Has Zdenek Zeman’s time in Calcio come to an end… For good?

Date: 24th December 2014 at 1:00pm
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zdenek zeman cagliariAnd so Cagliari’s love affair with Zdenek Zeman is over. Not even the customary exchange of Christmas gifts will be necessary, as the Sardinian club have severed all ties with the Czech-born tactician well before Santa Claus has loaded up his festive sled.

Languishing in the relegation zone, it was not an unexpected move by the owners of the Rossoblu but it does now beg the question: Should Zdenek Zeman continue to be employed as a Serie A coach?

His more recent roles previously at Roma and at Cagliari would suggest that the relative failures at both these clubs point to a resounding ‘no’, that his style and methods of running a topflight side are no longer relevant in the modern era of football.

But Enzo Misuraca offers his view that Zeman still has a lot to offer Calcio and Italian football

Zeman’s philosophy to football can be summed up in three ways – youth, entertainment and values.

We’ll start with youth.

The often maligned lack of opportunities for youngsters at Serie A clubs is something that Zeman sides cannot be accused of. His ‘Foggia dei Miracoli’ team from the 1990s was famed for giving birth to eventual superstars such as Giuseppe Signori, Francesco Baiano, Igor Shalimov, Jose Antonio Chamot and Dan Petrescu.

At Lazio he launched the career of Alessandro Nesta, at Pescara he gave the nation Marco Verratti, Ciro Immobile and Lorenzo Insigne whilst his brief stint at Roma in 2012 was the year that kids such as Alessandro Florenzi, Dodo, Erik Lamela and Alessio Romagnoli first became familiar names on a Serie A team sheet.

Pescara TrioWithout the influence of ‘Il Boemo’, who knows whether these players would be talked about by generations past, present and in the future.

Secondly, entertainment.

In terms of spectacle, one can never label a Zeman team as boring. He gifted Italy the 4-3-3 formation long before it became fashionable and his insistence on trying to score at every opportunity guaranteeing goals — albeit at both ends of the pitch — is a trait of a Zeman side that every owner is well aware of when asking the coach to take control of the team.

And is this not why we travel to stadiums every weekend? Do we not want to experience the excitement, the highs and lows of winning and losing and the elation of the ball hitting the back of the net?

Is this not the binding ingredient in the drug that we all consume called ‘football’?  Of course it is.

And finally, if we needed further convincing, Zdenek Zeman is a symbol of fair play.

One of the very few to stand up to the establishment in Italy, blowing the whistle on the misuse of pharmaceuticals amongst the big clubs. Not many public figures stand up to the behemoths of Italian football, but ‘Il Boemo’ is certainly one.

The case for employing Zdenek Zeman in Serie A is very clear.  Without him, the league is a much poorer competition in terms of enjoyment, innovation and integrity.

However, Luca Gunby feels rather differently and thinks Zeman’s time in Calcio should be over… For good.

Innovative and intense coaches like Marcelo Bielsa or Jurgen Klopp have in the past endured the same problems as Zeman. You revolutionise tactics only for your rivals to learn from you. Zeman’s intense methods were adored by his players but Cagliari looked spent and Zemanlandia risked becoming a cult where the coach would drive you into the abyss, yet you’d adore the journey.

To quote Blade Runner: “The light that burns twice as bright, burns half as long,” and Zeman’s candle has well and truly burnt out.

There were high points at Cagliari: the 4-1 away win over Inter and a 3-3 draw at Napoli and the penalty shootout win, after a 4-4 draw with Serie B’s Modena in the Coppa Italia, was spectacular, but exposed the side’s inability to simply… Win.

Despite the fun that  Zeman’s Casteddu gave the fans, results are what matter and any other coach would probably have been sacked earlier for guiding their team to the Christmas break without a single home victory.

Zdenek Zeman training RomaAt Roma, Miralem Pjanic claimed that Zeman’s attacking approach was the side’s greatest strength but also their chief weakness. Even though he failed during his second stint with the Giallorossi, they had the quality players to get results but Cagliari do not and they cannot risk relegation with such a death or glory approach.

Critics will point out that Roma improved significantly both times after Zeman’s exits in 2013 and 1999.

Ultimately, the coach became too stubborn, too outdated and too naive to carry on in Serie A. There is nothing inherently wrong with his tactics; it is just that Italian football has evolved and Zeman is no longer a pioneer.

The Zemanlandia of his Foggia side in the 1990s has been studied by a new generation who have cherry-picked the best ideas and pushed the master to one side, and married these to more traditional defensive approaches.

Unfortunately for Zeman most sides in Serie A now have players and coaches good enough, and intelligent enough, to let Cagliari throw themselves forward before picking them off on the counterattack, and that’s been reflected in the results.  Two wins, just 12 points, and a place in the relegation zone were the final straw for Cagliari’s new owner, Tommaso Giulini, who is now looking for a credible, more pragmatic replacement.

Perhaps Zeman can do another great job in Serie B in the way that he did with the Pescara of Ciro Immobile, Marco Veratti and Lorenzo Insigne, but his days in Serie A look to be over.

Like any radical ideologue, Zeman saw his best ideas adopted by the establishment while he’s been thrown out on his ear for the more eccentric ones.

But his contribution to Serie A will not be forgotten as his teams certainly knew how to entertain.

What do you think? Has Zeman become a Calcio relic? Leave a comment below.

You can follow Enzo on Twitter – @enzoM_fif and Luca – @Gunbyzono

 

2 responses to “Has Zdenek Zeman’s time in Calcio come to an end… For good?”

  1. Rino says:

    I feel really sad for Zeman. To watch his teams play is so refreshing compared to some of the boring teams that we watch every week. I think that Zeman is still relevant, especially with his development of youth. If he would just tweak his defensive ideas, he would definitely be more successful. Reminds me of the espn 30 for 30 Guru of Go. If you don’t have the right players, his style is bound to fail. Merry Christmas

  2. Vito Doria says:

    As I said on Twitter, the only way I can see Zeman coaching in Serie A again is if he starts coaching a Lega Pro or Serie B team and works his way up.