Alessio Tacchinardi

Alessio Tacchinardi

Personal information
Full name	Alessio Tacchinardi
Date of birth	(1975-07-23) 23 July 1975
Place of birth	Crema, Italy
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 1 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Defensive midfielder
Youth career
	Atalanta B.C.
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1992–1994	Atalanta	8	(0)
1994–2007	Juventus	261	(9)
2005–2007	→ Villarreal (loan)	45	(3)
2007–2008	Brescia	34	(9)
Total		348	(21)
National team
1995–2003	Italy	13	(0)
Teams managed
2009–2012	Pergolettese (Allievi)
2006–2007	Brescia (Allievi Nazionali)
2013	Pergolettese
2015– 2016	Pergolettese
Honours Association football Representing  Italy European Under-21 Championship Spain 1996
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Alessio Tacchinardi (Italian pronunciation: [aˈlɛssjo takkiˈnardi]; born 23 July 1975 in Crema, Lombardy) is a retired Italian professional footballer and a manager.

A former defensive midfielder, he began his career with Atalanta, before moving to Juventus F.C. in 1994, where he spent the vast majority of his career, winning 17 official trophies with the club; due to his success and performances with the Turin side, Tacchinardi was one of the 50 Juventus Legends to have their names written inside the club's new home ground, the Juventus Stadium. Following a two-year loan spell with Spanish side Villarreal, he moved to Brescia in 2007, where he retired after a season. A former Italy international, Tacchinardi represented his nation on 13 occasions between 1995 and 2003.

Career

Club career

Atalanta

Tacchinardi started his professional career in 1992 with Atalanta B.C.. He spent two full seasons with the Bergamo-based club, where he made 9 league appearances, including his Serie A debut. After performing extremely well, he caught the eye of then Juventus director Luciano Moggi and was transferred to Juventus in July 1994.

Juventus

Tacchinardi joined the team in pre-season training and performed well from the start. In his first season with the club, Tacchinardi made an immediate impact, making 25 league appearances, and also appearing in the Coppa Italia and the European Cup. He continued his impressive form throughout his time with Juventus, holding down a starting position in the centre of midfield and was a key attribute to their league and European dominance in from the late 1990s until 2005, before Calciopoli struck the Torino based giants. He formed impressive partnerships in midfield throughout his time with Juventus, with the likes of Antonio Conte, Paulo Sousa, Didier Deschamps, Angelo Di Livio, Edgar Davids, Gianluca Zambrotta, Mauro Camoranesi, Pavel Nedved, Zinedine Zidane, and Enzo Maresca. His partnership with Edgar Davids was the most notable of his career, as the duo formed one of the most fierce center midfield partnerships between 1996 and 2004.

During his time with the club, Tacchinardi was also noted for his long range shooting skills and striking ability from volleys, scoring several goals from distance during his time with Juventus. A hard-working and tenacious player, he was predominantly known for his excellent positional sense, anticipation, and his tactical intelligence, as well as his technique, vision, and passing range, in addition his tackling ability as a defensive midfielder, making effective both offensively and defensively.^[1] Since the break-up of Davids, Tacchinardi, Nedved, Camoranesi, and Zambrotta in 2004, it has been argued that Juventus have never had a stronger midfield quartet, despite the transfers of Emerson, Patrick Viera, Arturo Vidal, Andrea Pirlo, and Paul Pogba since then. Arguably, Alessio Tacchinardi's peak season was the 2002–2003 campaign, where he scored two goals in 27 appearances in the Serie A, while scoring two more goals in 13 UEFA Champions League appearances, a run in which Juventus reached the UEFA Champions League finals, only to lose to fellow Italians, A.C. Milan, in part due to the absence of the suspended Pavel Nedved. Tacchinardi has had occasional injury problems, but this did not put a major dent in his career, but it is believed that the player would have been considered one of the best midfielders of his generation, despite the fact that he was overly underrated. After nearly 14 years with Juventus, Tacchinardi made well over 300 total appearances, scoring nearly 20 goals, and also was a fan favorite, and is officially acknowledged as a club legend.

Loan to Villarreal

In July 2005, Tacchinardi was transferred to Villarreal CF who signed him on one-year loan from Juventus, following the appointment of Fabio Capello, who took over the managerial position from Marcello Lippi, and also due in part to the purchases of Patrick Vieira and Federico Balzaretti. It was a sad farewell for many Juventus faithful, who did not want the departure of their iconic midfielder. He became an integral part of the starting XI for the club, helping the team to reach the UEFA Champions League semi-finals. He returned to Juventus on 30 June 2006, but following the Calciopoli troubles he extended his loan for one more year, in July 2006. His loan finished at the end of the 2006–2007 season, in which he appeared for the club in more than 50 official matches, scoring 3 goals. He returned to Juventus again in the summer of 2007, and it was believed that he would remain at the club, following the appointment of Claudio Ranieri and the club's new start, however his contract was mutually terminated in August 2007, following certain unspecified disagreements with the club's new board of directors.

Brescia

After terminating his contract with longtime club Juventus, Tacchinardi signed a 2-year deal with Brescia Calcio on 9 August 2007, and was a key attribute to the Serie B club's first team, appearing in all but 8 seasonal games, scoring 11 goals.^[2]

Retirement

At the conclusion of the 2007–2008 Serie B season, Tacchinardi did not re-new his contract with Brescia Calcio, and was reportedly on the verge of joining Sicilian giants Calcio Catania in the Serie A, or returning to Juventus in a farewell season with teammate Pavel Nedved. Neither of these options eventually prospered and after spending the first portion of the year as a free agent, the Juventus legend hung up the boots and called it quits on a very respectable career. He has been contacted to become a midfield coach at the Torino based club, but has yet to take a post. After his retirement, Tacchinardi was included in Juventus 50 Legends whose names are written inside the club's new stadium, The Juventus Stadium.

International career

Tacchinardi also represented his nation at an international level. He made his Italy national football team debut in 1995. Tacchinardi has been capped 13 official times for Italy with his last cap coming in 2003. Tacchinardi was not a regular player for the Squadra Azzurra, never playing in the final stages of a major tournament, in several cases due to injury, but also because this was a period of many high quality Italian international midfielders. It is believed that Tacchinardi would have also been a key part of the national setup had it not been for several injuries.

Family

His elder brother, Massimiliano Tacchinardi, also briefly played professional football as a defender.

Statistics

^[3]

Honours

Juventus

• Serie A
  • Winners (6): 1994–95, 1996–97, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004-05
  • Runners-up (3): 1995–96, 1999–00, 2000–01
• Italian Cup
  • Winners (1): 1994–95
  • Runners-up (2): 2001–02, 2003–04
• Italian Super Cup
  • Winners (4): 1995, 1997, 2002, 2003
  • Runners-up (2): 1998, 2005
• Intercontinental Cup
  • Winners (1): 1996
• UEFA Champions League
  • Winners (1): 1995–96
  • Runners-up (3): 1996–97, 1997–98, 2002–03
• UEFA Cup
  • Runners-up (1): 1994–95
• UEFA Intertoto Cup
  • Winners (1): 1999
• European Supercup
  • Winners (1): 1996

References

External links

• http://juventus.theoffside.com/.../juventus-legends-alessio-tacchinardi.html –
• http://www.worldfootballers.com/player.php/alessio-tacchinardi-91.html
• http://www.transfermarketweb.com
• http://www.juventus.com