WHAT'S NEXT FOR ITALY?

Michael Nardi

We are getting close to the first anniversary of Italy’s Euro victory over England, however, that isn’t the focus amongst Italians. Since that victory, Italy missed out on the World Cup and has seen many players drop off from their sensational Euros form. After 2018’s disastrous World Cup miss, it feels like a bad dream all over again in 2022.

The same narratives around Italian football have come back, and continue to haunt the national team. Is Italian Football intense enough for modern football? Is the youth system of Italy in dire need of a revamp? Is it time to move on from older players in favour of youth? Even after a historic Euro victory, it seemed to have masked the problems surrounding Italian football.

The current state of the side is an interesting one, with the fanbase torn between the path the team needs to take to get back to glory. If the disappointing 3-0 thrashing against Argentina in the Finalissima was any indication of the current state of Italy, it would suggest big changes are coming. These Nations League fixtures have given Mancini and his staff a chance to return to the position he inherited back in 2018, and experiment with who fits his style of play.

He used friendly matches and games against lesser opposition to try a wide range of players, mostly younger than 25. This gave him enough time to pick out a core of players such as Federico Chiesa, Nicolo Barella, Gianluigi Donnarumma, and Alessandro Bastoni.

Now in 2022, he has looked to call on promising players such as Gianluca Scammaca, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Wilfried Gnonto, and Giacomo Raspadori to lead the next crop for Italy. Most of these players impressed in Italy’s 1-1 draw against Germany, where the Germans fielded many of Europe’s best players, especially 18-year-old Inter loanee Gnonto who assisted Lorenzo Pellegrini, causing lots of discussion amongst fans for his impressive display.

Italy has Hungary and England in their Nations League group as well and it is of big importance as it can give automatic qualification to Euro 2024. This high-level competition will only make each player better as many haven’t played in the big games in their career.

It will give us Italians a look into what the future holds and if one thing is certain with Italy, patience is what is needed with this national team. Football is an unpredictable sport especially at the national team level. You never know who will break through the ranks and surprise everyone.