Luciano Vulcano has opened up on his remarkable footballing story after arriving at Sunderland in the summer
Luciano Vulcano, assistant head coach at Premier League club Sunderland.
Perhaps not the most dramatic sentence on its own, but the mere facts within it represent a quite remarkable journey that shows no signs of slowing down. Only twelve years ago, Vulcano was an architecture student. Letting heart rule head, the Italian opted to pursue his dream of becoming a head coach and switched his studies to sports science.
In the time since he has worked at a number of Serie A's biggest clubs, sampled the Champions League, played his part in a league title win with AC Milan and most recently coached Cristiano Ronaldo. Initially starting in football as an analyst, Vulcano picked up his UEFA coaching badges at Italy's fabled Coverciano school and puts his rise down to a lot of hard work but also a significant stroke of luck.
It was Stefano Pioli who noticed Vulcano's potential and handed him the promotion he could scarcely have dreamed of when he took that leap of faith and left architecture behind.
"I was a bit good at doing my job and lucky, because you need to be lucky in football for sure," Vulcano explains.
"I met the right person. First of all, Stefano Pioli. That gave me the chance to be at the highest level. He trusted me a lot and he gave me the chance to show my skills. Fantastic stages, because I was in the Champions League by his side. Now, also thanks to another person and another club, I'm here in the Premier League."
That itself was a big decision. Vulcano could in all likelihood of returned to Fiorentina with Pioli, or taken up one of two offers to step out on his own and become a head coach for the first time. Vulcano wanted to work abroad, however, and more specifically in the Premier League. His excellent English shows this has been an ambition harboured for some time, something he shared with Régis Le Bris.
Vulcano loved the intensity of Premier League football, a division he would watch regularly after 'falling in love' with the speed and ability of Fernando Torres in his pomp at Liverpool. That of course put Sunderland on his radar, a team whose highlights he would regularly watch to keep tabs on the progress of Italian striker Fabio Borini. It would have seemed fanciful to Vulcano then that he would actually go on to coach Borini at AC Milan.
Vulcano nearly joined Sunderland last summer, and when the opportunity came up again it was one he was never going to turn down.
"We were in touch last season, before the Championship season, but the timing wasn't the best, because I was moving to Saudi Arabia," he explains.
"We didn't match last season, and when there was the possibility this summer, I had two, three possibilities to join clubs as an assistant coach, two as a head coach. But when I felt the trust Régis, all the leadership group, the sporting director, the football ownership, they had in me... it was easy for me to choose Sunderland, because I felt that was the right choice, and they were pushing a lot to have me here.
"With Régis there is just a common link in football, I can say. He was looking for someone talented by his side. I don't know if I'm talented enough but I hope so. So, I came here just in order to help him, the team, the club, to achieve the highest standards as I can. I'm young, but with a bit of experience in football. So, I'm trying every day to learn and try to help.
"I felt that for my future, I wanted to improve my skills. First of all, the language.
"Everyone thinks that Italian people didn't speak good English. So, I wanted to test myself on the big stage, like the Premier League, with my English. So, for me, it's also a pleasure to be here and try to expose my English. I want to test myself. What makes me alive in this job. I want to try to push, push, push, push to go to the next level. That's the reason why I chose this option."
It's no longer particularly unusual for a coach to have never played in the professional game, but Vulcano laughs when asked about his ability as a youngster: "I really enjoyed to play, but really at a low level. Sometimes I try to laugh a bit with the players and I tell them that I have football in my mind, but not in my feet."
Vulcano has settled quickly on Wearside, helped by his English skills but also that fellow coach Alessandro Barcherini speaks good Italian. He has also quickly struck up a strong rapport with Le Bris.
Luciano Vulcano on Sunderland head coach Régis Le Bris
"Yeah, he's a really calm person," Vulcano says.
"I really love to speak with him. He gives you a lot of trust. For the moment, maybe in the future. I hope to continue like this. But I really appreciate when a person is really honest with you. In the positive, in the bad. Telling you some feedbacks or not. Sometimes no need feedbacks. And he's really transparent, can I say transparent, in the relationship with me. And it's really welcoming, because I can go in his office in every moment. And he knows that obviously I'm 100% available 24x7 when trying to help. But his side of being open is really important for me. I find a really open person."
So how would Vulcano describe himself as a coach?
"It's always difficult to speak about yourself," he says.
"I think I'm adaptable. High demanding with myself, first of all. In this, I have a good connection with Regis. He's really high demanding with himself. And with the people that surround him, really detailed. It's a pleasure to work by his side with him. First of all, I love to challenge myself in my job. In order to be ready to challenge the people that surround me.
"In this chapter of my life, I want to help and I want to grow. I did so many things that I didn't expect to do in my career. Because it was really fast going to the next levels. It was not stairs, no, it was an elevator. For that reason, I told before that it's really important to be also lucky in life and in your job. And you have to be ready every time. I think one of my skills is that I'm studying and trying to evolving and adapting continuously in order to be ready for the next challenge I will face. So I try to be ready. Now I'm here, enjoying this atmosphere."
Vulcano harbours ambitions to be a head coach one day and asked where he hopes to be in ten years time, he says 'why not here at Sunderland?' Given Vulcano's career to date, you can't rule anything out.
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