It’s my fault it didn’t work out in Liverpool – but I’ll never forget a wild week I had

“Liverpool’s cult hero is now completely unrecognizable as a manager.”

We see headlines like this all the time when we search the internet, and nine times out of ten, we’re disappointed with the result. However, in the case of Andrea Dossena, such media outlets could make sense.

It was during last season’s November international break that the Italian was the subject of such treatment, with a number of sites jumping on the bandwagon.

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After the first hit mentioned above, which alerted the rest of the world wide web, “Liverpool’s cult hero looks unrecognizable in their new managerial role – as former full-back pictured on touchline in Italy’s third division” and “Liverpool icon who scored against Man Utd, now unrecognizable with full head of hair” both followed elsewhere in the next 24 hours.

This is true. When signed by Rafa Benitez in a £7million deal on this day in 2008, Dossena was a skinhead defender. Sold to Napoli 18 months later, one loss after a disappointing spell at Anfield, he returned with thick, dark locks when he faced his former club in the Europa League the following season.

The 42-year-old is now manager of Serie C side SPAL, enjoying his fifth spell in charge since first stepping into the dugout in 2019. And now boasting lighter, longer hair tied back , looks very different since he took down the famous Real Real. Madrid and Manchester United in one week in March 2009.

Indeed, the Premier League winter break is probably a prime time for such “unrecognizable” content to emerge. But at the time the ECHO thought they were only going to seek an interview with Dossena himself. And no, his hairstyle was not something I included on the agenda.

Of course, a number of former Liverpool players from the Benitez era are now trying their hand at management. Xabi Alonso is outstanding, thriving at Bayer Levekrusen, while Steven Gerrard’s reputation has taken a hit since winning the Scottish Premiership with Rangers, now managing in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ettifaq after being sacked by Aston Villa.

Chances are you’ll have almost no idea about Dossena’s own managerial career in comparison, which first saw him take charge of Serie D side Crema, moving to Ravenna before moving on to Serie C side Renate after a solitary campaign. He was on the move again after another season when he took over at Pro Vercelli last summer. Then last month (June 2024) he moved to SPAL.

A career in management is something Dossena wanted long before he moved to Liverpool in 2008. And while he later returned to England thanks to spells with Sunderland and Leyton Orient as a player, the former Italy international admits that he would like to return again, this time as a manger, if the opportunity ever arose.

“Since I was 20 years old in my early years as a professional, I understood that post-football, the only role I enjoyed was coaching,” he said. “Fortunately, dreaming costs nothing and allows you to work harder every day to achieve your goal, so I believe that all of us who want to be ambitious should aim for the maximum.

“At the moment the best football is the Premier League, so yes, one day I would like to coach in England.”

Perhaps part of Dossena’s desire to return to the Premier League is to rewrite the perception of him as a Liverpool flop? He would make just 31 appearances for the Reds, just five of which came in his second season at the club before signing for Napoli midway through the 2009/10 campaign.

With 22 coming from the start, he quickly fell out of favor under Benitez. Looking back, the Italian admits he doesn’t think he worked hard enough to succeed and puts his struggles down to inexperience.

“For a boy who had his first experience abroad, it certainly wasn’t easy,” he said. “The Premier League is very different from Serie A and, unfortunately for us Italians, much more beautiful!

“In Italy we have a work culture that is much more based on quantity, whereas you (in England) are very good at having an optimal quantity/quality ratio. In my opinion, we lack this in order to adapt to your football, because when we stop working, as far as quantity is concerned, the quality decreases accordingly.

“At least that was my problem in my case. I came from a culture of a lot of work every week and at Liverpool we played every three days and never trained. I should have been training on my own time so that by the time I was hired, I could have been at 100%.

“I spoke to Benitez, I wasn’t good physically. It wasn’t his fault, but I understood that I had to work on my own. But being inexperienced, I didn’t. My fault!

“If I went back instead of passively accepting, I would behave differently. Now, with the experience I certainly have in terms of day-to-day work, I would make other choices.

“When I left, I wanted to go back to Italy because, from talking to (Italy coach) Marcello Lippi, the best way to take my chances is to earn a place in Italy’s squad for South Africa (Cup World Cup 2010) was to return to Italy. .

“I definitely regret not being able to give my best because of my lack of experience. But I don’t regret joining the club because, in any case, Liverpool helped me grow both as a man, a footballer at the time, and as a coach today.”

Dossena knew of Liverpool’s interest in him four months before he moved to Anfield. The Reds weren’t the only team looking to sign him either, but it didn’t take him long to make up his mind.

“In January 2008 I almost moved to Tottenham but it didn’t happen,” he recalled. “Then in March 2008 I knew Liverpool were targeting me.

“I spoke to Rafa and sporting director Eduardo Macia, who tried to explain to me what that shirt means, the history and the quality of the championship I was going to face.

“There were other teams interested in Italy, but the allure of the Reds and the Premier League prevailed.”

Despite his struggles, Dossena still has fond memories of his Liverpool career and playing alongside some of the game’s modern legends.

“A wild week, especially after the goal at Old Trafford!” he says as he recalls the goals against Real Madrid and Man United. “The first thing I thought was, ‘Another one!’

“I think, mainly because of the similar lifestyle, I bonded more with the Spanish players. But now that I’m coaching, I’ve stolen secrets from players like Carra (Jamie Carragher), Steven (Gerrard), Xabi (Alonso) or (Javier) Mascherano. It is very helpful for me, they have been fantastic.

“Jamie had the culture of Italian tactics mixed with English determination. He was a hammer and even if he sometimes pressed, now you understand that he did it because, like Steve, he had the weight of a whole city team on his shoulders.”

Meanwhile, he also fondly remembers the welcome he received when he returned to Anfield with Napoli in November 2010.

Dossena said: “Coming back to Anfield was fantastic, especially for the reception I didn’t think I would get. Red fans proved to be unique in this case. And that song (You’ll Never Walk Alone) in that stadium gets into you and stays with you forever.

“The love from the fans has always been exceptional and I can say that wearing that shirt makes you feel special. I hope they remember me as a player who always tried to sweat his shirt off every time he was called into action.”

Dossena’s career at Liverpool may not have worked out as he or the club would have hoped, but both the Italian and Kopites will always remember that week in March 2009 when he scored against Madrid and United.

But if early signs from an encouraging managerial career to date spanning more than 20 years are anything to go by, that may soon not be all English football is known for. Whether he one day returns to the Premier League or not, Dossena is on the verge of becoming “unrecognisable”.

A version of this story was first published in January 2024