Vincenzo Italiano (born 10 December 1977) is an Italian

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

who is manager of

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

Early life

Italiano was born in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, to Sicilian parents originally from Ribera and later moved back to their hometown when he was six months of age.

Playing career

After starting his professional career with

Trapani Trapani ( ; ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') with 54,887 inhabitants, on the west coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an important fishing port and the mai ...

, he played for

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Hellas Verona (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Verona, Veneto, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won ...

(for most of his career), first in

and later in

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

. Italiano made his debut in

with

on 2 February 1997, under manager Luigi Cagni, in Serie A, at the age of 19, in a 6–1 away defeat to

; Verona were relegated at the end of the

1996–97 Serie A The 1996–97 Serie A title was won by Juventus FC, Juventus, under head coach Marcello Lippi. Cagliari Calcio, Cagliari, A.C. Perugia Calcio, Perugia, Hellas Verona F.C., Hellas Verona and A.C. Reggiana 1919, Reggiana were relegated. Teams Bol ...

season. After helping his team earn promotion back to Serie A in 1998–99, he scored his first Serie A goal on 5 November 2000, in a 2–2 home draw against

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

, but was later sent off for a double booking following his goal celebration. Italiano then had a brief spell with

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

in 2005, before returning to Verona the following season. Italiano then appeared in Serie A again, albeit briefly, with cross-city rivals Chievo on 14 January 2007 against

Catania Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

; he helped them achieve promotion back to Serie A by winning the Serie B title the following season, and later helping them avoid relegation the season after that. He subsequently joined

Padova Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of ...

in 2009, and later had spells with

Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...

and Lumezzane before retiring in 2014.

Style of play

Italiano's playing role was that of a versatile and dynamic central midfield

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a footballer who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing Passing (association football), passing moves which lead to Goal (sport), goals, through ...

, known for his tackling and passing range, in particular his ability to play long balls. He often played in the ''regista'' role as a

deep-lying playmaker In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

in midfield, and was influenced by Demetrio Albertini and

Andrea Pirlo Andrea Pirlo (; born 19 May 1979) is an Italian association football, football manager (association football), manager and former professional player. Considered one of the greatest Midfielder (association football)#Deep-lying playmaker, mi ...

. In addition to his vision and ability to dictate the tempo of his teams' plays, Italiano was also known for his powerful striking ability from outside the box.

Coaching career

Early years

After his retirement as a player, he started a coaching career in Veneto for a number of amateur teams. In 2017, he joined Union ArzignanoChiampo, which won him interest from

Serie C The Serie C (), officially known as Serie C NOW for sponsorship purposes, is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing ...

club

who hired him for the 2018–19 season. Under his guidance, Trapani concluded the 2018–19 season in second place behind champions Juve Stabia, and then successfully contested the playoff phase, winning promotion to Serie B after defeating

Piacenza Piacenza (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Piacenza, eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with more ...

2–0 on aggregate.

Spezia

Following his successful season with Trapani, Italiano was subsequently hired by ambitious Serie B club Spezia as the club's new head coach for the 2019–20 season. In his first season in charge, Italiano immediately achieved promotion with Spezia to

for the first time in the club's history after edging

Frosinone Frosinone (; local dialect: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lazio, administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is about southeast of Rome, close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of th ...

in the promotion play-offs. He successively guided Spezia in their

2020–21 Serie A The 2020–21 Serie A (known as the Serie A Telecom Italia, TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 119th season of top-tier Italian association football, football, the 89th in a round-robin tournament, and the 11th since its organization under an ...

campaign, succeeding in keeping the small Ligurian club in the top flight in his debut season in the Italian top division.

Fiorentina

Italiano's successes with Spezia won him the interest of

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

, who ultimately signed him as their new head coach on a two-year deal. In his first season in charge, Italiano led Fiorentina to win a spot for the

2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League The 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League was the second season of the UEFA Europa Conference League, Europe's tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA. The final was played at Fortuna Arena in Prague, Czech Republic. It was won ...

by finishing 7th in

, thus marking a return into European football for the ''Viola'' after several years. Despite interest from other clubs, Italiano was confirmed as Fiorentina manager for two more seasons. Italiano then led Fiorentina to the 2023 UEFA Europa Conference League Final the following season, the club's first European final since

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

. Their memorable campaign ended with a narrow 2–1 defeat to Premier League side

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

in the final minute of regulation time. Fiorentina finished 8th in the 2022–23 season, in what seemed as though Fiorentina have missed out on European Competition but surprisingly qualified for the 2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference League due to seventh placed team, rivals

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

, being banned from Conference League and Europe altogether, so Fiorentina replaced Juventus as Italy's representative for the Conference League. Fiorentina also reached the 2023 Coppa Italia final, sufferring a 2–1 defeat to

. He never started the same starting eleven in consecutive games during a 141-match run that ended on 2 March 2024, when he finally selected the same starting line-up against both

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

at home and

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

away in the league. Italiano made even more history with Fiorentina as they qualified for the 2024 UEFA Europa Conference League Final, eliminating

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...

4–3 on aggregate in the semi-finals of the competition; Italiano became the first manager of Fiorentina to reach back to back European finals and the first to reach back to back Conference League finals. However, on 29 May, Fiorentina lost out to

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

1–0, conceding late in the second half of extra-time, their second consecutive final defeat in the competition. Following the final match of the Serie A season on 2 June, in which Fiorentina managed a 3–2 away win over

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

, finishing in eighth place with 60 points and qualifying for the Conference League for the third consecutive season, Italiano confirmed that he would be leaving the club in the summer.

Bologna

On 5 June 2024, Italiano was officially appointed as the head coach of Serie A side

, signing a two-year contract with the club. On 14 May 2025, he led the club to a 1–0 victory over

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

in the Coppa Italia final, clinching their first title in the competition in 51 years.

Style of management

Italiano is known for his pragmatic offensive playing style as a manager. Tactically, he used the 4–3–3 formation during his time as head coach of Spezia, with a

flanked by two box-to-box midfielders, or '' mezzali'', who were capable of making late attacking runs off the ball. His team was capable of defending either in a deep or mid-block, with a compact shape, restricting spaces for his opponents, while also incorporating aspects of

man-to-man marking In association football, marking is an organized defensive tactic which aims to prevent a member of the opposing team (usually a striker) from taking control of the ball. Several marking strategies exist in football, and they mostly differ from e ...

off the ball. After winning back possession, his Spezia side were known for moving the ball quickly with their passing to initiate counter-attacks, and utilised the wings without resorting to traditional wing-play. In a similar manner to

Arrigo Sacchi Arrigo Sacchi (born 1 April 1946) is an Italian former professional football coach, best known for having twice managed AC Milan. Sacchi is regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, and his Milan side (1987–1991) is widely regarded ...

, Italiano believes that all players should be involved in the build-up of attacking plays, regardless of their roles on the pitch. At Fiorentina, he demonstrated his versatility, shifting between different formations such as the 4–4–2 and the

4–2–3–1 In association football, the formation of a team refers to the position players take in relation to each other on a pitch. As association football is a fluid and fast-moving game, a player's position (with the exception of the goalkeeper) in a ...

to suit his players, although he continued to use his favoured 4–3–3 when possible, in particular following the signing of ''regista'' Arthur Melo in midfield in 2023. His team were known for being capable of alternating high-intensity attacking play with a slower possession-based style. He also placed more importance on the plays of his attacking full-backs. His team were known for their hard-working, aggressive, and disciplined approach, which made them a difficult opponent even for larger sides, and he made use of heavy pressing and a high defensive line. His striker usually functions in a more creative role, dropping deep to receive the ball and link-up with teammates, or provides depth to the team with his runs. While Italiano has earned praise in the media as promising manager, he has also been criticised by certain pundits for his overly predictable possession-based style, and for his teams' inability to convert their chances or score many goals despite controlling the ball. Others have instead criticised him for his game-plans, as his Fiorentina side often lost game in seemingly preventable manners, which has led the press to question his teams' mentality, in particular following their three consecutive final defeats between 2022 and 2024. Italiano believes in the importance of striking balance between attack and defence, as well as dressing room-management, motivation, and communication as coach. Italiano has cited the offensive styles and formations of

Pep Guardiola Josep "Pep" Guardiola Sala (; born 18 January 1971) is a Catalans, Catalan professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player from Spain who has been the manager of club Manchester City F.C., Ma ...

Maurizio Sarri Maurizio Sarri (; born 10 January 1959) is an Italian professional football manager who is currently manager of Serie A club Lazio. Sarri did not play football professionally, taking part as an amateur centre back and coach while working as a ba ...

Jürgen Klopp Jürgen Norbert Klopp (; born 16 June 1967) is a German football executive and former Manager (association football), manager and Football player, player. He is widely regarded as one of the best football managers in the world. Klopp has been ...

Luis Enrique Luis Enrique Martínez García (; born 8 May 1970), known as Luis Enrique, is a Spanish football manager and former player. He is the manager of Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain. A versatile player with good technique, he was capable of playin ...

, and Zdeněk Zeman as his inspirations as a manager; a former director of his likened him to Guardiola, describing him as "un piccolo Pep" ("a little Pep," in Italian).

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Hellas Verona *

: 1998–99 Chievo Verona *

: 2007–08

Manager

Trapani *

play-offs:

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Spezia *

play-offs:

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Fiorentina *

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

runner-up: 2022–23 *

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

runner-up: 2022–23, 2023–24 Bologna *

: 2024–25

Individual

* Serie A Coach of the Month: May 2023, December 2023, March 2025

References

External links

Vincenzo Italiano AIC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Italiano, Vincenzo 1977 births Living people Italian men's footballers Hellas Verona FC players Genoa CFC players AC ChievoVerona players Calcio Padova players AC Perugia Calcio players FC Lumezzane players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Karlsruhe Serie A managers Serie B managers Serie C managers Spezia Calcio managers ACF Fiorentina managers Bologna FC 1909 managers Italian football managers People of Sicilian descent