Massimo Maccarone

Former Italy striker Maccarone spent four years as a team-mate of Southgate's at Middlesbrough, before playing his final six months at the Riverside Stadium under the tutelage of his former captain.

Maccarone had found himself out of favour under former boss Steve McLaren but was convinced to stay when Southgate took over ahead of the 2006-07 season.

But Maccarone made just one Premier League start and seven top-flight appearances in total before leaving for Siena in the January transfer window.

Southgate, who oversaw Boro's relegation in the 2008-09 campaign, has earned plenty of praise for his work with England, who he led to the World Cup semi-finals in Russia in 2018.

However, Maccarone was disappointed with his own personal treatment.

"I played the last seasons of his career with him and as a player he has always been correct, kind, humble," he told Stats Perform. 

"As a manager, though, I didn't like very much what he did to me. Besides I had already had some quarrels with his predecessor, Steve McLaren, another one who has managed England, when I reacted berating him a lot and then in hindsight I understood I had made some mistakes myself too. 

"But not with Southgate who talked me a lot into staying at Middlesborough, promising I would have played a lot since he knew well what had happened to me the season before. 

"But then, nothing even if we made seven points in the first six games. Big talks, no facts."

If things had played out differently, Maccarone could have been playing for Salzburg under Trappatoni, the man who had given him his Italy debut.

"When I was in England he was managing Salzburg in Austria," he added. 

"He had called me for one month to convince me to join him there but I still had a one year contract with Middlesborough and I wanted to prove myself there after a negative season despite some sparks in the UEFA Cup. 

"So I stayed with Southgate at Middlesborough when Trapattoni had made my dream of playing for Italy come true."

Asked if that is a decision he now regrets, Maccarone replied: "In hindsight yes. 

"But Southgate had been my team-mate and captain for four years. He kept telling me, 'I can't understand why [McLaren] doesn't let you play' but then when he became the manager he truncated my career at Boro.

"I said no to Trapattoni for Southgate but I should have done the opposite."

Empoli favourite Maccarone played at the Tuscan club when Sarri made his reputation there in a three-year stint that began in 2012, before the coach went on to Napoli, Chelsea and now Juventus.

Veteran boss Sarri only came to prominence in his early fifties, when Maccarone was a key figure in his Empoli side, just as Ronaldo now is at Juve.

And while 61-year-old Sarri has forged a plan to fit superstar Ronaldo alongside Gonzalo Higuain and Paolo Dybala in a three-man Juve attack, it was once the case that he had a quandary involving Maccarone.

Once he solved that puzzle, Empoli and Sarri went from strength to strength.

"At Empoli, the strikers were me and [Ciccio] Tavano, but he started with only one forward," Maccarone told Stats Perform.

"So, to let us both play – we were still young at 33 since we are still playing at 40 now, but still we were not so young – he adapted himself to the talent he had.

"This is when a manager proves to be smart. Ever since he changed the formation, we started getting points.

"Now he says, 'I have got Cristiano Ronaldo who will score at least one goal per game, so I have to adapt my style to his'."

Maccarone is a cult hero to many followers of Italian football, having returned from a spell in England with Middlesbrough to score regularly, largely for Siena and Empoli.

Still playing at the age of 40 for Serie C side Carrarese, he has fond memories of Sarri.

Maccarone and Tavano, who turned 41 last month, have taken their Empoli partnership to Carrara, where the veteran pair are again team-mates.

Sarri knew they were a potent partnership, which is why he ripped up his lone-striker policy at Empoli.

That flexibility was rewarded in the 2013-14 campaign when Empoli were promoted to Serie A, and a year later Sarri was on his way to Napoli, his home city club.

Looking back on Sarri's Empoli reign, Maccarone said: "At the beginning things didn't work out well, but there his style was born. I think he is one of the best managers I had.

"He gives you a lot of motivation and is a good talker. On the pitch you already know where, how and when you will receive the ball, then of course you have to add your spin.

"I like Sarri's way of playing football. When needed, he makes himself understood, he gets often angry because he wants everything perfect."