Andrea Pirlo has doubled down on his coaching philosophy despite his dismal spell in charge of Juventus, with the Italian legend insisting he would prefer to lose than change his ways after his chastening spell in Turin.
Pirlo, 42, was dismissed from his post at the Old Lady this summer, having finished fourth in Serie A while being dumped out of the Champions League by Porto in the last-16.
The Italian was often criticised for regularly fielding an ineffective midfield, while his unwillingness to make tactical changes during games would result in an alarming number of draws and defeats.
Yet Pirlo has insisted that he would not change his philosophy after one poor season, claiming he would rather lose than do things differently.
'I'm not going to change it because some of the results weren't good,' he told The Athletic. 'That's still how I think about the game — playing out from the back, looking to keep the ball, regaining possession as quickly as possible.
'A lot depends on the players you have available to you and what they enable you to do. Players are much more important than coaches. It's the coaches who must adapt.
'You've got these young coaches who want to do something different. For me, football is headed in that direction. Guardiola has shown that over the last few years. If you don't control the game, it's difficult to think you're going to win it.
'Of course, there might be times when you have 90 per cent of the ball and let in the only shot your opponent has on target but I prefer to lose that way than spend the entire game defending my own penalty area, trying to score a goal on the counter-attack.
'I learned a lot,' he added. 'It was my first experience as a coach but it was very intense because we started the season with only one friendly game. It all went very quickly.
'We played every three days, without fans, without being able to recover and without being able to train and prepare for the next game. It was difficult to try something new. Recovery was more important.'
Although Juventus failed to win the title, missing out on a tenth-successive Scudetto in the process as Inter took the crown, Pirlo believes his year in charge culminated in 'a lot of personal growth'.
Now, the 42-year-old is weighing up his options as to where he goes next. He says he would like to spend time at Manchester City's training base to watch Pep Guardiola operate, while Mauricio Pochettino has made a similar offer at PSG.
'It was a year in which I had a lot of personal growth,' Pirlo said. 'I'd like to go abroad. 'I spent three years in the US, so I have no problems with English and I speak French too. I feel like I can go anywhere.'
Juventus have since moved to re-appoint Massimiliano Allegri as manager, with the Italian tasked with regaining the Italian title in his first season in charge.
MyChEaL
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And that is just poor mentality. in football, there is no "best tactic", therefore, adjusting and adapting to new and different formations and tactics is the only way to improve your team and yourself as a coach.