The Genoa coach at the Trento Sports Festival: “I was sorry to stay with the black and white for just one year. I had fun at Inter. The most important lesson from Capello”
A coach is a collection of experiences. Patrick Vieira has experienced practically all of them, starting from Senegal at the age of 8 and learning the magic of football in France. “I wanted to be Zidane, everyone in that period dreamed of Zidane” he said in the much applauded conversation with Luigi Garlando at the Santa Chiara auditorium. Vieira was never Zidane, because he didn’t possess the divine talent, but he knew how to become everything else: with the French national team he won everything, in Italy almost even if the championship with Juve was then canceled by Calciopoli. “But I feel it’s mine, we were the best on the pitch and so it’s worth it.”
the parable
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The English adventure is even more worth it, which made him a legend of Wenger’s Arsenal but also suggested his future: “There I understood that I wanted to coach, going up one floor at a time”. Now he leads Genoa, where he is building a long-term project: “We only have two points in the standings, we’re behind. But the team has its own identity. We want to make the most of our boys: Venturino, Ekhator, Marcandalli, giving them time to make mistakes too. Now I’m waiting for the derby with Sampdoria: a city like Genoa deserves it.”
TEACHINGS
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Among his Italian colleagues, Vieira holds Vincenzo Italiano in high esteem. But his background comes from afar: “Capello taught me something fundamental when I arrived in Italy at a very young age, in Milan. In that group it was almost impossible to find space, but he spoke to me and considered me. It’s a foresight that the kids need to maintain confidence in their abilities.” The second Italian period was full of satisfactions. First again with Capello, followed by Inter: “I was sorry to stay at Juve for only a year but after the relegation to Serie B, the offer from Inter arrived and I decided to accept it. And I had fun.” More with Mancini than with Mourinho: “I argued with José a few times, because he justified my exclusions by claiming that the others were going faster. It wasn’t easy to digest at the time, but now that I’m on the other side I can admit that he was right…”.
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