Alessio Tacchinardi

Alessio Tacchinardi (Italian pronunciation: [aˈlɛssjo takkiˈnardi]; born 23 July 1975) is an Italian football manager and former footballer who played as a defensive midfielder and manager.[1]

Alessio Tacchinardi
Tacchinardi with Juventus in March 2003
Personal information
Full name Alessio Tacchinardi
Date of birth (1975-07-23) 23 July 1975
Place of birth Crema, Italy
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Atalanta
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–1994 Atalanta 8 (0)
1994–2007 Juventus 261 (9)
2005–2007 → Villarreal (loan) 45 (3)
2007–2008 Brescia 34 (9)
Total 348 (21)
National team
1995–2003 Italy 13 (0)
Teams managed
2009–2012 Pergolettese (youth)
2012–2013 Brescia (youth)
2013 Pergolettese
2015–2016 Pergolettese
2018 Lecco
2019 Crema
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He began his career with Atalanta. In 1994, he moved to Juventus, where he spent the majority of his career, winning 17 trophies; due to his success and performances with the club, Tacchinardi was one of the 50 Juventus players to have their names written inside the club's new home ground, the Juventus Stadium. Following a two-year loan spell with Spanish side Villarreal, he moved to Brescia in 2007, where he retired after a season. A former Italy international, Tacchinardi represented his nation on 13 occasions between 1995 and 2003.

Club career

Atalanta

Tacchinardi started his professional career in 1992 with Atalanta. He spent two full seasons with the Bergamo-based club, where he made 9 league appearances, including his Serie A debut. After performing extremely well, he caught the eye of then Juventus director Luciano Moggi and was transferred to Juventus in July 1994.[2]

Juventus

Tacchinardi joined Juventus in pre-season training in 1994. In his first season with the club, Tacchinardi made 25 league appearances, and also appeared in the Coppa Italia and the European Cup. Throughout his time with the club, he formed partnerships in midfield with the likes of Antonio Conte, Paulo Sousa, Didier Deschamps, Angelo Di Livio, Edgar Davids, Gianluca Zambrotta, Mauro Camoranesi, Pavel Nedvěd, Zinedine Zidane, and Enzo Maresca. During his time with the club, Tacchinardi was noted for his work-rate, determination, and wide range of skills.[2]

In the 2002–03 season, he scored two goals in 27 appearances, and Juventus claimed the league title. He scored two more goals in 13 UEFA Champions League appearances, a run in which Juventus reached the UEFA Champions League final, lost on penalties to Milan. With his three Champions League final defeats, Tacchinardi is the player with the most Champions League final appearances without a victory, alongside former Juventus teammates Paolo Montero and Gianluigi Buffon, although, unlike the latter two players, he did win a Champions League medal during the 1995–96 season.[3]

After nearly 14 years with Juventus, Tacchinardi made 261 league appearances with the Bianconeri, and scored 9 goals.

Loan to Villarreal

In July 2005, Tacchinardi was transferred to Villarreal CF who signed him on one-year loan from Juventus, following the appointment of Fabio Capello, who took over the managerial position from Marcello Lippi, and also due in part to the purchases of Patrick Vieira and Federico Balzaretti. He became an integral part of the starting XI for the club, helping the team to reach the UEFA Champions League semi-finals. He returned to Juventus on 30 June 2006, but following the Calciopoli troubles he extended his loan for one more year, in July 2006. His loan finished at the end of the 2006–07 season, in which he appeared for the club in more than 50 official matches, scoring 3 goals. He returned to Juventus again in the summer of 2007, and it was believed that he would remain at the club, following the appointment of Claudio Ranieri and the club's new start, however his contract was mutually terminated in August 2007, following certain unspecified disagreements with the club's new board of directors.

Brescia

Tacchinardi signed a two-year deal with Brescia Calcio on 9 August 2007, and was a key attribute to the Serie B club's first team, appearing in all but 8 league games, and scored 11 goals.[4] At the conclusion of the 2007–08 Serie B season, Tacchinardi did not re-new his contract with Brescia Calcio and retired.

International career

Tacchinardi also represented his nation at international level. He made his senior Italy national football team debut in a 1–0 win over Slovenia on 6 September 1995, but was also a member of the Italy under-21 team that won the 1996 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. Tacchinardi has been capped 13 official times for Italy with his last cap coming on 10 September 2003, in a 1–1 draw against Serbia and Montenegro.[5] Tacchinardi was not a regular player for the Squadra Azzurra, never playing in the final stages of a major tournament, in several cases due to injury, but also because this was a period of many high quality Italian international midfielders. It is believed that Tacchinardi would have also been a key part of the national setup had it not been for several injuries.

Style of play

Tacchinardi primarily played as a central or defensive midfielder, although he was also capable of playing as a right-sided winger or wing-back. He was noted for his powerful and accurate long range shooting, as well as his striking ability from volleys, which saw him score several goals from distance during his time with Juventus. A hard-working and tenacious player, with a strong mentality and a wide range of skills, he was predominantly known for his excellent positional sense, anticipation, and tactical intelligence, as well as his tackling ability, which made effective both offensively and defensively, and also allowed him to play as a centre-back on occasion in a zonal marking defensive system. In addition to his aforementioned attributes, he also possessed good technique, vision, and passing range, which allowed him to start attacking plays quickly with long balls after winning back possession, and also enabled him to function as a deep-lying playmaker for his team.[2][6][7]

Reception

After his retirement, Tacchinardi was included in Juventus 50 Legends whose names are written inside the club's new stadium, Juventus Stadium.[8]

Personal life

Alessio's elder brother, Massimiliano Tacchinardi, also briefly played professional football as a defender.

Career statistics

Club
Source:[9]
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Atalanta1992–93Serie A10——10
1993–948020—100
Total 9020—110
Juventus1994–95Serie A2407070380
1995–9616020402310
1996–97191301003521
1997–98231801004231
1998–9923140803841
1999–0030030123453
2000–013122050382
2001–0228270100452
2002–03272201324354
2003–0424030603460
2004–051602060240
Total 261943091540514
Villarreal2005–06La Liga232—100332
2006–07221—20241
Total 453—120573
Brescia2007–08Serie B349——3679
Career total 34921450103550926

International
Source:[5]
Italy national team
YearAppsGoals
199510
200020
200170
200210
200320
Total130

Honours

Juventus[2]

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References
  1. Tacchinardi nuovo allenatore del Lecco‚ premiumsporthd.it, 28 January 2018
  2. Stefano Bedeschi. "Gli eroi in bianconero: Alessio TACCHINARDI" (in Italian). Tutto Juve. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
  3. "Who has played most games without winning the Champions League?". UEFA.com. 7 February 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  4. "Alessio Tacchinardi è del Brescia" (in Italian). Brescia Calcio. Retrieved 9 August 2007.
  5. "Tacchinardi, Alessio" (in Italian). FIGC. Archived from the original on 15 March 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  6. "Champions' League final: How the old trafford teams shape up". The Independent. 27 May 2003. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  7. "Lo sconforto di Zidane Non abbiamo più scuse" [Zidane's discouragement We have no more excuses]. La Repubblica (in Italian). 6 February 1999. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  8. Voakes, Kris (8 September 2011). "Juventus Stadium: The Words, The Numbers, The Hopes & The Dreams Behind The New Bianconeri Venue". Goal. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  9. "Alessio Tacchinardi". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman.
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