Alessandro Saporito isn’t a name that the vast majority of football fans will have heard of.
He’s currently coaching Pulcini 2010 della Pro Patria, having work with youth teams at various clubs. But he has a dream, and that’s to one day work at the West Ham academy.
Growing up watching football, Alessandro had a particular soft spot for the Premier League, believing the style and support of football in England’s top flight to be more suited to his taste than what was on offer in Serie A.
A big hero was Paolo Di Canio, although it’s not just because of the West Ham legend that Alessandro holds a place for the club in his heart.
Quoted by Italy’s Sprint & Sport, he explained: “I love West Ham because it is a workers’ team par excellence, it is the philosophy that I have always adopted in the field and in life.”
Not just a passing affection then, but a way of thinking about the game and life in general.
Alessandro has a long way to go if he’s ever going to get himself a job at West Ham, yet he’s moving forward slowly. Pulcini 2010 della Pro Patria was launched as an academy for youngsters, and he’s explained: “I took a team starting from scratch. With the boys we have made great strides in these months until this forced break.
“I managed to rediscover the feeling with a team of Pulcini after leaving the category for many years. To train a child you must first have your own basic football idea, but the little footballer must be listened to: he will give you the input by seeing what his idols do, it is a mix between what you know he has to learn and what he, instead, he wants to do.”
Maybe one day.
