"I'm happy to be back in Sardinia, I've been coming for thirty years and I've always been well". These are the first words of the new Cagliari coach Walter Mazzarri upon his arrival at Elmas airport.
Surrounded by reporters, Mazzarri as he left the airport announced that he will speak longer before the match against Lazio on Sunday. For the moment he has limited himself to talking about his memories of Cagliari: "Even those four months when I was very young were wonderful", he added referring to his short adventure in the Rossoblu as a player in the 1982-83 season.
On the future: “A few words, many facts”, he said that he also played in Torres in 1994-95. Then he slipped into the car made available to the company for the sports center in Assemini: first training in the afternoon.
The former Napoli and Inter coach signed a three-year contract with Tommaso Giulini's club until 30 June 2024. The assistant coach Claudio Bellucci, the athletic trainer Giuseppe Pondrelli, the technical collaborator Claudio Nitti and the match analyst Cristian arrived in Cagliari. Guerrini.
The salary - according to the first rumors collected - starts from one million euros per season.
Change between Tuscans, therefore, a Leghorn for a Florentine. Semplici leaves, exonerated after a bad start to the season, after three disappointing games that followed the miracle of last season, when he took a team with a foot and a half in B and led it to salvation by being unanimously elected savior of the homeland .
From the point of view of the form it should not change much: Mazzarri prefers the 3-5-2 and will probably continue in the wake of Semplici. Some interpreters and mentality could change, the Livorno coach could also contribute to the growth of some elements of the squad as he did in Naples with Hamsik, Lavezzi and Cavani.
CAREER - On the threshold of 60 years, Walter Mazzarri is certainly an experienced coach, remembered above all for the times in which he coached Napoli: under the feet of Vesuvius he gained access to the Champions League that had been missing for 21 years and won the Italian Cup in the final against Juventus, which the Neapolitans had not won for 25 years.
After some experiences in C and B, in the summer of 2007 he took over the leadership of Reggina: three saves in a row, the last one obtained miraculous despite the 11 penalty points.
Then a year at Sampdoria, sixth place and Uefa qualification, in addition to the Italian Cup final. So Napoli, the apex of his career. He coached the Azzurri from 2009 to 2013, the year in which he moved to Inter. For a single season that is not going very well, the Nerazzurri do not even qualify for the Champions League.
Finally: a year at Watford, a quiet salvation, and two seasons at Turin, with a ninth and a seventh place. Last year the Livorno coach was stopped. In Serie A it boasts 462 benches.
(Unioneonline / L)
