Maurizio Sarri takes over at Napoli in the wake of tough 2014-15...

Maurizio Sarri takes over at Napoli in the wake of tough 2014-15 season

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There was no surprise when Rafa Benitez announced he was leaving Napoli last month. A new challenge at boyhood club Real Madrid is a dream come true for the former Champions League winning boss. Benitez, however, did not leave Napoli in the best of ways.

They finished their 2014/15 season on a low. The Europa League semi-final defeat to minnows Dnipro was followed by a devastating lose in the effective Champions League qualification playoff to Lazio. Napoli finished a disappointing fifth, and many of their stars players are rumoured with a move away from the San Paolo this summer.

It appeared as though Partenopei needed a sure pair of hands, an experienced coach who had seen it all before. Instead, club owner Aurelio De Laurentiis took a gamble and appointed a relatively unknown quantity.

Maurizio Sarri has been around the block. With his appointment at Napoli, Sarri has now been in charge of 18 clubs in his coaching career spanning the last 25 years. Famous for his thick glasses and for smoking a cigarette on the touchline, Sarri is a well known figure in the Italian game. The now 56-year-old started coaching in Tuscany, where he has spent most of his life, he is very much a Neapolitan.

Born in Naples, Sarri moved away from the area when he was young, but his heart remained in the city. “It felt natural to support the team from the town where I was born.” Sarri said a few years ago. “When I was a boy I was the only one where I was from (in Tuscany) to support Napoli. The other children all supported the big northern clubs like Juventus, Inter or Milan.”

Sarri guided Empoli to Serie A for the first time in six years
Sarri guided Empoli to Serie A for the first time in six years

Sarri started coaching in the early 1990s in Tuscany after a short and unsuccessful career playing amateur football. He was going nowhere fast but still having fun along the way. In 2000 when he accepted a job with AC Sansovino in Serie Eccellenza, the sixth tier of Italian football, Sarri claimed that he would quit coaching for good if he did not win the league. His team went on to indeed finish the campaign as champions. Sarri managed two promotions in three years at Sansovino, transforming the side from an amateur team into a professional outfit.

From Sansovino, Sarri was given his chance in Serie B after becoming known as a man who secured promotion. Yet he failed in his attempts to bring Pescara, Verona and Grosseto to the big time of the top flight.

During this period Sarri was perhaps best known for his time at AC Arezzo. He was in charge for the 2006-2007 season and even though the Amaranto would be relegated from Serie B, the coach earned some famous results. Sarri guided Arezzo to a famous 2-2 draw against Juventus, who had been demoted from Serie A and included the likes of Gianluigi Buffon, Alessandro Del Piero and David Trezeguet in their ranks. Sarri also made headlines in the Coppa Italia when Arezzo beat the famous AC Milan, who would win their seventh European crown in the same season, 1-0 at home, although they had been beaten 2-0 in the first leg at the San Siro and well thus knocked out of the competition.

After an unsuccessful spell at Sorrento, Sarri was offered the job at Empoli in 2012. Over the last decade, Empoli had only spent brief spells in Serie A before being relegated to Serie B and had struggled to get themselves back into the Italian top flight. Sarri was given the task of ensuring promotion for the small Tuscan side.

At first he did not succeed. In the 2012-2013 season, Sarri guided Empoli to fourth place and to the play-offs. His side, however, were defeated by local rivals Livorno in the final. It seemed that Sarri would never get his break in the big time.

But the following season the Neapolitan achieved a lifetime dream. He helped Empoli to second place and automatic promotion to Serie A. It was the first time that Empoli had been in the top flight for six years.

Many believed at the start of last season Empoli were destined for an immediate return to Serie B. They had the smallest budget in the league and few of their payers had played in Serie A before. But Sarri remained upbeat. When asked how he felt about being the lowest-paid coach in Serie A, he replied – “they pay me for doing something I would do for free after work. I’m lucky.”

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Empoli more than held their own in Serie A. They finished 15th and a comfortable eight points clear of the relegation zone. Sarri did a remarkable job. He beat both Lazio and his new employers, Napoli, convincingly, the latter 4-2 in Tuscany. Empoli also earned draws against some of the other big guns in Serie A including AC Milan and Roma.

Sarri worked wonders with his squad. He got the best out of his old, experienced pair up front of Francesco Tavano and Massimo Maccarone. He also natured young talented players such Daniele Rugani and Riccardo Saponara, on loan from Juventus and AC Milan respectively. Rugani is set star for Italy’s Under 21s at the European Championship, as centre-back partner to Roma’s Alessio Romagnoli.

Napoli are in need of a fresh start. They have many problems, which will not be easy to fix. Sarri, however, is an exciting appointment and proof that lower league coaches can get their chance if they preserve.

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