Teams like Torino, Hellas, Lecce and Udinese are all Italian owned. And they’re lucky if they field one Italian a game. I don’t think the ownership matters at this point. My broader point is that Italian tactics are moribund. 13/20 teams in Serie A play some form of 3-5-2. The top teams in Serie B play 3-5-2. It was at one time a nice tactical innovation 15 years ago, but now it has become the default setting of every coach in the country. It’s purely reactive. Doesn’t valourize talents and doesn’t work outside of Italy. Teams that don’t have any good wingbacks will still play just because it gives the coach the opportunity to insert another CB. And then here comes Cesc and just shows the entire country what happens when you set up your team to press hard. Aside from my hope that Como recruit good young Italian players, I really hope that Cesc inspires younger Italian coaches in the league.
For me, the idea that young Italian players need to leave the country is a bitter pill to swallow. I can't wrap my head around it. That is probably a sign that it is becoming true. I still believe Serie A can be a development ground. I guess the problem are the leaders - I see massive potential in Serie A and ways to reinvestment in youth development and prioritize Italians in the league, but if the leaders and coaches are too stubborn, then what is the point? I think what bothers me is if our youth is sent out to different leagues, do we lose our chance to re-establish an identity? Up until recently, I thought yes, we would suffer an even worse identity crisis. But then you've pointed out Reggiani recently. This could be a moment of sad reality for myself. I still remain stubborn and wish for more Italians to play in Serie A through good and bad. Also, with young Italians having to leave the country early, to me it opens the doors to vulture nations snapping them up under their national team declaration. Because in my opinion, the Italians are very weak at playing the diaspora game still. And you have to be open to it to really have a deep national setup these days. Now, in my opinion, tactically, it's time to kill the 3-5-2. Or ok, maybe not kill the tactic, but we need tactical flexibility in Serie A. I do not like Como, but if they are showing a different way to play in Serie A, then again this is an easier pill for me to swallow than young Italians having to be shuffled out of the league system. The former is difficult for me to admit to.
Watch fans booing Bastoni will ultimately drive him out of Italy. Rumor is he wants to join Barca and they are very interested. At least he will learn to play the 4-3-3.
I was checking the starting lineups for the 8 Champions league teams today and they all had a starting back 4.
They've actually been pretty good since January ... its a horrible season but its technically a historic turn around no team with the amount of point and losses they had by Christmas has ever not been relegated. Hopefully they can build something positive for next year. They have talent. It was a perfect storm to start the season with a tough schedule so many personal and tactical changes and the poor defence. The midfield has been good.
Gravina's New "Project" Basically he says we are going to emphasize technical skill over tactics in our youth systems and that will fix things. If only our young boys just play with the ball a little more, everything will be fine. Not only is this 15 years late, but it's kind of useless. The whole system is broken. Not enough kids are playing soccer to begin with in Italy. So, you have to make it fun again and get kids of all backgrounds and income levels to participate. That means funding for youth teams to take on low income kids that have talent. Next, you need a youth system that prioritizes talent over money. Do we have honest talent evaluators that are picking the most skilled/athletic players, or do we have a system of raccomandati and side deals? If it is the latter, how do we break it? How do we get clubs to INVEST in youth systems rather than cheap buys? None of this is addressed by Gravina's appointment of Prandelli and Viscidi to cheerlead about being more technical.
I hope Atalanta can somewhat redeem itself today, not winning the tie (it'll take a miracle) but at least try to win the game
Maybe Baggio’s 900 page report has the answer and they should go back and read it. Or see what Spain is doing. 15 years too late like you said.
🚨Following turning 18 years old & after a few weeks of the legal process, Honest Ahanor is OFFICIALLY an Italian citizen✅The dream was ALWAYS to dress AzzurriMarch Window Options🇮🇹:• Gattuso calls him up for Playoffs• Baldini calls him up for u21’s@TuttoMercatoWeb https://t.co/yiL59rOfm9 pic.twitter.com/IvEBWprwte— AzzurriXtra🇮🇹 (@XtraAzzurri) March 18, 2026
In a perfect world it would be nice for Italian talents to stay in Italy and develop and for the country to form an identity or rediscover the old one. However what is happening now in Italy? What is the zeitgeist? What is the current culture? It’s all going in the wrong direction. Most coaches go to 3-5-2 because it feeds in to the more cynical aspects of Italian football philosophy. Over the course of years what do you think that does to player development? And even worse player recruitment? One of my favorite Mazzarri stories is when ADL had full agreements with both Verratti and Pescara for his transfer of 12 million. And Mazzarri told ADL “With all due respect, you can buy the player, but I’m never going to let the little boy play.” And just like that the deal was dead and Marco went to PSG. This happened in 2012 but understand that Italy is a country filled with coaches who see the game exactly like Mazzarri.
This is a really good video from Samuele Mandaro who is a match analyst and does the Gazzetto Dello Sport podcast. Here he highlights why Inter and the national team have difficulty unlocking teams that play with a low block. And it’s because both are overly reliant on Dimarco’s left foot. Some stats from the last 50 scoring chances created by both Italy and Inter: - 62% of all of Italy’s scoring chances came from Dimarco’s left foot. Those were from crosses, set pieces and shots from distance. - almost identical for inter at 54% Both teams suffer from not having a plan B. Both Italy and Inter don’t have wingers that are able to unlock defences
It is a worry as every team we face in the playoffs likely will sit back in a low block. we really need to score as early as possible. or we need to be extremely brave and play a 433/442. it is no wonder that we were much better in the nations league against France Belgium Germany than we were in qualifying. We are set up to spoil top nations not to break down smaller ones. We also treated Norway like a small nation and they killed us on the counter.
It never ends with this team. 🚑 Concern: Sandro TonaliSandro Tonali looks to have picked up a knock… not moving comfortably at all Hopefully nothing serious, but that didn’t look good 👀 pic.twitter.com/V2dr7kvNY8— Injury Time Doc 🩺 (@Blues_Alfred) March 18, 2026