Farioli's path to the football fields of Europe did not start like many others on the pitch. Born on April 10, 1989, in Italy, he did not immediately choose the path of a footballer. Instead, he embraced the world of academics and studied philosophy at the University of Florence. His deep understanding of the game even led to a published thesis on the aesthetics of football: 'Football as rebirth: the aesthetics of the game and the role of the goalkeeper'.
Philosophy
Farioli's approach to football is influenced by his background in philosophy. As a 23-year-old philosophy student, he delved into the works of thinkers such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Fyodor Dostoevsky. He considers football to be more than just a game and focuses on its role in our daily lives. Football as a sport is a way of looking at life, a philosophy in itself.
Farioli's thesis is about how football is more than just a game; it is a reflection of life itself and a metaphor for life, he claims. The Italian writes in his thesis about goalkeepers and the origins of football and takes various great coaches (Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti, Antonio Conte) as examples. He calls not only coaches, but also philosophers, enthusiasts, and idealists with a common goal: focus on what is right for the team. He describes the football field as a place where rules and the practice of beauty come together.
Start in Italy
At that time, he also brought his theory and acquired knowledge to the football field. From 2009 to 2011, he was a goalkeeping coach at Polisportiva Margine Coperta, a club located between Florence and Pisa. In the summer of 2011, he made the step to assistant coach. He settled in the lower regions of Italian football at Fortis Juventus. Farioli stayed there until 2015, connecting theory to practice.
After being active in Qatar for two years at the Aspire Academy, the Italian received a call from Roberto De Zerbi. His approach to football, with a philosophical touch and meticulous attention to detail, caught the eye of the prominent coach, under whose guidance he took his first steps as a coach. Farioli worked under the current Brighton & Hove Albion coach for one season at Benevento and later two seasons at Sassuolo as a goalkeeping coach. The collaboration with De Zerbi was a period of growth and development for Farioli, during which he was able to develop his own thinking and refine his vision of the game. This led to a move to Turkey.
After a short period as assistant coach at Alanyaspor, he was appointed head coach at Fatih Karagümrük in 2021. His appointment at the age of thirty made him the youngest Italian coach ever at the highest level. Farioli was in charge for 27 matches. His team stood out with the second-highest number of passes in the Turkish league.
At the end of that year, Farioli moved to a familiar team: Alanyaspor. With the Turks, he finished fifth in the 2021/2022 season, just one point behind fourth place. It was OGC Nice that welcomed him in the summer of 2023, and from that moment, Farioli drew the attention of a broader audience. This was mainly due to the away match against Paris Saint-Germain, which garnered much admiration. OGC Nice achieved a remarkable 2-3 victory at Parc des Princes, something the club had not managed for fourteen years. In his work at Nice, Farioli combined his philosophical insights with his vision of football, resulting in a bold and challenging style of play that defies traditional norms.
Outstanding statistics
With the French, Farioli finished this season in fifth place in Ligue 1 and posted some strong statistics. Nice conceded only 29 goals, the fewest in the entire league. Especially in home games, opponents struggled to score against the French team, scoring only eleven times. In the top five leagues outside France, only Real Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, and Inter have conceded fewer goals so far.
Additionally, Nice leads in the number of clean sheets. With seventeen games without conceding goals, they surpass Stade Brest (fifteen). Alongside Brest, the number three in the league, the French also have the second-longest unbeaten streak: thirteen matches. Only champions Paris Saint-Germain (26) performed better in this aspect. Finally, ball possession is a key philosophy of Farioli. This is reflected in the number of passing sequences of more than ten passes. Here, the French rank third with 481 sequences, just behind Lille (483). Paris Saint-Germain finished at the top of this list as well, with 783 sequences.
Passes
If we zoom in further on Farioli's team's passes, it's noticeable that the percentage of completed passes is 87%. Among the top five in France, only Paris Saint-Germain (90%) boasts a higher completion rate. AS Monaco (83%), Stade Brest (82%), and Lille (82%) have lower percentages. Nice’s completion rate of forward passes is 81%. In the final third, the completion rate is high at 73%. In total, Farioli's team made 16,981 passes in the league. Only Paris Saint-Germain (23,146) and LOSC Lille (18,021) made more.
With the arrival of this new coach, Ajax has hired a foreign head coach for the first time since Morten Olsen in the 1997/1998 season. Farioli thus becomes the first Italian coach to work for the Amsterdam club. Following Lorenzo Lucca, he will be the second Italian to work for the club.
Farioli's connection with Ajax became evident after the final league match against LOSC Lille. The Italian mentioned to VI that Johan Cruyff was one of his football mentors throughout his life. The new manager signed a three-year contract.
