Fabio Pecchia

Fabio Pecchia (; born 24 August 1973) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. Throughout his playing career as a midfielder, he was also known as l'avvocato ("The Lawyer" in Italian), as he obtained a law degree through the University of Naples.

Club career A journeyman with eleven different clubs in his career, Pecchia amassed over 300 Serie A (the first division of the Italian football league system) appearances. He began his Italian football career with Avellino in 1991, and remained at the club for two seasons. Despite strong interest from Parma, he moved to Napoli in 1993, where he played for four seasons, becoming a key figure for the club, although he later struggled to establish himself in other teams. He made his Serie A debut with the Neapolitan club on 29 August 1993, at the age of 20, becoming a vital member of Marcello Lippi's midfield; Pecchia's tactical versatility, speed, technique, vision, and passing range allowed him to excel in Lippi's offensive tactical system, which made frequent use of long balls and fast-paced football. With Napoli, Pecchia soon established himself as one of the most promising and talented young Italian stars of the 1990s due to his leadership and work-rate; during his first season with Napoli, he helped the club qualify for the 1994–95 UEFA Cup.

Pecchia remained at the club for three more seasons despite the club's financial difficulties and lack of success during this time. During the 1996–97 season, he was named Napoli's captain, and he helped the club to reach the 1997 Coppa Italia final under head coach Luigi Simoni, in which Napoli was defeated by Vicenza in extra time; during the first leg of the final, Pecchia scored Napoli's winning goal.

Pecchia spent a single season with Juventus during the 1997–98 season under Lippi, his former Napoli head coach, winning the 1997 Supercoppa Italiana and the Serie A title with the club that season, also reaching the 1998 UEFA Champions League final. He made 21 league appearances that season, and scored a decisive goal against Empoli to claim the league title. He struggled to break into the first team, and was usually used as a reserve due to the presence of Zinedine Zidane and Edgar Davids in Juventus's midfield. In June 2001, Juventus gave up the remain 50% registration rights to Torino.

In the 2000–01 season, Pecchia moved back to Napoli on loan, although he was unable to save the club from relegation. On 10 July 2007 he signed a 1-year contract with Serie B club Frosinone, making 26 appearances for the club, and scoring a goal in a home fixture against ChievoVerona. On 10 June 2008, he returned to Foggia, signing a two-year contract that would keep him at the club until 2010, although he retired during the summer of 2009. In total, he made 446 appearances throughout his career, scoring 50 goals. He made 337 appearances in Serie A, scoring 41 goals; 62 in Serie B, scoring four goals; and 47 appearances in Serie C, scoring five goals.

Managerial career Pecchia retired from playing football in 2009, and subsequently became Foggia's assistant coach. He left his coaching post by mutual consent, together with head coach Antonio Porta, on 19 January 2010. On 18 June 2011, he was appointed head coach of Serie B club Gubbio. He was removed from his managerial post on 16 October 2011 due to poor results. In the 2012–13 season, Pecchia became the new head coach of Latina, helping the team earn Serie B promotion. From 21 June 2013, he served as assistant coach for Rafael Benítez at his former club Napoli.

From 3 June 2015 to 4 January 2016, Pecchia was assistant coach at Real Madrid under Benítez. When the Spaniard was announced as Newcastle United on 11 March, Pecchia was also announced as part of the coaching set up. In July 2016, Pecchia took over as new head coach of Serie B club Hellas Verona, with the clear goal to bring the club back to the top flight. He completed the 2016–17 Serie B season in second place, thus winning automatic promotion to Serie A in his first attempt, and was confirmed in charge of the club for the 2017–18 Serie A. He could not help them avoid relegation in the 2018–19 Serie A, and left the team at the end of the campaign. In December 2018, Pecchia was announced as coach of Avispa Fukuoka, a Japanese club active in the J2 League. He left the team on 3 June 2019, resigning for personal reasons. The following summer, he returned to Italy, becoming the coach of Juventus U23 in Serie C.

On 27 June 2020, he led Juventus U23 to winning the Coppa Italia Serie C with a 2–1 victory over Ternana. On 7 January 2021, Pecchia returned into management after being appointed head coach of Serie B club Cremonese. After guiding them to promotion to Serie A by the end of the 2021–22 Serie B season, he unexpectedly resigned from his post on 21 May 2022. On 2 June 2022, just a few days after leaving Cremonese, Pecchia was announced as the new head coach of Serie B club Parma. Later on, he led Parma back to Serie A, by finishing top in the 2023–24 season.

Style of play Pecchia was capable of playing on both midfield wings, despite being naturally right-footed. A versatile player, he was able to adapt to any midfield position, and also deployed as an attacking midfielder, or in the centre as a defensive midfielder on occasion. Throughout his career, he was known in particular for his vision, and excellent long-passing ability, although he was also a quick, dynamic, hard-working, and creative player, with good technical ability, who was known for his speed on the ball. He was also known for his offensive movement off the ball, as well as his ability to lose his markers and find open spaces by making attacking runs into positions from which he could receive and subsequently distribute the ball to teammates. These attributes enabled him to be extremely adept at starting attacking plays, in particular during counter-attacks, and made him a serious offensive threat. In addition to his playing ability, he was also known for his leadership qualities.

Managerial statistics

Honours Player Juventus Serie A: 1997–98 Supercoppa Italiana: 1997

Italy U21 UEFA European Under-21 Championship: 1996

Manager Juventus U23 Coppa Italia Serie C: 2019–20

Parma Serie B: 2023–24