England has been facing more and more criticism over the fact that the Premier League is so overpopulated with foreign players that young English players don’t have the opportunity to grow adequately. But that same argument could equally be given for Italian football’s current lack of talented superstars.
In recent times the Azzuri have been less than impressive. The 2010 World Cup finals were hardly impressive for the Azzuri, with an equilizer in Ireland the only element that pushed them into the finals. Italy’s at the finals continued to dissatisfy fans, especially while playing Paraguay and New Zealand.
Italy was hurt by their lack of ingenuity in attack, despite their renowned defensive abilities. They missed the guile of Andrea Pirlo, they missed the threat of a player of the calibre of Francesco Totti and an in form Luca Toni and what is more, they may well struggle to find adequate long term replacements for all these players to put in the latest soccer apparel. Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan were the Serie A and Coppa Italia winners of 2010 before they went on to lift the European Champions League with a 2-0 victory over Bayern Munich in Madrid. However despite this glorious season, Inter did not contribute a single player to the Italian World Cup squad. For the majority of the season, Inter’s first team rarely held an Italian player. Even though Mario Balotelli and Davide Santon made a lasting impression on the team, they were mainly used in substitutions and both players missed out on being called to the final squad in South Africa.
A quick scout through the Serie A giants reveals a worrying trend. AC Milan have more Italians in their first team squad, but the vast majority are approaching or beyond 30 years of age. Juventus boasts a few Italian players, including Chiellni, Giovinco and De Ceglie, who all back up the magnificent Marchisio in the midfield. A large amount of Juventus Italian nationals, and especially those that are first team caliber, are all above thirty.
More and more, the majority of the players on the Italian national team are not coming out of the top four to five teams from Serie A, but instead from the teams which sit just outside of this elite crew. The current Italian World Cup squad boasts 6 players from Juventus (3 under the age of 30), 3 from Milan (0 under 30), one from Roma, but contains 3 players from Napoli, 2 from Sampdoria, 2 from Genoa, 2 from Fiorentina, one each from Bari, Cagliari and Udinese, plus one from Al Ahli from the UAE (Fabio Cannavaro).
The trend is not stopping anytime soon, thanks to the ages of top players this may become a worry for both Azzuri managers and the Italian FA alike. Many of these Italian players are now not playing in the Champions League each season and that will have an impact on their abilities to perform against the very best.
It isn’t a bleak future by any means, youngsters like Salvatore Bocchetti, Leonardo Bonucci, Giampaolo Pazzini and Domenico Criscito are coming through the ranks, but unlike their predecessors, their football education will come on the pitches of Cagliari, Bari, Palermo and Lazio, rather than the Bernebeu, Nou Camp, Old Trafford and Allianz Arena.
It is a worrying trend for the Italian national side and one that needs to be addressed. Without a strong national identity, can a player really defend a nation with the vim and vigor of patriotism?
