Fabio Liverani

Fabio Liverani (Italian pronunciation: [ˈfaːbjo liveˈraːni]; born 29 April 1976) is an Italian football manager and former midfielder, currently in charge of Lecce.

Fabio Liverani
Liverani in 2009
Personal information
Full name Fabio Liverani
Date of birth (1976-04-29) 29 April 1976
Place of birth Rome, Italy
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position(s) Central Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Lecce (manager)
Youth career
1994–1995 Palermo
1995–1996 Napoli
1996 Cagliari
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996 Nocerina 2 (0)
1997–2000 Viterbese 104 (18)
2000–2001 Perugia 32 (3)
2001–2006 Lazio 126 (6)
2006–2008 Fiorentina 64 (1)
2008–2011 Palermo 66 (0)
2011 Lugano 0 (0)
Total 394 (28)
National team
2001–2006 Italy 3 (0)
Teams managed
2011–2013 Genoa (youth)
2013 Genoa
2014–2015 Leyton Orient
2017 Ternana
2017– Lecce
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He made 288 Serie A appearances across 12 seasons, representing Perugia, Lazio, Fiorentina and Palermo. He was the first black player for the Italy national team, playing three matches from 2001 to 2006.

In 2013, Liverani began his managerial career with a brief spell at top-flight club Genoa. He also managed English club Leyton Orient and Serie B club Ternana before taking Lecce to two consecutive promotions to the top flight.

Club career
Liverani playing for Fiorentina in 2008

Fabio Liverani was born in Rome, Italy in 1976 to a Somali mother and an Italian father.[1] He made his professional footballing debut with Viterbese of Serie C2 in 1996–97. He transferred to Perugia in the 2000–01 season. From 2001 to 2006, Liverani played for Lazio in Italy's Serie A. He was part of their team that won the Coppa Italia in 2004, defeating Juventus 4–2 on aggregate.[2]

The 2006 season saw Liverani move to Fiorentina. He played a total of two seasons with the team, including the Viola' team's 2007–08 Serie A campaign, which ended with Fiorentina securing fourth place and a spot in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League 2008-09. Fiorentina and Liverani parted company the following season.

In May 2008, Liverani signed a three-year contract with Palermo, being also appointed team captain. Liverani was forced to miss the first three months of the 2009–10 season due to a serious injury that he had sustained on May, and broke back into the first team only on November, then being replaced as permanent team captain by Fabrizio Miccoli. In his first game as a regular, against Chievo, the first game of new head coach Delio Rossi in charge of the team, Liverani went on to be sent off during the game.

On 30 August 2011, he moved to Lugano, signing a two-year contract. Liverani never played a single game for the Swiss, and rescinded his contract by mutual consent later on November.[3]

International career

On 25 April 2001, Liverani became the first black Italian footballer to play internationally with the senior Italian national team,[4] making his debut with the Azzurri in a friendly match against South Africa in Perugia, under the management of Giovanni Trapattoni; the match ended in a 1–0 victory for the Italians.[1][5]

On 16 August 2006, he was again summoned to start for the Italian national team in a friendly in Livorno against Croatia by the team's new coach, Roberto Donadoni; the match ended in a 2–0 loss.[6][7] In total he made three appearances for Italy.[8]

Style of play

In spite of his lack of pace, agility, stamina, or defensive skills,[9][10] Liverani was a highly creative, reliable, and quick-thinking player, who was known in particular for his technique, vision, range of distribution, and precise passing with his left foot, which enabled him to create chances for teammates, and made him an excellent assist provider.[9][10][11][12][13] Due to his unique set of skills and ability to set the tempo of his team's play in midfield, he usually operated in the centre or in front of the back-line, where he functioned as a deep-lying playmaker in midfield.[10][11][12][14] A diminutive midfielder, he was not, however, particularly imposing physically or strong in the air. In addition to his playmaking abilities as a footballer, he also stood out for his mentality and leadership, both on and off the pitch.[9][12]

Managerial career

Genoa

Following his retirement, Liverani was offered a position as youth coach at Genoa, in charge of the Allievi Regionali B squad, which he formally accepted on 15 November 2011.[15]

On 7 June 2013, Genoa president Enrico Preziosi announced the appointment of Liverani as new first team manager in place of Davide Ballardini.[16] He was sacked on 29 September after one win in his seven Serie A games in charge, and replaced by Gian Piero Gasperini.[17]

Leyton Orient

On 8 December 2014, Liverani was appointed as manager of English League One team, Leyton Orient on a ​2 1⁄2-year contract replacing Mauro Milanese who returned to his role as Sporting Director after 8 matches in charge.[18] Following their relegation to League Two, Liverani left the club in May 2015.[19]

Ternana

On 6 March 2017, Liverani was appointed as manager of Serie B team, Ternana Calcio replacing Carmine Gautieri who was sacked after gaining only 3 points in 7 matches.[20] Ternana was last with only 23 points in 29 matches, but he gained 26 points in 13 games to avoid direct relegation as well as play-outs.[21] At the end of the season, with the club under new ownership, Liverani's contract was not renewed.[22]

Lecce

On 17 September 2017 was named new coach of Lecce, with whom he achieved two direct promotions from Serie C to Serie A, thus bringing the Salento club back to the Italian top-tier league after seven years.[23][24]

Managerial statistics
As of match played 1 March 2020
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record Ref
PWDLWin %
Genoa 7 June 2013 29 September 2013 7 1 2 4 014.3 [16][17][25]
Leyton Orient 8 December 2014 13 May 2015 27 8 6 13 029.6 [26]
Ternana 6 March 2017 30 June 2017 13 8 2 3 061.5 [27]
Lecce 17 September 2017 Present 103 48 26 29 046.6
Total 150 65 36 49 043.3 —

Honours

Lazio

References
  1. "Trapattoni colora l' Italia, chiamato Liverani" (in Italian). Corriere della Sera. 21 April 2001. Retrieved 6 April 2009.
  2. "Lazio fightback seals Coppa". China Daily. 12 May 2004. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  3. "Liverani-Lugano: è finita" [Liverani-Lugano: it's over] (in Italian). Ticino News. 11 November 2011. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
  4. "Liverani is first black player to win Italy cap". The Guardian. 25 April 2001. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  5. "La Nazionale supera il test del Sudafrica" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 25 April 2001. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  6. "Lucarelli, Liverani e linea verde ecco la Nazionale di Donadoni" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 12 August 2006. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  7. "Delude all'esordio l'Italia di Donadoni: la Croazia vince 2 a 0" (in Italian). Il Sole 24 Ore. 17 August 2006. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  8. "Liverani, Fabio" (in Italian). FIGC. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  9. Stefano Borgi (5 November 2007). ""OCCHI PUNTATI SU..." Fabio Liverani, il metronomo viola" (in Italian). Firenze Viola. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  10. "Professione regista elogio di Liverani" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 3 January 2009. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  11. Maria Concetta Casales (11 April 2010). "Palermo, Liverani l'uomo dal piede telecomandato" (in Italian). Tutto Palermo. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  12. Maria Concetta Casales (13 June 2010). "Palermo, Liverani, leader carismatico" (in Italian). Tutto Palermo. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  13. Giampiero Timossi (22 July 2006). "Fiorentina, brilla solo Liverani" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  14. "Palermo: Ballardini 'Liverani e' insostituibile'" (in Italian). ESPN FC. 1 November 2008. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  15. "Liverani è già in campo: "Sono rossoblù, era ora"" [Liverani already on the pitch: "I am a rossoblù finally"] (in Italian). Il Secolo XIX. 15 November 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
  16. "Genoa, Preziosi: "Ho scelto Liverani, sicuro delle sue qualità"" (in Italian). TuttoMercatoWeb. 7 June 2013. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
  17. "Official: Genoa recall Gasperini". Football Italia. 29 September 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  18. "NEWS: Fabio Liverani joins as manager". Leyton Orient F.C. 8 December 2014. Archived from the original on 8 December 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  19. "Leyton Orient: Boss Fabio Liverani departs by mutual consent". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  20. "Ternana: Liverani nuovo allenatore". Sport Paper. Archived from the original on 23 September 2017. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  21. "Ternana, Liverani: "Successo qualcosa di unico, vittoria di tutti"". Sky Sport. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  22. "Ecco chi è il nuovo allenatore delle Fere: Sandro Pochesci". Ternananews.it. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  23. "Lecce: 'We deserved promotion'". Football Italia. 12 May 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  24. Ridge, Patric (11 May 2019). "Lecce seal promotion to Serie A". The Hindu. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  25. "Genoa CFC: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  26. "Managers: Fabio Liverani". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  27. "Unicusano Ternana Calcio: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  28. "F. Liverani". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
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