Grading Every New Coaching Appointments in Serie A | OneFootball

It has taken more than a month for every Serie A team to appoint a new manager in an almost unprecedentedly busy carousel. The picture isn’t actually officially complete yet. Fiorentina have yet to announce Stefano Pioli, but it’s just a technicality for fiscal-related reasons.

ATALANTA – C+

It’s hard to argue that they should have moved on from the Gian Piero Gasperini model, considering the success it has brought to them over the years. However, there were more alluring disciples than Ivan Juric after a dismal season from a personal standpoint. It feels like a calculated move to preserve their gritty, underdog persona, avoiding the expectations and pressure that would have come by bringing in a top-notch boss with a different style.

CAGLIARI – D

Fabio Pisacane is a touted and successful youth manager, but he’s taking on the dire task of succeeding a specialist who didn’t exactly breeze to the finish line last season. He’ll most likely have to do it with a significantly less experienced squad, if not much worse altogether. A veteran might have been better suited.

CREMONESE – A-

You can’t do a lot better than Davide Nicola if you face long odds to avoid relegation and you’ll have to scratch and claw all year long. They didn’t think too much outside the box like the last time they were in Serie A. The only qualm is that they got promoted using the opposite brand of football under Giovanni Stroppa. Plus, it’s always a bit tacky not to give the manager who brought them here at least a chance. There’s always time to pivot and remedy.

FIORENTINA – A

Bouncing back from an unexpected departure with a Scudetto-winning coach like Stefano Pioli, who’s already familiar with the team, probably had other offers, or at least pourparlers he could have explored, convincing him to head back from Saudi Arabia, giving up a ton of money, while selling to him that it’s not a stepdown, is nothing short of a great achievement.

INTER – C

In the end, the choice made decent sense, but only because they drastically limited their scope from the beginning. His experience as a high-level player will help, but he has stepped into a locker room that’s a lot more splintered than it appeared. He’ll have a lot on his plate outside of the pitch, in addition to proving that he can cut it in the big leagues with only a handful of Serie A games in the dugout under his belt.

LAZIO – B

It would look better if Maurizio Sarri weren’t a retread, and it’s still not quite clear what unraveled in the months leading up to his resignation two seasons ago. Still, it’s an upgrade, and he has a more malleable and easier-to-manage squad at his disposal. F to the management if they really didn’t disclose to him that they can’t do anything on the transfer market because some financial parameters are off.

LECCE – D

Eusebio Di Francesco is surely knowledgeable and a sympathetic figure, but he’s coming off back-to-back relegations, albeit in more difficult situations. He’s in a better spot now, but we’ll see how the team looks at the end of the summer. A few stalwarts might have reached the end of their cycles.

MILAN – B-

Massimiliano Allegri’s style isn’t crowd-pleasing, but the results back him up. They needed stability and a steady hand at the helm after a very confusing season, and he’ll provide that. Still, they ought to stop losing top players, or it’d defeat the purpose of the hire. He’s at his best when managing sound squads rather than having to build something or groom youngsters.

PARMA – B

A for creativity and for poaching a prodigy, Carlos Cuesta, from a Premier League powerhouse, C because it’s a massive gamble and because they had better results with a coy, defensive-minded approach last season under Chivu than with Fabio Pecchia’s free-flowing, up-tempo, and borderline reckless strategy. He’ll have to find a happy medium.

PISA – C+

They didn’t choose to move on from the man who led them back to Serie A, Filippo Inzaghi, in this case, and they stayed in the same lane stylistically. Alberto Giardino had a strong maiden year at Genoa, while Patrick Vieira did a lot better with the same squad in 2024/2025. That’s where the reservations come from.

ROMA – A-

Gasperini did the whole rigmarole a couple of times in recent years and always ended up staying. This time, a club actually managed to convince him to jump ship, which is a feat on its own. They did it by sweet-talking him through a long courtship rather than with lavish promises. They are hamstrung on the transfer market, and their squad requires significant adjustments to fit his system and really compete. The question mark is whether he’ll click with a capricious and demanding fan base.

TORINO – B

Chances are it’ll turn out to be a lateral move because there’s not too much difference between Marco Baroni and Paolo Vanoli. However, the former comes in with a better resume and a rich wealth of experience accumulated by stewarding Lazio last season.

CONFIRMATIONS

Napoli, Bologna, and Genoa get an A for holding onto Antonio Conte, Vincenzo Italiano, and Patrick Vieira, respectively, while they were coveted by other teams. B+ for Como because they let Cesc Fabregas flirt with his suitors a little too much before making it clear he wasn’t going anywhere.

B for the stability route taken by Sassuolo, Udinese, and Hellas Verona by retaining Fabio Grosso, Kosta Runjaic, and Paolo Zanetti, which were no-brainers. Finally, B- for Juventus since they didn’t continue with Igor Tudor because they were totally convinced, but rather because they couldn’t land a top coach, so the decision, while sensible, wasn’t entirely theirs.