Serie A Preview: Coaching revolution in 2025-26

HONG KONG, CHINA – JULY 26: AC Milan head coach Massimiliano Allegri gestures during the Liverpool FC v AC Milan Pre-Season Friendly match at Kai Tak Stadium on July 26, 2025 in Hong Kong, China. (Photo by Yu Chun Christopher Wong/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)

More than half of Italy’s top division teams appointed new managers in the summer. Giancarlo Rinaldi looks at the familiar faces – and fresher ones – on the benches across the country.

When Antonio Conte looks to defend the Scudetto he won last season with Napoli, he could be forgiven for thinking he had moved to a new division. Of the coaching adversaries he faced at the start of the last campaign, just four will lock horns with him again with the same team this time around. Considering that the Partenopei boss himself also looked set to move on for a time, it has been a summer of almost unprecedented upheaval.

It is easier to list the men with over one year’s service for their clubs than the ones without. Fabio Grosso has stayed put at Sassuolo after strolling through Serie B with a side too good for Italy’s second tier. It will be intriguing to see if he can maintain the upward momentum of his coaching stock in more testing surroundings. The only others with more than 12 months at their current club are Bologna’s Vincenzo Italiano, Udinese’s Kosta Runjaic, Verona’s Paolo Zanetti and Cesc Fabregas at Como. It is remarkable that getting another season in charge is such an unusual vote of confidence.

You could argue, of course, that there is at least a hint of continuity at Genoa, where Patrick Vieira is rewarded for keeping his team afloat and Igor Tudor carries on at Juventus. The former will be expected to avoid the drop a little more comfortably this time around, but the pressure on his Bianconero counterpart is a lot more intense. There was plenty of speculation that the Croatian would be shown the door for a bigger name but in the end La Vecchia Signora decided to remain loyal. However, nobody would be surprised if they pulled the trigger once more if early results are disappointing.

Although Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina have made changes they have all gone for familiar faces who they hope will confound the footballing wisdom that return deals are often less successful than they were the first time around. Max Allegri will be charged with making the Rossoneri more competitive than they have been for a while, which seems like a mission he can surely accomplish – even if the football may not be spectacular. Another former occupant of the bench at San Siro, Stefano Pioli, è tornato in Florence on what feels like a sentimental journey. He was the man in charge when Davide Astori died and would love nothing more than to deliver a trophy with the Viola. Then, finally, we have Maurizio Sarri at the Biancocelesti, which seems unlikely to be anything other than entertaining.

The challenge facing Gian Piero Gasperini at Roma is a fascinating one, having left behind the club he served brilliantly for so long in Bergamo. Can he take the template he used so successfully at Atalanta with the Giallorossi and do it quickly enough to satisfy a club with more lofty expectations? If he can harness the resources at his disposal in the right way they could truly be a revelation.

The Christian Chivu era at Inter is also one that will be worth a watch. There is no doubt the Nerazzurri retain a strong squad but their coach is low on experience. What that will translate to in terms of results remains to be seen but this is a club that has got used to being in the upper reaches of the table. Anything else would not be acceptable.

The most intriguing appointment of the rest might well be Carlos Cuesta at Parma. Aged just 30, they are clearly hoping that the experience he has gathered alongside Mikel Arteta at Arsenal can stand him in good stead. The rewards are potentially great if that translates to insight into Serie A pretty quickly.

Elsewhere, there are a mix of old stagers or coaches trying to revive their reputations. Ivan Juric remains a curious fit for Atalanta while Marco Baroni moves along to Torino having been judged as not up to the Lazio job – it might well suit him better. Alberto Gilardino gets another crack at the big time with Pisa, while Eusebio Di Francesco dodged the drop with Venezia by moving across to Lecce. New boys Cremonese put their faith in Mr Miracles, Davide Nicola, while Cagliari have promoted from within with former youth team boss Fabio Pisacane taking the reins. There is likely to be some long, hard graft ahead of all of them to remain in a job until the end of the season. The trend to seek change – even when successful – looks here to stay for quite some time to come.