Ten years ago the current Juve coach glimpsed the qualities of the Italian-Brazilian and with six months of specific work he was able to transform him into one of the best wingers in the championship. Now they could find themselves in black and white
In the end, it’s just a matter of chance. Or trust. If Emerson Palmieri has become the footballer he is today, capable of winning all three continental competitions and the 2020 European Championship with the national team, he owes much, if not everything, to Luciano Spalletti. In fact, it was the current Juventus coach who was the first to believe in the qualities of this Italian-Brazilian who ten years ago, in Rome, many had already “branded” as a losing bet for sporting director Sabatini. And since then the two have always remained close, so much so that in 2021 they could meet again at Napoli and in the coming months they could do so at Continassa.
emerson palmieri, uphill start in rome
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It was January 2016 when Roma recalled Spalletti by popular acclaim to revive the team after Garcia’s disappointing management. The then former Zenit coach, on the Trigoria pitches, immediately glimpsed that in what had previously been considered only a mysterious object there was material to work on: a technically very gifted player, who perhaps lacked a few kilos of muscle and who had a great desire to learn. Thus, he begins to tactically shred that 21-year-old boy who grew up in Neymar and Ganso’s Santos, giving him, in the first six months, just two appearances as a starter and the only joy of the first goal in Serie A, against Milan at San Siro, on the last day.
So Sparletti launched Emerson Palmieri
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Chance and trust, we were saying. The first came in the summer of 2016, when Digne returned to PSG after his loan and Mario Rui injured his cruciate knee ligament. For the Champions League playoffs against Porto, Spalletti always chooses him as the first substitution, but things don’t go as expected: penalty awarded in the first leg and red card in the return. A combo that could knock out anyone, but it is here that Emerson earns the definitive respect of the Tuscan coach: the Brazilian does not let himself be overwhelmed by events and goes back to work with his head down. And between October and November, here is the real turning point: Spalletti almost permanently switches to a three-man defense and launches the Brazilian full-back on the left, with Rudiger and Strootman lightening his covering duties. “In recent months they have massacred him: we must leave him alone to play a few games in a row to see his qualities”, the coach will say after a derby. The result is 12 consecutive games as a starter, peppered with crosses raining into the area and tackles won, with a general swagger that makes him one of the team’s strong points and one of the best wingers in the championship. “Thanks to Spalletti I learned the value of tactical work,” Emerson will reveal. Nine years later, it is the Juventus coach who needs him.
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