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Calcio Debate: Who Should Be The Next Coach Of Italy?
After a hugely unconvincing qualifying World Cup campaign that was characterised by a refusal to blood new faces, many Azzurri fans are already thinking of life after Marcello Lippi. Goal.com's Gil Gillespie draws up a list of candidates to take over the hotseat...
13-Oct-2009 7:15:15 PM
Lets not kid ourselves. Unless a fictional underground area that houses a particularly evil gentleman called Lucifer happens to freeze over between now and the beginning of next summer, Marcello Lippi will remain the coach of Italy and will be in charge at the World Cup in South Africa.
Even though the calm and thoughtful tactician has appeared to be a man who, perhaps understandingly, cannot let go of a glorious yesterday, no amount of fist-pounding and teeth-gnashing, not even by the most demanding football media in the world, can do anything to shift Lippi. But they might just shift his tactics and his refusal to select Antonio Cassano and a number of other players who should be regular members of the squad but aren't.
It will be a miracle if the team that struggled to penetrate a stubborn but starchy Irish rearguard manage to hang on to the golden trophy they lifted so convincingly in 2006.
So, presuming Marcello Lippi stands down after his 2010 farewell, who is in line to take over the hotseat for the Azzurri?
This, of course, is a question that has already been asked, and answered with the off-the-wall appointment of the criminally inexperienced Roberto Donadoni in time for Euro 2008. Donadoni may have been a patsy, someone to take the flack when the inevitable dip in form came after four electric weeks in Germany.
The FIGC cannot afford such folly this time around.
But with club football taking more of a precedence and offering considerably higher salaries these days, who are the possible candidates for the job?
Firstly, lets consider the coaches who are currently in-between jobs. The name that springs to mind immediately is former Roma coach Luciano Spalletti. The 50-year-old has the experience and perhaps more importantly, he would bring with him a bold and very progressive tactical approach. Spalletti is actually much more of a pragmatist than he is ever given credit for but he does have a history of employing a fluid and highly adventurous attacking system that would surely inspire the new generation of Italian talent that will be trying to stamp their mark on the team. Furthermore, Spalletti has been adored and respected wherever he has been and is an unflappable and dignified performer in front of the camera and the microphone. One drawback could be the recent rumours that the 50-year-old former Empoli midfielder has already agreed to take over at Milan next summer.
If not Spalletti, then how about Roberto Mancini? Mancini has surprisingly been out of a job since he left Inter two seasons ago. Why is Mancini’s extended period of rest a surprise? Because everyone assumed that the former Sampdoria and Lazio legend would have been one of the most sought after tacticians in Europe by now. Mancini is a
seriously smart operator and someone who rubs shoulders with people in very high places. As a footballer, his technique was imperious, effortless, sometimes beyond comprehension. And yet he only won 36 caps for his country and scored a meagre 4 goals. In truth, Mancio has always looked like someone with better things to do than devote his every waking hour to the ins and outs of the game. Furthermore, Mancini is not a patient man and does not suffer fools gladly, he is unlikely to respond well to the constant prodding and poking of the media circus that follows the Azzurri's every move.
Then there is the possibility of looking further afield. In November 2002, The Independent ran a story that claimed the soon-to-be England coach Sven Goran Eriksson had turned down the offer to take over from the soon-to-be-fired Giovanni Trapattoni as Italy coach. Would the Italian Football Federation entertain the idea of employing a foreign coach? No they would not. The Eriksson story was, needless to say, utter nonsense and typical of an English media desperate to cling onto the idea that looking for help beyond your own shores is an acceptable thing to do.
So you can rule out uber-disciplinarian Zdenek Zeman and his best mate Jose Mourinho, although the latter would certainly provide miles of decent copy and quite possibly a public execution to rival that of Benito Mussolini's.
So what about those Italian coaches already working in the top flight?
Fiorentina's extremely tactically astute Cesare Prandelli would be perfect for the job and may fancy the challenge after spending the best part of five years with the Viola. Genoa's Gian Piero Gasperini needs a little more time in the white heat of Serie A before he is ready.
And then there are very capable wild cards such as Italy's 1982 World Cup winning legends Antonio Cabrini and Claudio Gentile. Cabrini was recently plying his trade as Syria national team coach and then went into politics about a year ago and Gentile, who always looked like an excellent tactician, has been without a job since he was somewhat irresponsibly replaced by Pierluigi Casiraghi as boss of the Italy Under-21 team.
There are also two coaches currently working in England who definitely have the credentials for the job. England boss Fabio Capello and Chelsea's Carlo Ancelotti are two of the most respected and decorated coaches anywhere in the world and they are both in the autumn of their careers. Maybe the Italy job would suit one of them.
Capello insists he is retiring after the 2010 World Cup and there are rumours of bad blood between him and the football authorities in Italy anyway. FICG head Giancarlo Abate may also consider him tarnished goods after he made his desire to coach England so public. So that just leaves Ancelotti.
"I would like to coach Italy after the World Cup. And with Cassano too. I would want him,'' said ‘Carletto’ recently, sounding more than a little homesick.
Carletto, perfect for the job?
Although he seems to have settled well in west London, there is a very real sense that Ancelotti didn't really want to leave Italy in the first place.
If the Azzurri needed him and were prepared to compensate Chelsea, Ancelotti surely wouldn't turn them down.
Until then, we are stuck with Lippi. But, at some point in the middle of next year, Italy are going to have to cast their gaze beyond South Africa. Maybe they need to start shouting now, if they want to make sure Ancelotti, or one of the other equally suitable candidates, hears the call.
Gil Gillespie, Goal.com
Even though the calm and thoughtful tactician has appeared to be a man who, perhaps understandingly, cannot let go of a glorious yesterday, no amount of fist-pounding and teeth-gnashing, not even by the most demanding football media in the world, can do anything to shift Lippi. But they might just shift his tactics and his refusal to select Antonio Cassano and a number of other players who should be regular members of the squad but aren't.
It will be a miracle if the team that struggled to penetrate a stubborn but starchy Irish rearguard manage to hang on to the golden trophy they lifted so convincingly in 2006.
Lippi's old selection policy has been criticised
So, presuming Marcello Lippi stands down after his 2010 farewell, who is in line to take over the hotseat for the Azzurri?
This, of course, is a question that has already been asked, and answered with the off-the-wall appointment of the criminally inexperienced Roberto Donadoni in time for Euro 2008. Donadoni may have been a patsy, someone to take the flack when the inevitable dip in form came after four electric weeks in Germany.
The FIGC cannot afford such folly this time around.
But with club football taking more of a precedence and offering considerably higher salaries these days, who are the possible candidates for the job?
Firstly, lets consider the coaches who are currently in-between jobs. The name that springs to mind immediately is former Roma coach Luciano Spalletti. The 50-year-old has the experience and perhaps more importantly, he would bring with him a bold and very progressive tactical approach. Spalletti is actually much more of a pragmatist than he is ever given credit for but he does have a history of employing a fluid and highly adventurous attacking system that would surely inspire the new generation of Italian talent that will be trying to stamp their mark on the team. Furthermore, Spalletti has been adored and respected wherever he has been and is an unflappable and dignified performer in front of the camera and the microphone. One drawback could be the recent rumours that the 50-year-old former Empoli midfielder has already agreed to take over at Milan next summer.
Spalletti: Astute, capable and available
If not Spalletti, then how about Roberto Mancini? Mancini has surprisingly been out of a job since he left Inter two seasons ago. Why is Mancini’s extended period of rest a surprise? Because everyone assumed that the former Sampdoria and Lazio legend would have been one of the most sought after tacticians in Europe by now. Mancini is a
seriously smart operator and someone who rubs shoulders with people in very high places. As a footballer, his technique was imperious, effortless, sometimes beyond comprehension. And yet he only won 36 caps for his country and scored a meagre 4 goals. In truth, Mancio has always looked like someone with better things to do than devote his every waking hour to the ins and outs of the game. Furthermore, Mancini is not a patient man and does not suffer fools gladly, he is unlikely to respond well to the constant prodding and poking of the media circus that follows the Azzurri's every move.
Then there is the possibility of looking further afield. In November 2002, The Independent ran a story that claimed the soon-to-be England coach Sven Goran Eriksson had turned down the offer to take over from the soon-to-be-fired Giovanni Trapattoni as Italy coach. Would the Italian Football Federation entertain the idea of employing a foreign coach? No they would not. The Eriksson story was, needless to say, utter nonsense and typical of an English media desperate to cling onto the idea that looking for help beyond your own shores is an acceptable thing to do.
So you can rule out uber-disciplinarian Zdenek Zeman and his best mate Jose Mourinho, although the latter would certainly provide miles of decent copy and quite possibly a public execution to rival that of Benito Mussolini's.
So what about those Italian coaches already working in the top flight?
Fiorentina's extremely tactically astute Cesare Prandelli would be perfect for the job and may fancy the challenge after spending the best part of five years with the Viola. Genoa's Gian Piero Gasperini needs a little more time in the white heat of Serie A before he is ready.
And then there are very capable wild cards such as Italy's 1982 World Cup winning legends Antonio Cabrini and Claudio Gentile. Cabrini was recently plying his trade as Syria national team coach and then went into politics about a year ago and Gentile, who always looked like an excellent tactician, has been without a job since he was somewhat irresponsibly replaced by Pierluigi Casiraghi as boss of the Italy Under-21 team.
There are also two coaches currently working in England who definitely have the credentials for the job. England boss Fabio Capello and Chelsea's Carlo Ancelotti are two of the most respected and decorated coaches anywhere in the world and they are both in the autumn of their careers. Maybe the Italy job would suit one of them.
Capello insists he is retiring after the 2010 World Cup and there are rumours of bad blood between him and the football authorities in Italy anyway. FICG head Giancarlo Abate may also consider him tarnished goods after he made his desire to coach England so public. So that just leaves Ancelotti.
"I would like to coach Italy after the World Cup. And with Cassano too. I would want him,'' said ‘Carletto’ recently, sounding more than a little homesick.
Although he seems to have settled well in west London, there is a very real sense that Ancelotti didn't really want to leave Italy in the first place.
If the Azzurri needed him and were prepared to compensate Chelsea, Ancelotti surely wouldn't turn them down.
Until then, we are stuck with Lippi. But, at some point in the middle of next year, Italy are going to have to cast their gaze beyond South Africa. Maybe they need to start shouting now, if they want to make sure Ancelotti, or one of the other equally suitable candidates, hears the call.
Gil Gillespie, Goal.com
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