Gianni Vio at Tottenham da Conte: he is the wizard of free-kicks

The story of Gianni Vio, the Italian wizard of idle balls, is very similar to that of Maurizio Sarri, but at the same time much less known. Now the English are deepening it, because one of the most avant-garde Italian specialists in the sector has been called upon by Conte to design the schemes that will send Kane, Son and the other Tottenham strikers into the goal on a free-kick.

the beginnings

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Born in Venice 69 years ago, he too, like the Lazio coach, has a past as a simple bank employee. After writing a book in 2004 entitled “Plus thirty percent”, with more than four thousand new schemes, he is noticed by Zenga, who in 2007 calls him with him, first during his experience in the Arab Emirates at Al-Ain, then during the experience at Catania, where the former coach wants him directly into his staff. During his experience in Sicily, Gianni Vio has not yet even left his job at the Unicredit branch in Mestre, but he travels by plane every weekend to explain his schemes to the players. Players who are easy to play learn quickly. In fact, seventeen of the forty-four goals scored in that season came from an inactive ball, demonstrating the good work done by the Venetian collaborator.

the interview with the gazette

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In 2019 he was interviewed by La Gazzetta dello Sport, while collaborating with Semplici at Spal. There are many ideas given by that interview, useful for framing the character and his obsessive attention to detail. His obsession with him, which leads him to “consider free kicks and angles a different sport than football”. The thesis in Coverciano, needless to say, on inactive balls, title: “A striker with 15 goals”. Curious then, the anecdote about the twins, during the experience at the Quinto di Treviso, in Serie D: “In the free-kicks I had two twins put in front of the opposing goalkeeper, they looked at him, not at the ball. They were identical, I too struggled to recognize them and the defenders didn’t understand anything “

national

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After following Zenga also at Palermo, the specialist of set pieces schemes supports other coaches in Serie A, passing from Montella, who with Fiorentina recording 40% of goals during the development of dead balls, up to Milan d’Inzaghi . The greatest satisfaction, however, came last summer, when he was enlisted by Mancini on his staff full of former players (Vialli, Oriali, Lombardo, Evani and De Rossi) for the shipment of EURO2021. The final result need not be remembered, but perhaps some moments do, such as Matteo Pessina’s goal against Wales, the result of one of Gianni Vio’s many schemes, as well as Leonardo Bonucci’s final goal, born precisely from the developments of a corner.

london calling

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Although he has already had several experiences in England with Brentford and Leeds, since July 1st he is officially in the service of Conte. He will therefore start again from the same London where he graduated as European Champion, who knows that it may not be a good omen. Certainly, the interpreters to do well in situations of set pieces at Tottenham are not lacking, and this, Antonio Conte knows.