<p>Del Piero, now the hardest part. That phone call to Zidane that would make the Juve world dream…</p>
The black and white legend graduated from Coverciano on Tuesday. Phenomena rarely become great technicians, with some exceptions
We will hardly call him mister, as he asked yesterday on social media with due self-irony, because he will always be Alex (his superhero name, because in the family the X is dropped and he will simply remain Ale). Del Piero has “graduated” as a coach from the most important football university in the world which, despite everything, remains Coverciano . Like many graduates in this country, however, he still has the hardest part: finding a job. Even if Del Piero is not exactly looking for a bench and he got his coaching badge to open a door, not necessarily to cross it immediately. Even if the curiosity to see Mister Del Piero at work creeps insidiously between Juventus fans in love with him and insiders who are always fascinated by the challenge of a champion to the test of the bench.
Because history is not full of successes, to the point that a rule has almost become consolidated: the great champions, the real phenomena, in short, have a damned hard time having the same success when they become coaches. A few exceptions. One is one of Del Piero's best friends: Zinedine Zidane , whose coaching career is nevertheless singular, given that he only has three seasons on the bench of the most important club in the world, Real, and as many Champions Leagues . Then there is without a doubt Johan Cruijff , the phenomenon who as a player changed football in the 70s with his Ajax and as a coach invented the modern Barcelona between the 80s and the 90s. And then Nils Liedholm, whose successes as a coach are limited to two league titles and three Italian cups, but he still has the great merit of having made Roma play zonal football, five years before Sacchi did with Milan. In their own way, Dino Zoff and Cesare Maldini can also be considered examples of success, albeit with some distinctions.
Many failures, instead. People who wrote history on the pitch, emerging as legends, but failed or almost failed on the bench. Michel Platini and Diego Maradona are clear examples of the above rule. But in recent times Andrea Pirlo also paid the price. And to name them randomly, the following come to mind: Thierry Henry, Clarence Seedorf, Alan Shearer, Gary Neville, Hristo Stoichkov, Paul Gascoigne, Alessandro Nesta, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Ryan Giggs, Carlos Tevez... all people who made people dream as footballers and did not achieve (or have not yet achieved) the same success as coaches.
On the other hand, think about it, the great coaches are almost all midfielders, not necessarily of excellent quality, but good midfielders, maybe with decent feet, but certainly not Del Piero. Think of Trap, Capello or Ancelotti, but also Conte, Guardiola, Luis Enrique, Flick. Not to mention those who have seen the field in much lower categories like Sacchi, Tuchel or Klopp. Del Piero's challenge, in short, is to imitate his friend Zidane, who he will certainly ask for advice, if one day they offered him a bench. A phone call that would make millions of Juventus fans dream.
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We will hardly call him mister, as he asked yesterday on social media with due self-irony, because he will always be Alex (his superhero name, because in the family the X is dropped and he will simply remain Ale). Del Piero has “graduated” as a coach from the most important football university in the world which, despite everything, remains Coverciano . Like many graduates in this country, however, he still has the hardest part: finding a job. Even if Del Piero is not exactly looking for a bench and he got his coaching badge to open a door, not necessarily to cross it immediately. Even if the curiosity to see Mister Del Piero at work creeps insidiously between Juventus fans in love with him and insiders who are always fascinated by the challenge of a champion to the test of the bench.
Because history is not full of successes, to the point that a rule has almost become consolidated: the great champions, the real phenomena, in short, have a damned hard time having the same success when they become coaches. A few exceptions. One is one of Del Piero's best friends: Zinedine Zidane , whose coaching career is nevertheless singular, given that he only has three seasons on the bench of the most important club in the world, Real, and as many Champions Leagues . Then there is without a doubt Johan Cruijff , the phenomenon who as a player changed football in the 70s with his Ajax and as a coach invented the modern Barcelona between the 80s and the 90s. And then Nils Liedholm, whose successes as a coach are limited to two league titles and three Italian cups, but he still has the great merit of having made Roma play zonal football, five years before Sacchi did with Milan. In their own way, Dino Zoff and Cesare Maldini can also be considered examples of success, albeit with some distinctions.
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