Ex-Juventus goalkeeper on Conte, Klopp and ‘sniper’ Del Piero: ‘He amazed me’
Former Arsenal, Juventus and Liverpool goalkeeper Alex Manninger has opened up on his experiences working with the likes of Arsene Wenger, Antonio Conte, Jurgen Klopp, Gianluigi Buffon and Alessandro Del Piero, and has explained why his first move to a Serie A club was a ‘mistake’.
The former Austria international, who represented Fiorentina. Torino, Bologna, Siena, Udinese and Juventus during his time in Italy, recalled all the highs and lows from his playing career in an in-depth interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Manninger on Arsenal, Juventus and Liverpool experiences
At the beginning of his career, Manninger was picked up by Arsene Wenger, who had taken over as head coach of Arsenal the year prior.
“It still excites me just thinking about it,” said Manninger. “I was 20 years old, I was a kid. Wenger wanted to bring an international dimension to the club and focus on youngsters, I was one of them.
“Despite my age, I felt calm in goal. I had a monster like Tony Adams in front of me. He taught me a lot. I only have one regret: Leaving too soon. But you know, I wanted to play.”
The next chapter of Manninger’s career took him to Serie A, where he joined Fiorentina on loan.
“It was the wrong decision,” Manninger said. “I found it an absurd situation. It was 2001 and the club was on the verge of bankruptcy. We weren’t paid for several months. The coach was Mancini and every now and then he’d tell us ‘who knows if we’re training tomorrow’. He was joining, but we all knew it could all fail at any moment.”
Manninger had several experiences in Serie A over the course of his career. He went on to join Torino and later Bologna, before going on to become a no.1 during a loan spell at Siena.
“What a city, how peaceful. Siena is my home. I had a great time there and they treated me like a king,” Manninger recalled. “I come back and they shower me with affection. I also have to thank Enrico Chiesa. We’d played together at Fiorentina and he helped me a lot at the beginning. He told me ‘come to dinner with me today’. I could only accept, otherwise he’d get angry. How strong was Enrico, though? My goodness.”
Among the biggest stars that Manninger played with was Juventus’s Alessandro Del Piero.
“When I was no.2 to Gigi Buffon, he would keep me back for hours at the end of training. So many challenges, and so many laughs. He amazed me particularly with penalties. He was a sniper.
“Ale is also a great golfer. Every now and then we talk about it. Sooner or later we’ll challenge each other, as we did on penalties and free-kicks at Juventus.”
Speaking of Buffon, Manninger added: “He’s fantastic, really. He never made me question his greatness. I was amazed at the calmness he had. I’d always ask him ‘how do you do it, Gigi?’. I’m honoured to have played with him and for Juventus in general, which for me, felt like the closing of a full circle back then.”
When asked to explain what he meant by full circle, Manninger said: “They had almost signed me 10 years earlier. I did a couple of training sessions with the group, then van der Sar arrived and I went to Arsenal. Going back was always my goal.”
Aside from the aforementioned Wenger, Manninger also had the privilege of playing under some of the game’s modern-day greats in Jurgen Klopp and Antonio Conte.
Manninger’s final season at Juventus was Conte’s first as head coach. “He struck me right from the pre-season training camp. He took me to one side and told me that he appreciated the way I worked and that he had wanted to sign me when he was at Siena.
“At the beginning, he was the only one who believed in winning the Scudetto. We came from two seventh-place finishes and a series of poor choices from the club. He ‘rebuilt the church in the middle of town’ as you Italians like to say.”
Manninger went on to end his career at Liverpool as a third-choice under Klopp.
“It all started with a phone call. Jurgen knew everything about me. I’d beaten his Dortmund side with Augsburg two years earlier. ‘I want that goalkeeper there. That day you saved everything against us. You have to do it for me, too’.”
“I never actually played, I was 40, but leaving football and saying goodbye to the fans in front of the Kop was an amazing feeling.”