Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to the Italian football podcast. Roberto Mancini as a whole. We need to talk about this. Other than the formation which you've made pretty clear that you think he should change the system.
Speaker: What else can we take away from these games in terms of where Roberto Mancini should go? The big question is, do you still retain faith in him? Do you still think he is? I think what he's trying to do, like I said, Roberto Mancini's Atsuri revolution of changing the mindset
Speaker: reintegrating young players, giving young players more of a chance, the fact that he brings in the Njontos, the Retegis, all these young players that would never have had a chance, the fact that he even brought Salvatore Esposito from the Serie B to play in the Nations League. I love that. He's opening up the windows and airing everything out, and he's doing it, playing a very modern, progressive football. When they won the Euros, just look at how they played. That was not the traditional Italy, right?
Speaker: But again, I love him for that and I want him to continue doing that because I think that's exactly what Italian football needs. However, he also needs results. And winning the Euros is historic.
Speaker: failing to get to the World Cup. I'm even willing to give him a pass on that because I think we've discussed millions of times before the specific reasons for that. But now there needs to be, he needs to show that he's the right man to lead Italy. And if he's going to continue insisting and turning the 4 -3 -3 into some sort of a project where he's looking at Spalletti and saying, oh, look at how he plays, that's how I want to play, but not having Caratrelia, Lobotica or Osseman,
Speaker: No, then he needs to go because he's just wasting two to four years of Italian national team football. If this is the square peg round hole debate that he's going to continue having on the pitch, then he needs to go. If he again, I support him on every other aspect of what he's doing, everything he's saying. I love it. I agree with it. I think it's the right thing for Italian football, but he needs to get the results and he needs Italy to start believing in themselves again. And and before this becomes a mental block,
Speaker: And I think that that's where I'm at. So I'm kind of on the fence. I don't want to sack him. But I do think that he needs to show that he's the right man to, you know, to do what he wants, did himself reinvent himself, you know, when he first came on and took over Italy after the historic dreadful Ventura era.
Speaker: where he came in and opened up the windows and changed everything around and start building around these young players, changed Italy's identity. They went unbeaten for what was it, two and a half years, 36 games, you know, stuff like that. That's what he needs to do, to do that again, but challenge himself this time. And I don't mean change the identity. I do think Italy should continue down this path of playing a progressive modern passing game. I just think they need to have more dynamic players in the box.
Speaker: And that won't happen unless he changes to a 3 -5 -2. I think it's inevitable. And never ever playing Giorginio and Varati together again. I'm sorry, but that's been read to death. Never again.
Speaker: Yeah, no, I think absolutely. That would be my main point. I think that he has been... Listen, one of the reasons why Italy didn't qualify for the World Cup is he retained too much of his faith in the older Euro players. And still now, even after that, he's still some of the older Euro players. And he specifically said even after the England game that they still have a part to play, he's still...
Speaker: retaining too much faith in the old era. He's doing what Lippi did again in 2010. He's making every single mistake that every Italian national team coach has made throughout history when they've won something. And I don't understand why. I don't understand this.
Speaker: Sometimes it's not because they're too old. Although I think it is the case in some of these players that they're on the slide. I think it is, like you said, it's because, you know, winning teams do get found out. And that's why you have to change. That's why Pep Guardiola changes and tweaks his system. Almost too much. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, it's what he tweaks his patterns of play and his and his little movements every year, because, you know, they get found, you get found out after a while is actually one of the reasons why whether you love him or hate him. Luciano Modri used to also say, this is why I, you know, after every two or three years, I move players on. And because you create that also the hunger as well. But, you know, you it's the opposition, you know, you can't you don't find them out. So I think maybe there is a case that is maybe the case, certainly with the midfield.
Speaker: you
