| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1976-02-09)9 February 1976 (age 49) | ||
| Place of birth | Loreto,Italy | ||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker,Attacking midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Mantova (head coach) | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1992–1994 | Recanatese | 35 | (4) |
| 1994–1995 | Torino | 0 | (0) |
| 1995–1996 | Lecco | 32 | (5) |
| 1997–1998 | Varese | 63 | (18) |
| 1998–2001 | Reggina | 73 | (13) |
| 2001–2002 | Sampdoria | 50 | (6) |
| 2002–2003 | Catania | 31 | (3) |
| 2003–2005 | AlbinoLeffe | 52 | (19) |
| 2005 | Palermo | 2 | (0) |
| 2005–2011 | Brescia | 190 | (58) |
| 2011–2012 | Lugano | 9 | (2) |
| 2012 | Cremonese | 11 | (6) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2023 | Brescia | ||
| 2023– | Mantova | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 2012-07-12 | |||
Davide Possanzini (born 9 February 1976) is an Italianfootball coach and formerforward orattacking midfielder.[1] He is currently in charge as the head coach ofSerie B clubMantova.
Possanzini started his career with amateur teamRecanatese in 1992. He was signed byTorino in 1994 but never made a first-team appearance and was later sold toSerie C2 sideLecco. He left Lecco after two seasons to joinVarese, another Serie C2 club, helping thebiancorossi to ensure promotion to Serie C1.
Signed bySerie B clubReggina in September 1998, he immediately won a personal second promotion, scoring nine goals in his first season with theamaranto. He made hisSerie A debut on 29 August 1999 in a 1–1 tie atJuventus's home.[2] In January 2001, after two and a half seasons with Reggina, he signed forSerie B fallen giantsSampdoria, but failed to make a breakthrough during his stay with theblucerchiati. After an unimpressive season withCatania in 2002–03, Possanzini was signed by Serie B minnowsAlbinoLeffe, where he quickly regained his best form and proved himself as a key player for his new club.
In January 2005, Possanzini signed forPalermo and marked his return to Serie A. Still, several injuries prevented him from being actively part of the Sicilian side; he eventually played only twice with therosanero before being sold again during the summer market, this time toBrescia as partial compensation in the deal that broughtAndrea Caracciolo to Palermo. He is currently a mainstay for therondinelle, and scored 24 goals in his first two seasons with Brescia, both played in the Serie B.
In January 2009, Possanzini was banned for a year, along withDaniele Mannini, by theCourt of Arbitration for Sport, under request from theWorld Anti-Doping Agency, for being late at the anti-doping controls after Brescia's game withChievo in December 2007. Both players were initially acquitted by the Italian Football Federation and successively condemned to a 15-day ban byCONI. The ban was successively suspended by the Court of Arbitration for Sport itself later in March and cancelled on 27 July 2009[3] after being proved there was no real intention to avoid the controls from Possanzini and Mannini.
In 2013, Possanzini moved back toBrescia as a youth coach in charge of theAllievi Nazionali and then thePrimavera (Under-19 squad). He subsequently joined the coaching staff ofRoberto De Zerbi, following him during his tenures atFoggia,Palermo,Benevento,Sassuolo andFC Shakhtar Donetsk. In February 2022, together with De Zerbi and his coaching staff, he harrowingly fled from Ukraine in the aftermath of theRussian invasion.[4]
On 16 June 2022, Possanzini agreed to return to Brescia as the club'sPrimavera youth coach.[5] On 7 January 2023, he was named new head coach in charge of the first team following the dismissal ofPep Clotet,[6] being however sacked just thirteen days later after suffering two defeats in both games in charge of the team.[7]
On 16 June 2023, Possanzini was announced as the new head coach of Serie C clubMantova.[8] Under his guidance, Mantova surprisingly topped the league table from the very beginning of the season despite the presence of other more ambitious teams in the league such as Padova and Vicenza, while playing an attacking football style reminiscent of his mentor De Zerbi that quickly won Possanzini national coverage.[9] On 7 April 2024, Mantova mathematically won promotion to Serie B.[10]
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | Ref | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | |||||
| Brescia |  | 6 February 2023 | 20 February 2023 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 000.00 | [11] |
| Mantova | | 16 June 2023 | Present | 38 | 24 | 8 | 6 | 71 | 31 | +40 | 063.16 | |
| Career totals | 40 | 24 | 8 | 8 | 71 | 33 | +38 | 060.00 | — | |||
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