Patrick Vieira and Genoa part ways after the club's worst start in the Italian league's history.

His future on the Genoa bench seemed compromised. Patrick Vieira, former French international and 1998 World Cup winner, was dismissed on Saturday, November ^1st , by Genoa, bottom of the Italian football league ( ^20th , 3 points), still searching for a victory in Serie A this season.

Following a sixth defeat in nine matches, on Wednesday against Cremonese (0-2), the French tactician had nonetheless been confirmed in his position by the club's management. Two days later, they had also decided to part ways with Marco Ottolini, their sporting director. But following another meeting, held on Saturday morning, Genoa and the French coach ultimately decided to end their collaboration, announced in a brief statement: "Genoa announces that Patrick Vieira is no longer in charge of its first team."

Appointed to the Genoa bench midway through the 2024-2025 season, Patrick Vieira had managed to keep Genoa ( ^13th , 43 points) in Serie A, with a comfortable lead over the first relegated club. A feat he has been unable to repeat this year. A quarter of the championship has already been played and the record is dismal: three draws, six defeats, and no wins – the worst start for a club that is among the oldest in Italy.

Retired from playing for almost fifteen years, after a successful career – notably with Arsenal (more than 400 matches played between 1996 and 2005) – Patrick Vieira has since dispensed his tactics on the benches of five clubs, since his first appointment at New York City FC in 2015. With consistently mixed results, and two difficult spells in the French league: first at OGC Nice (2018-2020), then more recently at Strasbourg (2023-2024).

After this latest dismissal, the professional future of the 49-year-old "Octopus" is uncertain, and the "Big Four" – namely the four major European football leagues, including Germany, Italy, England and Spain – now only has one French coach, in the person of Régis Le Bris.

The former Lorient coach, appointed at Sunderland in the summer of 2024, has led this English giant back to the Premier League after years of languishing in the lower divisions. His record continues to improve, with the Black Cats currently sitting fourth in the English league. In contrast, the record of French coaches is gradually fading: the Breton tactician is now the last French representative managing a major foreign club.