Antonio Conte is set to add set piece coach Gianni Vio to his Tottenham coaching staff to help the club improve their efforts on the pitch.
Spurs have struggled with set pieces in recent times and now football.london understands that the north London club are in advanced talks with the specialist coach although a deal is not yet finalised nor his arrival imminent. Vio has worked with the Italian national team as well as having had spells at AC Milan, Leeds United, Brentford and Fiorentina.
The experienced coach and former banker is credited with making Italy a force from set pieces as they won Euro 2020 and has reportedly designed 4,830 different routines which Roberto Mancini's team were able to utilise from free-kicks and corners. Vio spent much of his time in the lower leagues in Italy before making a splash in Serie A, then England and with the Italian national side.
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He spent more than 20 years studying the numerous variations in free-kick routines and launched a website on his findings, which resulted in the book That Extra 30 Per Cent and caught the eye of former Italy goalkeeper Walter Zenga, who hired Vio when he joined Catania in 2008 and the new man made an instant impact, gaining the nickname 'the little wizard' as 17 of the team's 44 goals were scored from set-plays as they escaped relegation.
Vio adapts his free-kicks to the strengths of the individual players available at each club and he explained his ideas in an interview with La Nuova di Venezia newspaper
“You need to analyse the players you have and find solutions tailor-made to their skillset,” he is quoted as saying by the Guardian. "There are players whose reading of the game is special. At the highest level, Sergio Ramos comes to mind. Wherever you put the ball, you can bet he’ll find a way to get on the end of it. Timing is the most important thing when it comes to finishing off a set-piece."
Tottenham fans have also bemoaned the club's lack of success from set pieces and it now appears that Conte is looking to address that issue.
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