Tottenham Hotspur are set to appoint Italian set-piece specialist Gianni Vio, TuttoMercatoWeb’s chief editor Marco Conterio has revealed.
Vio, who was formerly a banker at Unicredit in Venice, has worked with the Italian national team in the past, and in an advisory capacity with the likes of Leeds United, Brentford and AC Milan.
According to The Sun, the 66-year-old has created 4,830 set-piece unique routines that teams can use.
When the Italian was completing his coaching badges, he allegedly wrote a thesis called ‘Set pieces: the 15-goal striker’, which later influenced the book ‘That Extra 30 Per Cent’.
He worked as a part of Walter Zenga’s coaching staff at Al-Ain and later followed him to Serie A club Catania, who are said to have scored 17 of their 44 goals through set pieces in the season after Vio’s arrival.
The report in The Sun quotes Vio as once saying to a Venetian newspaper: “All I’ll say is you need to analyse the players that you have and find solutions tailor-made to their skill set.
“There are players whose reading of the game is special. At the highest level, Sergio Ramos comes to mind. Wherever you put the ball, you can bet he’ll find a way to get on the end of it. Timing is the most important thing when it comes to finishing off a set-piece.”
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According to Conterio, Vio is set to be appointed by Tottenham in a permanent capacity ahead of the 2022/23 campaign. The 66-year-old is expected to be the latest edition to Antonio Conte’s coaching staff.
Spurs Web Opinion
Antonio Conte is seemingly obsessed with maximising every one-percenter, and so it is not surprising that he wants to bring in a set-piece coach. Our output in set-pieces have been below average for the last couple of years, and Vio’s arrival should help us improve our record.
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