ADL: Calcio is not working By Football Italia staff Aurelio De Laurentiis has called on Italian football to protect clubs from financial ruin and to remove limitations on non-EU players. The Napoli President has considered the state of Serie A and calcio amid the continued debate over the Italian national team’s early exit from the 2014 World Cup. “It was impossible to think that in the presence of such a situation like that, we could go further,” De Laurentiis has told the Corriere dello Sport today. “Football in Italy is not working and I am not supporting this, but they say that among the budgets [at clubs], 70 per cent are close to bankruptcy. “The moment has come where it is imperative to create conditions for clubs, to allow them to live and prosper and not to walk towards the abyss. “It must affect things in a profound way, because in Serie A, sometimes also in B and C, there are considerable costs. We need an authoritative policy, that is able to modify this trend. “Looking back, what I was not convinced about and am still not convinced about is the outdated mentality and unproductive institutions of football. “The past records do not count. The ideas, yes. It is imperative to remain young at heart, to be able to look to the future. “Who is voted as FIGC President cannot be contaminated and culturally conditioned only by the past. Unfortunately in Italian football, there is a heavy dose of provincialism that prevents the system from embarking on distant objectives.” De Laurentiis considered the continued push to develop stronger academies at clubs. “We have always believed in this and continue to do so, that Italian academies can solve the problems. “But this is partly true and partly false, as shown by the World Cup, as emphasised by Belgium’s ability to shine. “They export their talent, yes, but they also have no limits for the importation of foreigners.” The movie mogul was asked what he would introduce to the Italian game to change things. “The ability to use non-EU players without constraints, with no limits. Why should the Federation be able to decide the policy of the club? “An entrepreneur must combine factors of production in total freedom and without trappings placed anachronistically and independently by the institutions. “A Federation must not prohibit, but look to build and if they do, will there be only one Buffon, only one Chiellini, only one Immobile, only one Insigne? “You have to give everyone the chance to go abroad and buy outside of the EU, as already happens in other European counties such as Belgium, Portugal and so on, to encourage competition through the expertise of those responsible for buying and hearing the needs of their Coach. “In this way we would increase the level of our football and with it the level of the Italian players in the team and this would also benefit the national team.” De Laurentiis considered his rise with Napoli over the past decade. “I had to build from scratch a new club and I had to deal with particular situations, with tension transmitted in trying to get back to Serie A whilst instead we still faced the difficulties and complexities of C and B. “And then we returned to among the greats, to compete at the highest levels first in Italy and then in Europe. “But, we have done this as Napoli and I feel the satisfaction of having taken steps, in our own small way, towards a turning points - Financial Fair Play was not the only move to show that there are alternative ways to go.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ God bless this man
He's got the academy thing right, not so sure about the foreigner thing. The problem is that one (the latter) without the former world be more disastrous and of course lifting the limit is the easier of the two to occur. He may be arguing the former as a smoke screen to continue buying cheaper players elsewhere. Reform of Italian football needs to start with improved academies, then with giving them the time to improve skills in league. The Belgian league comparison is also apples and oranges because as much as Serie A has fallen its still much more competitive than the Belgian league, therefore their talent has to be exported in order to grow and there is a need to bring in cheaper foreigners to fill up spots. If you want to go in that direction just look at the resultant effect on that league as proof that it is not a great idea.
I think ADL just wants to use his pipeline to South America to improve his club. That's about all. * Not that I'm knocking him though. His opinion seems to be that players like Buffon and co. can't be manufactured, they're just born, and you need luck. So the next best thing to do is make the league as good as possible (e.g. EPL) and hope that raises the level all round.
I thought DeLa was clear, under how the current setup Italy is, you need to be incredibly special as an italian player to make it, like a Buffon, Chiellini, Immobile or Insigne. With clubs being piss broke, the alternative would be to use Italian players MORE, but theres a lot of politics in academies and its frankly a hunk of BS, Spain is worse off than Italy yet their youth development is far ahead of Italy's
I'm still uncertain at how far ahead it is, but they're certainly better at giving their youth opportunities to further develop in league and that's really where it all comes together, isn't it? With that, the real focus in Italy is to make better use of the talent coming through on big teams, but the fact remains that teams are unfortunately continuing to opt for cheaper alternatives than the more expensive local/domestic talent, so I think Dela is wrong for suggesting any limit be removed because it will IMO take teams further away from grooming the domestics. In this regard both Spain and Germany are ahead. Only the very best German product is exported but their teams are still the major grooming place for their other products. The BL doesn't have as many foreigners as Serie A. At least I don't think so currently. I know this was true a few years back.
i just wrote my thoughts on this which were longish then something happened and said server error, but i didnt even post it or load anything up as i was stil typing, ********ing cunts, i will retype later as im gonna go get a bite
FIGC is crap, they botched getting TWO EURO CUPS that would have improved the stadiums and infrastructure. Morons.
as calcio pauly said lifting the opposition to foreign talent in serie A , especially in it's current state without first developing youth academies and youth in general is a BAD BAD BAD idea....Serie A would become a poor man's EPL
What a total capitalist. You can see he doesn't care either way about the Italian NT as long as he can get his greedy hands on cheap foreign players.
you think any other president gives two ********s about the national team LOL they want whatever makes them the most green from Juve to Juve Stabia.
dela is right about some of the things he said but what he said didnt make sense to me in regards to the debate which wasnt how can we bring in more money but how can we get talant back on top, his comments were purley about what would benefit his pockets, with the NON-EU restriction it means clubs lose out to more talant to euro clubs thus if they turn into stars then the top italian clubs have to pay big bucks to aquire their services, im not convinced dela wants to invest in the youth either , he has the money yet we are still lagging behind at napoli even after benitez has made dela take some action im baffeled by how he thinks a non eu limit is going to solve our youth problems, which are not as big as it apears, the real problems are the old guys in charge and old style managers too scared to play youngster even though they arent getting any better results with the oldies, anyone over 46 is no good for calcio imo
Case in point...Look at all the average 30-something Argentinians occupying starting roles and the bench on Catania and tell me they can't find places for local youth? It's not like they could do that much worse!
exactly, then look at sasuolo, an all italian team with some youngsters who played good football and avoided the drop
If they were to have a limit of two-three italian players on the field per team I would have no issue with having unlimited non-eu players. I remember someone saying that might be against uefa regulations, but here's hoping. To be honest I don't care if a player is Chinese, brazilian, or spanish, at the end of the day I only care about the future of italian soccer on both the domestic and international stages.
Siena President resigns By Football Italia staff Siena President Massimo Mezzaroma has resigned to “help the club’s sale” as bankruptcy looms. The Serie B side risks not being able to register for the 2014-15 campaign due to on-going financial problems. This evening President Mezzaroma tended his resignation, as “I do not want to be an obstacle to the sale of AC Siena and instead assure my utmost effort to aid the passage of the club to someone who can guarantee its continuation.” The Tuscans had been in Serie A from 2003 to 2010, then again from 2011 to 2013. Siena suffered the effects of the bankruptcy of their main sponsors, the Banca Montepaschi di Siena, in a huge financial scandal.
You are right. That's why the FIGC has to create a domestic player quota if possible. At least Juve has always had a strong Italian core and a strong presence on the NT.
I don't think limits on non eu players is related the development issues. There should be no limits. Clubs are a business and developing local talent is always cheaper.
England's problem is not that the league is full of foreigners, it's that no English players play abroad. When nationals are overvalued to the extent they are in England, it creates huge financial disincentives to go broaden your opportunities and experience. Why struggle along in the Dutch league at age 19 and get your boots scuffed while earning relative peanuts, when you could be earning millions to ride the bench at home and still be an idol? This problem is not as severe in Italy, although the very best players do stay in Serie A generally, midlevel players and young players go abroad far more often than the English. This is the factor that should be promoted and enhanced. The relative poverty of calcio compared to English footy economically actually helps in this way. Also the fact that even in the lower leagues teams play tactically. There is literally nothing positive a player can learn in the Championship or below due to the primitiveness, its merely a place to pick up bad habits., whereas in Serie B there are good coaches and good clubs, who instill the ability to play the game. So I think that Italy is not in nearly as bad a shape as England, not due to any savvy of FIGC, they are hopeless, but structurally, the conditions do not favor the total squelching of development the way the English setup does. And I don't think the rules of foreigners changing one way or another will really alter that.