Lega Serie A awards Cristian Chivu, debate explodes among fans

The Lega Serie A has awarded Cristian Chivu as the best coach of the 2025‑2026 season, an accolade that came at the end of a year in which Inter clinched both the Scudetto and the Coppa Italia. A double triumph that convinced the technical jury, but ignited debate among fans, many of whom judged the choice rather predictable, as reflected in several “against” comments that appeared under Lega Serie A social posts.

According to this part of the public, in fact, rewarding the coach of the title-winning team would almost be a due act: Chivu, in their reading, would simply have done his job and any result other than victory would have been considered a failure, also in the light of a European adventure that ended well before the club’s expectations. However, there was no shortage of appreciative comments for the Romanian coach, even from non-inter Milan fans.

In the social comparison, however, several alternative names emerged. Many fans pointed to Gian Piero Gasperini, who was able to make Roma dream despite a season marked by numerous injuries, as well as internal tensions with Claudio Ranieri, as the best coach in the top division. Others cited Cesc Fabregas, guide of the league’s revelation Como, or Raffaele Palladino, who lifted Atalanta after a lackluster start under Juric.

There are also those who would have liked more value to be placed on the work of Kosta Runjaic, who was able to lead Udinese to 50 points with proactive soccer and prestigious victories, or again that of Carlos Cuesta, who in his first year as head coach, at only 30 years of age, led Parma to a quiet salvation, disproving the most pessimistic predictions.

For many fans, these profiles represented more authentic examples of “overperformance,” a criterion they felt should have had a greater impact on the awarding of the prize. The choice of the Lega Serie A and the jury, made up of editors of several media outlets, was different, and the path of Chivu’s Inter, dominant in the league and solid in the Coppa Italia, weighed decisively.

“It took Chivu,” explained Luigi De Siervo, CEO of Lega Serie A, “only 48 days as a coach in the top division to be crowned Champion of Italy (second only to Mourinho in the three-point era), and adding to the Scudetto also the Coppa Italia victory, he became the only coach to win this historic double in his first season on the Inter bench. Numbers and records that confirm Cristian Chivu’s entrance by right among the great coaches of our Serie A.”