Juventus captain Giorgio Chiellini confesses he’d love to work with Pep Guardiola, learned so much from Max Allegri and Antonio Conte, relishing battles with Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
He spoke to Martina Colombari, the wife of ex-Milan defender Billy Costacurta, on an Instagram Live chat. You can read the rest of his comments here.
Juventus captain Giorgio Chiellini confesses he’d love to work with Pep Guardiola, learned so much from Max Allegri and Antonio Conte, relishing battles with Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
He spoke to Martina Colombari, the wife of ex-Milan defender Billy Costacurta, on an Instagram Live chat. You can read the rest of his comments here.
“I watched that documentary on Manchester City and you can see the charisma of Guardiola really is special, even with weaknesses,” said Chiellini.
“For someone who is passionate about football, you can immediately tell the greatness. I have not had the good fortune of getting to know Guardiola, I only saw him from a distance.”
Chiellini has worked with some remarkable tacticians in his time, including Conte, Allegri and now Maurizio Sarri.
“Until Conte arrived, a defender was just a defender. He’d focus on simple things, not creating moves from the back, but he insisted from the start that we could create too. Antonio asked a lot from me and gave me just as much in return.
“Allegri and Conte were genuinely special coaches for me and helped me mature tactically. Marcello Lippi was able to read situations more than tactics, he had a clear and honest rapport with everyone. I was a bit too young when I worked with him to really appreciate that.”
The centre-back was criticised after writing in his autobiography that he had ‘sporting hatred’ for rivals Inter, but tried to again clarify his thoughts.
“I was a Milan fan growing up and still was when I started playing in Serie A. My brother and father supported Juventus, while my mother shared my Milan love. When I signed for Juve in 2004, it did not go down well…
“There used to be a more family feel about clubs in Italy, such as Massimo Moratti’s Inter or Silvio Berlusconi’s Milan. The world is changing and we have to adapt too, but there is some nostalgia and respect for that era.”
Chiellini said that Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic was the player he wished that he could’ve worked with.
“He is the opponent who got the best out of me. He was 24 years old and so strong physically, just the fact I could keep up with him and showed no fear earned me his respect. I had to give my best every time against him.
“Unfortunately, Cristiano Ronaldo scored many, many goals past us before he joined Juventus, so thankfully he is now my teammate! He is on another level, you can tell that and it’s only right to admit it.
“When you have a champion like this, you need to get the most out of him.”