The situation in the Italian Football Federation involving Paolo Maldini, Leonardo and Andrea Pirlo is dominating the headlines.
It has been a very messy past couple of days for Italian football, which seems to be a running theme. It has seen Maldini and Leonardo resigned after just 16 days in charge of the FIGC, following Giovanni Malagò’s refusal to hire Pirlo as Italy’s new coach due to ties to a Russian betting firm.
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The reconstruction from various sources is that – after trying for Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti – the new directors turned to Pirlo. However, Malago tried to convince Maldini and Leonardo that he was not the most appropriate candidate because of off-field matters mainly.
‘Yet another blunder in Italian football’
Malago pushed for Antonio Conte or Roberto Mancini but was met with resignations instead. Antonio Vitiello spoke about the soap opera that has unfolded in the past 48 hours concerning the position of head coach in a column on MilanNews.
“Let’s close with a mention of the disaster that occurred at the Federation. What’s the point of going after Paolo Maldini, courting him for a long time, only to then limit his choices and give him little freedom to manoeuvre?
“Maldini is a man who has never compromised. He’s always been that way, both during his extraordinary career as a player and as a Milan director. It’s therefore natural that he would decide to resign if he sees incompatibilities around him that make it impossible to work.
“A grave mistake has been made, yet another blunder in Italian football. It’s a shame because another opportunity to overhaul the system and implement profound reforms has been missed. Regardless of the choice of the new coach, be it Pirlo, Mancini, or Conte, what really matters are the reforms.
“Otherwise, Italian football will never emerge from the crisis it has been plunged into for the past fifteen years. The Federation has already made a terrible statement with this glaring blunder against Paolo Maldini.
“Now a more experienced coach will be appointed, but we’ve seen in the past that even highly experienced coaches have failed as Italy’s coach. So we always come back to the same point: it’s not just the coach who makes the difference.
“A profound reform is needed, starting with the youth, because the real problem with Italian football is that it no longer produces players and talent like it once did.”
