The Highlanders are set to appoint Italian coach Vincezo Alberto Annese as their head coach for the upcoming season, IFTWC can confirm.
“NorthEast United FC are set to appoint former Gokulam Kerala FC head coach Vincenzo Alberto Annese as their new head coach for the upcoming season,” a source close to the development informed IFTWC.
About coach Vincenzo Alberto Annesse
Annese started his professional head coaching career in the Fidelis Andria youth team (from 2010 to 2012). He was promoted as a coaching staff in the Italian third division 2012–13 Lega Pro Prima Divisione afterward continuing in Foggia Calcio 2013–14 Lega Pro Prima Divisione.
Since then Annese has been coaching in many countries at the top level, including Latvia, Estonia, Ghana, Palestine, Indonesia, Kosovo and Armenia, and Belize.
Annese was a former tactical/technical coach of junior national teams in the Football Federation of Armenia. Vincenzo also has experience in managing the Belize National team.
Vincenzo started his professional coaching career in 2016 when he was appointed as the head coach of the Latvian top-tier club JFK Saldus.
After a short stay, Annese left for Ghana in 2017. He became the coach for the Ghana Premier division club Bechem United for a short time.
After leaving the club in 2017, Annese was appointed as the head coach of Palestine’s top division club Ahli Al-Khaleel. Later on, Vincezo was assigned as the head coach of the Indonesian Liga 1 club PSIS Semarang in 2018.
After a short stint in Indonesia, Annese moved on to Kosova to manage top-tier side KF Liria in 2018. After a one-year stay in Kosovo, Vincenzo was appointed as the head coach of the Belize National team in 2019.
After working for a year with the Belize National team, Anesse was offered to become the new head coach of Gokulam Kerala FC during the 2020/21 I-League season.
Since arriving in India, Annese has made Gokulam a force to reckon with as the side from Kerala managed to become the first I-League team to win two consecutive league titles.
The Malabarians also recorded a 21-game unbeaten streak in the I-League 2020 and 2021 seasons combined. The team even qualified for their maiden AFC Cup campaign in 2021.
To add more to it the side had even beaten ISL heavyweights ATK Mohun Bagan by a 4-2 margin in the opening game of the 2021 AFC Cup group stage.
The result made waves in the Indian football circuit as Vincenzo’s side proved that there isn’t much difference between the ISL and the I-League. In June 2022, Annese announced his decision that he would leave te club after a two-year stay.
Vincenzo was looking for a new adventure and showed intent to manage an ISL club if he was offered one. A couple of clubs were interested but no official offer was put on the table.
At last NorthEast United enquired about him and decided to appoint him as their new head coach. The Highlanders has a difficult outing last season as they finished 10th and conceded the joint highest number of goals.
Annese will have to start from scratch with the Highlanders if he wants to build a strong and competitive team that could challenge for a playoff spot.
The 37-year-old Italian mastermind will have to work with a young and energetic team and lead them to the heights the club has been to date since its inception.
The Highlanders have only qualified for the ISL playoffs on two occasions. The first one was under Eelco Schattorie in the 2018/19 season and the second one was under coach Khalid Jamil in the 2020/21 season.
If Vincenzo wants to make replicate his I-League record and name in the ISL he must do something extraordinary with the Northeast United FC team.
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