Giuntoli’s playing career was from 1990-2007 in Italy’s Serie C and D. He played 330 games as a defender for Prato, Colligiana, Latina, Imperia, Savona and Sanremese. He was considered as a very good amateur, but was never quite good enough for the higher professional ranks.
After his playing career was over he immediately moved into management, receiving his coaching license from Coverciano and becoming Spezia’s Director of Football in the 2008/2009 season. Spezia finished the 2007/2008 season in 21st place in Serie B but declared bankruptcy and got shuffled down to Serie D when Giuntoli arrived. This was a major rebuild and they finished 2nd and were promoted up to Serie C.
Giuntoli impressed another team, Carpi, who hired him away for the 2009/2010 season. This was another rebuild, and Giuntoli guided them from Lega Pro Seconda Divisione all the way up to winning promotion to Serie A - a feat which is still called The Miracle of Carpi. He went through several coaches, including Egidio Notaristefano, Fabio Brini, Giuseppe Pillon and Fabrizio Castori.
He was getting the reputation of a person who could get results, and long-suffering Napoli hired him for the 2015/2016 season. Giuntoli knew the lower ranks very well and had the knack of picking up overlooked players on the cheap. The owners hoped he could work similar magic with them, as they had a relatively modest budget but big ambitions. Napoli was struggling to reach the top of Serie A, having finished 2nd, 3rd and 5th the previous three seasons. Giuntoli hired Maurizio Sarri and that first year they finished 2nd, 9 points behind us.
Giuntoli’s 8 years at Napoli were up and down, falling as low as 7th in Serie A until the Scudetto this year. They won Coppa Italia in 2019/2020 and have done moderately well in Europe but haven’t brought home any silverware (yet).
He has worked with some tough and demanding coaches, like Carlo Ancelotti and Luciano Spalletti, as well as Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis.
Giuntoli has the reputation of being involved in the details, often going to training sessions to watch the players and talking to nutritionists about what they should be eating. One person joked that he even talked to the grounds crew about the grass on the training pitches.
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