It must have been a proud moment for Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri when he led his side out in the Champions League round of 16 against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu back in March. It would have undoubtedly been beyond all expectations for a man that was working for a bank as recently as 1999.
The glamour of the prestigious European competition may find the Tuscany-native a little rough around the edges, but Sarri has certainly earned his place in the hotseat at one of Europe’s top clubs.
"Is he meticulous? He's almost obsessive,” Empoli sporting director Marcello Carli told Gazzetta dello Sport recently. “If he could not prepare training sessions – perhaps because of the wind – he went crazy, convinced that on Sunday we would concede a goal from a dead-ball situation. But that was not all. "He's a champion, a true friend, but at least three or four times we almost came to blows,” Carli continued. “I'm talking about real punches.”
The “madman” remembered by the Empoli chief from the “benches of Sangiovannese and Sansovino” can certainly not be accused of failing to learn his trade before he reached the top. Starting out as a Coach in 1990, Sarri took charge of a number of minor clubs in Tuscany, before giving up his job in the bank to work full-time for Tegoleto. The move paid off, and after taking Sansovino to Serie C2, he moved on to gain promotion to Serie C1 with Sangiovannese.
It was not until 2005 until he reached Serie B, signing for Pescara, and 2012-13 until he caught his big break with Empoli. Standing in the shadows of nearby neighbours Fiorentina, Empoli boast a close-knit family club with an impressive record in developing young players.
Sarri blossomed with the Blues, taking them to Serie A for the start of the 2013-14 campaign, and it is hard to believe that this was to be the first time in which the boss had worked in Italy’s top flight. Exceeding expectations, the Coach proved why Empoli had appointed him in the first place by uniting his band of youngsters – a squad that boasted just the right amount of experienced players in Massimo Maccarone and Francesco Tavano – and leading the relegation candidates to a 15th placed finish in 2014-15.
If his first season in Serie A had been a remarkable achievement, it was nothing compared to what would happen next. Appointed by Napoli in summer as a replacement to Rafael Benitez, the outspoken boss had really reached the top. Working with a settled 4-3-3 formation and a regular lineup, the Partonopei shot to first position in the table by December, the first time they had done so in 25 years.
Although Napoli let a large lead at the top of the table slip as eventual winners Juventus steadily gained momentum, Sarri’s men achieved a second place finish last term. Put into context, this was a major improvement over the experience of Champions League winner Benitez, who had only managed fifth place the previous year.
This term, the coach has dealt with the loss of striker Gonzalo Higuain and the injury of his replacement Arkadiusz Milik with remarkable composure, instead deploying winger Dries Mertens as a striker with devastating results. Napoli are now considered to be one of the most exciting Serie A sides to watch, their forward line at times devastating even without Higuain, who had plundered 36 goals last year.
On Sunday night, his side went down 1-0 to the Bianconeri very early on in the game. Yet despite counterpart Max Allegri’s side having set their stall out defensively, Napoli persevered with their highly-recognisable style, and were unlucky to have not added to captain Marek Hamsik’s equaliser in the second half.
Voted as coach of the Year by colleagues this month, Sarri may lack the polish associated with many of his modern counterparts, and is yet to win anything tangible with his side. But this determined 58-year-old has come a long way, and you’d better believe that the tough talking boss is will not be happy to stop there.
