Since the termination of his contract with Guangzhou in late September last year, Fabio Cannavaro has been out of sight. The former best coach and champion coach of the Chinese Super League has been trying to find his first coach in Europe. Not long ago, he was in contact with two Premier League clubs Everton and Watford, which have vacant managerial positions. In an interview with the British "Daily Telegraph" a few days ago, he said: "I think I am ready. I've had a good job in Asia, but the best clubs, the best coaches are in Europe. If I want to be one of the best, I'm going to compete with them. ”
Interview in the Premier League
Player Cannavaro is undoubtedly world-class, he led Italy to victory as captain and defender at the 2006 World Cup, and also lifted the Ballon d'Or in the same year. But The level of Cannavaro's coaching, even in China, is somewhat controversial. Yes, he led Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao to win the 8th Chinese Super League championship in team history in the 2019 season. But this sentence can also be said from another angle: Evergrande's first championship lost since its conquest of the Chinese Super League occurred in the 2018 season under Cannavaro. In the 2020 season, when the knockout competition was won due to the epidemic, Cannavaro once again played a smash. It's not so much that he brought 1 Chinese Super League title to Guangzhou (Evergrande) as it is that he lost 2...
In the 2019 season, Cannavaro led Guangzhou Evergrande to win the Chinese Super League championship for the eighth time.
Compared with Xavi, who led Sade to all the championships in Qatari football before returning to Barcelona to coach, Cabanaro's resume has limited highlights, including the 2 games he briefly coached the Chinese national team, which is also full of slots. Not to mention that he does not have the "pure blood" of Xavi , who has almost always played for Barcelona , Cannavaro now wants to start a business in Europe, facing a lot of difficulties. Everton approached him after firing Benitez in mid-January, but ultimately chose Lampard; Watford also approached him after firing Ranieri, but ultimately chose the old coach Hodgson.
Although he was ultimately unable to secure a contract, Cannavaro was honoured to be engaged with Everton and Watford. The first was an engagement with Everton boss Moshiri, "I explained to him my philosophy, my strategy. But of course, when you have the opportunity to choose to live here, maybe more familiar with Frank Lampard in the Premier League than I am, it's understandable. Sometimes when people think about me, they may think that I am not familiar with this league, that I have no [coaching] experience in Europe. But it's football and I know what's going on in the club, what's going on in the dressing room. ”
After approaching Everton, Cannavaro ultimately failed to get a contract.
As for the engagement with Watford, Cannavaro revealed: "They talked to me before hiring Hodgson, but they need to find a coach soon. They told me they wanted to find a coach in a matter of days, of course a coach with Premier League experience and familiarity with the players. But it was my pleasure to negotiate with them. Importantly, I started these negotiations. ”
In 2006, he almost went to Chelsea
In addition to working with two Premier League clubs, Cannavaro has also had conversations with a number of other European clubs, including Serie A's Fiorentina. The Polish national team, which had been vacant due to the abrupt resignation of another former Chinese Super League coach, Paul Sousa, also threw an olive branch to Cannavaro, but Cannavaro refused because he wanted to work at the club more. For his first European club he coached, Cannavaro needed to pick carefully, "I know very well that now I can't make mistakes. I need to choose the right club – in England, Italy, Spain. Nowadays everyone wants to be able to achieve results in a short period of time, so I need to choose the right club. Even if it's a small club, I don't care because I just want to be a coach and share my experience. I'm confident I can do well. ”
Whether it's England, Italy or the Spanish league, Cannavaro will consider, or even rule out, the possibility of taking over a non-top league club, "I don't mind working in the secondary league because you can still be a good coach. I have my own philosophy, but I know I can always learn and improve. I'm not the kind of coach who says, 'This is my system, that's it.' What matters is what the whole package looks like. I've worked with very good coaches and I want to share those experiences. Of course, when you share your thoughts with the players, the championship is important and they will always remember it. I want to teach people. I've been learning and watching the game. I don't like to stay home or go on vacation. I've always liked that. ”
At the 2006 World Cup, Cannavaro led Italy to victory as captain.
So even though he has been idle for nearly half a year, Cannavaro has not been idle. Shortly after the termination of his contract with Guangzhou, he traveled to the Premier League to learn from the premier league, and over a period of six weeks, he watched the games of Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Watford, and also visited crystal palace to observe the training sessions of former Juventus teammate Vieira. Next month, he will travel to England again, ready to continue to observe and learn from his excellent colleagues, such as Guardiola, Klopp, Tuchel and former team-mate Conte.
So if Cannavaro did choose England in his first stop in europe, it wouldn't be surprising. Cannavaro also revealed that in fact, after he left Juventus, who was relegated by the "phone gate", he almost went to the Premier League in the summer of 2006, "A friend called me and asked me if I would like to go to Chelsea, I knew they were interested in me, but eventually I went to Madrid, of course, because Capello was there. ”
June 17, 2007
Later stories, everyone should remember more clearly. During his three years at Real Madrid, Cannavaro finally won the first undisputed top-flight title of his career, and in 2006/07 and 2007/08, the first of which was one of the most dramatic finales in La Liga history. That season, Real Madrid played the role of a catcher for a long time, until the end of the 34th round, using the advantage of mutual matchmaking, to reach the top for the first time with the points equal to Barca. Before the last round, Real Madrid and Barca had 73 points. On 17 June 2007, Real Madrid hosted midstreamer Mallorca, while Barca visited the relegated Tarragona.
Cannavaro was crowned Ballon d'Or during his time at Real Madrid.
The two games kicked off at the same time, with Real Madrid scoring 17 minutes before Mallorca scored first, while Barca took the lead in Tarragona three minutes later. At the end of the half, Real Madrid fell behind 0-1, and Barca already had a 3-0 lead, and the victory was not suspenseful. When Barca had extended their advantage to four goals, Capello replaced the injured Beckham with winger Reyes in the 66th minute. Just two minutes later, Reyes received Higuain's return pass and pushed the equaliser 1-1! In the 80th minute, midfielder Muhammadu Diarra used a corner kick opportunity to head the gavel to overtake the score, and Real Madrid returned to the top! Just three minutes later, Reyes scored twice, leaving Barca desperate. As a result, Barca watched as Real Madrid regained the La Liga title after a gap of 4 years.
On February 14, the moment version of "Pro Evolution Soccer Mobile Game" was launched, Cannavaro (during the Real Madrid era), which is the cannavaro of this magical championship-winning season. The 2006/07 season was the pinnacle of Cannavaro's golden ball award and FIFA world football's "double best" season, and his defense had reached the level of pure fire. Cannavaro, who is only 1.76 meters tall, has amazing bouncing power and explosive power, extremely fierce defense, enthusiasm and defensive awareness are frozen, and the ground is difficult to meet the opponent. It is no exaggeration to say that he is one of the top players in all moments, legends, selections, all cards combined, defensive feel.
For the three-centre-back system, Cannavaro is simply the best choice. Having him as a full-back, he has all three qualities: steadiness, speed and fierceness, and even the header can cope with the vast majority of opposing attacking players (wingers). But if you play at four backs, i.e. double centre-backs, it's best to find a master who is good at making up the pot (such as Varane) to complement him. Don't forget, Cannavaro is the only central defender in ballon d'Or history to win! In this position, who else is it?