One of the most charismatic coaches of recent times, and one who polarises opinion amongst Calcio fans, is Zdenek Zeman.
The Czech was recently mentioned as a candidate for the Sampdoria dugout, but with that job going to Sinisa Mihajlovic, it begs the question if the man who inspired ‘Zemanlandia’ will find himself a role at the top table of Calcio again.
In many ways, the influence of Zeman still seeps through the cracks in Serie A, as if his influence has spread across the stadia of Italy like the smoke from the cigarettes that are seldom found away from his lips.
Eusebio di Francesco, current Sassuolo coach, is known to be a follower of a number of Zeman’s principles, and certainly the Neroverdi coach ensures his side play exciting attacking football.
Cagliari’s Marco Sau used to play under Zeman at Foggia, and Torino’s Ciro Immobile was a member of the Czech’s side at Pescara. Meanwhile, Napoli’s Lorenzo Insigne was with him at both Foggia and Pescara.
The list of players who first came to prominence under Zeman is long and says as much about the enjoyment ‘Il Boemo’ finds in nurturing and developing young players as it does about the success of his teams.
As a true coach of the Danubian school in Italy – a Cesar Menotti in a country of Carlos Bilardos, if you like – Zeman has always stood apart. While his belief in attacking football is no longer unique on the peninsula, partly due to his own influence, it is certainly not the prevalent theory of a nation that has traditionally been associated with locked-tight defences.
Defence is just a coincidence to the man who arrived in Italy from Prague in 1968. Nobody scores goals like a Zeman team; the most recent complete season he spent in coaching was the Serie B season with Pescara. The Delfini’s 90 goals was the highest tally at that level since Spal in 1949/50 (only a handful of Serie A sides have ever scored more; none since 1960).
At Roma (first time around), too, and Lecce, goals were never hard to come by at either end; his teams played so many breathless, memorable matches that it’s not difficult to see why the name Zdenek Zeman carries such weight with certain groups of supporters clad in red and yellow.
His Foggia team, for whom the term ‘Zemanlandia’ was initially coined, were based on blistering attacking – launching the career of Beppe Signori amongst others, while the defensive side of their game was the reason they stayed outside the European spaces; more recently, the season they won Serie B, Pescara’s 55 goals conceded was almost double that of Torino, level on points with them at the top.
Few teams concede goals like a Zeman team; his philosophy is that of a true Corinthian – taking part in sport for the joy of the game itself.
Zeman himself insists his career has been curtailed by, chiefly, Luciano Moggi and a Juventus-based campaign against him but his unwillingness to commit to clubs for more than a year (his recent contract at Roma broke that rule by being for two) and the fact that his attacking football brings more aesthetic than pragmatic success are more likely the reasons he has failed to break into the top table.
Perhaps equally responsible is his insistence on bringing through youngsters, unproven players who will, naturally, have their heads turned when success comes their way; his sides becoming either havens of loanees, or a production line for those higher up the leagues; neither state generally conducive to long term success.
Indeed, the career of Zeman runs along a pattern of the Czech ‘proving’ he can be successful while with a smaller club, and then taking over a bigger club, but finding problems that range from more established players not buying into his demanding philosophy to the expectation based purely on results. He then leaves, having to prove himself anew. Only in his first spell at Roma did he approach success at the top level.
The career of Zeman is at the lower part of the cycle now. His return to Roma did not bring success (though Rudi Garcia’s methodology is not vastly different, and he is winning over the Giallorossi faithful), so his next appointment will probably be lower in the pyramid – rumours of a return to Pescara in the summer came to nothing, and Sampdoria passed him over.
One thing that is certain is that Zeman will be mentioned when coaching jobs become available and, given his pedigree, it is not unlikely he will find a job, and be successful again. No matter what happens in the game, scoring goals remains the best way of winning football matches and one thing we can be certain of is that Zeman’s sides score goals.
