There is certainly not too many managers who can claim a 3-0 victory over Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool on their CV.
In fact, the coaches who have delivered the Germany’s heaviest defeats in charge of the Premier League giants make up a select, and rather impressive, group. Pep Guardiola, Ernesto Valverde, Roberto de Zerbi, Thomas Frank, Luciano Spalletti and, weirdly, one Nigel Pearson.
Gian Piero Gasperini joined that coaching contingent a fortnight ago. And while Arne Slot now appears to be the frontrunner to replace the departing Klopp in the Anfield dugout, is the man who ended one-quarter of Liverpool’s quadruple dream worth considering too?
Giuseppe Rossi, the former Italy international who knows the Atalanta boss from his time in Serie A, certainly thinks so.
Liverpool encouraged to look at Gian Piero Gasperini
“Gian Piero Gasperini has been a very good manager for Atalanta for so many years,” Rossi, who started his career with Liverpool’s arch rivals Manchester United, tells DAZN. “And he’s done very, very well for them and changed their culture.”
Gasperini, perhaps the most underrated tactician on the continent, has transformed Atalanta from perennial mid-table fodder into European regulars and perennial top-four challengers since taking charge in 2016.
There are not too many coaches who can claim to have completely transformed the feel and the fabric of a club. But Gasperini – like Klopp at Dortmund and arguably at Liverpool too – is certainly one of those who can.
“I know how Gasparini works and I know his personality,” adds Rossi, the one-time Fiorentina striker confident that the 66-year-old will know where things went wrong the last time he patrolled the dugout of a bonafide European giant.
Gasperini lasted only five games at Inter Milan in 2011, losing four of those. That, however, is now a very rare blot on an otherwise largely pristine copybook.
Arne Slot is the Anfield frontrunner
“He likes to impose things on players which every manager should,” explains Rossi. “But when you reach a big club the main thing you have to respect is the culture that is already there. And if you don’t respect it, then you’re gonna find a lot of resistance.
“That’s what happened during his time at Inter Milan. Maybe that’s why things didn’t work out.
“But he would’ve learned from that experience and he’s an intelligent manager. He’s been doing amazingly at Atalanta so he could be a good fit for Liverpool.”
Closer to 70 than he is to 60, Gasperini is perhaps a little too long in the tooth for Liverpool to realistically consider, however. HITC has heard that he is not currently in contention.
Before turning to the 45-year-old Slot – who HITC understands is admired by the club’s highly-regarded CEO of Football Michael Edwards – Liverpool coveted the fresh-faced duo of Ruben Amorim and Xabi Alonso.
Klopp’s Reds lost 2-0 to Everton in Wednesday’s Merseyside derby clash at Goodison Park.