The Renaissance of Roberto Baronio

By: Francesco | September 17th, 2009

Let’s start by saying that Roberto Baronio isn’t exactly a household name in Italian calcio. The casual fan may not even know who Roberto Baronio is or what position he plays (Baronio is a classic regista that plays in front of the defense and dictates the play. His passing skills are excellent, especially his long passing, and he is good at set pieces). However, he was supposed to be a household name. I would never even think I would be dedicating an article to Roberto Baronio, but his story has caught my eye at the start of this season. Coming up as a youngster in the Brescia youth system, Baronio was touted to be one of the best talents Italy would produce in the late 90’s and the next great Italian midfielder. Baronio made his Serie A debut with Brescia as a 17 year old in 1995 and in the summer of 1996 many clubs wanted his signature.

Lazio (then owned by free-spending Sergio Cragnotti) won the race and signed the young 19 year old and Italy U-21 international (with whom he debuted in 1995 and remained a mainstay in midfield for 5 years, winning the 2000 U-21 European Championship) for 10 million lira. His first season at Lazio was ok, making 15 appearances and used mainly as a sub. He was loaned to Vicenza for the 1997-98 season but he couldn’t break into the first team. His return to Lazio in 1998-99 was worse because that’s when Lazio started to become a force in Italy and he had to compete for a place in midfeild with players like Matias Almeyda and Dejan Stankovic. Baronio wasn’t getting enough room and he couldn’t explode onto the scene like he was expected to. In the summer of 1999, Reggina decided to co-own Baronio for 2.5 million lira. Reggina had also obtained a young Andrea Pirlo on loan from Inter, and so Reggina’s first choice center midfield pairing was Baronio and Pirlo.

This season was finally when Baronio lived up to his potential. Together with Pirlo, the 22 year old midfielder was a star in midfield for the Amaranto, playing 31 times and scoring 3 goals, and Reggina avoided relegation. For his efforts, Baronio also won the Serie A Young Footballer of the Year award in 2000. Lazio had to buy him back fully for 10 million lira (the same amount they had bought him from Brescia for originally) and he signed a new 5 year contract. However on his return to Lazio, who had just won the Scudetto, he had players like Juan Sebastian Veron and Diego Simeone in front of him and he only made 12 appearances.

Then the loans started. First to Fiorentina, where he did well and made 21 appearances, but the club went bankrupt at the end of the season. Then to Serse Cosmi’s Perugia, where he didn’t feature as much, only making 11 appearances. It seemed that Baronio would never confirm the awesome season he had in Reggio Calabria. But then he was thrown a lifeline- Chievo. From 2003-2005 Baronio spent 2 seasons on loan in Verona, collecting 50 appearances and putting in great performances for the Flying Donkeys. Baronio became one of the most consistent players in Serie A and in the summer of 2005 his play was rewarded with a national team call-up by Marcello Lippi for Italy’s North American tour. (Baronio played for Italy at Giants Stadium vs Ecuador, I was actually at that game).

With Baronio’s renewed confidence he returned to Lazio looking to be a protagonist. However the next roadblock to Baronio’s career arrived in the summer of 2005: Delio Rossi. For whatever reason, Delio Rossi simply did not like Roberto Baronio. First, Fabio Liverani was already at Lazio and is a very similar player to Baronio. Second, since Rossi preferred Liverani, Baronio was left most of the time on the bench or in the stands. He only made 7 appearances in the first half of the season and to find space was loaned to Udinese for the rest of the season. In Friuli he made 10 appearances, but was nothing spectacular.

In the summer of 2006, with Liverani on his way to Fiorentina, Baronio returned hoping to finally have a first time place solidified. However, yet another roadblock. Delio Rossi brought Cristian Ledesma, who he had managed at Lecce, to the Biancocelesti. And therefore, Ledesma was preferred as the midfield orchestrator. Baronio made a couple of appearances but again spent most of his time watching from the bench or the stands. In the summer of 2007 he was considered surplus to requirements by Delio Rossi and was close to moving to Spanish club Levante, but the transfer fell through at the last moment. So having to stay at Lazio, Baronio spent the entire season in the stands and became one of Lazio’s famous “esuberi” (the players that were no longer wanted by the club and forced to train on their own, having almost no contact with the first team.) Baronio himself said that “Delio Rossi never spoke to me. He only did when he was forced to but that was it. Lotito treated me well though.”

On the last day of the Summer 2008 transfer market, Baronio was handed another lifeline. This time it was hometown club Brescia who saved him, and acquired him on a season long loan. So after 12 years, Baronio finally returned to the club that he grew up with and his job was to lead them back to Serie A. Baronio immediately became an important player and started almost every game, playing 31 times and scoring 2 goals. Brescia reached the promotion play-off final, but lost to Livorno. Baronio returned to Lazio yet again, but this time things were looking bright. First, Delio Rossi had left the club and Davide Ballardini was hired. Second, Cristian Ledesma wanted to leave desperately, so Lazio would need a player like Baronio in midfield.

Because of the long transfer saga, Ledesma was frozen out of the squad along with Goran Pandev, and in pre-season Ballardini started to use Baronio. Surprisingly, Baronio started in the SuperCoppa win vs. Inter in August and even played very well. Now we are 3 weeks into the season and Baronio has been a pleasant surprise for Lazio fans. He has started every game and has given excellent performances so far (his latest being today’s Europa League loss). He is now an irremovable part of Ballardini’s midfield and finally showing Italy all of his skill and talent. It took a long time, but it looks like now at the age of 31 Baronio is finally showing all of the calcio world what he is made out of. As the saying goes, better late then never.