Mazzarri: 'Like a father at Watford'
By Football Italia staff
Walter Mazzarri looked back on his career in Italy, including the Inter axe, facing Diego Maradona and being a father figure at Watford.
The former Reggina, Sampdoria and Napoli Coach sat down with the Daily Telegraph about his first job since being fired by Inter in November 2014.
“All those clubs and I have never been sacked,” he said. “Apart from Inter, but we don’t talk about Inter.”
The 54-year-old worked his way up the career ladder after playing as a midfielder for Fiorentina, Cagliari and Empoli.
“Maradona, Zico, Matthäus, Van Basten, Gullit, Rijkaard, Baresi, Rummenigge – I played against them all. It was the great explosion of Italian football. Of course the best was Maradona, and then Zico.
“I was playing against Maradona once at the San Paolo and I thought I could see the ball and that I could get it. As soon as I challenged for it, the ball was gone and I took him out. Eighty thousand people in the stadium wanted to kill me.”
Mazzarri did win over the Napoli fans eventually when he became their Coach.
“When I arrived I found a team with difficulties, and the players weren’t well known at the time. But we grew together, and in that final year we had a big battle for the league with Juventus.
“There was a lot of pressure. Napoli supporters live for their team every day. It’s not just at the stadium. You can be filling your car up at the petrol station on a Monday and they all want to talk about the team.”
In Italy, Coaches are not allowed to take on Serie A jobs until they have achieved the Master’s degree at the Coverciano academy.
“The final year is the masters – the technical, the psychological. They prepare the manager for the whole experience. To manage the players, to deal with the pressure. They teach you how to speak to the President of the club and how to speak to the fans of the club. It is as much about communication as anything else.”
None of that seemed to help when he was fired by Inter to make way for Roberto Mancini, the first sacking of his career.
Mazzarri earned one point from his first two Premier League games, but Watford suffered a shock defeat to Gillingham in the EFL Cup.
“I’m like a father to my players. Sometimes you need to be hard, sometimes you need to be very nice and talk to them. They are like sons to me and that is the way I manage. When they make me angry, I’m angry. I can’t hide that.”
