Marco Giampaolo is Milan's new coach, now it's official. Photos ANSA / SIMONE ARVEDA
MILAN – AC Milan announces that, starting from 1 July 2019, it will entrust the technical management of the First Team to Marco Giampaolo , through a contract with the Rossoneri Club until 30 June 2021, with an option for renewal until 30 June 2022.
Marco Giampaolo, born in Bellinzona on 2 August 1967, collected 270 benches in Serie A, 324 in total considering all the competitions.
For the technician born in Bellinzona and raised in Giulianova, it is the culmination of a long apprenticeship spent on fields throughout Italy, a pilgrimage now awarded with one of the most prestigious benches in Italy.
The opportunity to coach a great Marco Giampaolo if he has conquered it over the years. After he stopped playing at 30 for a bad ankle injury, his former coach Ivo Iaconi advised him to start his coaching career. Since 2000 many experiences as deputies in Pescara, Giulianova and Ascoli, until in 2006 he lands in Cagliari, his first important square.
The relationship with the president Cellino, who exonerates him twice, does not take off: in the first year Giampaolo agrees to return and save the team, in the second season he refuses to return to Sardinia: “Despite being aware of the economic damage that will result, I give up coming back in Cagliari. Pride and dignity are priceless ”his explanation.
In Siena the ups and downs continue: in the first year it reaches salvation by repeating the record of points by Mario Beretta (44 points) with 12 victories in the championship. At the end of 2009 he is convinced he can become Juventus coach, but in the end the bianconeri decide to keep Ciro Ferrara.
Giampaolo remains in Siena and in October is exonerated. In Catania, on the other hand, he is fired despite 22 points in 20 games, in perfect average safety, accused of playing defensively.
To forget the experiences in Cesena and Brescia: in Romagna the technician lasts three months, leaving the team in last place.
At the swallows instead the most sensational episode: in the aftermath of a defeat against Crotone, Giampaolo does not show up for training, giving up a few days after his resignation. Giampaolo is not afraid of going down in the category again, in Serie C, just to do the job he likes most: to train.
In Cremona he entered the race in November and conquered a quiet eighth place, enhancing some young people, like the son of art Federico Di Francesco. At the end of the season, the return to Serie A takes shape: before setting sail for Naples, Maurizio Sarri advises Empoli president Fabrizio Corsi to rely on Giampaolo, in his opinion a technician capable of giving a clear identity to the team and that in career has collected much less than it deserved.
Giampaolo this time does not disappoint: despite the departures of some pillars like Hysaj, Rugani, Vecino and Valdifiori, the coach drags the Tuscan team to a quiet salvation, valuing players like Paredes and Saponara and taking tenth place in the standings thanks to 4-3- 1-2, its reference form. The rhombus midfield is also the trademark of his three years at Sampdoria.
Giampaolo's team expresses an intense and enjoyable kick on several occasions, with the merit of launching some players (Praet, Skriniar, Bereszyński, Andersen and others) and obtaining good results (two tenths and a ninth place).
All without losing his human traits, his obsession with the beautiful game and the human qualities of his performers.
Now Milan relies on him to return to the Champions League and to find a reliable technical guide, after years of changes on the bench (seven coaches in the last six seasons) (source AGI).
Milan's new coach Marco Giampaolo, now official, seems to be the first on daily Blitz .
Source: Blitz Quotidiano