There is an adage in soccer — in sports activities normally, actually — that there is no such thing as a such factor as a contented ending. All managers are fired, in the end, no matter what they obtain or how a lot they win. At some level, outcomes will flip, and take the followers and the entrance workplaces with them.
That is true, in fact, however it’s partly true as a result of managers are so hardly ever keen to do what Spalletti has carried out, and stroll away. There is all the time some drawback to unravel, some enchancment to make, some slight flaw to shine and burnish and finesse. There is all the time the prospect that subsequent yr might be even higher. And there’s all the time, most of all, one other trophy to win.
The most interesting managers are — as they need to be — acutely aware of their legacies. They are pushed not simply by proving their superiority to their friends, however by profitable their place in historical past. There is a cause that Alex Ferguson, and Arrigo Sacchi, and Pep Guardiola are held within the first rank of managers: They are the coaches, in spite of everything, who attained not simply dominion, however dynasty. Their instance encourages managers to twist, relatively than stick.
Spalletti has carried out the alternative. At some level in Napoli’s monthlong celebration, he determined that he had reached the top, and that no matter got here subsequent would inevitably contain a descent.
Rather than threat tarnishing what he has achieved, relatively than doubling down, he has most well-liked to depart it, excellent and inviolable, the place it stands. He has his prize, and in profitable it he has his monument, too. In doing so, he has carried out what so many others expend a lot power doing: He has ensured that his legacy will stay unsullied, untouched. In the haven he has constructed for himself on the outskirts of Montaione, Spalletti will savor the straightforward, forgotten pleasure that comes from realizing when to step away.
Source: www.nytimes.com