Dzyuba Criticizes Roberto Mancini: “He Didn’t Know the Players’ Names”

In the wake of Roberto Mancini’s return to the Azzurri bench, one of his former players—former Zenit St. Petersburg striker Artem Dzyuba—harshly criticized the Jesi-born coach, under whom he played during the 2017–2018 season.

The conflict between Dzyuba and Mancini is well known: the coach removed him from the team in January 2018, sending him on loan to Arsenal Tula. Dzyuba, nicknamed the “Russian Balotelli,” returned to St. Petersburg the following year, after Mancini’s departure, and rebounded by winning four Russian championships. In an interview with Evgeny Evnevich on the Super League’s YouTube channel, the current Akron Togliatti forward lashed out at his former coach.

“Mancini would sometimes walk out in the middle of practice; he didn’t know half the players’ names, and he didn’t know who was right-footed and who was left-footed. There was an incident with Yohan Mollo—during practice, he was taking free kicks, and Mancini started yelling at him: ‘‘Just kick it normally! Why are you taking it with your right foot and not your left?’ Mollo asked, ‘What do you mean?’ And Mancini replied, ‘But you’re left-footed!’ ‘Coach, I’m right-footed.’ And Mancini said, ‘Oh, really? And you kick so badly with your right foot?’. He didn’t even know who was right-footed or left-footed.”

And again: “He’d go to the tanning salon; when we were training, he’d roll up his shorts—he was already yellow. Carrot-colored. The only thing missing was cucumbers on his eyes. Then, while we were still out there working hard on the field, he’d turn around and walk off. Later, when we’d come back, we’d find him there on the exercise bike, pedaling calmly, enjoying himself. He was quite a character, really funny,” explained the player dubbed the “Russian Balotelli.”