The lost path of Maurizio Sarri

Once heralded as the next great Italian manager, Maurizio Sarri has lost his path. His spells at Chelsea and Juventus, while successful in terms of winning trophies, has proven to be extremely detrimental both to his career and to the perception he built through great seasons with both Empoli and Napoli. But what comes next for Sarri?

When Maurizio Sarri won the Scudetto with Juventus in mid-2020, it should have been a great ending for an inspirational story. A failed footballer, Maurizio Sarri took coaching as a part-time job in 1990 as he was working as a banker attendant in the morning. His love and passion for football was so great that he worked in 16 teams in 21 years before reaching the Serie A division in 2012.

Winning the Serie A league with Juventus, right after winning the Europa League with Chelsea, should have been a great celebration of his career and all the hard work paying off as he finally reached the promised land. And yet, Sarri has found himself without a job and without a clear path to follow.

Despite winning trophies with Chelsea and Juventus, the reality is that Maurizio Sarri never fully worked with those clubs. Historically pragmatic teams and with strong dressing rooms, his free-flowing and highly detailed playing style never gelled too well with those clubs and even when winning they looked quite underwhelming. Sarri is an extremely talented and capable manager with a football style that, when it works (like in his Napoli days), can be quite impressive. But these bad career moves in Juventus and Chelsea have proven to be detrimental for his career.

Think about it: whenever a manager is in risk of losing his manager, who are the most likely candidates? Mauricio Pochettino and Massimiliano Allegri. No one mentions Sarri unless it is a second tier football team. The man seems to have lost his way and his career is suffering for this. At the end of the day, Maurizio Sarri is obsessed with football and he is most likely going to return to the game sooner rather than later. But I hope he picks a team better suited to his vision and playing style.