Francesco Farioli (; born 10 April 1989) is an Italian professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach who last managed the Dutch football club

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

. Farioli started his coaching career in Turkey with spells at

Fatih Karagümrük Fatih () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 15 km2, and its population is 368,227 (2022). It is home to almost all of the provincial authorities (including the mayor's office, police headquarters, metro ...

and

Alanyaspor Alanyaspor Kulübü, known as Corendon Alanyaspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Alanya in Antalya Province. Formed in 1948, the club colours are orange and green. Home matches are play ...

. He then had one season in charge of French club

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

before being appointed by Ajax in May 2024.

Career

Early career

Farioli studied

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and later

sports science Sports science is a discipline that studies how the healthy human body works during exercise, and how sports and physical activity promote health and performance from cellular to whole body perspectives. The study of sports science traditionally i ...

at the

University of Florence The University of Florence ( Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Firenze'') (in acronym UNIFI) is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled. History The f ...

. He began his coaching career with Margine Coperta, a lower-division Italian football club, where he was goalkeeping coach from 2009 to 2011. He subsequently worked as a goalkeeping coach for Fortis Juventus and Lucchese in the Italian Serie C. Farioli then joined the

Aspire Academy Aspire Academy () is a sports academy based in the Aspire Zone in Qatar, founded in 2004 with the goal to scout and help develop Qatari athletes, whilst also providing them with secondary school education. History Aspire Academy was establis ...

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

as a goalkeeping coach for the Qatar U16 national team. While at Aspire, he met

Roberto De Zerbi Roberto De Zerbi (; born 6 June 1979) is an Italian professional football manager and former player, who is currently the head coach of Ligue 1 club Marseille. Playing career De Zerbi started his professional career at AC Milan. He spent four se ...

and Jarkko Tuomisto. He returned to Italy to work as the goalkeeping coach for

Benevento Benevento ( ; , ; ) is a city and (municipality) of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the Sabato (r ...

under De Zerbi during the 2017–18 season. He then followed De Zerbi to

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town is best known for being the centre of the Ita ...

, where he continued as goalkeeping coach from 2018 to 2020.

Turkey

Alanyaspor (assistant manager)

Farioli's first role as an assistant manager was with the Turkish Süper Lig club

for the 2020–21 season under manager

Çağdaş Atan Çağdaş Atan (; born 29 February 1980) is a Turkish football manager and a former player who played as a central defender. He is the manager of İstanbul Başakşehir of the Süper Lig. He began his career at Altay and Marmaris before playin ...

Fatih Karagümrük

On 21 March 2021, he was appointed the head coach of

, another Süper Lig club. At 31, he was one of the youngest managers in a professional European league. Farioli implemented a possession-based style of play at Fatih Karagümrük, a significant departure from the more direct approach common in the Süper Lig. His team led the league in average possession (61.3%) and had the second-highest number of open-play passing sequences of 10 or more passes. This tactical approach garnered attention for its distinctiveness. He managed Fatih Karagümrük until 12 December 2021.

Return to Alanyaspor

On 31 December 2021, he returned to

, this time as head coach. Farioli guided Alanyaspor through the second half of the

2021–22 Süper Lig The 2021–22 Süper Lig, officially called the Spor Toto Süper Lig Ahmet Çalık season, was the 64th season of the Süper Lig, the highest tier football league of Turkey. Trabzonspor clinched their 7th league title, and first since 1983-84 se ...

season, achieving 11 wins, 3 draws, and 5 losses in the 19 league games he managed. The team finished the season in 5th place and reached the semi-finals of the

2021–22 Turkish Cup The 2021–22 Turkish Cup () was the 60th season of the tournament. Ziraat Bankası was the sponsor of the tournament, thus the sponsored name is Ziraat Turkish Cup. The winners earned a berth in the play-off round of the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Le ...

. In the

2022–23 Süper Lig The 2022–23 Süper Lig, officially called the Spor Toto Süper Lig 2022–23 season, was the 65th season of the Süper Lig, the highest tier football league of Turkey. The season has started on 5 August 2022 and ended on 7 June 2023. Galatasara ...

season, Farioli oversaw the first 22 league matches, recording 6 wins, 7 draws, and 9 losses, before leaving the club by his own decision on 27 February 2023.

Nice

On 30 June 2023, Farioli joined French Ligue 1 side

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

for the top spot in the league standings. Despite some decline in form later in the season, Nice finished the 2023–24 Ligue 1 season in 5th place, securing qualification for the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

. In September 2023, Farioli obtained his UEFA Pro Licence.

Ajax

On 23 May 2024, Farioli signed a three-year contract with Dutch club

, becoming their first-ever Italian head coach. This appointment marked the first time Ajax had appointed a foreign manager since

Morten Olsen Morten Per Olsen (; born 14 August 1949) is a Danish former Association football, football manager and former player. He was the head coach of the Denmark national football team, Denmark national team for 15 years from 2000 until 2015, guiding ...

in the 1997–98 season. Taking charge after Ajax's difficult 2023–24 season, Farioli applied his defensive coaching strengths, previously seen at Nice, to improve the team's stability. Farioli's focus on organization, combined with frequent squad rotation and player development, contributed to Ajax achieving the league's best defence and reaching first place in the Eredivisie by late March 2025. His tactical approach gained particular attention following a crucial 2–0 away victory against title rivals PSV in late March 2025. Analyses highlighted Farioli's specific preparation against PSV's system, including particular ways Ajax pressured PSV and used planned player movements intended to open up attacking opportunities, as well as effective in-game adjustments, such as switching to a 5-4-1 formation late in the match to secure the result. Ajax suffered a historic collapse, squandering a nine-point lead with five matches left, allowing PSV Eindhoven to claim the

2024–25 Eredivisie The 2024–25 Eredivisie was the 69th season of Eredivisie, the premier football competition in the Netherlands. It began on 9 August 2024 and concluded on 1 June 2025. PSV Eindhoven, who entered the last 5 weeks of the season 9 points behind ...

title. Farioli was visibly emotional after their final match and stated he had no regrets despite the dramatic failure. However, tensions between Farioli and Ajax's executive board have reportedly escalated, with disagreements over tactics, transfers, and finances, leading to speculation that he may soon leave the club. On 19 May 2025, Farioli decided to leave Ajax.

Tactics

Francesco Farioli's coaching style, influenced by

but with his own ideas, typically involves keeping the ball (possession) and building play carefully from the back to control the midfield. His teams often concentrate players centrally, using short passes to dictate the game's pace and quickly attempt to regain possession after losing the ball. Key ideas include using quick passing sequences to bypass opponents and adjusting the speed of attacks based on the opposition. Attacking play focuses on finding space between defenders, creating advantages on the wings, and moving multiple players into the opponent's penalty box. Defensively, Farioli emphasizes aggressive high pressing – challenging opponents near their own goal. When defending deeper, his teams tend to stay compact (close together), protecting central areas and forcing attacks towards the sidelines, while remaining ready to press high again when feasible. He has also shown tactical adaptability, for example at Ajax where analysis suggested a shift towards greater defensive solidity and efficiency.

Managerial statistics

References

External links

*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farioli, Francisco 1989 births Living people People from Barga, Tuscany Sportspeople from the Province of Lucca Italian football managers Italian expatriate football managers Fatih Karagümrük S.K. managers Alanyaspor managers OGC Nice managers AFC Ajax managers Süper Lig managers Ligue 1 managers Eredivisie managers Italian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Italian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Italian expatriate sportspeople in France Italian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate football managers in Qatar Expatriate football managers in Turkey Expatriate football managers in France Expatriate football managers in the Netherlands