Former midfielder Roberto BaronioPirlo’s assistant coach at Juventus, spoke to TV Play and he also partly retraced his career, focusing for example on his experience at Fiorentina: “Too many club problems, every now and then a different person came to say that he was the new director. We footballers didn’t play calmly, we were relegated due to external problems otherwise we were at least a mid-table team. Stankovic and Mihajlovic came to Florence one morning but in the afternoon they had to return to Rome, to Lazio, because the club was unable to buy them Enrico Chiesa’s injury had a huge impact. The 2009-10 season at Lazio was terrible, but not comparable to what happened with Fiorentina in 2002.”
Baronio also focuses on Cristiano Ronaldowho he coached during his time at Juventus with Pirlo: “Truly something unique, a 360° character. Cr7 has a sensational aura even in the little things, even in how he trained. In the details he was impressive, he was always there and he always did everything. At the end of a training session he almost always asked you to train on a certain aspect. For example, he wanted to train only on the header, something I had never seen before the comrades? I found a cohesive locker room used to winning. They were aware of having CR7 in the team, when he “got crazy” it was because something didn’t add up to him regardless of the team. He was the only one who was listened to by everyone, and he didn’t play often , it was Gigi Buffon. For the others it was as if he were the coach.”
Baronio also talks about other former Juventus players, such as Paulo Dybala: “In my year at Juve he played little for physical reasons, but when he took the pitch he did very well. If he is at 100% it is obvious that he must be on the pitch. Now, however, I find it difficult to see him on the pitch together with other attacking midfielders, As a coach I always have to make choices to make him perform at his best. To tell Juventus they told us to build the team around Cr7 from the point of view of the formation, this is how it works when there is someone who stands out in the squad.” A few words also about Federico Chiesa: “He must be evaluated before and after the cruciate injury. At Juve, when we were there, they made an effort to get him from Fiorentina. Before the injury he was a great player, after that he had some difficulties. In my opinion he must play as a winger and then do the one on one, my opinion.”
Conclusion precisely remembering Pirlo: “He saw things that others couldn’t imagine in the middle of the pitch. Absolute number one in the role. Who comes close to Pirlo in Serie A today? The only one who reminds me of him is Calhanoglu. What is he like as a coach? Like all the others, when they have to get angry, they do it calmly. Everyone has their own way, like everyone else.”