Antonio Conte, who on Tuesday resigned as manager of Serie A champions Juventus, and Jose Mourinho are two of the coaches for whom Alessandro Nesta would have liked to play.
Nesta, who forged his reputation as one of Italy’s finest defenders in a stellar career at Lazio and AC Milan, was speaking in a Sony web chat before Conte quit Juve after winning a third successive title with the Turin club.
Conte, capped 20 times by Italy, signed a one-year extension to his Juventus deal in May but made a U-turn on that decision on Tuesday. He has refused to rule out taking over the Italian national job following the departure of Cesare Prandelli during the World Cup.
Nesta has already said he would like to see Roberto Mancini take over the Azzurri reins but he also gave Conte’s credentials a ringing endorsement, when asked which coaches he wish he’d played under. “Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte. Both top coaches,” said Nesta.
“I don’t know him personally, but I’m curious about Mourinho. He won so many trophies that he has to be special somehow. I like those kind of coaches.”
Conte is said to have been frustrated by Juventus’ transfer policy and there is a worry in Italy that Serie A’s reduced status among Europe’s top leagues may also have played a part in his decision. Mancini left Inter Milan at the end of 2008 after a period of success, lured by Manchester City’s new-found wealth and now Conte has joined the exodus.
“The Premier League is currently the best one, then comes the German Bundesliga, then La Liga (with two or three good teams, and not so many others) and after that Serie A,” observed Nesta.
Asked about the low-cost attitude of AC Milan in the transfer market, he added: “Milan have had to adapt to a new situation, they used to be rich. It’s not easy but you have to think of how rebuild the team with new methods.”
Milan, whose list of managers over the years reads like a who’s who of top football coaches, including Fabio Capello, Arrigo Sacchi and Carlo Ancelotti, have had to adapt to the tightening of belts and give opportunities to inexperienced coaches such as Massimiliano Allegri, Clarence Seedorf and now Filippo Inzaghi.
But Nesta had words of encouragement for his old team-mate Inzaghi, saying: “I may suggest to him to restart from the solid, old values from AC Milan. Those values which allowed them to become such a big club and that have been a little lost.”
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