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Is Gennaro Gattuso the right manager to lead Italy’s revival?

Is Gennaro Gattuso the right manager to lead Italy’s revival?

Shiriki

Italy are at risk of missing a third World Cup in-a-row and have made a desperate managerial change to turn around their fortunes.

By Graham Ruthven

Gennaro Gattuso is synonymous with a certain era of Italian glory. Picture the Azzurri winning the World Cup in 2006 and the combative midfielder will be one of the players that immediately comes to mind along with the likes of Fabio Cannavaro, Andrea Pirlo and Gianluigi Buffon. Gattuso is an icon.

Whether he will be a good national team manager, however, is open to debate. Hired as Luciano Spalletti’s replacement last week, the 47-year-old is now responsible for ending Italy’s World Cup drought by guiding the Azzurri to the 2026 tournament. That in itself has made some supporters fearful.

While Gattuso was an elite level player, his management career to date hasn’t been so successful. The Italy job is his 10th different management position yet Gattuso hasn’t made much of an impression, at least not a positive one, at any of his previous teams. Gattuso won the Coppa Italia as Napoli boss, but lasted just 18 months at the club.

Most recently, Gattuso was in charge of Hajduk Split in Croatia. Hajduk led the way for much of the season and it looked like Gattuso would finally end Dinamo Zagreb’s iron grip on the title (Zagreb, coincidentally, were led by Cannavaro for a brief period), but ultimately the campaign ended in disappointment. Hajduk slipped to third, winning just two of their last eight games. Gattuso was also a volatile figure during his time in Croatia, making a habit of arguing with his own fans and even storming a TV studio to confront a pundit who criticised his tactics. He was let go at the end of the season.

In the words of Gabriele Gravina, the FIGC president, Gattuso is “a symbol of Italian football.” This might be true, but perhaps not in the way Gravina intended because many see the appointment of Gattuso as reflective of a soccer nation in generational trouble. Italy has fallen a long way behind the curve in recent times and Gattuso can do very little to change that.

Gattuso inherits the weakest Italian national team in a generation. Many believe this is the weakest Azzurri side ever, pointing to a lack of elite level talent throughout the squad. When Italy last won the World Cup in 2006, they boasted a team of superstars. This was the norm for the Azzurri. 

Now, Italy are struggling for just one superstar. Gianluigi Donnarumma is a Champions League winner and one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Alessandro Bastoni is also an exceptional centre back with Nicolo Barella one of the most accomplished two-way midfielders in the game right now. Beyond these three, though, Italy’s squad is distinctly mediocre. 

It’s been this way for a while. The pipeline of young talent into the Italian national team stopped flowing freely a number of years ago with Italy’s failure to qualify for a World Cup since 2014 a reflection of this. 

In Serie A this season, players age 21 and under received 8.2% of all minutes played. In LaLiga, that number stood at 14.5%. The contrast is even starker when considering Spanish champions Barcelona gave 38.3% of their total minutes to players age 21 or under. The Italian champions Napoli, on the other hand, didn’t play a single player age 21 or under. It was the same for Inter Milan.

There are many theories on why Italy has stopped producing young players. Some point to the influx of outside investment in Serie A clubs and an increased drive to sign players from abroad. Others claim the problem is societal and that Italian youngsters have it easier now than they did in previous generations.

Italy’s FIFA ranking history

“We used to play for three or four hours on the street and then go to train, today this no longer happens,” said former Italy manager Roberto Mancini when asked about Italy’s talent crisis. “It is no coincidence that players are still discovered in those countries, such as Uruguay, Argentina or Brazil, where people still play a lot in the streets.”

One thing’s for certain, Gattuso won’t be able restart Italian football’s talent factory just as Spalletti and Mancini weren’t able to. The Italian game needs a reboot in the same way German football did in the early 2000s or English football did in the 2010s. Both countries have shown the route to recovery, but Italy needs a systemic overhaul.

Italy’s World Cup qualifying group

Italy’s best hope in the immediate term is that they can find an approach and system that gets the best out of the players they have. Mancini did this at Euro 2020, setting up the Azzurri to play in quick transition on their way to winning the tournament against the odds. Gattuso could do something similar to turn around Italy’s 2026 World Cup chances.

In a sense, Gattuso’s combative character could energise Italy. He will give many of his underperforming players a rocket, as is typical for the former midfielder nicknamed “Ringhio” – “Snarl.” However, only so much shouting and screaming can make up for a lack of talent. Even if Gattuso is the right manager, Italy might not have the right players.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from UEFA World Cup qualifying with FotMob – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Is Gennaro Gattuso the right manager to lead Italy’s revival?

Italy are at risk of missing a third World Cup in-a-row and have made a desperate managerial change to turn around their fortunes.

By Graham Ruthven

Gennaro Gattuso is synonymous with a certain era of Italian glory. Picture the Azzurri winning the World Cup in 2006 and the combative midfielder will be one of the players that immediately comes to mind along with the likes of Fabio Cannavaro, Andrea Pirlo and Gianluigi Buffon. Gattuso is an icon.

Whether he will be a good national team manager, however, is open to debate. Hired as Luciano Spalletti’s replacement last week, the 47-year-old is now responsible for ending Italy’s World Cup drought by guiding the Azzurri to the 2026 tournament. That in itself has made some supporters fearful.

While Gattuso was an elite level player, his management career to date hasn’t been so successful. The Italy job is his 10th different management position yet Gattuso hasn’t made much of an impression, at least not a positive one, at any of his previous teams. Gattuso won the Coppa Italia as Napoli boss, but lasted just 18 months at the club.

Most recently, Gattuso was in charge of Hajduk Split in Croatia. Hajduk led the way for much of the season and it looked like Gattuso would finally end Dinamo Zagreb’s iron grip on the title (Zagreb, coincidentally, were led by Cannavaro for a brief period), but ultimately the campaign ended in disappointment. Hajduk slipped to third, winning just two of their last eight games. Gattuso was also a volatile figure during his time in Croatia, making a habit of arguing with his own fans and even storming a TV studio to confront a pundit who criticised his tactics. He was let go at the end of the season.

In the words of Gabriele Gravina, the FIGC president, Gattuso is “a symbol of Italian football.” This might be true, but perhaps not in the way Gravina intended because many see the appointment of Gattuso as reflective of a soccer nation in generational trouble. Italy has fallen a long way behind the curve in recent times and Gattuso can do very little to change that.

Gattuso inherits the weakest Italian national team in a generation. Many believe this is the weakest Azzurri side ever, pointing to a lack of elite level talent throughout the squad. When Italy last won the World Cup in 2006, they boasted a team of superstars. This was the norm for the Azzurri. 

Now, Italy are struggling for just one superstar. Gianluigi Donnarumma is a Champions League winner and one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Alessandro Bastoni is also an exceptional centre back with Nicolo Barella one of the most accomplished two-way midfielders in the game right now. Beyond these three, though, Italy’s squad is distinctly mediocre. 

It’s been this way for a while. The pipeline of young talent into the Italian national team stopped flowing freely a number of years ago with Italy’s failure to qualify for a World Cup since 2014 a reflection of this. 

In Serie A this season, players age 21 and under received 8.2% of all minutes played. In LaLiga, that number stood at 14.5%. The contrast is even starker when considering Spanish champions Barcelona gave 38.3% of their total minutes to players age 21 or under. The Italian champions Napoli, on the other hand, didn’t play a single player age 21 or under. It was the same for Inter Milan.

There are many theories on why Italy has stopped producing young players. Some point to the influx of outside investment in Serie A clubs and an increased drive to sign players from abroad. Others claim the problem is societal and that Italian youngsters have it easier now than they did in previous generations.

Italy’s FIFA ranking history

“We used to play for three or four hours on the street and then go to train, today this no longer happens,” said former Italy manager Roberto Mancini when asked about Italy’s talent crisis. “It is no coincidence that players are still discovered in those countries, such as Uruguay, Argentina or Brazil, where people still play a lot in the streets.”

One thing’s for certain, Gattuso won’t be able restart Italian football’s talent factory just as Spalletti and Mancini weren’t able to. The Italian game needs a reboot in the same way German football did in the early 2000s or English football did in the 2010s. Both countries have shown the route to recovery, but Italy needs a systemic overhaul.

Italy’s World Cup qualifying group

Italy’s best hope in the immediate term is that they can find an approach and system that gets the best out of the players they have. Mancini did this at Euro 2020, setting up the Azzurri to play in quick transition on their way to winning the tournament against the odds. Gattuso could do something similar to turn around Italy’s 2026 World Cup chances.

In a sense, Gattuso’s combative character could energise Italy. He will give many of his underperforming players a rocket, as is typical for the former midfielder nicknamed “Ringhio” – “Snarl.” However, only so much shouting and screaming can make up for a lack of talent. Even if Gattuso is the right manager, Italy might not have the right players.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from UEFA World Cup qualifying with FotMob – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.