Former West Ham player rebuilding his coaching career back in his home city
During the 2013/14 campaign, West Ham United were battling relegation. Andy Carroll was injured, and the squad needed a boost in January. In came Antonio Nocerino and Marco Borriello on loan from AC Milan and AS Roma, respectively.
Both players who are from Naples originally did not have much of an impact. Borriello made just two appearances before, in typical West Ham striker style, getting injured. Nocerino played 10 times for the Hammers.
Most of his games were as a substitute, but he played 90 minutes against Arsenal. The Hammers lost 3-1 that day, but Nocerino got only a late cameo in the next game against Crystal Palace. That was his final game for West Ham before he returned to Milan. West Ham managed to survive under Sam Allardyce, eventually finishing 13th in the Premier League table.
Nocerino was not at West Ham long, but he was popular amongst supporters. He embraced the club and regularly posted West Ham content on his Instagram page.
The midfielder then had loans at Torino and Parma before making a permanent switch to MLS with Orlando City. He would finish his playing career back in Italy with Benevento. However, he would return to America as a youth coach for Orlando.
Antonio Nocerino's coaching career has not been linear
Then he returned to his homeland as the academy manager of Potenza. His first coaching job in senior football was back in the United States with Miami FC. However, he won just three of his 33 games in charge of the USL Championship side.
Despite his poor record with Miami, Nocerino would also manage in the division with the Las Vegas Lights. However, he was sacked after winning just five of his 16 matches in the dugout for the Las Vegas Lights.
Despite being from Naples, Nocerino never played for them. However, he is now back in his home city, managing their U19 side. They have the same Champions League fixtures as the senior side. Yesterday, Nocerino's side defeated Bodo/Glimt 1-0. Napoli's senior side also defeated the Norwegian side 4-3, which eased pressure on Antonio Conte. Napoli have had a bad start to the season and are currently ninth in Serie A.
Credit must go to Nocerino for taking the step back into youth football in order to go forward. He clearly has the determination to succeed as a manager. The Italian is also only 41, so he should have a long career in coaching ahead of him.
As for the Italian who joined West Ham at the same time as Nocerino, Borriello appears to be doing just fine. He finished his career with UD Ibiza and now works on their board. Ibiza is a popular holiday party destination, so it sounds like Borriello will be enjoying his time there.
