Aspire in the World Fellows Book - 2023

/81 What about the player who was expecting to play in the lineup but will not play? Is it amatter that you take care immediately or after? In Lazio, you had some problemswith the players that have became public. However, you have almost always managed to solve themwithout any punishment. In that scenario, your role as an ex-player inevitably comes into play. Is there still a part of your mindset that resonates with being a player and ultimately resolves the issue? During your time at Lazio, whowas themost significant challenge in terms of building a relationship and conveying your tactical expectations? These cases happen because the players have their opinions and they need to adapt to coaches who have their own opinions about tactical principles. In general, I have always been lucky. Here in Lazio, I found a great group and we achieved important trophies. We won two Super Cups, played two finals of Coppa Italia and won one. In 2019/20, when the pandemic arrived, we were leading the table and had a series of incredible victories. I am curious to see what scenario might have happened without the stop for the pandemic with those teams that seemed unbeatable. But then the season stopped, we started again with three games a week, and we weren’t equipped like the others. With 25 players, it is difficult to give explanations to all of them. I usually speak a lot with my players, but not specifically about the singular decision to have the player in or out. When I graduated as a coach, I decided to focus on group management for the last project. I think it’s a fundamental aspect of our job, and I take care of it daily. I speakwith all my players, particularly the younger ones who need more guidance. Playing three times per week and having 25 players, I don’t justify the decision related to a singular match. Instead, I discuss the longitudinal trend, where a player should improve, and non football- related problems. Who is the strongest player you’ve coached in Lazio? I can tell you the strongest one I’ve played with: Pavel Nedved. Because here in Lazio, in that period, Nedved had quality. There were a lot of champions like Mancini, Veron, Boksic, Nesta, Mihajlovic, but Nedved was the one that I liked the most. I don’t believe in the effectiveness of punishment. I believe in dialogue as the way to resolve things. I cannot deny that there were some problems with the players, both in Lazio and in Inter, but through dialogue, we managed to solve them without penalties and banning the players. As a coach, who solved the problem for youwithout you even telling him? In Lazio, there was Immobile and Parolo, who are very intelligent players. There was Lulic, who was the captain of that team, and when the problems showed up, they were the first to solve them. Absolutely. It’s not uncommon for players to feel frustrated about exclusions or substitutions. It has happened to me as well, though it shouldn’t have. The key is to engage in calm conversations, and over the years, such situations have arisen and been overcome. STAR CHAT