# Alessio Dionisi
**Alessio Dionisi** (born 1980) is an Italian football manager and former player who is the head coach of English Championship club Watford, having previously led Empoli, Sassuolo, Palermo, Venezia, and a series of lower-division Italian clubs.[1](https://www.transfermarkt.com/alessio-dionisi/stationen/trainer/36126) • [2](https://bbc.com.im/sport/football/articles/c4g421020n9o) He is best known for winning the 2020-21 [Serie B](https://www.edgepedia.org/serie-b) title with Empoli and for three seasons in charge of Sassuolo in [Serie A](https://www.edgepedia.org/serie-a).[3](https://www.fotmob.com/players/300231/alessio-dionisi)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1980, Abbadia San Salvatore, Italy; Italian citizen[1](https://www.transfermarkt.com/alessio-dionisi/stationen/trainer/36126) |
| Playing career | Central defender; youth sectors of Fiorentina and Siena, then Serie D and C2 clubs; retired at Olginatese in 2014[4](https://www.ceramicanda.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/D275-1.pdf) • [1](https://www.transfermarkt.com/alessio-dionisi/stationen/trainer/36126) |
| Major honor | Serie B title with Empoli, 2020-21[3](https://www.fotmob.com/players/300231/alessio-dionisi) |
| Longest tenure | Sassuolo, 1 July 2021 to 25 February 2024, 107 matches at 1.16 points per match[1](https://www.transfermarkt.com/alessio-dionisi/stationen/trainer/36126) |
| Best points per match | 1.95 in his first Empoli spell (2020-21, 42 matches)[1](https://www.transfermarkt.com/alessio-dionisi/stationen/trainer/36126) |
| Preferred formation | 4-2-3-1; UEFA Pro Licence[1](https://www.transfermarkt.com/alessio-dionisi/stationen/trainer/36126) |
| Current club | Watford head coach, appointed 15 June 2026 on a two-year contract[2](https://bbc.com.im/sport/football/articles/c4g421020n9o) |
## Playing career
Dionisi was born in Abbadia San Salvatore, in the province of Siena, in 1980.[4](https://www.ceramicanda.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/D275-1.pdf) He played as a central defender, beginning in the youth sectors of Fiorentina and Siena before moving through [Serie D](https://www.edgepedia.org/serie-d) and C2 clubs including Voghera, Varese, Ivrea, and Terzotto sull'Adda.[4](https://www.ceramicanda.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/D275-1.pdf) As captain of Tritium he led the club from Serie D to Lega Pro Prima Divisione between 2010 and 2012.[4](https://www.ceramicanda.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/D275-1.pdf) He ended his playing career at Olginatese in Serie D in the spring of 2014.[5](https://www.footballscouting.it/match-analysis/lo-scouting-del-mister-alessio-dionisi/)
## Early coaching career
Dionisi took his first coaching job at the same club, Olginatese, at 34 years old, for the 2014-15 season. The spell lasted seven matches with no wins and no goals scored, and he was dismissed in mid-October 2014.[5](https://www.footballscouting.it/match-analysis/lo-scouting-del-mister-alessio-dionisi/) • [1](https://www.transfermarkt.com/alessio-dionisi/stationen/trainer/36126)
In the summer of 2015 he became coach of Borgosesia in the top amateur division. A 13th-place finish in his first season earned a second year, in which the club reached third place with six consecutive victories between March and April 2017 before losing the promotion play-off semi-final to Gozzano.[5](https://www.footballscouting.it/match-analysis/lo-scouting-del-mister-alessio-dionisi/) He moved to Fiorenzuola, also in Serie D, for 2017-18, finishing fourth despite a run of nine matches without a win between January and February 2018, and again falling in the play-off semi-final, this time to Forlì.[5](https://www.footballscouting.it/match-analysis/lo-scouting-del-mister-alessio-dionisi/)
**Breakthrough at Imolese.** His 2018-19 season with Imolese in [Serie C](https://www.edgepedia.org/serie-c) was his first at a professional club. As a newly promoted side, Imolese finished third in girone B, eliminated the heavily favored Monza in the promotion play-offs, and lost the quarter-final to Piacenza.[5](https://www.footballscouting.it/match-analysis/lo-scouting-del-mister-alessio-dionisi/) The run took him to Venezia in Serie B for 2019-20, where he managed 40 matches at 1.33 points per match before leaving in August 2020.[1](https://www.transfermarkt.com/alessio-dionisi/stationen/trainer/36126)
## Empoli and the Serie B title
Dionisi joined Empoli in August 2020. In his single season the club won the 2020-21 Serie B title, his only trophy as a coach, and his 42 matches produced 1.95 points per match, the best rate of his career.[3](https://www.fotmob.com/players/300231/alessio-dionisi) • [1](https://www.transfermarkt.com/alessio-dionisi/stationen/trainer/36126)
## Sassuolo
The promotion brought him to Sassuolo in Serie A on 1 July 2021, a move he described as following an agreement between Empoli and Sassuolo, and he cited the club's history and its defined playing style as influences on his decision.[6](https://cdnmedia.mapei.com/docs/realta-mapei-international/000_rm_int_87_pdf_sito.pdf) He stayed two and a half seasons, the longest tenure of his career, taking charge of 107 matches at 1.16 points per match before being dismissed on 25 February 2024 during a poor 2023-24 campaign in which his 25 league matches had yielded 0.80 points per match.[1](https://www.transfermarkt.com/alessio-dionisi/stationen/trainer/36126) • [7](https://www.transfermarkt.com/alessio-dionisi/leistungsdatenLigenNational/trainer/36126)
Tactically, his Sassuolo side kept the 4-2-3-1 shape the club had used before his arrival, building up from the back with high pass frequency and occasionally switching to 4-3-3 or 4-1-4-1 for a more direct attacking approach. In 2021-22 the team averaged 56.85% possession and completed 87.5% of its passes, placing it in the league's top five for accuracy, and produced 13.65 shots per game, above the Serie A average of 11.3.[8](https://totalfootballanalysis.com/article/alessio-dionisi-at-sassuolo-2021-22-scout-report-tactical-analysis-tactics) The same analysis identified defensive fragility, with goals frequently conceded after losses of possession in advanced central areas during build-up play.[8](https://totalfootballanalysis.com/article/alessio-dionisi-at-sassuolo-2021-22-scout-report-tactical-analysis-tactics) On his own account of his method, he has said he never forced a team to play according to his tactical beliefs, aiming instead to make the most of each player's abilities.[6](https://cdnmedia.mapei.com/docs/realta-mapei-international/000_rm_int_87_pdf_sito.pdf)
## Palermo and return to Empoli
Dionisi led Palermo from 1 July 2024 to 15 June 2025, taking the club through 41 matches at 1.34 points per match in Serie B.[1](https://www.transfermarkt.com/alessio-dionisi/stationen/trainer/36126)
In October 2025 he returned to Empoli, replacing Guido Pagliuca after the seventh matchday of the [2025-26 Serie B](https://www.edgepedia.org/2025-26-serie-b) season. Empoli's early form under Pagliuca had produced nine points from seven matches, and the change was made to redirect a season already drifting from its objectives.[9](https://www.pianetaempoli.it/dionisi-rescinde-con-lempoli/) The second spell lasted 21 matches at 1.05 points per match, and he was dismissed on 10 March 2026, nine matchdays before the end of the season.[1](https://www.transfermarkt.com/alessio-dionisi/stationen/trainer/36126) • [9](https://www.pianetaempoli.it/dionisi-rescinde-con-lempoli/) On 10 June 2026, Empoli announced the consensual termination of his contract along with that of his staff members Luca Vigiani, Paolo Cozzi, and Fabio Spighi.[10](https://www.empolifc.it/my-post255c852a)
## Watford
Watford appointed Dionisi as head coach on a two-year contract on 15 June 2026, replacing Ed Still, who had been sacked on 3 May after less than three months in charge and a 4-0 defeat to Coventry City in his final game; Watford had finished 16th in the 2025-26 Championship, 16 points outside the play-off places.[2](https://bbc.com.im/sport/football/articles/c4g421020n9o) Sporting director Gianluca Nani said the club had sought an experienced coach who had won leagues and been promoted.[2](https://bbc.com.im/sport/football/articles/c4g421020n9o) Dionisi became the fifth Italian manager hired by Watford under the Pozzo family's ownership and the club's 12th head coach, not counting interim appointments, since the end of the 2020-21 season, and the 24th since the Pozzo takeover in 2012.[2](https://bbc.com.im/sport/football/articles/c4g421020n9o) He brought Vigiani back to Vicarage Road as an analyst, with Fabio Spighi as head of physical performance.[2](https://bbc.com.im/sport/football/articles/c4g421020n9o)
## References
1. [Alessio Dionisi - History, Transfermarkt](https://www.transfermarkt.com/alessio-dionisi/stationen/trainer/36126)
2. [Watford appoint Dionisi as head coach, BBC Sport](https://bbc.com.im/sport/football/articles/c4g421020n9o)
3. [Alessio Dionisi - stats and career, FotMob](https://www.fotmob.com/players/300231/alessio-dionisi)
4. [Ceramicanda, anno 13 numero 275, 3 July 2021](https://www.ceramicanda.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/D275-1.pdf)
5. [Lo scouting del mister: Alessio Dionisi, Football Scouting](https://www.footballscouting.it/match-analysis/lo-scouting-del-mister-alessio-dionisi/)
6. [Realta Mapei International no. 87, Mapei](https://cdnmedia.mapei.com/docs/realta-mapei-international/000_rm_int_87_pdf_sito.pdf)
7. [Alessio Dionisi - Performance details: National leagues, Transfermarkt](https://www.transfermarkt.com/alessio-dionisi/leistungsdatenLigenNational/trainer/36126)
8. [Alessio Dionisi Tactics At Sassuolo 2021/2022, Total Football Analysis](https://totalfootballanalysis.com/article/alessio-dionisi-at-sassuolo-2021-22-scout-report-tactical-analysis-tactics)
9. [UFFICIALE | Dionisi rescinde con l'Empoli, PianetaEmpoli](https://www.pianetaempoli.it/dionisi-rescinde-con-lempoli/)
10. [Comunicato ufficiale, Empoli Football Club](https://www.empolifc.it/my-post255c852a)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Association football › Football people and teams › People › Men's footballers of continental Europe › Italian footballers born before 1995 › Surnames A to Ma*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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