Pippo Inzaghi in Bolzano: This time everything is different

On Saturday, Filippo Inzaghi returns to the Bozen Arena, where the former world-class striker was knocked out of the Serie B play-offs as coach of Reggina in May 2023 and thus said goodbye to Calabria, even if the separation only became official later.

As a player, he won everything there is to win. Filippo Inzaghi was world champion, Champions League winner, champion, top scorer - when people talked about Inzaghi, they meant him: Super Pippo, one of the best goalscorers in football history. However, when the name Inzaghi is mentioned now, it is usually about his younger brother Simone, who is as a coach what Pippo was as a footballer - one of the best in his field.

Coach Filippo Inzaghi has not (yet) been able to repeat his success as a player. And it is highly questionable whether he ever will. His coaching career began at the top, as coach of AC Milan, which he took over just two years after retiring. Before that, he had coached the youth section of the Milan club, first the A-youths, then the juniors, before he was promoted to head coach of the professionals by Silvio Berlusconi in the summer of 2.

Filippo Inzaghi (r.) with his brother Simone. © ANSA / Mario Taddeo

His year as coach at Milan was a sporting disaster - 10th place in Serie A was the worst result for the "Rossoneri" since the turn of the millennium. Despite the numerous defeats, Filippo Inzaghi was allowed to continue until the end of the season, but then had to pack his bags.

Back then: Criticism of the Bozen lawn After this sobering start to his coaching career, he was not above starting again from the bottom. After a year's break, Inzaghi joined Venezia in Serie C and led the lagoon city to the championship title and promotion to Serie B. In that season he faced FC Südtirol three times and won all three duels, 3:3 in the cup in Bolzano, 4:0 at home and away in the championship. After the success in the Drusus Stadium, Inzaghi was furious about the bumpy pitch in the Talfer city. "FC Südtirol doesn't deserve a pitch like that. It's impossible to play football here," was the superstar's devastating verdict. He continued: "This has nothing to do with football. It's being distorted here. And that's a real shame. The spectators deserve a better spectacle."

Inzaghi is not one to be silenced. That was in April 2017. When Inzaghi returned to the completely renovated Bozen Arena as coach of Reggina in January 2023, there was nothing wrong with the pitch. Instead, he had to comment on his first defeat against FCS (2-1 for the White-Reds, double from Raphael Odogwu) after winning the first four encounters. After the three Venezia victories, he also had the upper hand in the first half of the season match in Reggio Calabria, where he celebrated his team's 4-3 victory in the stands due to a suspension in the last FCS game before the arrival of coach Pierpaolo Bisoli.

With Pisa fully on target At Reggina, Pippo Inzaghi was the highest-paid coach in Serie B and, according to media reports, earned one million euros. He had proven that he can coach successfully in the second division with Benevento's promotion to Serie A in 2. However, he was unable to prevent the return to the second division just one year later, nor the sackings in Bologna in 2020 and Salerno in February of this year. Serie A remains a tough place for Filippo Inzaghi. He feels more comfortable in Serie B, even if he has a reputation for his teams running out of steam in the final stretch of the season. In Brescia, Inzaghi was sacked shortly before the end of the 2019/2021 season after his team had been in the fight for first place for a long time.

Pippo Inzaghi has now made a perfect start with Pisa. Although the Tuscan club is not one of the top favorites for promotion to Serie A, Inzaghi and his team are at the top of the table - 3 points ahead of their closest rivals Spezia and 4 ahead of Sassuolo. They also benefited from a 3-0 win on the green table against Cittadella, who had used a player who was not initially on the player sheet. A 1-1 draw turned into a win for Pisa, in the second instance after the association court had initially ruled in favor of Cittadella. The final verdict has not yet been made, however.

Serie B Italy	SP	TV	P
1. Sassuolo	32	70:33	72
2. Step on	32	54:30	63
3. Specia	32	47:23	58
4. Cremonese	32	52:36	52
5. Juventus Stabia	32	38:36	49
6. Catanzaro	32	44:36	47
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Pippo Inzaghi in Bolzano: This time everything is different

At his last appearance at the Drusus Stadium he experienced a bitter disappointment.

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