Juventus are betting on Pirlo to follow in the footsteps of Zidane and Guardiola
When Juventus announced the appointment of its former star Andrea Pirlo as coach of the Under-23 team at the end of last month, club president Andrea Agnelli said that "Andrea Pirlo begins a path that may one day lead him to lead the first team."
No one expected that the day that Agnelli expected would be soon to this degree, but the circumstances of the disappointing exit from the price of the final UEFA Champions League on Friday at the hands of French Lyon, prompted the club management to abandon Maurizio Sarri after only a season with the team, despite the leadership of a giant Turin to his ninth title in the domestic league.
Talk began before and after the dismissal of the name that could succeed Sari, and reports focused on Argentine Maurizio Pochettino, who has been looking for a job since his dismissal from Tottenham in November 2019, Real Madrid coach, former French team star Zinedine Zidane, and Lazio coach Simone Inzaghi.
But the management and Agnelli surprised everyone by resorting to their former superstar Pirlo, the 41-year-old who lacked the necessary training experience to lead a team of the "old lady" caliber.
The decision by Agnelli to appoint the "Maestro" as the coach of the team, brings to mind what Barcelona did in 2008 when it appointed its former player Josep Guardiola as coach of the first team despite his modest training experience, or what the Spanish capital giant Real Madrid did in 2016 when he was assigned the task of supervising The first team of the former midfielder Zidane, just two years after assuming his first coaching assignment with the youth team.
The two Spanish giants showed that their choice was right, as Barcelona became one of the best European teams performing and aesthetically with Guardiola, who led him to the league title three times, the cup twice and the Super Cup three times, and the most importantly, the European Champions League in 2009 and 2011, accompanied by the European Super Cup and the Club World Cup during The same two years.