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Francesco FARIOLI: “Il messaggio da LIVERPOOL, il mio futuro, HENDERSON e il mio addio all’AJAX”

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When this happens at Ajax and it happens

with certain results, with a certain

level of performance, the hype that is

created around it is enormous. The important thing is

not to rush, but to

choose carefully, in short, what is the

So, I'll start with Anderson's farewell post

because I really liked

the last sentence, which is "Thank you gaffa,"

which is short for gaffer, which is a

bit like the English way of calling

our manager, but for managers. He

acknowledged the fact that you are a

manager, which is something almost

unusual, right? for an Italian you are

a manager. No, at the beginning of the year, it's a

funny anecdote because at the beginning of the

year he asked me what I wanted to be

called and the two options were

this one and the other boss and I said Jordan

do as you want and no so no, eh

certainly his habit of the

Premier League, the English championship and

this also concept, no, of the

completely different role I also brought him

to this definition. M in France

they called you. Hey, coach. Normal coach.

Okay. No, but I was interested in the

concept of manager because I think that in

some way, having worked with

great coaches, the fact that they

perhaps even recognize you a little for

this role that you then had gives you

in some way also a little

awareness of arriving, even though

you are almost the same age as him,

and of reaching even such

important players who bring both a status,

but who then recognize a

person's work if it is done well. In my

experience in all the teams I've

been with, I've always had a super relationship with

experienced players, players who have had

a background at a certain level. As

always, I believe that in relationships and in

being together with certain players,

certain people, the fundamental thing is

always to create

a direct relationship, a

real relationship, which, in short,

connects people first and then,

what is the role we play.

Well, so well, it's always been a bit like this

and it's been like this this year too

and clearly I think the person comes first

and then the coach and every day

what's in his head can

work, can benefit the

team and then obviously the

individual. You were talking to me before, no,

before the interview, about how

you basically had a very

long season but which then

ties in with the previous one because you had

practically no break, no,

because of the European play-offs. If

you tell me a little about this

transition phase and then when you arrived in

Holland, what club did you find, what

were perhaps the new assumptions you were

starting from and precisely this

managerial figure, what is it that perhaps goes, both

to receive from an important club, but

also perhaps to ask, I mean, I'm thinking of

figures, no, that perhaps for you are

crucial for a staff. Well, it was

certainly a very long season because

because

54 official matches, 12 friendlies,

210 training sessions, 340 meetings, of which

more than 280 were done in person. Well, so

in short, a lot of work on

my part and also on the part of the

staff. Um, and as you said, we

finished the championship last

year in May in Nice, eh, and from there we then

had a few days of

negotiations with Ajax to finalise

everything and then the time to go and sign

the contract, go back to Nice to

sort things out and bring some

baggage back to Italy and with the others and then

move towards Holland. And when

we started last year,

officially on June 15th, but in

reality it's been since these days here, a

year ago we were already at the

training center with the staff trying to

prepare for the season and clearly

we knew why when the directors

came to talk to me and

present the Ajax project to me they had

presented me with, in short, difficulties and in

any case a complex situation in the

last two years with results not

up to par with,

let's say, what is the crest, the

history of the club and clearly when in

a club of this size for two

years there is a power vacuum and a

lack of technical guidance, clearly

every position you make in the

wrong direction counts double and creates

double damage from an economic point of view

and then also clearly from a

sporting point of view compared to

what is precisely the management and what

are the objectives, in short that

such an iconic club

must always have by history and

tradition. And so when we

arrive first in the first instance,

clearly there is always an analysis of the

context where you are going to work and what

you inherit because then when you

think that a new cycle begins you

always think it's a blank page, but a

blank page is never. Actually, let me

say that often, in some cases

when you're lucky you find

a legacy of work and in other cases you

find a bit of confusion that you have to

. Exactly. from having to tidy up. And there,

honestly, we found exactly

that, that is, a club that is

exceptional for all its

potential and but that over the years,

having not had managerial guidance

that made it move in the

right direction, when you know you start to

accumulate 1% for every month in

which the trend... Yes, yes, yes. well, creating

such a significant gap

compared to competitors is quite

easy. I repeat, last year I think it was,

or rather the

previous season I think it was a

snapshot and because in any case for the former to

finish in fifth place with a 35-point

gap from PSV with last place for

part of the season for part of the

season 28 points from Feenord, eh with

Feenord even in the two games in the

two in the two head-to-head matches a

cumulative 10-0, in short you understand that, in short, they

are scars which is an image that I

also used with the boys, with the team

they are scars that you have to keep in mind

and on which, so to speak, you have to

then put all your attention to

ensure that these things don't happen again. And

we really started from there, from the

scars of the previous year and I

wanted to take on this of

all the negative things that had

happened in the previous year to try to

find a way to reunite a

group that had been presented to me as

a disunited group, without discipline,

without a work culture, etc. etc.

A year later I can tell you

that the team hasn't changed

that much. Yes, we lost

some players, but the core

of the team remained the

same. The best thing about

these 12 months in Holland has been

the boys and the players. It's a

group that has worked, that has pushed itself, in

my opinion, beyond all

expectations. Well, I've often used

the image, well, I think

we've squeezed together

everything we had and even

more. Well, we

even squeezed the orange peel and so

, well, I repeat, there

remain so many beautiful memories of

a season that made us experience,

I think, all the possible emotions from

the incredible joy, clearly

also to some scars that we have

added to those of this year, but in

all of this, I repeat, the sacrifice, the

dedication and the

team spirit that was there

were something truly

unique as you said and when I

arrived there and what I tried to do was to

precisely evaluate

what was there and we were inheriting a

team that in the previous year, in addition

to many results that unfortunately were not

up to par, had had a huge

problem with injured players and there had been

many of them and for a long

time and there clearly when you understand

well that starting on June 15th and

having the first match on July 20th

for the

Europa League qualifiers. You understand well that

we worked first and foremost on two things:

creating an

acceptable physical condition but

obviously without going over the line, which then

brought with it a risk of injury and

with this clearly leads you to

methodological choices, so what

type of work to do and where to put

the emphasis and where to put the attention

and then on the other hand from a managerial point of view

, so how to manage the squad,

how much to rotate it and then to ensure

that to the first initial work at the first

impact we could add a, how to

say, a construction of a

performance which then, as we hoped, would

lead to being able to do a

long season with many matches and everything

that then came after. Clearly,

there are

some things that are clearly

fundamental to this action plan and to this so-called strategy. Well, the first is clearly

building a solid and

cohesive staff that has a very

clear idea and yours is also multicultural,

so when you arrive you

also bring various influences that

have to marry with what is

the basic concept, right? Well, then yes,

we have

in recent years always moved

with I have always moved with six

people, eh, each, let's say, in a department,

department,

two collaborators, eh two assistants, eh

an athletic trainer, an

injury recovery who was added later on in the

process, goalkeeping coach and

the bidoanalyst and so having a

figure in each in each department,

this helps to speed up the process a lot

, but then the reality is that you can't do without the

people who

are already there, because what we

can do as a technical staff,

let's say that integrating within a

company, is to open up quickly

and put what

we need on the table. On the other hand,

clearly, you need someone who is the

club's historian, eh, someone who

knows the club, someone who knows the

championship, someone who knows the context.

and it happened in Türkiye, it happened in

Nice and it also happened

last season at Ajax and that is the

contribution of the working group. So

last year in Amsterdam we were,

let's say, the technical staff made up of 14

people, exactly, six who came with

me and the others integrated by Ajax and in my opinion

the one that managed to

take off in that in trai, no, in terms of

desire to work and to put all

our knowledge, our enthusiasm

at the service of the team was

certainly one of the key factors and to

then have such an exciting

and thrilling season and I repeat, my

gratitude towards these people is

enormous and their contribution

was, well, it was, it was fundamental.

In all of this, clearly, if we

want to imagine it, eh, how do you look, no,

it's a little Russian doll and clearly

there's the technical staff that works in an

office a bit similar to this

big table with all the computers on it and

everything else and then clearly there are

other departments, so the

medical part and the performance part and the

connection is interesting, no, between

the various departments, like for example

also the coach I imagine that he also goes a

bit to coordinate this Guard, the the the what

I believe and and what I

think is one of the

fundamental parts of our work,

at least of the way I interpret

my work, and it's exactly this,

that of

let's say in my opinion there is a word is

a bit of a process facilitator, right? We

already talked about it some time ago

and I'll repeat it to you and in fact the more the

club's level grows the more this

word takes on meaning and takes shape

because then, eh, in a club like Ajax,

in the biggest club in a

nation, such a historic club and

so on, as you can imagine,

in short, the dynamics you have to manage

are so many even beyond that

and so it's a bit like

synchronicity, it's like in a clock,

right? So you're a small part that,

even if small, helps or not. Let's say

you're the hand, the most visible one,

but let's put it this way. In that case,

yes, definitely, but then I repeat, in my

opinion, ours,

what's fundamental is making

others work well, and in this

I've changed a lot, because in my

very first experience in Turkey, and I'll

tell you the truth, I struggled to delegate,

even the passing exercise at the

start of training, because in any case,

my focus was mainly on that

and it was the reason why I

wanted to start doing this

job. But as the

dynamics change, the circumstances change,

the size of the club changes, you

realize that you can't be everywhere,

and so you need people who you have to

rely on,

and in my opinion, it's one of the

characteristics of, let's say, a manager,

to use the word

you mentioned earlier, is knowing how to

delegate. And knowing how to delegate means

having trust first, choosing the

right people and on the other hand knowing how to

delegate part of your work.

And this is clearly not a, how to

say, delegation is not free, but it is

a, it is not even a weakness. No, no,

actually, no, for me, how can I say, I have learned

and I continue to be a

coach who pushes on the pitch and

ends up speaking out and very often, eh, but

I have learned to choose

the moments a little more and then this year,

clearly, with the experience of the eh

European competitions, we

played 18 matches eh in the

Europa League, six in the preliminaries, the 8

in the group stage, eh the two in the play-offs and the

two eh in the round of 16, you have to

understand, in short, that there are also

energies that you also have to know how to modulate and

and it's like eh you can't be

at 1000 every day, you know, but first of all for you

and then also for the players because in

any case they need to hear

different voices, they need eh

we can't become a noise in

their ears, but we have to be the ones

who when they take the step the word

gets through and that is what we are a

credible noise. In reality it doesn't have to be a

noise, but it has to be a bit like, how can I

say, a print that when it arrives,

I mean when it arrives it leaves its

mark, that's it. And clearly in the

management there is the part on the pitch which,

as I told you, then because of who I am and

also because of my work group,

we try to be very very intense

and to try to create an environment that

is as stressful as possible and

to recreate the contexts of

the match.

Yes, it's impossible, but even then you have to

modulate it throughout the year, when it's

time to turn up the volume, when it's

time to reduce it, when it's

time to push

like damn moments when instead you

need to, like,

let everything go a bit with the flow

of the moment, because then I repeat the

truth is that playing with the

Ajax shirt entails responsibilities

that are a little different than at

other clubs. The weight of the shirt, the

weight of history are different. I

was telling you before that

we've played 27

home games this year, always sold out

, whether it was the Europa League, the

league, or the

Dutch Cup against a mid-

table team in Serie B, and clearly,

well, we have to give these guys, and many of

these very young ones,

the opportunity to

push as hard as they can, but also to

disconnect a bit, so there you go, and

continually find a balance

that in football, as you well know, doesn't

exist. Well, let's say what

really moves us is the search

for balance and the search for this,

how to say this yes.

Ideal alchemy which however, I repeat,

is constantly modified by events,

circumstances, results, emotions and

emotions linked to what happens

within the team compared to

stupid examples, but the contractual situation

of a player. Of course. Yes, yes.

That is, everything is a player's familiar situation

, that is, everything in the end

constantly changes, everything

constantly evolves and if you think

that what you did yesterday is the

ideal recipe for the next day, you are

most likely wrong. And that's

why I tell you it's a really

beautiful job because it creates

consistency, that is, every morning when you

have coffee and go to the sports center

and you have to be ready for everything, for

everything, for all scenarios. Clearly,

as I told you, trying to maintain

the red line and a common thread that

gives coherence to what one wants to do,

but then in reality, I repeat, ready for

all possible scenarios, knowing that

then there is always one that goes outside

the plan. No, in fact in this I

would like to talk to you about what

are perhaps aspects, no, that are

often talked about, eh, I don't know, I'll give you

an example, the coach makes a decision,

the coach manages the work in a

certain way, but then maybe we never go

into detail, right? to

objectively explain the coach, okay, then he

arrives on the pitch and there is no

Bignami, no, of solutions. I'll give you

an example: last year you actually

made an improvement for

Nice and also for yourself because then you're going to

play for Europe. With this change,

the week becomes shorter, that is, we

go from having 7 days to prepare for the

match to having three. how the

preparation and also the season changes when you have to go and

prepare for a match every

3 days in a period that I

imagine is spring and is very stressful

physically and mentally for the players. Are

energies starting to be

managed anyway? So, it's another sport, eh,

100% in my opinion it's a bit of a step that

a technician takes. Yes, and I tell you it was a

wonderful experience

playing every three days. Um,

there too we thought about how we could

find, let's say, the best strategies

to be able to manage this thing and

honestly we had excellent

results. If it's interesting to make a

comparison between the trend of the

previous year in post-Europa

League matches and what we had

this year. This year we have won

almost all the matches after the

European competition. I think we

won 12 out of 15, let's say where we

played after. Um, because

clearly everything is decided precisely

in this, how to say, eh management and

optimization of resources between

playing on Sunday and playing on

Thursday and Sunday again, as you well

know, travel and then it's three days,

but it's not three days. No, no, I

'll tell you later, if you like I'll tell you about

the week, but clearly there's

an initial approach strategy, as I was telling you,

so okay, let's think about doing

this and within this there are many,

many other variations. This brings me

back to the topic of the importance of

staff. Well, clearly all the

figures that revolve around and

especially in the performance part

are fundamental in my opinion because

when you play so much you train very little

and you have to maximize the minutes, not the

hours, the minutes you have on the pitch to

recover and prepare for the next

match, because it's all a match day

plus one and minus one, so this is

also a bit of commitments, I'll give you an

example for you, conferences. Well, that

's all the other stuff that, no, it's

six conferences a week, so

you know, how do you find something to say?

Exact. And so, in short, there are many

other things, but then if you go into the

specifics of the team,

clearly, I mentioned the number of meetings

meetings

because, because many matches

are prepared mainly or more in

detail on video and in this case with

many meetings held by me

personally, but many also held by

my collaborators, eh, with small

groups individually and to try to

convey the message

and the preparation of the match for

all the details and

then, how to say,

really go into more

individual detail and how to say yes, that is

almost the work on the pitch at that point.

Yes, the work actually arrived in

February, the work on the pitch is that but

not only that. So, I'll tell you about

our season. I told you

about the start of the

journey and then with the

Europa League qualifiers. Another

interesting fact is that we played with 41

different players during the season

because we started with a

team that had practically played the

preliminary round of the Europa League and the first

two league games.

At that time, seven

players were removed, six - seven players

from the team and they were sold

due to financial needs and reborn,

integrating three players from September

to January with a group. Come

January we lost another six

players, three of whom were starters. Yes, and once again

to meet

clear economic needs,

two players were reinstated and then this group,

which is the one that ended. in addition,

clearly some players from the

youth sector who were promoted and

who found space and who made

a big contribution and so this is

only as far as the part is concerned and then

as far as the management of the

matches is concerned we had this first

initial block with many matches and a

month in which we no longer played

between the national break and two matches that

were cancelled due to

police strike and therefore public order which

could not be guaranteed and it seems

trivial, but if you then move the Europa

League calendar with

the two extra matches of let's say the

group stage phase, so they are two

more matches Yes, two more matches than the

traditional part and then these two

matches that were removed were

put there in the middle of the calendar. That is,

from September 22nd to

March 15th we never had a

typical week, let's say with seven

days between one match and the next. always

played every three days and there if you

look at this eh bundle of matches you

realize that you don't have a moment

in which you can stop in being able to

we are also drawing a line

and say ok i.e. therefore eh

the choice in short that I made and

that we made with the staff was to

eh clearly as I was telling you

optimize every little space that yes that

could be created in order to be able to

work and on the other hand that of

managing the team with different

rotations. I'll tell you about a week

that was a crazy week, the

week the 10 crazy days were

we play in the league, we play in

Azerbaijan and against Carabag on

Thursday, so we leave on Tuesday and

Tuesday obviously 3 hours of widespread

time etcetera etcetera, 8 hours of flight.

And so we train, we leave,

training there, match, we win, the

next day eh

8 hours of travel to get back.

We play and train on Saturdays,

as you can imagine. Yes, with and

a few minutes on the pitch, 55

minutes on the pitch, match and then the

next two matches were Feord and PSV.

On Sunday I decide to make

a pretty strong decision

and change 10 players from

those on Thursday, so only the

goalkeeper and 10

completely different players.

We win 1-0 at home in a match that

for a coach is the perfect match

with eh creating those five six

important chances, eh conceding a shot

on goal to the opponent. a match

that created a bit of,

how can I say, a bit of noise because,

for the journalists, it was a match that

we should have won 4-5-0 because it was

against a team from, let's say, the

lower-middle of the table, eh, and that had been,

let's say, a disaster and the fact that the

match had been, in inverted commas,

boring, eh, and as mentioned it was a

match of total control, that is,

we created, we scored

at the beginning, we then had two or three

chances to close it out and then a

match, let's say, of

management, after the match, eh, we dismantled

everything, training on the pitch

with the other players at the stadium in our stadium

to start preparing for the

other two, because it was the only spot

we had. Yes.

Eh, we play against Feord.

We win away on Wednesday. Well,

Wednesday, Thursday recovery, Friday

training with open doors because there is

tradition that the day before the

match - sorry, open doors training

on Tuesday before the

Wednesday derby match against

Fenord. Yes, and then precisely on

Thursday and Friday, clearly a bit

of recovery, eh. Oh well, 55

minutes again and then we're off to a home match against PSV

. PSV were coming off an

incredible run of results. They had won their first

10-11 league games and

consecutive ones, so they had a

perfect record with the 100-plus goals they had scored the

previous season and so on. And

they, to tell you the difference, no,

even in terms of the schedule, they had

played on Saturday, the previous Saturday,

so they had had a

full week. We had played practically

a day before on the other side of the

world and then two other games and there

clearly I also made

a somewhat unusual choice against PSB because

we started, let's say, with a

somewhat hybrid team, eh trying to play a

tough game at the beginning and then be able to

add a

little bit of quality during the game and be

able to play our cards

in the final part. We managed to win

the match, a

beautiful match. we create a lot of

chances, we go 1-0 down, eh

we equalise and they go back up 2-1 and

then we win the match 3-2 in a

comeback and that then became a

bit of a part of the perfect week

because we got four wins,

but the incredible thing and that's why

no, also going back to the relationship

with the media, we went from the

week from the

Sunday match with an avalanche of criticism and

with this it's not Ajax Football etcetera

etcetera all I imagine that there is also

a status to maintain eg with everything

that was inside 6 days after

Masterpiece, peie of Artio all the

most glorious titles in the world and so

also there as always, right?

the importance of maintaining some sort of

balance in our

evaluations. Actually, that

week all the choices we

made were, in hindsight, yes, they

turned out to be correct,

but to tell you how in

football emotions can really

go from underground

to heaven and from heaven to underground.

So I guess that's

a bit of a hassle, right? Because in any case

I imagine that in terms of changes in

perception, I don't know if perhaps

within the team the

perception that one has from outside in the

media, no, of the work done

is put aside a bit, I mean the

famous I don't read the newspapers, right? But

now it's possible. Now I am

influenced not only by newspapers,

but by the influence

of, let's say, the media and

social media. It's amazing the

players read everything, they read all

the conferences. Have you ever had to

talk to a footballer because he

had accused a bit, maybe I don't know,

opened Twitter to say well, this

this is and let me tell you that it's

daily bread, that is, these are either criticisms or

senseless exaltations. We

gave Gior Mo his debut, born in

2008 and the second

youngest player in

Ajax history. He also scored a debut

, so a lot of

things, as you can imagine,

come along with it. Clearly, when

this happens at Ajax, and it happens with

certain results, with certain

performances, the hype that is created

around the player is enormous, and so

his social media exploded

overnight. From 100 followers to 1

million followers, or a million, I'm exaggerating to

give you an idea.

Clearly, everything that

comes to him, his family, and

even the club itself.

Clearly, this is about having

guys with good heads on their shoulders,

and then we, as people who work

around and for the players and the

club, can help them. So

in this case my role, my

collaborators, my

teammates and the company are once

again how

all these

things can be channeled in the most organic way possible. and then

ultimately release the same message and

release the same, so to speak, what

is the direction in which you want to

go. Maybe you go talk to him and watch him

say something? Depends. Then, after all,

even there the level of the conversations is

always very different. There's the

informal conversation that happens in a restaurant, the

pat on the shoulder rather than the

slap on the ear. There is the interview in the

office which is clearly individual,

which clearly has a

slightly different weight, so to speak. The

chat on the pitch before

training, at the end of training

and the place and the

way it is held also have a big impact on how you want to convey the

message you want to

convey and also on how you

convey it. So maybe there, I mean,

I'll give you an example, a guy on duty,

you talk to him at lunch, you bring him to the office. Yes. He

perhaps makes it clear with a pat on the

shoulder that once again it depends

a lot, that is, one can have some things in mind,

that is, one today I have to talk to

Mokio because I think it's important to

talk to Mokyo and maybe it happens that

you're in the corridor and you see him walking in

a certain way and if you see him as usual

maybe an informal chat is enough

if you see him walking 2 meters from above above

the sky and maybe he needs to be brought back down

and then there's a need for a form

of a different form, as you said before

, there's no Bignami for this.

Well, these are things that are truly experienced

. Last year you know well

what we went through in Nice, those

two moments, one in particular, that is, there is

no course, there is no degree, there is nothing

that teaches you how to manage or

deal with something that truly goes

beyond. It's a bit like being a parent there,

that is, there are no explanations beforehand

for how you then approach it, but maybe you know,

I'll give you an example, in that case you know you

have a psychologist who can

help you. And that's the reason why,

among the many situations that then

led to my choice to

detach myself, yes, eh, to leave

Ajax. I think that

at a high level there is a need to have

very, very clear skills and to

have figures that help complete

the and as said, that is, in my opinion

the example, that is,

a company and a staff must

be ready to prepare for the

worst possible scenario in everything,

in the match from a tactical point of view

, from a precisely emotional point of view

. of what can happen.

So be prepared to have the

right tools for any type of

request, from the clearest to the

most unexpected. And that's what keeps

me awake at night,

thinking about what could

theoretically happen. and it is, I repeat,

this is my way of preparing myself

and trying to be and be ready and I

repeat, you need skills, in

my opinion, very very specific that

are in the then playing as much as we

played, you realize that,

for example, from the figure of the

nutritionist and from the figure of the

injury recovery or of the

recovery and optimization work of

all the physical and physiological aspects

that are there, you realize that the

details are so small and

so many that you can control that

those small nuances, those and

those commas are what then

lead you to obtain or not obtain a

certain type of sporting result. And in

this dimension here, clearly,

there is the coach, as in this case,

what I try to do, who

tries to push every aspect that helps

improve performance, and then

clearly you need a company

that is willing to help you monitor

these little things. These are, in my opinion

, the aspects that then - I

repeat - make the difference between

working at a certain level with

certain standards and with certain ones and with a

certain level of obsession and dedication.

And for me one of the key words is

last year when you came to Nizia I

spoke to you about curiosity. Yes,

absolutely. And for me, curiosity

comes back as a key word in

my modus operandi, because, as I

told you, what has led me

to the path I have taken up to today,

if there's one thing I'm sure of, it's

that tomorrow won't be enough to take another

step, so continually

questioning what you do

and then the other part that for me, I repeat,

is more and more every day is dedication and

how much

you manage to dedicate yourself to what we

do, because

this thing gets to the players, it's

something contagious, positive or

negative, and believe me, I realize

by watching the games, you

know, that we've played this year,

in previous years and where football

is going a bit, the tactical margin

in which you can make the difference

every day is becoming less and

less because it's a football that is clearly

taking influences from

different leagues, from different stimuli, how many

people study and analyze

football. So we were talking, no, about how long

an idea can last. Years ago it lasted a

season, then a few months and today I

gave you the example of the 45 minutes

in the half-time you can solve it and today

probably even less because

having the live on the bench theoretically

it is time to turn around, look look

call call the player and

if you have the intelligent players to

solve it on the live pitch. So

everything is getting smaller. the idea or

the tactical part no longer has that much

room for maneuver. What

makes the difference is how

quickly you can adjust,

adapt, intervene and

intervene and how much you are

constantly able to push

your limits and your proposals and 1

cm further, because in the end you can't

think you have a five-step

advantage over others, but often

it's a step they make up for and try to

push your limits further

forward. So, well, this is partly

why, as I told you,

my work and that of the staff is

constantly stimulated by all

those external contexts and

must be constantly open to them

because that's where you are ultimately

measured and evaluated. But in fact, what

what

you were telling me before is also very interesting, that is, in the sense

of evaluation, no, that in any case

even the interview, for example,

with the club, no, that club X wants you,

eh, in any case now for a

coach it is no longer 352 433, it

really presupposes a series of

enormous criteria, especially abroad,

because then in fact you are a coach,

you are a manager, you are the manager of a

group, of a work group.

Could you tell me a little about how

an interview is done now and

what clubs are looking for in a coach in

2025? Most of my job

interviews have been done

abroad, so in a context in

which I'm telling you mine, my

interviews usually last 5 hours or more, and

usually there are more than one, so because in

any case what we have, that is,

what I've usually perceived is that

clubs are eager to

understand and I like, I swear, look, to

throw everything out on the table because I

believe that before embarking on a

journey together it's essential to

get to know each other for the things we

like and for the things on which

conflict situations can potentially arise, right? and so getting to

know each other right from the start and saying

"Okay, I know that my strengths

are this, this and this and points in

which potentially we could find

comparisons on which are this,

this and this because it happened to me in the

past because as I was telling you before, I

consider myself a demanding person, but

demanding on my work, not because

I want that I have never

had a team that buys players for 25 million. Yes, yes, yes,

of course. So

this is not the

request, but on trying to

optimize everything that can help

a club move in a certain

direction, on that I am quite

uncompromising because, I repeat, in the end

you were saying before the fact that we are the ones

with the light on and and it is the

truth, but in reality we take the

credits and or um or let's say the demerits of

a job that of a job that is done

that is done by if I think of the

first team Ajax One and there are 25

players and then another 2530 people who work

work

only on the first team and believe me

each of They have an impact, some

clearly a little more than others a

little less, but you believe in who cuts the grass

on the pitch, how and how they do it, and

that's also something that. And from how the

pitches are prepared,

you understand the level of dedication and

love that is put into something

when the kids go to the

restaurant, the chefs, the waitresses, and it's

also that, so to speak, that alchemy

that can or cannot be created

between all the people who work. Exactly.

Who work with the first team. It's

something I believe in

enormously because I think that in the end,

what the environment gives you or takes away from you

are probably vibrations.

There are no objectively

clear data that make you say, but

perceptions that certainly make you understand what

trend we're in. Yes, that

. I think that in our season at

Ajax, a lot of the

good things that have been done come precisely from

these vibrations. Yes, from

some tactical ideas, from some

solutions, from the fact that the team was

physically very performing, which

therefore made Well, all these things,

yes, but in my opinion, the real basis

was the different vibes at the

sports center. On the last day,

when we left, when I

communicated my decision, how was it

taken by the environment, no, and

how much this feeling

of detachment and potential detachment was

experienced with, well, with great

passion by everyone, it's because

we all had the feeling that

we had built something

magical, right? A balance, I repeat, very

subtle, because it's always very

subtle and you have to nurture it

daily, but something truly

special. Then in the end, it's as if

you had a good full-back who goes to

work unhappy, he becomes a mediocre full-back

. I mean, in the

end, as I told you, it's something I believe in

very much, I mean,

when someone walks into a room, walks

into an environment and there's this

perception, no, of positive auras and or

auras that are a little negative and the

fact of arriving with positivity

and with...

A certain type of vibration, in

my opinion, is contagious. It can be contagious,

in a positive or negative way. In

my opinion, this has a huge impact on

the output you can

achieve in your performance on the pitch. So

before returning to the

pitch, as you well understand,

there's a lot of

technical-tactical, physical, and psychological preparation work

to try to get the

players as ready as possible, but

above all, for me, it's how much

everyone's work and everyone's energy is

channeled towards a goal. Nobody

believed in us, and at the beginning of the year, we

found a team

and an environment that was truly

disillusioned, right? Yes, what were you telling me? You find

guys who don't want to, right?

That's exactly what you were telling you as a premise

. Yes. And when the same

people, the same players, as I

said, the same environment

at a certain point takes a step in one

direction and sees a

glimmer of light in the distance, right? Of course. Yes, yes. And

how, I mean, I think that what we

did was both It was

just saying, "Okay, this is what

we have, but we want to go there and we're

going to go there and burn everything that

was behind us, right? So it's

incredible to recover nine points

from PSV, to go nine points ahead.

Anyway, so in short it was

really something, something

special, but it was done because

all the people, as I told you, from the

most influential to the least influential,

in some ways

looked and walked in the

same direction. Instead,

what you were telling me before about the fact that

coaching in English is easier than

doing it in other languages explains it. and since I was a

head coach I have only coached

in English, so this

is a fact. It is also

true that in any

case, even in Italy, probably.

Exactly. Yes, it's probably better to

train in English than in

Italian. Clearly the issue of

language. Um,

well, now for me English is a bit like, well,

if before I thought in Italian and then I

translated and spoke in English, today

perhaps in some ways I think in

English, but then I dream in Italian and in

English because that's the real

difference. Oh, no. Well, both

languages. All there, eh. No, and in this,

as I was telling you, field English

really comes through quickly and is more

immediate because a word carries with it

a whole series of possible connections.

connections.

Exact. While I think Italian

is a bit like

German, which are much more precise languages, and

German even more so than Italian, they are

very precise languages that have a

word for every little detail.

So German is very very

precise. Italian gives us the opportunity

with a few turns of phrase and a few

nuances, exactly. Which in any case

express well what is

meant and English is much more

practical. The nice thing is that in all the

in all the teams

we've been on, what we've

tried to do is build a

vocabulary, okay? that it is a

practical and efficient vocabulary and therefore it brings

together a bit of a mix of things and I

tell you we have and the players themselves, that is

to say single man, so if the

player can turn or not and you

hear Jordan Anderson who gives instead of

saying lesson and now on the pitch he only says

man because it had become the how to

say our key word to

identify that situation there.

Exact. And that situation there. and I

can really give you other examples,

but we have and

in our current vocabulary, so

in the next team where we will be,

there will be a mix of English, Italian and

also a little bit of French, because some

words, I repeat, in my opinion

also have a sound eh that

helps you that helps you eh to activate

parts of the brain that in another

language in my opinion doesn't work like that.

So, here, creating this

vocabulary that continuously, no, yes yes it

expands, yes it shapes according to where you

are, in my opinion these are once again

small nuances that help a lot in

speeding up learning processes.

Speaking of people who have worked

in Holland, who speak English, I'll quote

a line he said about you

that really struck me because

he—I mean, it's hard to find coaches

or people in football who

expose themselves so much about other people,

correct me if I'm wrong, but with

perhaps very competent opinions who know what they're

talking about—in fact,

in the recent interview he said,

talking a little about, no, what was the

allegiance surrounding your name,

the fact that you have an excellent way of

freeing players, so in any case it

means that you actually know

your job very well. but above all he

recognized, apart from the fact that you're not an

Italian defender, but that you

manage, you have this great ability, which

is perhaps what we

were talking about at the beginning of last

year, of getting many men to create

chances in the final third of the pitch,

which is perhaps a bit of a theme, no,

also of modern football. Simply put,

we saw the Champions

League final in which Paris Saint-Germain

did very well at getting their players

there and then clearly also having some

top-level finishers. If

when you heard his words he did

very well, he followed

a path that maybe, well, I hope,

always starts from there, if it made you

proud and also what does it make you

know that in any case a technician who starts

from your bases in fact ultimately

recognizes, no, that type of

work in Holland. I'm pleased because it means he

saw the games

and that, let's say, it was an

assessment. Allow me to

say it with a little more knowledge of the

facts, perhaps compared to some others.

Every now and then I comment, in short, that

football is beautiful for this reason and

clearly creates opinion because

everything often goes up by hearsay and I

repeat, the words of slot are

words that certainly make people

happy, he knows the championship, he knows the

levels and the values of the teams and I

repeat, he acknowledged in a few words, I

think he clearly summarized

what was a long interview. I

used the exact sentences, those that are,

in short, what we have tried to

do from day one and so,

in short, I repeat, it's pleasing and it

also recognizes the greatness of a

coach like him, both from the point of

view of, well, let's say,

knowledge, but also from the human point of

view and so on. And so,

well, what he did, both in

Holland before and what he did

this year in England, I think,

well, they speak for themselves as a

person and a man. You

met, you had the chance to... We

exchanged a few messages, I

thanked him for his words,

in short, and overall it turned out to be a

wonderful discovery. Another thing, by the

way, precisely, then reading his

notes, interesting, in my opinion, beautiful

to analyze, is how a coach

works on a footballer. Very often,

perhaps, indeed, you see changes in

position, changes in interpretation

of the same role, even changes

in pace, perhaps, no, changes in coach,

even changes in the player's performance

. In my opinion, the most

important example—there are two examples—

is what Conato did, perhaps the

most important, because he

starts out as a centre-back with you, becoming a

full-back fit for the national team. So I'm asking you

how you work, starting from this example,

on mh to identify what

you think are the main

and best characteristics. That is, there

is never a one-size-fits-

all answer. Yes, no, clearly, but how do you

intervene? So, I told you about

the analysis we did at the

beginning of the season and

last year Ajax had conceded

60 goals in the league, maybe even a little more. You

understand that if you want to compete for the

top positions you need to score

a lot of goals, but you also need to

not concede so many,

especially in a transfer market that would then have

taken away important players

up front, because the only ones who could

bring in money for the club were up

front, so how

can you optimize based on the resources you have.

So one of the first analyses was,

"Okay, we have to try to concede

a few less goals, because they had

scored a fair

number of goals, but they had conceded a

lot." So how do we create

this gap between goals scored, goals

scored, and let's say between chances

created and chances conceded? One of the

problems we encountered were

some readings, let's say, by the

central defenders, but a big

problem with the full-backs, eh, with the full-

backs' own attitude to defend

and attack, because in the end

everything goes together, everything goes together,

and so in this game of interlocking pieces, one,

that is, one of the first things that became

clear to me was the fact that Ato should

play left-back, that is,

for me this was, eh, based on what you

visualize, characteristics based on that

then he is a player who has great

technical quality, eh great physicality,

therefore the ability to manage one-on-ones

, despite being very young, but a

fast, rapid player, and so on,

etc. and in any case, having played

central defender, despite not having a

great defensive aptitude, he still had it, he

had a

little more than perhaps those who

played the other

reading, which is my personal one that also

created a few

different visions within the club, because for

the club he was a central defender.

I think that at the highest level, if

you are 1.81m you struggle to play.

Well, for me he's a Premier

League or Real Madrid player or whatever,

because he has everything ahead of him today. Well,

if not a starter, let's say, in the

Dutch national team squad and I

think he can be

a central defender at certain times, but

I see his career more as a few

meters more open as a central defender

ideally, eh, but I see it more in

a team that plays a certain type of

football as a full-back and he

did it for me and it took a little bit of time

because to convince him, to

convince his agent and to

convince because then it was your

job there then it's the entourage that revolves

around him and then as I said the

club that saw him as a central defender

because clearly to play in Holland he

is probably a player who out of

34 games 20 games can play as a

central defender without any kind of

problem when the level rises a little

and thinking about the

European competitions yes he had quality in exiting the

ball and he had and has the ability to

cover the depth, but in everything

that then becomes a hand-to-hand duel

with players, in my opinion, of a

different physical and technical level, in my opinion

there, that is, I believe that it

was not, let's say, the his his

ideal piece and so, well, I did it, I

really started on the first day I

took him and I did it in the office, I

explained to him why, I explained to him from the

videos we had seen from how

we then play, because then

clearly it's one thing if you want a full-back who

plays as an outside striker

or in our way a little more

iboo what you need a player who

plays a lot inside the field and

who connects the play, who in any case makes an

offensive contribution and who

defensively can give you a certain type

of advantage. and he, I repeat, took

took

20 days to get online, then in the

first two official matches, in one

of the two, he scored, eh, he did,

I mean, he found a

clear gratification. Exact. Yes, yes. and slowly

this thing, well, it grew and,

well, it would be interesting to ask him

today where he would like to play, what

role he prefers and from this

movement, a need has clearly arisen

to find a

left-footed central defender and we made them play Yuri

Bass who in fact was the other name that was

born as a fifth

midfielder as a role. A player

of great intelligence, not of

great physicality, but of great

personality and great reading of the game and

paradoxically with this switch, no,

of positions and Sutalo found

great benefit because he found

a player with personality alongside him, despite

being very young, 2003. He is a player

who compensated, let's say, for some of

his shortcomings, a player who

takes great responsibility with the

ball, Sutalo is much more defensive,

despite having good quality when exiting the

ball and therefore, let's say, from the mix of

these three and the relationship of these

three plus Renchi, in January he went to

Roma and created, in short, a

defensive package that gave us solidity from a

defensive point of view and excellent things

from an offensive point of view. In addition to

this, as I was telling you, the work on

individual improvement, in the

specialization of the role, even at the

video level, I imagine, then up there,

as I told you, the great contribution

of my collaborators and that they

are the ones who

dedicate themselves most to one-to-one work. Then I intervene in

video meetings, I intervene sometimes,

obviously when I think there's a

need to push a

certain type of message a little, but in this case a

lot of the work is done by them

because then, as you well know and as you

can well imagine, there's little time to work

. I had three weeks there to

get most of the

things in place and then it's all about preparing for the

match and as you can imagine maybe

even the difference, that is, being Ajax

in the league makes you play a certain type

of match often in the Europa League

maybe different and therefore this

chip switch every 3 days and it must

be, I repeat,

organized and efficient to ensure that

whoever goes to get their hands on the chip. Yes,

yes, yes. know where to put it. And

in this, as I told you, my two

collaborators who worked with me

before, Daniele and Felippe, Dave who is the

person I found there, the group

of analysts and so on, I repeat,

I think we did a

surgical job. You also accepted your

operator before for, let's say,

injury recovery and also, I imagine,

prevention from a certain point of view,

reading the data you had 25%

fewer injuries than the

previous season. Playing more.

playing more, obviously. Exact. And

still playing maybe some

games at a higher intensity, no, at a

higher level. Um, I mean, how do you

work because in any case,

the players are actually assets for the

club, so if they get injured, not only do you

not have them on the pitch, you also don't have them

as a value. How do you work on

prevention, on

injury recovery, how do you try to lower it? it's

all a combination of things.

So, first of all, the coach must

pay attention to it, therefore present it

as one of the key points to

achieve a sporting result,

because what

recent studies tell us is that having players

available or having players in the

infirmary creates a huge difference in

results. So I like to

choose either/or and be the one who gets

the lineup wrong and not have the

players go to the doctor. And so

this is first and foremost a

mix of aspects, so

training clearly impacts the player's performance, which, as I told you,

especially during the current season, is really

reduced to minutes on the

pitch, and therefore optimizing what you

do there is clearly a

collective part, and then having, so to speak, the

right supplements, right? So

the integration of work even sometimes

without the ball, physical work,

compensatory work, so everything

that is before training, everything

that is after training in the

gym and not wasting time. And

in some cases, we have to

invent spaces to be able to do

certain types of work. In some

things, I also have to be open to

removing the field work so as not to

reduce the load, let's say, so as not to overload

overload

the players' muscular structures

and also cognitive ones, because then again,

everything goes together and

then there is this part that is

invisible training and which is everything that revolves

around, so what the boys

eat, how they recover, how they sleep,

how psychologically they manage to

disconnect and reconnect quickly.

And for me, all these aspects here are

the things that, as I told you,

drive me crazy in a

positive sense, because in my opinion, where we can

still make a big difference in

these aspects here and therefore we need to

create a culture of work and

acceptance also on the part of the

players. Well, because if before, in fact,

between one match and another there were 7

days to recover, so you could

tolerate a physiological recovery,

maybe even check it. Yes, but but actually just about about that is, eh enough, it was

actually just about about that is, eh enough, it was enough to let the time pass to

enough to let the time pass to recover and today you have to work to

recover and today you have to work to recover and working to recover

recover and working to recover means

means eh ice baths, it means the

eh ice baths, it means the sauna, it means eh eating in certain

sauna, it means eh eating in certain spots, eating certain things and keeping

spots, eating certain things and keeping others away and it means sleeping a

others away and it means sleeping a certain number of hours at certain times.

certain number of hours at certain times. Today, I repeat, to perform at these

Today, I repeat, to perform at these levels and there is a real need to also

levels and there is a real need to also recover requires work which

recover requires work which is one thing and the other aspect is when

is one thing and the other aspect is when you can

you can and give the opportunity to disconnect and

and give the opportunity to disconnect and unplug. We did something that for me

unplug. We did something that for me a few years ago was crazy, eh, but during the

a few years ago was crazy, eh, but during the international breaks now we had many

international breaks now we had many players who went to the national team,

players who went to the national team, so it wasn't easy, but we

so it wasn't easy, but we gave many days off, 4 c

gave many days off, 4 c thing thing that and with the national team players

thing thing that and with the national team players we tried to invent days

we tried to invent days off during the season to give them time to

off during the season to give them time to breathe. I'll give you the example

breathe. I'll give you the example of Sutalo. He played in the European Championship,

of Sutalo. He played in the European Championship, the European Championship finished, he had two

the European Championship finished, he had two weeks, to tell the truth and he came

weeks, to tell the truth and he came back for a week and in the middle of the

back for a week and in the middle of the week he played his first friendly and

week he played his first friendly and after 5 days he played his first

after 5 days he played his first official match and from there he never

official match and from there he never stopped and he played with us and

stopped and he played with us and over 4,500 minutes plus with the national team

over 4,500 minutes plus with the national team he always played every match of

he always played every match of each one, that is, so he got to the end of

each one, that is, so he got to the end of the season and playing with us he

the season and playing with us he played 49. Yes, yes, yes. And add another

played 49. Yes, yes, yes. And add another 10-1 with the national team and now he's

10-1 with the national team and now he's playing again and when it will end, I mean there

playing again and when it will end, I mean there is never a break. And now we

is never a break. And now we saw Inter who reached the

saw Inter who reached the Champions League final, if I'm not

Champions League final, if I'm not mistaken it was the 57th 58th match, the

mistaken it was the 57th 58th match, the players finished the national team and after

players finished the national team and after the national team and finished and now the

the national team and finished and now the Club World Cup. I mean, for these

Club World Cup. I mean, for these guys, in some ways what's being asked of them is inhumane

guys, in some ways what's being asked of them is inhumane

and let me say that, well, nowadays it's become impossible not to think about

nowadays it's become impossible not to think about managing the players by letting them

managing the players by letting them recover and I think that in a few years there

recover and I think that in a few years there will be a regulation

will be a regulation from FIFA that will say players can

from FIFA that will say players can play a maximum of, okay, so many matches, so many

play a maximum of, okay, so many matches, so many games and so many minutes during the year.

games and so many minutes during the year. For me it's 100% safe and until that's the case I

For me it's 100% safe and until that's the case I think it's my

think it's my responsibility to protect them, to

responsibility to protect them, to safeguard them and sometimes even make

safeguard them and sometimes even make difficult decisions, decisions that are difficult

difficult decisions, decisions that are difficult to justify. I know that our

to justify. I know that our job, we are justified for what

job, we are justified for what happens on Sunday is only

happens on Sunday is only Sunday.

Sunday. But my way of working is like, I

But my way of working is like, I enter a club thinking of

enter a club thinking of working there for 10 years and I really

working there for 10 years and I really feel very company-minded from this point

feel very company-minded from this point of view, even though I've changed

of view, even though I've changed teams so many times in recent years and yet

teams so many times in recent years and yet my way of thinking is that, I

my way of thinking is that, I try to manage the players as

try to manage the players as resources of the club and as I told you

resources of the club and as I told you I want these guys to be

I want these guys to be available as much as possible.

available as much as possible. For me, this is truly one of the first

For me, this is truly one of the first parameters, and clearly we need to

parameters, and clearly we need to convince them and make them understand that

convince them and make them understand that not playing a match that they

not playing a match that they clearly want to play

clearly want to play every match and every 90 minutes

every match and every 90 minutes is not possible. And so even when

is not possible. And so even when I call players to and from

I call players to and from a club, I explain to you how I do it

a club, I explain to you how I do it with clubs, I do it with players,

with clubs, I do it with players, make clear friendships, long-lasting friendships. But I

make clear friendships, long-lasting friendships. But I ask you the last two things.

ask you the last two things. First of all, can you repeat the number of

First of all, can you repeat the number of meetings you mentioned at the beginning? and

meetings you mentioned at the beginning? and 300

300 something like that, how they develop

something like that, how they develop and maybe even how much importance or in

and maybe even how much importance or in any case how much part

any case how much part technology plays. There are many meetings because they

technology plays. There are many meetings because they are clearly what compensate for

are clearly what compensate for the work that cannot be done on the field and

the work that cannot be done on the field and integrate it. In the sense that

integrate it. In the sense that I like to have training sessions that aren't too

I like to have training sessions that aren't too long and with very few breaks, so

long and with very few breaks, so to speed up this means that you have to

to speed up this means that you have to arrive on the pitch prepared, so

arrive on the pitch prepared, so all the work that we do and that

all the work that we do and that the staff does to be organized in the

the staff does to be organized in the location of the

location of the drills, the fluidity between one

drills, the fluidity between one pass and the next is interesting, to

pass and the next is interesting, to say a feedback I got from

say a feedback I got from Daniele Rugani, no, who told me how much

Daniele Rugani, no, who told me how much for him it was, that is, the moment in which

for him it was, that is, the moment in which they enter the pitch and the

they enter the pitch and the feeling of being hung up, that is, that

feeling of being hung up, that is, that then there is no more second of

then there is no more second of recovery, no, between one exercise and

recovery, no, between one exercise and the next it's like, in quotes, the pace and

the next it's like, in quotes, the pace and concentration of the 60-70 minutes

concentration of the 60-70 minutes depending on the day, but often sometimes

depending on the day, but often sometimes even under an hour, but in that the

even under an hour, but in that the density, here is the density of the training

density, here is the density of the training and for me it must be

and for me it must be off the charts and so this for me is

off the charts and so this for me is absolutely one of the

absolutely one of the clearest and most methodological principles and in this,

clearest and most methodological principles and in this, as I was telling you, the intensity of the

as I was telling you, the intensity of the staff in approaching the training It makes

staff in approaching the training It makes a difference, so how much force,

a difference, so how much force, how much energy and how much pressure you

how much energy and how much pressure you put on the structure to be able to

put on the structure to be able to perform at a certain

perform at a certain level. But I clearly told you

level. But I clearly told you that for this to happen at

that for this to happen at this pace, you have to be ready.

this pace, you have to be ready. So in our, our meetings,

So in our, our meetings, let's say, pre-training are about

let's say, pre-training are about preparing for the opponent, about how to

preparing for the opponent, about how to say explanation of what we will

say explanation of what we will do on the pitch to prepare to

do on the pitch to prepare to work on ourselves, to work on the

work on ourselves, to work on the match and on the preparation for

match and on the preparation for the match and therefore always with this mix

the match and therefore always with this mix between how to say the part linked to the

between how to say the part linked to the game model and the situations in

game model and the situations in standard quotation marks and then what is linked

standard quotation marks and then what is linked to the match strategy.

plan B and variables during training and as I was telling you also

training and as I was telling you also in the part of the video meetings

in the part of the video meetings there is a part that I do, a

there is a part that I do, a part that my

part that my collaborators do with respect to some

collaborators do with respect to some specific things collectively and then an

specific things collectively and then an individual part. So the guys,

individual part. So the guys, well, they work a lot on video,

well, they work a lot on video, with meetings that sometimes last 5

with meetings that sometimes last 5 minutes and sometimes they last an hour.

minutes and sometimes they last an hour. depending on that, let's say, we don't have

depending on that, let's say, we don't have standard things and and I repeat, we have to be

standard things and and I repeat, we have to be clearly very flexible with respect

clearly very flexible with respect and it's the only thing, in short, on which

and it's the only thing, in short, on which we really ask for great availability

we really ask for great availability because we try to understand the players and

because we try to understand the players and there is really, as I said, we try

there is really, as I said, we try to, that is, when we are there there is

to, that is, when we are there there is work to be done, they have to

work to be done, they have to know this and it is very clear that in the morning

know this and it is very clear that in the morning when they have coffee and

when they have coffee and breakfast they know that the hours they are at the

breakfast they know that the hours they are at the sports centre are working hours. Okay.

sports centre are working hours. Okay. And so everything that is physical, eh

And so everything that is physical, eh preparation, videos and so

preparation, videos and so on, the training and then when

on, the training and then when we are there we work. Then when I can and

we are there we work. Then when I can and we can invent moments to

we can invent moments to indulge, to disconnect, we are truly

indulge, to disconnect, we are truly very happy because, I repeat, I don't believe that

very happy because, I repeat, I don't believe that or it is possible that the week can be

or it is possible that the week can be like this. I believe much more in the

like this. I believe much more in the variability, no, of the general also to

variability, no, of the general also to maintain tension. Exact. Exact. And

maintain tension. Exact. Exact. And then because I repeat, in this case it's how I

then because I repeat, in this case it's how I work too, that is,

work too, that is, I think that absolute linearity at a certain point

I think that absolute linearity at a certain point leads to a decline, instead you need to

leads to a decline, instead you need to push to 2000, let go, push to

push to 2000, let go, push to 2000, let go. This is football.

2000, let go. This is football. So, to close, I'll quote you a phrase

So, to close, I'll quote you a phrase that one of your former players said, who

that one of your former players said, who asked, let's say, about you

asked, let's say, about you , he said: "In Italy, people think

, he said: "In Italy, people think that experience can only be gained

that experience can only be gained here." A path like yours, perhaps

here." A path like yours, perhaps , is understood quite a bit, but

, is understood quite a bit, but perhaps, no, you rely a lot on your

perhaps, no, you rely a lot on your experience in Serie A, in Italy

experience in Serie A, in Italy compared to those that we are

compared to those that we are perhaps not yet ready for, no, for these

perhaps not yet ready for, no, for these slightly more multicultural paths, they

slightly more multicultural paths, they pass the term. What? That is, how do you

pass the term. What? That is, how do you see it, how do you perceive it? I think it's the

see it, how do you perceive it? I think it's the same thing that happens for

same thing that happens for players too, right? Yes, yes, there's definitely

players too, right? Yes, yes, there's definitely always a bit of it if he hasn't played in

always a bit of it if he hasn't played in Italy. So, I think that

Italy. So, I think that football today, I repeat, at all

football today, I repeat, at all levels, especially when you play in

levels, especially when you play in European competitions, brings with it

European competitions, brings with it stimuli and tactical,

stimuli and tactical, psychological and pressure comparisons. Well,

psychological and pressure comparisons. Well, so let it be, but this is also a

so let it be, but this is also a little bit in France, that is, in France

little bit in France, that is, in France the desire to have

the desire to have French coaches in Holland, to have

French coaches in Holland, to have Dutch coaches and a little bit in Italy, in short, to

Dutch coaches and a little bit in Italy, in short, to have Italian coaches or coaches who have

have Italian coaches or coaches who have worked in Italy. I think this

worked in Italy. I think this is, well, it's understandable in some ways

is, well, it's understandable in some ways because the connection is very, very

because the connection is very, very direct, he's already

direct, he's already worked here, he knows and that's

worked here, he knows and that's important. In fact, in my

important. In fact, in my staff I have always wanted a person who

staff I have always wanted a person who knew the championship and had

knew the championship and had experience. So it

experience. So it happened in Türkiye, it happened in

happened in Türkiye, it happened in France to have a former player who

France to have a former player who then became a member of my staff. Well,

then became a member of my staff. Well, that could help us to

that could help us to understand and the same thing

understand and the same thing happened in Holland and this in my opinion

happened in Holland and this in my opinion helps a lot and because in any case it helps you

helps a lot and because in any case it helps you to understand where you are going to play, the

to understand where you are going to play, the type of pitch,

type of pitch, the type of environment you are going to

the type of environment you are going to face and the truth is that the

face and the truth is that the fact of having worked in many

fact of having worked in many different championships has given me, I believe,

different championships has given me, I believe, great flexibility from this point

great flexibility from this point of view and I repeat I feel very comfortable

of view and I repeat I feel very comfortable in thinking of working

in thinking of working in a new one in a new championship that I have

in a new one in a new championship that I have never done. Then if you tell me

never done. Then if you tell me clearly tomorrow you will return to coach in

clearly tomorrow you will return to coach in Turkey or you will return to coach in Holland,

Turkey or you will return to coach in Holland, having the experience of what or in

having the experience of what or in France having the experience of what it

France having the experience of what it means to play in a stadium or to

means to play in a stadium or to know more, clearly that is

know more, clearly that is an advantage. Certain. It's a small

an advantage. Certain. It's a small advantage that you

advantage that you clearly have, but as I told you

clearly have, but as I told you on the other hand, having had

on the other hand, having had the opportunity to already work in three

the opportunity to already work in three different leagues and in any case Serie A, having

different leagues and in any case Serie A, having done it as a collaborator, eh, in

done it as a collaborator, eh, in Italy and therefore for 3 years, in any

Italy and therefore for 3 years, in any case having seen absolutely, in

case having seen absolutely, in any case, there is a certain, a certain

any case, there is a certain, a certain knowledge of certain dynamics and and

knowledge of certain dynamics and and however, here, in my opinion, what

however, here, in my opinion, what counts most of all, I repeat, this is

counts most of all, I repeat, this is for the coaches but also for the

for the coaches but also for the players, open-mindedness. And I believe

players, open-mindedness. And I believe that for a coach

that for a coach when you go into a new context, the

when you go into a new context, the truth is that you bring, if you manage to

truth is that you bring, if you manage to bring in 80% of what

bring in 80% of what you have in mind, it's a great, it's a

you have in mind, it's a great, it's a great result and then in that is the

great result and then in that is the ability to adapt and the ability to

ability to adapt and the ability to connect with the new environment,

connect with the new environment, with the new dynamics and that 20% is

with the new dynamics and that 20% is what will make you achieve or not

what will make you achieve or not achieve the objectives from my point of

achieve the objectives from my point of view and as I told you, having a

view and as I told you, having a staff with many passports and being

staff with many passports and being very open to integrating figures already

very open to integrating figures already in the company. Well, up until now, at least

in the company. Well, up until now, at least , it has always created

, it has always created very,

very, very interesting, very stimulating dynamics that have

very interesting, very stimulating dynamics that have helped us, you know, to achieve more in the various

helped us, you know, to achieve more in the various environments than what was

environments than what was asked of us at the beginning of the

asked of us at the beginning of the season and above all to create, you know

season and above all to create, you know , memories and

, memories and recollections, you know, that we carry with us

recollections, you know, that we carry with us and are, as always, you know, the

and are, as always, you know, the thing that in the end we work for

thing that in the end we work for and that is truly the fuel that

and that is truly the fuel that makes us push every day on the pitch.

makes us push every day on the pitch. As a next step, what do you

As a next step, what do you expect from yourself? What would you like?

expect from yourself? What would you like? What are you looking for? So, what I

What are you looking for? So, what I hope for first of all is to remain

hope for first of all is to remain open as I have been up

open as I have been up until today and for me clearly it is

until today and for me clearly it is to find a context that is

to find a context that is willing to work

willing to work with the same principles and with the

with the same principles and with the same and with the same, let's say,

same and with the same, let's say, intensity. Well, this for me is the

intensity. Well, this for me is the thing that

thing that really, well, even in my

really, well, even in my evaluations these days, you know,

evaluations these days, you know, in relation to the possibilities that have

in relation to the possibilities that have occurred. This is a

occurred. This is a criterion that I always put on the table

criterion that I always put on the table and that I keep very much in mind, as I

and that I keep very much in mind, as I told you, in recent years I have gained,

told you, in recent years I have gained, well, a good amount of

well, a good amount of life experiences and now, well, the

life experiences and now, well, the important thing is not to

important thing is not to rush, but to choose and choose

rush, but to choose and choose well, well, what is the

well, well, what is the next step, I repeat, wherever,

next step, I repeat, wherever, wherever it is and regardless of the

wherever it is and regardless of the brand or regardless of

brand or regardless of the prestige of the championship

the prestige of the championship or the company, but really to

or the company, but really to have the feeling that we can

have the feeling that we can work in a certain way and, as I

work in a certain way and, as I told you, and take from each other what

told you, and take from each other what are the things we like, but

are the things we like, but above all to clarify what are

above all to clarify what are potentially the aspects of

potentially the aspects of possible conflict and then conflict,

possible conflict and then conflict, I repeat, is part of every type of

I repeat, is part of every type of relationship, but how this, well,

relationship, but how this, well, can then be, in quotes, mitigated and

can then be, in quotes, mitigated and above all oriented towards the

above all oriented towards the final performance which then, as I

final performance which then, as I told you, is what, well,

told you, is what, well, the small

the small details, the small points that then make

details, the small points that then make the seasons remembered

the seasons remembered successfully, often come into play. or rather, they

successfully, often come into play. or rather, they create

create slightly different situations. A thousand thanks. Thank you.

slightly different situations. A thousand thanks. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. This is a great piece of football. No.

[Music] M.

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YouTube Transcript:Francesco FARIOLI: “Il messaggio da LIVERPOOL, il mio futuro, HENDERSON e il mio addio all’AJAX”

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Francesco FARIOLI: “Il messaggio da LIVERPOOL, il mio futuro, HENDERSON e il mio addio all’AJAX”