Sassuolo have beaten Juventus, Milan and Lazio and Giancarlo Rinaldi believes their ambitious boss Alessio Dionisi can have more success as a coach than he did as a player.
Tuscany is rightly renowned for its art, culture and culinary delights. However, it could justifiably add football coaching to that list with no fewer than six of the current crop of 20 Serie A coaches with their roots in the region. The latest name to come trundling off the production line from Massa to Siena is Sassuolo boss Alessio Dionisi.
The new man at the Mapei Stadium has already, probably, achieved more from the sidelines than he ever did in his playing days. A decent central defender, he bobbed around lower league sides you have probably never heard of with his longest spell – nearly 200 games – at Voghera. Not many people put that at the top of their CV.
And yet, as we now know pretty well, it is not always the best players who make the greatest coaches. Possibly driven by a desire to surpass what he managed with his boots on, he has risen to Serie A not far after his 40th birthday. If you are charting his trajectory, it is aiming for the sporting stratosphere right now.
In truth, his managerial career started pretty humbly as well – Olginatese, Borgosesia and Fiorenzuola are not exactly the kind of appointments you rush to tell mamma about. However, he was paving the way for a pretty rapid rise through the ranks after that.
The first sign that the boy from Abbadia San Salvatore in the province of Siena might be a bit special really came in a place better known for its motorsports than its football. With Imola outfit Imolese, he took the team all the way to the Serie C promotion play-offs before losing out to Piacenza. Bigger clubs were sitting up and taking note.
His first seat somewhere near the top table came with his appointment to the Venezia job. He made a decent fist of stabilising them in Serie B before a stormy summer ensued. He moved to Empoli but his former employers in Venice claimed he was still under contract with them and threatened to sue. In the end, it finished up being a good solution for both parties as Dionisi guided his new team into Serie A while his successor Paolo Zanetti did the same with the Lagunari.
Once more, though, the coach showed himself ready to take a surprising path. Some might have been ready to consolidate their work after winning promotion but, instead, he jumped at the chance of a switch to Sassuolo. It feels a bit like he might, finally, have found a club to match up with his own ambitions.
Not that taking over from Roberto De Zerbi is a straightforward role. This is a team that has become a regular top half of the table outfit and has developed a trademark for exciting football and delivering results. When he was appointed Dionisi promised no revolution but voiced his hopes that he could build on the good work done by his predecessors. It has been a bit of a mixed bag so far in that regard.
Playing mainly with his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation, they have had their troubles keeping out the opposition but have produced some memorable results of late with wins over Juventus, Milan and Lazio – and a draw with high-flying Napoli – to keep fans happy. That is a building block but they remain firmly midtable when they are used to being a bit further up the league. Nonetheless, there have been hints that there could be more to come in the second half of the campaign.
He was quick to say that the Milan win didn’t bring to an end their struggles but it was certainly quite a tonic. It also showed that the young coach could still be a major force in Serie A. There is no doubt that is where he sees himself and that is where he wants to be. Sassuolo have given him a great platform to make his mark in the top division and try to match – or even exceed – what his predecessors have done at the club. If he does, however, don’t be surprised if he makes another move further up the footballing ladder to yet another team.