pressing school Gasperini, challenge Milan-Corriere.it

In American sports they call it the coaching tree. It is a sort of family tree that unites coaches influenced by the same philosophy or person. For Raffaele Palladino, that person Gian Piero Gasperini, with whom he has a very strong relationship. After the sacking of Giovanni Stroppa, who arrived in September, Monza was restarted – swearing that he was not a ferryman – by a rookie, the Primavera coach Raffaele Palladino. And he was right because in the last 16 league games there have been 8 wins and 4 draws (average 1.75) with prestigious scalps like those of Juventus — beaten both in their debut on 18 September and in the second leg, on 29 January in Turin — and partially from Inter, stopped on a draw.

Palladino therefore has the time and resources in his hands to put into practice what he learned from his teacher, Gasperini himself, known first in the Juventus youth team and then in Genoa. For me he was the number one coach, a master, even now today I call him that, Palladino said in an interview. And on the field, his influence can be seen. The principles applied by the coach in the Monza Primavera match those of Gasp: aggression, pressing, verticality and 3-man defence. A way of playing that will sound familiar to some. To adopt him in Serie A there is also Ivan Juric, for two seasons at Toro after bringing Verona back to the middle-high areas of the standings, coincidentally Palladino’s teammate at Genoa under the guidance of Gasperini and now coach of Turin. A respectable coaching tree, which also includes Thiago Motta, who passed from that same Genoa of miracles who finished 5th in the 2008/2009 season and is now coach of Bologna.

As a footballer Raffaele wore for two seasons the Juventus shirt when the championship was that of Serie B. Maybe a fortune for a 22-year-old boy looking for the right place to show off. In Turin, in 51 appearances, he left his mark 11 times, definitively launching himself into the top Italian championship. Seen as a talent, it was even Alex Ferguson, for his Manchester United, who knocked on Juventus’ door to take over his card. The request for 20 million from the Juventus management put the point on the matter. In those times he also met a certain Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who could find himself on the pitch today with the Milan shirt (I had the pleasure of meeting him as a teammate in 2006, of course I fear him, said Palladino in recent days) after his long absence.

But it also finds Stefano Pioli, under whom he played at the time of Salernitana: even the current coach of the Italian champions was in his first experience, albeit in Serie B, coming from a Primavera team (that of Chievo). In the first leg Milan won 4-1 but Monza at the San Siro had not disfigured at all and, since then, have picked up 19 points in 11 matches. a whole other story.