'Andrea has enormous credibility' - Pirlo likened to Zidane

Stephan Lichtsteiner points out some of Andrea Pirlo’s personality traits to support his argument that the new boss will succeed at Juventus.

It came as a huge surprise when Juventus handed over the managerial reins to Andrea Pirlo after sacking Maurizio Sarri.

The ink on his contract for the head coach of the Juventus U-23 team hadn’t even dried when Pirlo, who became a licensed coach only this year, was appointed as the first-team coach last month.

The former midfield maestro has an enormous pressure to guide the team to Champions League success, something which they last celebrated 24 years ago.

Pirlo is also reportedly planning a squad rebuild, and it is said that he has the complete support of the Juve board. A few rumors go as far as to claim that he is even ready to let go of Cristiano Ronaldo.

A former Bianconero admits he was taken aback initially on hearing about the 41-year old’s appointment but is confident that he will prove to be the right man for the job.

“The news surprised me, but only for a couple of seconds,” said Stephan Lichtsteiner, speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport.

“It’s an excellent choice, Andrea has enormous credibility. He will succeed to manage the group. He’s calm, nice, and knows the environment. He reminds me of [Zinedine] Zidane, certainly not [Antonio] Conte or [Diego] Simeone.

“He will scream when needed. It only matters that he has a good impact on the group. I have no doubts about that.”