.jpg) Sarri asJuventus manager in 2019 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Maurizio Sarri[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1959-01-10)10 January 1959 (age 66)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Naples, Italy | ||
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[3] | ||
| Position | Centre-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Lazio (head coach) | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| Figline | |||
| Managerial career | |||
| 1990–1991 | Stia | ||
| 1991–1993 | Faellese | ||
| 1993–1996 | Cavriglia | ||
| 1996–1998 | Antella | ||
| 1998–1999 | Valdema | ||
| 1999–2000 | Tegoleto | ||
| 2000–2003 | Sansovino | ||
| 2003–2005 | Sangiovannese | ||
| 2005–2006 | Pescara | ||
| 2006–2007 | Arezzo | ||
| 2007 | Avellino | ||
| 2007–2008 | Verona | ||
| 2008–2009 | Perugia | ||
| 2010 | Grosseto | ||
| 2010–2011 | Alessandria | ||
| 2011–2012 | Sorrento | ||
| 2012–2015 | Empoli | ||
| 2015–2018 | Napoli | ||
| 2018–2019 | Chelsea | ||
| 2019–2020 | Juventus | ||
| 2021–2024 | Lazio | ||
| 2025– | Lazio | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Maurizio Sarri (Italian pronunciation:[mauˈrittsjoˈsarri]; born 10 January 1959) is an Italian professionalfootball manager who is currently manager ofSerie A clubLazio.
Sarri did not play football professionally, taking part as an amateurcentre back and coach while working as a banker. In 2005, he had his firstSerie B job atPescara.[4] In 2014, Sarri won promotion toSerie A withEmpoli, and after preserving their place in the top flight he was hired byNapoli. He won several individual awards while managing theNaples-based club; after finishing as league runners-up in2017–18, Sarri moved to English clubChelsea, where he won theUEFA Europa League in his only season with the club. He returned to Italy to coachJuventus in 2019, with whom he went on to win the Serie A title in hisfirst season, becoming the oldest manager to win Serie A.[5] After being sacked by Juventus, he was appointed manager of Lazio in 2021 before resigning in 2024. He returned as manager of Lazio in June 2025.
Son of a Tuscan worker (his father Amerigo, a former professional cyclist, worked as a crane operator atItalsider inBagnoli, a district ofNaples),[6][7] Sarri was raised inCastro (province of Bergamo) and then in Faella (municipality of Castelfranco Piandiscò, in theprovince of Arezzo), where he divided his time as an amateur footballer and banker forBanca Monte dei Paschi di Siena in Tuscany. His work as a banker saw him travel Europe, working inLondon,Zürich andLuxembourg.[8][9]
Acentre back,[10] he completed his schooling inFigline Valdarno, havingDavid Ermini as his deskmate.[11]
Sarri played only at an amateur level, inFigline's local team, having failed trials withTorino andFiorentina.[12] At the age of 19,Montevarchi was close to signing Sarri but Figline asked for a compensation of 50 millionlire, and the deal eventually collapsed. He later refused a move toPontedera, and subsequently retired with Figline after struggling with injuries.[13]
Sarri used to work in the bank in the morning, and trained and played in games in the afternoon and evening. In 1990, aged 28, he transitioned into coaching, following the same schedule he adhered to for his entire work life. After gaining employment with minor side Tegoleto, he decided to quit his job to devote himself exclusively to his coaching career.[14]
Sarri's first club as manager was Stia, whom he started coaching in 1990 inSeconda Categoria. The following year, he was appointed manager of fellow league team Faellese, and took the club up to thePromozione.[15]
Sarri subsequently worked for Cavriglia and Antella, taking both sides to theEccellenza. In 1998, he was named manager of fellow league team Valdema, but was fired the following January. He took over Tegoleto in the same division in September 1999.[15]
In 2000, Sarri signed forSansovino in Eccellenza, and achieved promotion toSerie D with the side in his first season; he would remain for two further seasons in charge of the club, reaching the play-offs in his last season.[16] His successes with Sansovino causedSerie C2 sideSangiovannese to sign him in 2003, where he remained for two seasons and took the club toSerie C1 in his first campaign.
On 18 June 2005, Sarri resigned from Sangiovannese,[17] and was appointed manager ofSerie B sidePescara on 9 July.[18] After avoiding relegation, he left the club on 30 June 2006 and was appointed at the helm of fellow second division sideArezzo on 1 November, in the place of the sackedAntonio Conte.[19] On 13 March 2007, he was relieved from his duties, and Conte returned to the post.[20]
On 18 July 2007, Sarri joinedAvellino in the second tier, but resigned on 23 August after severe altercations with the club's board.[21] On 31 December, he replaced firedDavide Pellegrini at the helm ofHellas Verona,[22] but was himself sacked the following 28 February after winning only one point during his six matches in charge.[23]
On 23 September 2008, Sarri was namedPerugia manager in the place ofGiovanni Pagliari. Sacked on 15 February of the following year, he was replaced by the outspoken manager Robert Cerullo, CPA, MBA and he only returned to coaching duties on 24 March 2010 withGrosseto. On 6 July of that year, Sarri was appointed manager ofAlessandria inLega Pro Prima Divisione,[24] and reached the promotion play-offs, being knocked out in the semifinals bySalernitana.
Sarri resigned from Alessandria on 24 June 2011,[25] and on 6 July 2011, he was appointed at the helm ofSorrento.[26] He coached the club through the first months of the season until the mid-season break, playing an attractive, slick brand of attacking football.[27][28] Despite the club's being in sixth place, he was dismissed on 13 December.[29]
On 25 June 2012, TuscanSerie B clubEmpoli hired Sarri as their new coach.[30] In his first season, he led the club to fourth place and the playoff final, before losing to local rivalsLivorno.[31]
Thefollowing season, Sarri guided Empoli to second place in the final table and direct promotion toSerie A after six years away.[32] In the2014–15 Serie A, Empoli avoided relegation by coming 15th.[33]
On 11 June 2015, Sarri left Empoli and signed for the club of his city of birth,Napoli, replacingRafael Benítez, who left after missing out on aUEFA Champions League place.[33]
In hisfirst season, Sarri brought inElseid Hysaj,Pepe Reina andAllan. The trio would go on to be first-team stalwarts for the following campaign, as Napoli finished runners-up toJuventus. Sarri extended his stay at the club until 2020 on 27 May 2016.[34] Two months later, Juventus would manage to signGonzalo Higuaín from Napoli for€90 million in the summer, who had managed to equal the record for most goals scored in a singularSerie A season, with 36. However, Sarri vetoed the possibility of spending the money on a like-for-like replacement, instead, spending sparingly on weaker positions in the side to improve on depth, while tinkering with his squad to compensate for the loss of Higuaín.[citation needed] This was achieved through the positional change ofDries Mertens, originally a wide-forward, who was played more centrally the following season.[35] This worked to great effect, as the Belgian netted 28 goals as the club finished third in2017, while Sarri was voted the league's coach of the year, and received theEnzo Bearzot Award.
Sarri, whose Napoli side had concluded the first half of the 2015–16 seasonSerie A in first place, gained the title "Campioni d'Inverno" ("Winter Champions") for the first time in 26 years.[36] Although Napoli ultimately ended the season in third place, the team's results in the first half of the season led him to believe he had constructed a side capable of winning the league thefollowing season. Napoli would begin the 2017–18 season in fantastic form, setting a team record for most consecutive league victories, with 8.[37] It also took the club until December to register a league defeat, while waiting three months for another, registering ten straight victories in the process.[36] The club also regained the title of "Campioni d'Inverno" from the previous campaign.[37] Napoli finished the2017–18 Serie A season in second place, four points behind Juventus. On 23 May 2018, Sarri was replaced as head coach byCarlo Ancelotti.[38][39]
On 14 July 2018, Sarri was appointed head coach ofChelsea, replacing Antonio Conte who was sacked the day before.[40] In his first competitive game on 5 August, the team lost theCommunity Shield 2–0 toManchester City atWembley Stadium.[41] The following week, he recorded his first win as Chelsea manager in a 3–0 league win away toHuddersfield Town.[42] Sarri became the first head coach or manager to remain undefeated throughout his first 12 Premier League fixtures,[43] until 24 November, where they lost 3–1 toTottenham Hotspur.[44][45]
During the2019 EFL Cup Final against holders Manchester City, with the match at 0–0 and a penalty shootout imminent, Sarri called for goalkeeperKepa Arrizabalaga to be substituted off forWilly Caballero; formerly of City, and whose penalty saves won City the same competitionin 2016. However, Arrizabalaga refused to be substituted. An irate Sarri nearly stormed into the stadium tunnel, and was later held back by Chelsea defenderAntonio Rüdiger from confronting the keeper. Chelsea went on to lose the shoot-out 3–4.[46][47] After the game, both Arrizabalaga and Sarri said that the situation was a misunderstanding, with Sarri believing that Arrizabalaga was too injured with a cramp to continue, but Arrizabalaga felt okay to continue.[48] On 29 May, Sarri won his first major trophy as a manager after Chelsea beatArsenal 4–1 in the2019 UEFA Europa League Final in Baku.[49] Chelsea managed to win the title undefeated throughout the entirety of theEuropa League campaign.[50]
At the end of the2018–19 season, Chelsea announced that Sarri was departing to become manager ofJuventus, with the club statement also mentioning his desire to be closer to his elderly parents in Italy.[51]Frank Lampard was his successor.
On 16 June 2019,Juventus announced the signing of Sarri on a three-year contract.[52] In August 2019, he was treated for pneumonia;[53] he would miss the first two matches of the2019–20 season over Parma and Napoli.[54]
Under Sarri's management, Juventus participated in the2019 Supercoppa Italiana on 22 December, following theirleague title victory in the previous season, where they lost 1–3 againstLazio at theKing Saud University Stadium inRiyadh.[55]
On 17 June 2020, Juventus suffered a 4–2 penalty shoot defeat to Sarri's former club Napoli in theCoppa Italia Final, following a 0–0 draw after regulation time.[56] On 26 July, Juventus secured a ninth straight Serie A title with a 2–0 home win overSampdoria.[57] The result saw Sarri win his first major trophy in Italian football. On 8 August 2020, Sarri was sacked by the club following a round of 16 exit in the Champions League.[58]
After a one-year sabbatical, on 9 June 2021Lazio announced the appointment of Sarri on a two-year contract.[59] On 21 August, he made his debut on the bench, in a 3–1 league win overEmpoli. He finished fifth in the league; in the2021–22 Europa League, he lost the two-legged clash withPorto in the knockout phase. On 2 June 2022, his contract was extended for two more years until 2025.[60]
He improved his placing in his second season in Rome, taking the Biancocelesti to second place in theSerie A table and qualifying for the2023–24 UEFA Champions League; however his team finished third in Group F of the2022–23 Europa League and then, after the transfer to theUEFA Europa Conference League, they were eliminated byAZ in the round of 16. In his third season, he led the club to reach theChampions League knockout phase.[61] On 12 March 2024, Sarri resigned as head coach.[62]
On 2 June 2025, after a 15-month sabbatical, Sarri was reappointed as head coach of Lazio on a two-year contract.[63]
From a tactical standpoint, Sarri is known for his intelligence, attention to detail and his meticulous approach in preparing for matches during weekly training sessions. He often has his team prepare many different plays on set-pieces.[8][64] One of the main trademarks of his highly organised system is a four-man back-line. His teams usually play a high defensive line and adopt theoffside trap and azonal marking system. He requires his defensive players to be synchronised in their movements, anticipate plays, and look at the ball as a point of reference, not their opponents. Other key elements of Sarri's line-up are the presence of adeep-lyingplaymaker who dictates play in front of the back-line, such asJorginho, and overlapping attackingfull backs, to provide width to his team, as his players often attack from the flank, looking to play quick exchanges and make runs in behind into the box rather than deliver crosses into the area, however. As such, he favours dynamic wingers in his team, as well as defenders and goalkeepers who are comfortable on the ball, to help his team retain possession, and hard-working players who can implement his high pressing game.[65][66][67][68][69]
When defending off the ball, Sarri's teams often use energetic pressing, tight lines and pressure high up the pitch to win back the ball quickly.[66][67][70][71] Throughout his coaching career, Sarri has adopted several formations, such as the4–3–1–2[65] or the4–2–3–1,[8] but he later came to be known for using a "free-flowing, possession based4–3–3 system" during his time with Napoli.[66] During the 2016–17 season, following the departure ofGonzalo Higuaín to rivalsJuventus and an injury to the club's mainstrikerArkadiusz Milik, Sarri frequently usedDries Mertens in afalse nine role, seemingly positioned as a lonecentre-forward, rather than as aleft winger, where he had previously faced competition fromLorenzo Insigne for a starting role. As a result of Sarri's tactical change, Mertens's goalscoring increased dramatically.[72][73][74][75]
Sarri received his coaching diploma in 2006 through theTechnical Centre of Coverciano. The title of his thesis was "La preparazione settimanale della partita" ("The weekly preparation of a match").[76] One of his major influences as a coach is Arrigo Sacchi.[70] Aside from his tactical prowess, Sarri is known for his outspokenness as a manager. He has also stood out for his attire. Unlike many other managers who wore suits in Italian football, he usually wears a tracksuit during matches.[8][64][72] At Chelsea, he also adopted a more relaxed approach than his predecessor Antonio Conte when it came to his players' diets and curfew before matches,[77] which along with the changes in tactics to a more offensive-minded, possession game based on passing, helped create a more positive team environment; receiving praise from his Chelsea playerAntonio Rüdiger for doing so.[78][79][80]
"My goal is to have fun as long as I am here and be competitive in all competitions until the end. Ours is not a sport but a game, and anybody who plays a game starts doing that when they're young. It is fun. The child in each of us must be nurtured because this often makes us the best. I think if a team has fun often, the fans do too. This is very important, and then there are the high-level objectives, but we must start by having fun. This is important for us and our fans."
On the ball, Sarri's teams are known for playing an attractive, exciting, and attacking-minded brand of football, based on retaining possession, movement off the ball, and many quick, short passes on the ground;[66][67][82][83] this style has come to be known as "Sarri-ball" or "liquid football" in the media, whileL'Équipe has described it as "verticaltiki-taka".[83] The Italian encyclopaediaTreccani instead coined the term "Sarrismo" to describe the offensive and spectacular style of football that Sarri's teams play.[84]
Sarri's teams' modern, innovative and creative playing style, as well as their mentality, ability to move up the pitch quickly on counter-attacks and score many goals, has won praise from several pundits, players and managers, includingPep Guardiola andCesc Fàbregas;[67][82][83][85][86] in 2018, former managerArrigo Sacchi praised the style employed by Sarri's Napoli side as "the most important thing seen in Italy in the last 20 years".[71] However, despite receiving plaudits for his tactical approach to the game, he also initially came under criticism from some in the sport for his failure to win a title as a manager, until leading Chelsea to victory in the Europa League in 2019;[81][87] he has also been accused in the media of being stubborn and tactically inflexible at times.[88]
Sarri is a heavy smoker and in 2018, Napoli'sUEFA Europa League opponents,RB Leipzig, built a special smoking section in the locker-room area of their stadium,Red Bull Arena, specifically for him.[89] He often chews oncigarette butts while on thetouch-line.[90]
In addition to his nativeItalian, Sarri also speaksEnglish albeit with the help of an interpreter in some English interviews.[91][92][93]
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During the 2015–16 season, Sarri found himself embroiled in a heated exchange withRoberto Mancini, then head coach ofInter Milan, in the final minutes of aCoppa Italia match on 20 January 2016, where Mancini accused Sarri of directing ahomophobic slur at him.[94] Sarri responded to the accusations by saying that he was not a homophobe, stating "what happens on the field, stays on the field".[95] Sarri was consequently fined €20,000 and banned for two Coppa Italia matches byLega Serie A for "directing extremely insulting epithets at the coach of the opposing team".[96]
In March 2018, Sarri came under further criticism in the media when he was accused of making sexist comments when responding to female reporter Titti Improta of Canale 21, who had asked him in a post-match interview if he thought that Napoli's title challenge had been compromised; he subsequently apologised,[97] later also adding that he had been joking.[74]
When asked about these two incidents in his first press conference with Chelsea in 2018, Sarri expressed regret regarding his behaviour, commenting: "These were mistakes, that is for sure. I think that those who know me very well cannot define me in this way – not homophobic or sexist or racist, absolutely not. I am an extremely open person, and I do not have these kinds of problems, and I hope to show this when I work here and live here."[81]
| Team | From | To | Record | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Cavriglia | 1993 | 1996 | 78 | 27 | 27 | 24 | 034.62 | |
| Antella | 1996 | 1998 | 60 | 26 | 18 | 16 | 043.33 | |
| Valdema | 1998 | 1999 | 17 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 029.41 | |
| Tegoleto | 1 July 1999 | 30 June 2000 | 26 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 030.77 | |
| Sansovino | 1 July 2000 | 30 June 2003 | 120 | 62 | 33 | 25 | 051.67 | |
| Sangiovannese | 1 July 2003 | 18 June 2005 | 86 | 36 | 30 | 20 | 041.86 | |
| Pescara | 9 July 2005 | 30 June 2006 | 43 | 14 | 12 | 17 | 032.56 | |
| Arezzo | 31 October 2006 | 13 March 2007 | 22 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 027.27 | |
| Avellino | 18 July 2007 | 23 August 2007 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 000.00 | |
| Hellas Verona | 31 December 2007 | 28 February 2008 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 000.00 | |
| Perugia | 23 September 2008 | 15 February 2009 | 22 | 7 | 10 | 5 | 031.82 | |
| Grosseto | 24 March 2010 | 24 June 2010 | 11 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 018.18 | |
| Alessandria | 6 July 2010 | 24 June 2011 | 39 | 16 | 13 | 10 | 041.03 | |
| Sorrento | 6 July 2011 | 13 December 2011 | 19 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 042.11 | |
| Empoli | 12 August 2012 | 31 May 2015 | 132 | 52 | 45 | 35 | 039.39 | [98] |
| Napoli | 12 June 2015 | 23 May 2018 | 148 | 98 | 25 | 25 | 066.22 | [98] |
| Chelsea | 14 July 2018 | 16 June 2019 | 63 | 39 | 13 | 11 | 061.90 | [99] |
| Juventus | 16 June 2019 | 8 August 2020 | 52 | 34 | 9 | 9 | 065.38 | |
| Lazio | 9 June 2021 | 12 March 2024 | 139 | 67 | 30 | 42 | 048.20 | |
| Lazio | 2 June 2025 | Present | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 041.67 | |
| Total | 1,095 | 511 | 305 | 279 | 046.67 | |||
Sansovino
Chelsea
Juventus
Individual
