The 2017 UEFA Under-21 championship was held back in June. Italy played Germany in the group stage and beat them 1-0. All 11 of Italy's starters had Serie A experience. Italy topped their group, ahead of Germany. Germany did eventually win the Under 21 championship, while Italy got knocked out in the semifinals by Spain. The 2013 team was loaded, with Verratti, Florenzi, Immobile, Insigne, Gabbiadini, Destro, Bertolacci, among others, but lost in the Final. The future still looks bright, especially with the performance of the 2017 team and the 2013 team hitting their primes over the next 5 years.
If Uefa cared enough about preserving the cultural identity of each euro domestic league and if they cared enough about maintaining a balance, even just a modest balance , among all different clubs / leagues so that even good smaller clubs could still have a chance today like they once did , thereby narrowing the gap just a little and therefore improving the overall competition in Europe they would enforce and expedite such measures they speak of. Of course , as we all are aware , they don't care anymore for each leagues' cultural identity and balance , so they don't enforce anything really....It's all about the money , more than ever now , and it's just a few mega clubs going far each year. Not much diversity anymore , and no where near the amount of legendary players we once had throughout all Europe. The EU and the Bosman ruling effectively has ruined how great all of Euro football used to be in every aspect. From the European Cup ( aka UCL now ) all the way to each countries' domestic league and national squad. This is only my opinion of course , but there was certainly a reason why we once had so many legends ( an abundance really ) across so many different nations/leagues before the Bosman ruling and the EU formation fvcked it all up. That can't be a coincidence.
It doesn't seem to have prevented France, Germany and Spain (and even England nowadays) from maintaining elite club and national teams.
No, this was a friendly in Germany, maybe 2016 and while some Italian under 21 players had Serie A experience, it wasn't comparable to what the German under 21 players had in the Bundesliga.
No , you're missing the argument . In context , elite by today's standards vs the legendary quality of yesteryear are 2 very different things. And I wouldn't put England in the category of elite just yet. Yes , they always manage to qualify , but they also always flop come tourney time to someone they are " supposed " to beat ...Iceland?? Also as far as elite clubs teams go , the only league head and shoulders above the rest is Spain's La Liga ( with basically Barca and Real really ) . Then England , Italy and Germany are very close in the coefficients as 2nd , 3rd and 4th respectively.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_coefficient In context the French , German and Spanish national teams of the 90's/early 2000's had more depth of legendary talent than can ever be compared to today and it was even like this across many different smaller euro national squads. Even squads like Bulgaria ( Stoichkov etc? ) , Czech Rep ( Nedved etc? ) , Romania ( Hagi etc? ) , Yugoslavia ( Milosevic etc? ) when put in context had much more quality and were much more competitive in the 90's/early 2000's. Croatia was it it's strongest in the late 90's early 2000's. Just because Germany , Spain and France stand out in today's national football world doesn't mean there hasn't been a big drop off in legendary quality , throughout all of Europe , when you put it into context. Euro football across all nations and leagues was much better and much more competitive in the 90's and early 2000's.....We had an abundance of players from all different countries always heavily competing for the Ballon D'Or and Fifa World Player....and now it's just... Ronaldo really or Messi.....that isn't a coincidence imo. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballon_d'Or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_World_Player_of_the_Year https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_Ballon_d'Or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Best_FIFA_Men's_Player