Walter Sabatini has reaffirmed his enduring love for Roma while offering characteristically candid opinions on Gian Piero Gasperini, Paulo Dybala and the Serie A title race.
The former Roma sporting director, who recently returned to football as a consultant for Pro Patria, discussed his career and his connection with the Giallorossi during an extensive interview with Corriere della Sera.
Asked which club continues to occupy a special place in his heart, Sabatini gave an unequivocal answer.
“Roma. They are my life. Don’t make me say anything else, because I have developed a complex about being a boring man.”
Sabatini explains why he would clash with Gasperini
Despite expressing considerable admiration for Gasperini’s work, Sabatini admitted that their respective personalities and working methods would probably have created tension.
“No,” Sabatini responded when asked whether he would have worked well with the Roma coach. “I have great admiration for his work as a coach, but we would have ended up on a collision course.”
Sabatini’s assessment arrives amid growing excitement surrounding Gasperini’s Roma. The former director recently described the team as “powerful, almost invincible” following their impressive start to the season.
However, Sabatini still believes Inter possess the strongest and deepest squad in Serie A.
“There is great euphoria within the Roma environment,” he explained. “There is a spiritual unity that makes everyone feel unbeatable. But in terms of squad quality and the depth of their options, Inter are one step above everyone else.”
He also praised Inter coach Cristian Chivu, whom he knows well from his previous experience with the Nerazzurri.
“Chivu is an adaptable pragmatist. He knows how to change his mind when necessary. Consistency is a sickness of mankind.”
Sabatini: “Dybala is the last remaining champion in Serie A”
Sabatini reserved some of his strongest praise for Paulo Dybala, describing the Argentine as a rare surviving representative of a disappearing class of footballer.
“Paulo Dybala—a remaining champion of our league,” Sabatini said when asked which player entertains him most. “In the 1990s, we had Ronaldo, Platini and Rummenigge. Now, of that lineage of phenomenal players, only Paulo remains in Serie A.”
Dybala has played an influential role in Roma’s positive start under Gasperini, with the coach himself insisting that the Giallorossi are a better team when the Argentine is on the pitch.
A romantic return to Pro Patria
Sabatini also explained why he decided to return to football at the age of 71 with Pro Patria, the club where he ended his playing career 43 years ago.
“I wanted to start again, with a sort of catharsis,” he said. “I returned to offer consultancy to Pro Patria, the team where I stopped playing 43 years ago. I have had a more or less beautiful professional life, but through a romantic decision I am back at the starting point.”
The veteran director admitted, however, that adapting his ideas to his new environment has already presented challenges.
“I must admit that I am struggling to operate within a context where my dynamic ideas are not accommodated. I need agility and speed. I won’t hide that I feel uncomfortable, and I don’t want to waste my final years. I have entered the third—perhaps the fourth—age.”
Despite those difficulties, Sabatini insisted that his enthusiasm remains as strong as it was at the beginning of his directorial career.
“Inside, I feel the same enthusiasm I had when I started working for Triestina at 39. I would like to return to that phase of my life and create my own football laboratory.”
Sabatini explains how he identifies talent
Sabatini is renowned for identifying players such as Radja Nainggolan, Edin Dzeko, Javier Pastore, Josip Iličić and Aleksandar Kolarov. Even in an era increasingly influenced by analytics, he continues to trust instinct above everything else.
“I have nothing against those who rely on big data; I don’t want to be dogmatic,” he explained. “But when I watch a player, I must feel something immediately at the first encounter. He has to strike me like lightning. The only method of evaluation I understand is the eye, sensitivity and passion.”
The former Roma executive also revealed that he continues to watch every Serie A match.
“I watch them all and enjoy them with popcorn. In every match, I find something: a piece of skill, the desperation of someone with their back against the wall or the euphoria created by the strongest team’s awareness of its superiority.”
Praise for Como and Cesc Fabregas
Sabatini identified Como as one of the teams that has excited him most recently, praising both Cesc Fabregas and his players.
“In recent days, Como,” he said when asked what currently moves him. “They made their Champions League debut with a performance of the highest level, playing entertaining football and enhancing their individual talent. Everyone celebrates Fabregas, but his players were extraordinary as well.”
Asked which novel best represented Como’s journey, Sabatini selected Alessandro Manzoni’s The Betrothed.
“Not only because of that branch of the lake,” he explained. “Como also began from the lower depths, finding common ground with the humble people in the novel. Just as the ordinary people eventually triumph in Manzoni’s story, Cesc’s team can still improve further. They will compete for a long time and until the end. I don’t know whether they will win, but they will remain in contention in the league as well.”
Reflections on Inter and his health
Sabatini admitted that his brief spell with Inter remains one of the regrets of his career.
“Many,” he answered when asked whether he regretted failing to make the most of that opportunity. “I was a meteor—the inhabitants of Earth didn’t even see me pass.”
The interview concluded with Sabatini reflecting openly on his health and his relentless appetite for life.
“I am bulimic for life,” he said. “It is a shame my skeletal system doesn’t support my desires. Sometimes I think back to my career and tell myself: ‘You were an acrobat, not a sporting director.’”
After the interviewer noted that he had coughed repeatedly during their conversation, Sabatini responded in his unmistakable style.
“I have a guardian angel watching over me, and I have taken him into extra time. I feel like the protagonist of Kafka’s The Trial: guilty, but nobody knows of what crime. Yet I sentence myself to the maximum punishment.”
Source: Corriere della Sera
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