistles hurt and we hear them on the pitch. But we know when we deserve them or when we need time. When I said that sentence, it was because the environment needed to understand that we needed a hand. We had lost five starters out of eleven, because I include Ferguson. And there was also a Champions League to face. We needed time. That, for example, to understand that Odgaard as an attacking midfielder could do much better than as a winger...”.
And the people of Bologna responded present.
"I really liked the attitude of the stadium: that excitement for a ball won, for a slide. We all arrived in Rome together: the fans convinced of the push they could give us and we with the desire to repay them."
Speaking of Rome: when did you realize you could lift that Cup?
“After the loss against Milan the Friday before. The San Siro match allowed us to make some assessments: we rested some players, we went all-in on the final. Then we also prepared some strategies...”.
Like that Casale for Orsolini?
“Exactly. When I hung up the five-man defence in the locker room in the morning, you should have seen the faces of my players (laughs, ed. )... but then it was the Milan players who were taken aback”.
Curiosity for mere mortals: do you sleep the night before a final?
“I was in the hotel room thinking. You think about what can happen, you make a film of the match, you try to imagine what can happen for better or for worse. But I also had to rest because, as you have seen, I live the match intensely, I almost play it. So I slept for a few hours. The real problem was in the morning when I woke up”.
Meaning what?
“It was a continuous flow of emotions, from the moment I opened my eyes: a sensational adrenaline and tension. The night before I can always stay calm, that's the day that causes trouble. I was with my eyes wide open: we were in the room with the staff to think about the details until we left for the stadium. On nights like this, if you make a mistake, you risk paying dearly for it. And I know something about it”.
The best message you received after the victory?
“I've received a ton of them, it's hard to choose. One that made me really happy was Pirlo. Andrea and I have known each other since the coaching course, but we're not long-time friends. But he moved me. He's an extraordinary person, he's won everything. But maybe he identified with me a little”.
All good. But now expectations will rise: what did Bologna ask of its managers?
"I don't have to ask for a strong Bologna. A strong Bologna must be built by the club, because these people deserve to have a quality team, that can go far in all competitions. Because getting to the end in April and May means having worked well. Then you can win or lose, but I think that reaching the final is already a merit".
So no priority?
“We will be busy on four fronts, you can't establish the objective beforehand. If anything, we will decide along the way, like with the Coppa Italia this year. Then of course, in the Europa League we will have to try to get past the first phase. How many cups has Atalanta won? One. But then they come third, fourth place, semi-finals, finals. And the level rises. It is no coincidence that they are a model club in Italy. And in my opinion, Bologna is not far from that dimension”.
If the various Castros and Ndoye were to remain, it would be even easier to get closer.
“I agree with the club when they say that no one is unsellable. In what sense? In the sense that if incredible offers were to arrive, it is right to evaluate them. I am not the coach who says 'no' and gets in the way. I have embraced the club's line. However, it is clear that if we could have continuity with certain elements, I would be very happy. But I do not think that the team will be dismantled: it will not be like that. On the contrary, we will try to improve”.
Do you need a vacation?
“I have been coaching for eight years and for eight years in June I have been competing for something. So I haven't had a real vacation for a while. But starting this afternoon (yesterday, ed. ) I am officially on vacation. I will go to Sicily to greet friends and relatives. At my house, in Ribera, I have to repay them: they put up a big screen for the final”.
A little bit of sea will do, yes?
“Sure, I have my own beach: Seccagrande. In the summer all the people from Ribera move there, they have a second home, even if it's only six kilometers away. Because in the summer you have to be close to the sea: open the windows and breathe that air there”.
İl Resto Del Carlino
