In recent years, Roberto Mancini has become more recognised as a highly successful coach following his title winning performances in Serie A and the English Premier League, when coaching Internazionale and Manchester City respectively. It is often forgotten however, that Mancini was an outstanding centre forward who won countless medals during his playing career, firstly with Sampdoria and then later with SS Lazio.
Mancini’s desire to succeed has long been evident to all and is exemplified by his move, at the age of 13 years old, from his native Jesi, 17 kilometres from the Adriatic coast, to Bologna who had scouted him from an early age. After a difficult first 12 months during which he found being away from his family and home difficult, he flourished in the Rossoblu junior teams, before making his Serie A debut in September 1981, at the age of 16, as a second half substitute against Cagliari in a 1-1 draw. Rossoblu coach Tarcisio Burgnich had seen enough of Mancini in the Bologna Primavera team the previous season to convince him that the 16 year old from Jesi was ready for Serie A. Mancini scored the first of his 156 Serie A goals one month later, grabbing the equaliser in a 2-2 draw away at Como.
In his first season in Serie A, Mancini made 30 appearances, scoring 9 goals in the process, however his goals were not enough to keep Bologna in Serie A as they finished 15th, and were relegated to Serie B along with AC Milan and Como. When one considers that the Capocanonniere that season was Roma’s Roberto Pruzzo, with 15 goals, Mancini’s return of 9 goals at the age of 16 was special, and it was sufficient to arouse the interest of the Sampdoria President, Paolo Mantovani.
Having just been promoted from Serie B, taking Bologna’s place as fate would have it, Sampdoria were keen to sign Mancini, and eventually paid the Rossoblu an astonishing two and a half billion lire (roughly equating to €40m nowadays) to secure his signature. The acquisition by Sampdoria of Bologna sporting director, Paolo Borea, in the summer of 1982, was a shrewd move and helped the Blucerchiati persuade Mancini to move to Genoa. Over the next few years, Mancini would play in countless successful Sampdoria teams alongside other greats of Serie A including Gianluca Vialli, Gianluca Pagliuca, Pietro Vierchowod, Ruud Gullit and Juan Sebastian Veron.
During his 15 year stint at the Stadio Luigi Ferrari, Mancini and his team mates enjoyed great success, winning 1 Serie A title (in 1991), 4 Coppa Italia trophies, the 1990 European Cup Winners Cup and finishing runners-up to Barcelona in the 1992 European Cup Final. Much of Sampdoria’s success around this period can be attributed to the fantastic partnership that he developed with Gianluca Vialli. The pair became known as “The Goal Twins” for their relationship and understanding in front of goal, with Mancini happy to be the creative influence in the relationship.
On a personal level, Mancini was awarded Serie A player of the season award during his last season at Sampdoria in 1996-97. His record at Sampdoria saw him score 168 goals in 566 League, Cup and European appearances, enough to make him undoubtedly the greatest player to ever play for the Blucerchiati.
Whilst many saw him as a centre forward, Mancini was also often played as the second striker in a slightly deeper role as the conduit between the midfield and main striker. He himself considered himself to be more of an attacking midfielder or trequartista, and in the later part of his career, and particularly when at Lazio, his creative ability, vision and passing range saw him deployed in his favoured position. His research paper and thesis, “The Trequartista”, written whilst he was preparing for his Uefa Pro-Licence qualification, explores the dynamics and requirements of the trequartista and is a recommended read for any aspiring coach or fan with an interest in the tactical side of the game. When Mancini wrote the following: ‘In general I really think that the trequartista should have an individual technique of the highest level, closely and quickly connected with a certain tactical intelligence. They are “strongbox” players, capable of “pieces of skill“, but above all they can destabilize the various defensive set-ups thanks to unpredictable intuitions’, one suspects that this was a self-reference to his own abilities, and not without credibility.
It is well known that Mancini’s influence at Samp was legendary; whether through giving team talks at half-time in the changing room, leading the attempts to sign players and spearheading the recruitment process for new coaches. David Platt’s signing was a result of Mancini’s continuous pestering of him to join him at the Stadio Luigi Ferrari. Platt’s performances during his first season Italy, with Bari during the 1991-92 season, were enough to attract attention from several suitors including Juventus and Sampdoria; the latter expressing their interest through a direct phone call to Platt from Mancini. As with many before him, Platt was unable to resist the lure of The Grand Old Lady and moved to the Stadio Delle Alpi in June 1992 but struggled to establish himself in the Juve team. When, at the end of the 1992-93 season, Sampdoria rekindled their interest in taking Platt to the Luigi Ferrari during a mid-game conversation between him and Mancini, the England international had no hesitation in leaving Juve. Platt and Mancini have remained great friends ever since, and the latter was appointed to the coaching staff when Mancini was manager at Manchester City.
Mancini’s influence on and off the pitch at Sampdoria suggests that he was, and still is, an intelligent individual who is a deep-thinker of the game, alive to all opportunities and vagaries that must be taken into account. However, he is also occasionally seen as an autocratic individual and unwilling to accept questioning or criticism of his thoughts or beliefs. At the same time, he only thinks of winning, losing is unbearable; as he explained to Daniel Taylor of The Guardian newspaper during an interview when he was Manchester City manager in February 2013, “I’ve always been the same. I’ve had the same mentality ever since I was playing with my friends at school. I want to win. I only want to win. I don’t like to participate at anything and not finish first”. It is little surprise to many who coached and played with him that he has gone on to become a highly successful manager, and many of the strengths and characteristics mentioned above will be familiar to the players, fans and staff of the clubs where he has coached and managed.
The recruitment of Sven-Goran Eriksson as Sampdoria coach was to have a significant impact on Mancini’s playing and managerial career, both at Sampdoria and in the future. However, without Mancini’s approval the Swede would never have been appointed as Samp manager in the first place – as Samp captain, Mancini was one of those on the panel that interviewed Eriksson for the head coach job. The management style of Eriksson and his tactical knowledge were an education for Mancini who learnt a lot from the Swede, whilst at the same time, Eriksson benefitted from having a player who was able convey his message to his team mates when on the pitch.
In the subsequent seasons that followed Eriksson’s appointment, Sampdoria won only the Coppa Italia, in 1994, and several mid-table finishes saw Mancini explore alternative options for the conclusion of his career. The departure of Eriksson from Sampdoria, joining a Lazio team plush with investment following the takeover by family of Cirio food magnate, Sergio Cragnotti, was the catalyst for Mancini to leave the Blucerchiati and he followed Eriksson to the Stadio Olimpico shortly after the Swede took the helm. Mancini’s arrival at the Olimpico was almost curtailed by Inter, whose President, Massimo Moratti, had expressed an interest in signing Mancini when he found out the star was considering leaving Sampdoria. Cragnotti and Lazio were however the quickest to move, and Mancini signed for the Biancoceleste.
Mancini joined Lazio at the same time as the Croatian striker, Alen Boksic, who returned to the Biancoceleste from Juventus following his departure from Lazio the previous season. These two signings meant Lazio went into the 1997-98 season with a plethora of striking talent. In addition to Mancini and Boksic, the Biancoceleste already had the Italian internationals, Pierluigi Casiraghi and Giuseppe Signori in their squad. Initially, Eriksson tried to accommodate Mancini and Signori in the same team, the pair playing in a front three alongside either Boksic or Pierluigi Casiraghi however, Mancini and Signori were too similar, occupying the same space and making the same runs, and before too long Eriksson was forced to choose between the two players; given their previous relationship, it was the latter who got the nod from the Swede. As the 1997-98 season progressed, Mancini was eventually played in his preferred position as a trequartista and, over the next couple of seasons, he had a significant influence in the Biancoceleste’s domestic and European success as they won the Coppa Italia and European Cup Winners Cup in successive seasons.
It was the 1999-2000 season that saw Mancini add another league title to his glittering array of medals, as Lazio pipped Juventus by one point on the last day of the season to clinch the club’s second Scudetto. His final season was rounded off in great style as Lazio secured a domestic double, defeating Inter 2-1 on aggregate in the Coppa Italia final. His performances, and particularly his poor goal-scoring record, that season had however been playing on Mancini’s mind and he decided that this was the appropriate time to retire from the game and became assistant coach to Eriksson at Lazio.
Although enjoying his coaching experiences alongside Eriksson, Mancini was briefly tempted back into the playing fold joining English Premier League team, Leicester City, in late January 2001. However, his time at Leicester City was short-lived, playing 5 games for the Foxes, before he answered the call of Vittorio Cecchi Gori and joined Fiorentina as coach, winning the 2001 Coppa Italia for the Viola despite not having yet completed his Uefa Pro-Licence.
Mancini was unfortunate not to have a more prolific and recognised international career. He made his debut for the Azzurri in 1984 during a 2-0 win over Canada in Toronto, but never established himself as a regular for the Azzurri. Over the years, he faced competition for the forward positions from the likes of Vialli, Roberto Baggio, Salvatore Schillaci, Gianfranco Zola, Signori, Casiraghi, Christian Vieri and Alessandro Altobelli and was unable to cement himself in the side. It was during the 1993 season that he made his biggest contribution to the Azzurri, scoring 3 goals which helped secure the team’s qualification to the 1994 World Cup. Unfortunately, disagreements with the coach, Arrigo Sacchi, saw Mancini omitted from the squad that travelled to the USA for the tournament and he never played for the Azzurri again. Overall, Mancini played 36 times for the national team, scoring 4 goals in the process.
Mancini has received great praise for his playing abilities from many high profile individuals, including team mates, managers and opponents. As the Brazilian and Serie A legend Zico said, “Mancini, one of the greatest number 10s in those years”. His record in Serie A places him amongst the legends of the game, and he currently sits in 18th position in the list of all time Serie A goalscorers with a total of 156 Serie A goals – not a bad record for someone who has always maintained that he was more suited to the role of Trequartista. It is clear however from the outset of his football career that Mancini was determined to succeed, and it is that determination which one suspects will see Mancini enjoy further success as a coach, potentially this season with his resurgent Inter team.
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