As rumors of his arrival at Juventus get hotter and hotter, Maurizio Sarri released a long, exclusive interview with Vanity Fair, covering his desire to return to Italy after a year with Chelsea, to the controversy with the Napoli fans, to the suit he wears on the pitch and his small list of superstitions.
"For us Italians, the call back home is strong, it feels like something is missing. It was a difficult year and I'm starting to feel the weight of having friends far away, to have older parents that I rarely see. At my age I make professional decisions. When I return home to Tuscany I feel like a foreigner. In the past years I will have slept 30 nights."
Raised in Tuscany, but with origins from Naples, Sarri responds to the criticism received from Napoli fans that don't want to see him manage the bianconero: "The neapolitans know the love I have for them, I chose to go abroad last year to not go to an Italian club. The profession can bring other paths, the relationship doesn't change. What does it mean to be loyal? And if one day the club sends you away? What do you do? Stay loyal to a wife that you've divorced? Loyalty is to give 110% in the moment you're there.
On his "sarrismo" style of play that conquered English football: "It's a way to play football and that's it, born from slaps taken. Evolution is the sister of defeat. After a victory, I do not know how to celebrate because he who wins stays with his convictions. A defeat stays inside me longer, I become critical, it pushes me a step forward. My nephew made me read the Facebook page 'Sarrismo and Revolution.' It's fun, I'm anti-social. I don't even have WhatsApp."
On his legendary outfit that he wears on the pitch: "If the club made me dress in another way, I'd accept it. Honestly the way my young colleagues on the Primavera squad who wear ties on the pitch brings tenderness and sadness."
On his superstitions: "I have less than what they attribute to me. The habit to not put my feet on the pitch has stayed with me. Inside the line I say, as long as the match is going on. But sooner or later I will abandon this. Already in certain stadiums the bench is on the opposite side of the locker room and you need to walk on the pitch. When you begin winning, good luck goes away."
