Fabio Pecchia (; born 24 August 1973) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is head coach of club

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second mos ...

. Throughout his playing career as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, he was also known as "l'avvocato" ("the lawyer," in Italian), as he obtained a law degree through the

University of Naples The University of Naples Federico II ( it, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II) is a public university in Naples, Italy. Founded in 1224, it is the oldest public non-sectarian university in the world, and is now organized into 26 depar ...

Club career

A journeyman with eleven different clubs in his career, Pecchia amassed over 300 first division appearances. He began his career with Avellino in 1991, and remained at the club for two seasons. Despite heavy interest from

, he moved to

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

in 1993, where he played for four seasons, becoming a key figure for the club, although he later struggled to establish himself in other teams. He made his Serie A debut with the Neapolitan club on 29 August 1993, at the age of 20, becoming a vital member of Marcello Lippi's midfield; Pecchia's tactical versatility, speed, technique, vision, and passing range allowed him to excel in Lippi's offensive tactical system, which made frequent use of long balls and fast-paced football. With Napoli, Pecchia soon established himself as one of the most promising and talented young Italian stars of the 90s, due to his leadership and work-rate; during his first season with Napoli, he helped the club qualify for the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

. He remained at the club for three more seasons, despite the club's financial difficulties and lack of success during this time. During the 1996–97 season, he was named Napoli's captain, and he helped the club to reach the 1997 Coppa Italia Final under manager

Luigi Simoni Luigi "Gigi" Simoni (22 January 1939 – 22 May 2020) was an Italian football official, player and manager. A skilled tactician, as a coach Simoni enjoyed notable success in earning promotion from Serie B to Serie A with the teams he managed, ...

, in which Napoli was defeated by

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a thr ...

in extra time; during the first leg of the final, Pecchia scored Napoli's winning goal. Despite his attachment to the club, he was sold to Juventus in 1997 for 10 billion Lit., in an attempt to manage the club's debts; he would later return to Napoli, on loan, however, for a single season, in 2001. In total, he made 152 appearances for Napoli, scoring 21 goals. Pecchia spent a single season with Juventus during the 1997–98 season, under his former Napoli manager Marcello Lippi, winning the 1997 Supercoppa Italiana, and the Serie A title with the club that season, also reaching the

1998 UEFA Champions League Final The 1998 UEFA Champions League Final was a football match that took place at the Amsterdam Arena in Amsterdam, on 20 May 1998 to determine the winner of the 1997–98 UEFA Champions League. It pitted Real Madrid of Spain and Juventus of Italy ...

. He made 21 league appearances that season, and scored a decisive goal against Empoli to claim the league title. He struggled to break into the first team, however, and was usually used as a reserve, due to the presence of

Zinedine Zidane Zinedine Yazid Zidane (; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. He most recently coached Spanish club Real Madrid and is one of the mos ...

and Edgar Davids in Juventus's midfield. Pecchia was subsequently loaned out to Sampdoria for the 1998–99 season, and he was sold to cross-city rivals

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) 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. T ...

for 5.9 billion Italian lire (€3,047,096) in 1999, playing the 1999–2000 season with the Turin club, and suffering relegation to

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named 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 been ...

. In June 2001 Juve gave up the remain 50% registration rights to Torino. The following season, Pecchia moved back to Napoli on loan, although he was unable to save the club from relegation to

. He spent the 2001–02 season with

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

, and remained with the club until the 2005–06 season, although he spent the 2002–03 season with

Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label= Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and to the Alps h ...

, and was loaned out to

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...

during the 2004–05 season. He spent the first half of the 2006–07 Serie A season with

Ascoli Ascoli may refer to: Places in Italy *Ascoli Satriano, a town and ''comune'' in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region *Province of Ascoli Piceno, a province of the Marche region ** Ascoli Piceno, a city which is the seat of the province above ...

, but on 31 January 2007, he was signed by Serie C1 side U.S. Foggia. On 10 July 2007 he signed a 1-year contract with

club

Frosinone Frosinone (, local dialect: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, the administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is located about south-east of Rome close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of the ...

, making 26 appearances for the club, and scoring a goal in a home fixture against

Chievo Verona Associazione Calcio ChievoVerona, commonly referred to as ChievoVerona or simply Chievo , is a former professional Italian football club named after and based in Chievo, a suburb of 4,500 inhabitants in Verona, Veneto, and owned by Paluani, a ...

. On 10 June 2008, he returned to Foggia, signing a two-year contract that would keep him at the club until 2010, although he retired during the summer of 2009. In total, he made 446 appearances throughout his career, scoring 50 goals. He made 337 appearances in Serie A, scoring 41 goals, 62 in Serie B, scoring 4 goals, and 47 appearances in Serie C, scoring 5 goals.

International career

Although he never represented Italy at senior level, Pecchia played for the Italy national under-21 football team on 11 occasions between 1993 and 1996, under manager Cesare Maldini, and was a member of the team that won the

1996 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship The 1996 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, which spanned two years (1994–96), had 44 entrants. After the quarter-finals stage, Spain were chosen as the hosts of the final stages, consisting of four matches in total. Italy U-21s won the compe ...

; he also competed for Italy at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, making three appearances.

Managerial career

Pecchia retired from playing football in 2009, and successively became Foggia's assistant coach. He left his coaching post by mutual consent, together with head coach Antonio Porta, on 19 January 2010. On 18 June 2011 he was appointed head coach of Serie B club

Gubbio Gubbio () is an Italian town and ''comune'' in the far northeastern part of the Italian province of Perugia (Umbria). It is located on the lowest slope of Mt. Ingino, a small mountain of the Apennines. History The city's origins are very ancient. ...

. He was removed from his managerial post on 16 October 2011 due to poor results. In the 2012–13 season he became the new head coach of

Latina Latina or Latinas most often refers to: * Latinas, a demographic group in the United States * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America. *Latin Americans Latina and Latinas may also refer ...

, helping the team earn Serie B promotion. From 21 June 2013, he has served as assistant coach for

Rafael Benítez Rafael Benítez Maudes (born 16 April 1960) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who most recently managed club Everton. Benítez joined Real Madrid's coaching staff at the age of 26, going on to work as the under- ...

at his former club Napoli. From 3 June 2015 to 4 January 2016, he was assistant coach at Real Madrid under Benítez. When the Spaniard was announced as Newcastle United on 11 March, Pecchia was also announced as part of the coaching set up. In July 2016 he took over as new head coach of Serie B club

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as Hellas Verona or simply Verona, is a professional Italian football club based in Verona, Italy, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won the Serie A Championship in 1984–85. His ...

, with the clear goal to bring the club back to the top flight. He completed the 2016–17 Serie B season in second place, thus winning automatic promotion to Serie A in his first attempt, and was confirmed in charge of the club for the following 2017–18 top flight campaign. The following season he could not avoid the penultimate place and the immediate relegation, leaving the leadership of the team at the end of the championship after being long contested. In December 2018 he was announced as coach of Avispa Fukuoka, a Japanese club active in the J2 League.He left the team on 3 June 2019, resigning for personal reasons. The following summer he returned to Italy, becoming the coach of Juventus U23, in

Serie C The Serie C () 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 body that runs the Serie C. The unification of the Lega Pro ...

. On 27 June 2020, he led Juventus U23 to winning the

Coppa Italia Serie C Coppa Italia Serie C ( it, Serie C Italian Cup), formerly named Coppa Italia Lega Pro, is a straight knock-out based competition involving teams from Serie C in Italian football first held in 1972. Format There are a total of six rounds in the ...

with a 2–1 victory over

Ternana Ternana Calcio, commonly referred to as Ternana, is an Italian football club based in Terni, Umbria. The club was founded in 1925 and refounded in 1993. In its history, Ternana has twice played in Serie A (in the 1972–73 and 1974–75 seas ...

. On 7 January 2021, he returned into management after being appointed head coach of

club Cremonese. After guiding them to promotion to Serie A by the end of the 2021–22 Serie B season, he unexpectedly resigned from his post on 21 May 2022. On 2 June 2022, just a few days after leaving Cremonese, Pecchia was announced as the new head coach of Serie B club

Style of play

Pecchia was capable of playing on both midfield wings, despite being naturally right-footed. A versatile player, he was able to adapt to any

midfield Midfield is the part of a sports field that lies approximately in the center. In American football, association football (soccer) and field hockey, it is the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region. In ...

position, and also deployed as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, or in the

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundari ...

on occasion. Throughout his career, he was known in particular for his vision, and excellent long-passing ability, although he was also a quick, dynamic, hard-working, and creative player, with good technical ability, who was known for his speed on the ball. He was also known for his offensive movement off the ball, as well as his ability to lose his markers and find open spaces by making attacking runs into positions from which he could receive and subsequently distribute the ball to teammates. These attributes enabled him to be extremely adept at starting attacking plays, in particular during counter-attacks, and made him a serious offensive threat. In addition to his playing ability, he was also known for his leadership qualities.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Juventus *

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

: 1997–98 * Supercoppa Italiana:

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

Italy U-21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the compe ...

: 1996

Manager

Juventus U23 *

: 2019–20

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pecchia, Fabio 1973 births Living people People from Formia Italian footballers Italian football managers S.S.C. Napoli players Juventus F.C. players U.C. Sampdoria players Torino F.C. players Bologna F.C. 1909 players Como 1907 players A.C.N. Siena 1904 players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Italy Association football midfielders Frosinone Calcio players Calcio Foggia 1920 players U.S. Avellino 1912 players Ascoli Calcio 1898 F.C. players Italy under-21 international footballers Serie A managers Serie B managers Serie C managers J2 League managers Hellas Verona F.C. managers Avispa Fukuoka managers Juventus Next Gen managers U.S. Cremonese managers Parma Calcio 1913 managers Footballers from Lazio Sportspeople from the Province of Latina Italian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Spain Italian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate football managers in England Italian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate football managers in Japan Italian expatriate sportspeople in Japan