We have 60 million people and many great athletes in Italia. Hell, we are right there for the most medals at the Winter Olympics. So, why do let let the business of calcio ruin us so badly and no one does anything about it? Sometimes I think we just don't respect ourselves or have pride in ourselves. If you hear Italians in Italy talk about stranieri, you would think they are Gods. Instead, with fellow Italians we just beat ourselves up and are invidiosi. I'm starting to think a lot of this is cultural. In the past, it was masked by the sheer amount of kids playing calcio and the cream rising to the top. Now, that has dried up, and the broken system and cultural flagellation remains.
We all scratch our heads, but it's pretty simple when you look at this crap. Look at the trend line below. We are now at our LOWEST EVER: Era / Season Italian Player % (Approx.) Context 1990–1991 ~80%+ Strict 3-foreigner limit per team. 2010–2011 ~53% First time foreigners approached a 50/50 split. 2023–2024 ~36% Continued decline despite "homegrown" quotas. 2024–2025 ~33% A record low for Italians in starting lineups. 2025–2026 ~31.5% Current record low for total registered players.
Italy having a fine Olympics. Which is understandable given hosts usually do well. But, Italy, France, Germany, US, even add South Korea are the few nations that often finish top 7 or 10 in the medal count in both Games so this is not an eye opener. Many of these athletes were probably inspried as children when the 2006 Games in Torino were held. China just fell off from their medal haul at their home Olympics 4 years ago.
Serious question...if we miss our 3rd straight WC -- the ultimate low in our storied history -- will we actually see change? I predict none. There will be 2 days of whining and complaining and then everyone will go buy cheap Danes and 2nd tier Spaniards/Argentinians. If I could actually believe that we would see fundamental systemic change from missing our 3rd straight WC, I actually might be cheering for N. Ireland. But we all know that change won't happen. We'll just keep falling off the world stage with a whimper.
We do this to ourselves. Look how other countries have real limits on non-EU players OR they require a maximum amount of homegrown players. WE DON'T. (Note: no one can limit EU players because of the stupid and corrupt Bosman ruling determining that soccer players are workers under the Treaty of Rome). I wish people would stop saying other countries are the same as us. They aren't. WE ARE DUMB AND DO THIS TO OURSELVES. Key League Caps on Non-EU Players: La Liga (Spain): Maximum of three non-EU players can be named in a matchday squad. Players from certain African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries, often under the Cotonou Agreement, may not count against this quota due to specific legal exemptions. Serie A (Italy): Clubs are limited to registering a maximum of two new non-EU players per season. The old rule of registration being contingent on selling or transferring existing non-EU players to free up slots was removed in 2024. Ligue 1 (France): Allows four non-EU foreign players. Similar to Spain, agreements with African countries mean many players from former colonies are exempt. Premier League (England): No specific limit on non-EU players, but squads are limited to a maximum of 17 "non-homegrown" players, with the remaining 8 spots in a 25-man squad reserved for homegrown players. Post-Brexit, British players do not count as EU, and international players require governing body endorsement (GBE). Bundesliga (Germany): No strict limit on non-EU players, but teams must have a certain number of homegrown players (usually 12, with at least 4 from their own academy) to comply with Deutsche Fußball Liga (DFL) rules.
Btw, you all know that I think Bastoni is overrated as a pure defender. But that dive yesterday was horrific. I don't know why Serie A doesn't suspend players for such blatant dives and cheating.
If Italy misses out on a 3rd straight World Cup , there should be a change but there won't be. Was there a change after 2018 or 2022? All I remember was a lot of the same complaints by pundits for the lack of Italian players in the Serie A but nothing happened and fans didn't seem to care. All that happened was Juve, Inter, Milan , Roma , Lazio and Fiorentina fans going right back to caring about their clubs or rather, which foreign player will or won't be signed. I've yet heard or read anything regarding the advancement or development of the Italian , domestic player. Or for that matter, what the national team will or won't do. Even after Italy won the Euro in 2021, fans celebrated for a few days , then right back to worrying about their clubs. Therefore, the short answer is, Nothing Will Change!
Curious seeing sympathy for juve of all clubs. Sportsmanship?? What about buffons behavior after the muntari non goal? Spare me juventini. A taste of your own poisonous nyquil!
If we miss out again (which is highly probable, unfortunately) I want to believe that changes will occur but realistically nothing will happen. I don't think Italy cares about the NT anymore, it's depressing. I spent the summer home in 2024, sure there was bars and what not showing the games but most people didn't care. When we got knocked out I was legitimately depressed, so much so that my dad had to ask me why I was so sad. When I told him I was depressed that we got embarrassed in the Euros he was like "Oh, you're still thinking about that? It's no big deal". I guess what I'm trying to say is that, for the most part, Italians prioritize club over country by a large margin and don't care about the stranieri majority in most Serie A teams, they just want their team to succeed at all costs. Just like it was stated earlier, people will moan and groan for a couple of days and it'll all be forgotten like it never happened. I have noticed that here (this forum) and other U.S based platforms, our NT is very important to us, we are literally the majority when it comes to the nazionale which is crazy.
For Italian fans living abroad, the national team is a sort of pride. When it comes to domestic, local club fans living in Italy, no one really cares that there are only 4-5 Italians on their rosters. As long as their clubs are winning or doing well, whether it be qualifying for the Champions, Europa or Conference Leagues, or getting cleared from relegation, the national team , who plays on average 5-7 games a year, will always be secondary. Fiorentina fans for example currently are only worrying about not getting relegated. Most can care less if Moise Kean will or won't play for Italy. As a matter fact, I think they would rather he didn't get picked so he can be fresh for Viola games. My cousins in Rome lose sleep when their clubs Lazio or Roma lose but never even think about national team losses. It's always been and will be about the clubs and that won't ever change.
Moving Spina to the right wasn’t my suggestion it was TorontoCalabria. And I agree, I wouldn’t do it either. I don’t have a strong opinion on who should be selected either way. I can see any of the players being a good pick. I just don’t think Gattuso is going to bring three 20 year old wingbacks who don’t have a cap between them in these crucial qualifiers. The only player I see as a lock is Palestra
New injury for Calafiori during warm-up. I doubt we can count on him for the playoffs with all these injuries. Pity, I always thought he is a must in our starting lineup
If we miss out on a 3rd straight World Cup, the FIGC will once again get gutted by CONI but then it’s a mystery as to what happens next. It will likely be a new crew of dinosaurs “who paid their dues” that will talk a big game but do nothing. Sit back and get a nice pay check. So far the only possible solutions I’ve heard is that they need to build more training centres around the country to better cultivate the younger talents. An idea pulled from other sports and other countries. But until there is more cooperation from the clubs, we’re always going to be spiralling downward. There needs to be better incentives for clubs to produce local talents. If that doesn’t work then they need to start imposing minimum roster spots and I don’t know how that would get enforced. The Italian pyramid system also needs to be revised. Serie C makes 0 sense. Systemic solutions aside, there also needs to be a deep philosophical rethink of the Italian methods in general. Only recently have people finally caught on that overemphasizing on tactics especially with youth doesn’t produce good players or good athletes.
Things are so bad for the Azzurri that i'm watching the Germany vs US Olympic hockey game and even the commentators are discussing how much the Azzurri are struggling internationally. FML.
At least Ghilardi has come on strong, there’s gonna be no other option but to try some of these young guys.
Politano is back so have to play Vergara on the other side and is gonna have to go back to the bench soon.
I don’t think so. Vergara had another solid game. I think he has become too important to bench at this point
1. Implement bonus points to clubs that feature over 80% Italians in Serie B. Points can be for promotion to Serie A. 2. Implement bonus points in Serie A to clubs that have more than 55% Italians. Points can only be used against getting relegated obly, not for winning the league or European spots. 3. Expand Serie B to 23 teams bring up 3 next gen teams (i.e. Milan's, Inters,.Atalanta) whoever. 4. Offer Serie A clubs financial assistance for bringing up and developing Italians. 5. Youth clubs must be 85% Italian. No bullshit that Lecce are getting away with at youth level. This season for example Fiorentina would be out of the relegation zone while Leece are in it and could risk going down. Venezia wouldn't be sitting in 1st place in Serie B. It's too bad I think the FIGC is corrupt or doesn't have balls to implement any real change. Missing world cups is a norm now. Also in the French league their is only 75-80 domestic players starting every weekend, Italy it's like 70 players, yet France are well ahead of Italy. Germany, England same thing.
The best french players play in leagues other than France because besides PSG there's no world class name teams. Juve, Milan, Inter, and to a lesser extent Napoli Roma hold more international weight. Top Italian players up until say 5 years ago were extremely unlikely to leave Italy for any other premier European league. For the most part they are mama's boys and prefer to stay close to home..lol