From Swansea to Aversa Normanna, Danilo Stavola: ‘In Italy we have a lot to learn from Premier League’

From the Premier League in Wales to the coming back to Campania. It is not the route taken by a player who has failed to break through in Great Britain, but that of a young insider who is making up his career in football world. We are talking about Danilo Stavola, who has got the license issued to a scout from the Italian Football Federation. After serving for two years as a scout for Italy for the Academy U21 of Swansea and as a technical consultant for the first team of Garry Monk always for Italy, this summer Stavola began working with Aversa Normanna, that only two years ago was fighting in the third Italian division and now plays in Serie D, the fourth Italian division. For Il Solito Calcio, I interviewed the talent scout, who does not lack future prospects but the experience neither, despite his age.

From Swansea to Aversa Norman: what has changed for Danilo Stavola?

“Actually, not much has changed for me. Yesterday like today, I work everyday in football and watch matches. I don’t live this like a step back. In Aversa I'm lucky to work with a serious, healthy, with a young project club and, above all, along with two extraordinary people as the sporting director Orabona and the coach Chianese. I think I can learn so much from this experience”.

What memories do you keep of your adventure as a scout of the Swans?

“It 's been a fantastic adventure and I will always thank Mr. Monk for giving me this opportunity. Unfortunately Garry has gone away from Swansea and the club changed the managerial asset. Today there are few people still there among the ones with whom I shared this experience. But a piece of my heart will always jack army”.

Talking about your job, what this experience has enriched you?

“I learned to work in a more practical, streamlined and straightforward way. I will explain this. In Wales specific tasks were given to me. I had to look for players of a certain age with certain technical and physical characteristics. And they demanded short and concise reports without extra frills”.

What differences have you found in the way of making scouting in Italy and the United Kingdom?

“I must say that since I had the opportunity to learn and apply everyday the method of 'tactical role’ by Professor Marco Zunino, the differences were attenuated. Certainly there are some differences and preferences. In UK they prefer more physical and structured players, even at the expense of technique. In Italy, however, we still prefer short-limbed and good technically footballers”.

What the Italian workers should learn from the British ones?

“I answer you with three words that contain the essence of my deep love for English football and British lifestyle: professionalism, competence, meritocracy”.

How the Italian league can try to fill the gap with the Premier League?

“Repeating sounds corny, but as long as we understand the importance to equip ourselves with sports centers, as well as club-owned stadiums, and until we focus on more intense training, we will not do very well”.

But why the British players have so much problems to emerge and assert themselves in Serie A?

“Good question. I have asked that myself many times. I think the exasperated tactics of the Italian football make things hard for them. But physically and technically, they have nothing to envy to the many foreigners who live in Italian championship”.

Luca Iannone

Discovering DYJCODE, the fashion brand by Dennis Praet: 'Landing in Italy is a dream'

Among the biggest footballers in the world that start their own clothing brand and the stylists that make a competition to wear the top European teams, the football-fashion combination is more relevant than ever. Even and especially in Italy, where the pioneers Paolo Maldini and Christian Vieri founded the brand Sweet Years in 2003. A new acquaintance of Italian football decided to follow them three years ago: Dennis Praet. His label is called DYJCODE and no one better than the co-founder Yannick Nulens would be more suitable to talk about it: “DYJCODE is a Belgian clothing brand created Dennis Praet. Togheter with me and another friend, Joseph Fradelakis, he created a webshop with affordable clothing. After three years, you can find us in more than 60 stores in Belgium. The name DYJCODE stands for the first letter of each of the owners: Dennis, Yannick and Joseph. Our style is hip and trendy, we try to create street style clothing”.

In an exclusive interview for Il Solito Calcio, Nulens, who is friend of Praet and also plays football in Belgium, tells us how and when the idea was born: “Dennis and I have been friends since we were very young. We always played football in the same team and went to the same school. During a trip to New York I introduced Dennis to Joseph. Jospeh is a real entrepreneur and came up with the idea of clothing webshop. That’s how it got started”. After a short time, the three partners are satisfied with their work: “Business is going very good. We are growing each collection. We see that people of all kind of ages buy our clothes, but I guess we are more popular for younger people. Now we cooperate with one of Belgians biggest clothing multi store: ZEB. They have over 60 stores in Belgium, this helps us grow very fast. We started it as a hobby, but now it’s a professional enterprise”.

And if Praet was a “gift” by Massimo Ferrero to the UC Sampdoria fans, who can say that the exuberant and volcanic chairman can not study a form of collaboration with DYJCODE. Perhaps, maybe, in the future: “I don’t really know Mister Ferrero and I don’t know what he does, so it's difficult to answer”, Nulens cuts short. Certainly we don't feel to exclude this after that Ferrero himself had launched the idea of entrusting the role of Sampdoria female sponsor to the actress Natalie Portman and even the idea of making a film about Samuel Eto'o's life by signing Morgan Freeman, not just anyone, to impersonate the Cameroonian striker.

In any case, the three partners aspire to export their brand even outside the Belgian borders, also in the country home of fashion: “This is still a long shot, but who knows. We always try to find new ways to expand our business. We do everything step per step. But of course we dream of things like selling our clothes in Italy. The most important thing is that Dennis feels at home in Italy and performs well, who knows what the future brings”. As a football player and an entrepreneur, Nulens concludes by underlining his point of view about the combination mentioned mentioned some upper lines: I think that footballers have always been seen as people with a sense of fashion. Most of the football players are always dressed very well, especially in Italy. That is also one of the reasons why we started DYJCODE. The connection between Dennis and fashion is very easy”. And the connection between Genoa and the Flanders is even more easy...

Luca Iannone

An Italian in London, Ivan Ambrosio: 'I will visit 300 UK stadiums to write a book'

For years London is been one of the favourite destinations for young Italians who want to emigrate to seek his fortune abroad. Among these there is Ivan Ambrosio, 22 years old, born in the province of Naples. Football fan and English football fan, he lives, as we said, in the British capital. So far nothing strange. Except that Ivan has made up his mind to travel to the discovery of the English football and to visit as many possible stadiums across the United Kingdom: "The project was born a few months ago. It was talking about how beautiful could be to enclose all these journeys in a Facebook page and maybe, in the future, inside a book. I dreamed for years to visit the whole United Kingdom and its wonderful stadiums".

But, in this exclusive interview with Il Solito Calcio, the 22 years old reveals he is still far from his first goal before proceeding to the next step: "I visited approximately 100 stadiums in the United Kingdom. I want to reach the minimum amount of 300 stadiums to enclose in a book the most important ones, but also the most unknown and peculiar ones". In the drawer there is the dream of sitting on a bench as a coach and, for this reason, he often visits also the training centers. Returning to the English stadiums, however, his favourite stadium is only one: "I love the Craven Cottage, it's marvelous. In Fulham it seems to go back in time!", he tells.

It is natural to ask an Italian who deeply knows the world of British stadiums whether Italy has something to learn about stadiums from the architectural point of view: "For what concerns the architecture, nothing. After having visited stadiums in England, Italy, Spain and Germany, i can say that each country has its own architectural style", Ivan explains. Instead, the answer is completely opposite when the question is about the management and the services: "The stadium topic is extremely different, in Italy the idea of 'stadium property' doesn't exist at all. Only the Juventus has understood that it's right to align with the rest of Europe, because abroad, with stadiums property, the club are able to make incredible earnings every year: stadium tours are organized, with the trophy room that attract tourists from all over the world, the restaurant area, the bar, the store for the club merchandising. In some stadiums there are even gyms, wellness centers and schools!".

Moving the magnifying glass from Great Britain to Italy, according to Ambrosio there is only one stadium that can compete with the much-vaunted English ones: "The Juventus Stadium is doubtless the stadium that comes closest to perfection. A wonderful structure, always in excellent condition, perfect view, any sectors covered and, above all, close to the field, in perfect English style! Then, near the Stadium, there is the Area 12: it's a shopping mall where the young people and the families can go and spend their free time, not only in the match days. Inside this shopping center there is obviously the Juventus Store and supermarkets and clothing shops too". Finally we have only to indicate the Facebook page whereby you can stay updated on the movements and the new adventures of Ivan Ambrosio. To the next stadium!

Luca Iannone

Fabio Mancini, Nerazzurro top model: ‘Inter, less social networks and more work. With Armani…’

“I follow FC Internazionale since I was very young and I’ve loved these colours forever, since when my myth Luis Nazario Da Lima, Ronaldo played!”. From the catwalks of Milano, Londra, New York e Parigi to the catwalk of the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, where Joao Mario greeted his new fans and FC Internazionale couldn’t get more than a draw against US Palermo. Guest of the Nerazzurri directors that invited him last Sunday, Fabio Mancini, internationally considered as one of the most successful Italian models and protagonist of some Armani campaigns, had the chance to watch his favourite team from the San Siro grandstand: “In this second match of the season, the first home match, I saw a team a little behind physically but it’s improving. Despite a loss and a draw in these two match days, I’m confident to the future games”, the model, born in Germany from an Indian-origin mother and an Italian father, says in an exclusive interview with Il Solito Calcio.

After Mancini makes clear (laughing) that he is not related to the namesake former Inter coach, he trusts that Frank de Boer can be the right man to lead the team: “The Dutch coach arrived in a moment when the squad was basically already been built for a new season with Mancini, so now he has a completely new team in his hands. I’m sure that he will be able to do well, he only needs time, but the medias and the supporters here don’t give it”. Regarding Roberto Mancini, his farewell is still recent and not a few controversies accompanied the event: “I think that we mustn’t forget what Mancini did in the last years! After years of light off, he brought Inter to the national success giving then the base of players who were present until the unforgettable 2010. I think that last year he led the team well, though he was often criticized because of his choices as usual, but at the end he gave again Europe to Inter and that was what mattered. The problem is that in Italy there’s a lot of pressure and we often don’t understand a thing: it’s not easy being the coach of a team like Inter and, unfortunately, we all are competent trainers on the stands and in front of the television, without giving anyone the material time to err and grow!”.

But what does Mancini expect from Inter in the Serie A and in the Europa League this year? “The only thing i think about is the fact that a team will be created - he answers -. I’m not interested in winning, i’m interested in the fact that the team become a real group...as it once was. The group matters a lot, i played football and i know how the unity of the players is important, also and especially out of the pitch! If only someone of them thought to publish less stupid things on the social networks and to train, as the one and only Javier Zanetti did, maybe we would be competitive since years”. And Mancini, that has got hundreds of thousands of followers on Facebook and on Instagram, knows a lot about this very topical issue: “Nowadays social networks are very important. Currently it’s the most fast and immediate mean of communication, by which it’s possible to send a message in the shortest possible time from one part of the world to another! I believe that social networks, along with Internet, are the discovery of twenty-first century and by now the most widespread communication route, but they should be used in the best way to self-promote and not to self-destroy, as a lot of people do. Like many professionals in my sector or in the sector of football, I often use them to externalize a thought, good or bad, and we have to accept even the criticism if it’s constructive”. Did he maybe want to send a messagge to a certain Inter’s captain?

Returning to talk about football, Mancini, as well as most of FC Inter fans, expects much from the new arrivals: “As i could see in this beginning of the season, I believe that Ever Banega brought again that quality that lacked in the middle of the field. I also believe that with the arrival of Joao Mario and Gabigol, the team will get up again immediately. Perisic is still my favourite Inter player along with Joao Miranda because they leave the soul on the field and they can decide the games”. But as a fashion and style expert, what will he think about the new Home shirt for this season? “I don’t like very much that yellow behind the shirts and the socks…i prefer the more classic blue and black with some tints of white, which is always stylish. For the rest it’s the usual shirt”. About the look, at present the Nerazzurro team wears Brooks Brothers, but as Inter fan Mancini could maybe try to mediate between the club and Giorgio Armani... “It would be very interesting, it’s not impossible. We must not forget that Mister Armani is already the president of the Olimpia Milano since years and he is a great lover of sport, as indeed you could see even at the last Olympic games, and the only partner for the clothes of the Italian national team”. Who knows that a new Mancini could join FC Inter e above all who knows what the fans could think about it...

Luca Iannone