Italy: Chaos surrounding the national team – Mancini back, Maldini already gone

Tuesday morning began in Rome with the appearance of a man who can no longer afford jokes. Giovanni Malagò, the president of the Italian football association FIGC, has at least said goodbye to the idea of ​​the future of the Italian football to be able to make decisions by telephone from his leisure residence at the holiday resort of Sabaudia. Instead: another meeting of the national football council in Rome, and this time real decisions should be made. The 67-year-old appeared in a light suit, his jacket slung over his shoulder. Okay, just a joke: “I can’t do anything other than offer you a coffee,” said Malagò to the waiting journalists.

One of the president’s great strengths is getting people on his side in conversations, with charming sayings as well as big promises. He practiced this for years as chairman of the National Olympic Committee and the foundation that organized the Winter Games in Milan and Cortina in the spring. Jobs full of crises were also those that Malagò always smugly moderated and that at least ended in national triumphs. The Olympic sports have long been the flagship of Italian sport. However, they are not comparable to football “in their complexity,” wrote the Gazzetta dello Sport. A fundamentally controversial thesis, even if it can hardly be dismissed after the soccer chaos of the past few days.

A brief review of the protocol to put things in order: Just over a month ago, on June 22nd, Malagò took over as football association president. After missing the third World Cup in a row, he first took care of hiring sporting leadership skills. He convinced Paolo Maldini and his advisor Leonardo with the argument that the sporting skills would be in their hands in the future. Former central defender Maldini took over as technical director and began his search for a new national coach at the top of the mountain. The mountain air took him to Barcelona because the Italians actually believed that Pep Guardiola was ready to come to Rome as a kind of messiah. Guardiola, however, referred to his desired annual salary (rumored to be 20 million euros) and his newly regained freedom after leaving Manchester City.

A photo of Guardiola with friends on a lounger by a pool was found on Instagram over the weekend. To put it carefully: He seemed at peace with his decision. While in Italy the search continued – and led to Maldini’s favorite.

Giorgio Chiellini is considered a candidate for Maldini’s position, but he would prefer to stay at Juventus

Andrea Pirlo had been considered the top candidate for the post since Friday morning, when Guardiola’s official rejection arrived. That the once brilliant midfield director was employed or failed as a coach at Juventus Turin, in Genoa, in Turkey and most recently in Dubai’s second division? It was important to everyone else, but Maldini didn’t care. He saw Pirlo as a modern football teacher. However, he overlooked the political debate that Pirlo carries with him like his beard. The 47-year-old advertises as a testimonial for a Russian betting provider and traveled to Moscow several times in this role. And his involvement with Dubai United, which is financed by a Russian investor, did not help the impression that he was an independent, dignified candidate for Italy.

A remarkably harsh media campaign followed, which was certainly not pure coincidence. And at the end of which Pirlo publicly announced his withdrawal from his candidacy. He said at the weekend that he was “bitter.” And emphasized: “My collaborations have nothing to do with politics.”

He no longer had anything to do with the national coaching position; the search now finally became a matter for the boss. And that was exactly where the problem lay. “Pirlo was an unfortunate choice, but I am the president – ​​at this point I take responsibility and make the decision,” Malagò said loudly The Republic said on Monday in a meeting with Maldini. Which didn’t sound like the distribution of roles that the proud Milanese had agreed to. The drastic result: Maldini announced his resignation after just 16 days in office. He now stands just as damaged as the entire football association.

As of Tuesday morning, the FIGC did not yet have a new sporting director or coach. It’s slowly no longer about any revolution, but rather about preparing the upcoming Nations League games in September in an orderly manner. The media comments are becoming increasingly toxic, the fans have long since turned away and prefer to focus on their favorite club rather than the national team. And that apparently applies to others too.

The association cannot reject Pirlo with reference to politics and then give Mancini the job, finds “Gazzetta”

A little later than Malagò, Giorgio Chiellini entered the association’s official headquarters on Tuesday, in his role as a representative of Juventus Turin. The 41-year-old is also the next former central defender to be considered for the position of association sports director. However, Chiellini did not offer the waiting reporters hot drinks, but rather impressive sentences: “I want to make it clear that I am satisfied with my role at Juventus and would like to continue to support Carnevali – now and in the future.” Carnevali was not to be understood as a comment on the FIGC carnival club: Chiellini was talking about Giovanni Carnevali, the Juve sports director, at whose side he apparently wants to stay. Instead, 74-year-old veteran coach Claudio Ranieri (most recently at AS Roma) will take over as technical director.

An absurd carousel continues to spin in Italy’s Calcio, as it has been for weeks: some have been promoted, others relegated again, others promoted and relegated. President Malagò decided who would be left standing when the carousel finally stopped, even against the will of the country and the league if necessary.

By the time lunch had been served on Tuesday, the most important news of the day leaked out of the association meeting: Malagò was speaking to former national coach Roberto Mancini and was “awaiting his signature”. Not Antonio Conte, but Mancini, the candidate with the closest proximity to the president and possibly the greatest distance from the audience. Many Italians are still accusing Mancini, the 2021 European champion coach, of treason because of his scandalous departure to Saudi Arabia in 2023.

Incomprehensible – “incomprehensible” – if this choice were made, she had it Journal In the early hours of the morning, a precautionary comment was made: The association couldn’t cancel Pirlo citing politics and then give Mancini the job! But incomprehensible is no more unimaginable. Mancini’s return was certainly not unimaginable – and then it became a reality. “I believe that Roberto Mancini is the right man for this position,” Malagò said on Tuesday about Gennaro Gattuso’s successor. Mancini is scheduled to be officially introduced on Wednesday.