Valerio Bertotto (Italian pronunciation: [vaˈlɛːrjo berˈtɔtto]; born 15 January 1973) is an Italian football manager and former professional footballer who played as a defender. He currently serves as the head coach of Serie C Group C club Giugliano.

Valerio Bertotto
Personal information
Date of birth (1973-01-15) 15 January 1973 (age 51)
Place of birth Turin, Italy
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Right back
Team information
Current team
Giugliano (head coach)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1990–1993 Alessandria 26 (0)
1993–2006 Udinese 334 (3)
2006–2008 Siena 43 (2)
2009 Venezia 19 (0)
International career
2000–2001 Italy 4 (0)
Managerial career
2012–2015 Italy U20
2016 Pistoiese
2016 Messina
2017 Bassano Virtus
2017 Viterbese Castrense
2020 Ascoli
2023– Giugliano
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career edit

Bertotto started his professional career during the 1990–91 season with Alessandria in the Italian Serie C2. He joined Udinese in 1993, where he quickly became a historical masterpiece for the team, spending thirteen seasons with the Friuli side, also captaining his side to what is to date their only appearance in the UEFA Champions League. Bertotto also holds the record for the highest number of matches played for Udinese.

In July 2006, aged 33, he left Udinese to join Siena, another Serie A team, where he played two seasons as a regular for the Tuscan side. Subsequently, he was released as a free agent in June 2008. In January 2009, he accepted an offer from Lega Pro Prima Divisione club Venezia. However, he was released for free after the club was excluded from the Italian football panorama due to financial issues.

In 2010, he obtained his UEFA A coaching license, which qualified him to coach Lega Pro teams.[1]

International career edit

Bertotto has played four times for the Italy national football team between 2000 and 2001, all during his spell at Udinese, with his senior international debut coming in a World Cup qualifying match against Georgia on 11 October 2000, held in Ancona, under manager Giovanni Trapattoni. He missed the 2002 FIFA World Cup due to a knee injury.[2]

Style of play edit

Bertotto was a hard-tackling and uncompromising central or right-sided defender, who was solid in the air, and effective in the timing of his challenges. Although he was neither particularly quick nor technically gifted, he made up for his lack of pace and skill with his experience and positional sense, and his greatest strength was his ability to defend opposing forwards in one-on-one situations. He also stood out for his leadership throughout his career.[3]

Managerial career edit

Italy U20 Lega Pro edit

On 9 August 2012 he was named head coach (Italian: selezionatore) of the Italy U20 Lega Pro in place of Giorgio Veneri.[4][5]

Serie C years edit

In April 2016, he took over the reins at Serie C club Pistoiese, guiding them to safety. He left in June 2016 to become the new head coach of Messina, which he left in August during the pre-season due to disagreements with the board.

In March 2017, he returned to management, accepting an offer from Serie C club Bassano Virtus, with whom he qualified for the promotion playoffs. He successively served as head coach of another Serie C club, Viterbese Castrense, between July and October 2017.

Ascoli edit

On 25 August 2020, after three years of inactivity, he was named new head coach of Serie B club Ascoli, this being Bertotto's first coaching experience in the Italian second division.[6]

He was dismissed on 29 November 2020 due to poor results following a 1–2 league defeat to Venezia.[7]

Giugliano edit

On 4 October 2023, after three years without a job, Bertotto returned to management as the new head coach of Serie C relegation-battling club Giugliano.[8]

Personal life edit

On 4 November 2020 he tested positive for COVID-19.[9]

Managerial statistics edit

As of 31 October 2020[10]
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Pistoiese   12 April 2016 11 June 2016 4 3 0 1 6 2 +4 075.00
Messina   16 June 2016 20 August 2016 2 1 0 1 3 2 +1 050.00
Bassano Virtus   1 March 2017 25 May 2017 12 3 2 7 10 14 −4 025.00
Viterbese Castrense   21 July 2017 8 October 2017 10 6 1 3 22 13 +9 060.00
Ascoli   25 August 2020 Present 7 1 1 5 4 11 −7 014.29
Total 35 14 4 17 45 42 +3 040.00

Honours edit

Udinese

References edit

  1. ^ Settore Tecnico della F.I.G.C. Archived 7 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "Nazionale in cifre: Bertotto, Valerio". figc.it (in Italian). FIGC. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  3. ^ "Italy squad at a glance". BBC. 14 November 2000. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  4. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on August 17, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ^ "Coppa Italia Lega Pro, mister Bertotto seguirà Alessandria-Pavia".
  6. ^ "Ufficiale: Valerio Bertotto nuovo allenatore dell'Ascoli" (in Italian). Ascoli Calcio. 25 August 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  7. ^ "Esonerato Mister Bertotto" (in Italian). Ascoli Calcio. 29 November 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  8. ^ "Giugliano, Valerio Bertotto nuovo allenatore. Torna in panchina dopo 3 anni" (in Italian). TuttoMercatoWeb. 4 October 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
  9. ^ "Mister Bertotto e quattro calciatori positivi al Covid". Ascoli. 4 November 2000. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  10. ^ Valerio Bertotto coach profile at Soccerway
  11. ^ "Udinese 2 - 2 Sigma". UEFA. 8 August 2000. Archived from the original on 23 June 2004. Retrieved 16 April 2020.

External links edit