Portland Timbers head coach Giovanni Savarese is one of many current and former Major League Soccer coaches interviewed for a new feature at The Athletic, one that documents how coaches look beyond MLS for training and inspiration.
Among the other current and former MLS head coaches who talked to The Athletic's Matt Pentz for "MLS coaches study abroad" were, in order of appearance, Frank Klopas (Chicago Fire FC, Club de Foot Montreal), Marc Dos Santos (Vancouver Whitecaps), Jim Curtin (Philadelphia Union) and Ben Olsen (D.C. United).
“The more cultured that you are, the more you can relate,” Savarese explains to Pentz, later adding, “When we (the Savarese family) travel, we always have soccer in mind.”
Among the experiences Savarese shared was shadowing staff at ACF Fiorentina in Italy during December 2019, when the club parted ways with men's head coach Vincenzo Montella. Savarese also talked about the curiosity Manchester United coaching legend Alex Ferguson expressed years ago over breakfast in New York.
"The great part was that even someone like Alex Ferguson was asking about MLS," Savarese remembered.
You can read more from Savarese as well as Klopas, Dos Santos, Curtin and Olsen at The Athletic.
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