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. Italy seems to be under fire for the same sort of situation, with such a lack of talented Italian football players.
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.
Despite Italy’s strong reputation for defense, their lack of imagination in attack was painful. Italy felt a loss of Pirlo’s unmistakable guile, Totti’s technique, and Toni’s form, and will moreover struggle to find stars to put in the Italy soccer jersey. Inter Milan made Jose Mourinho proud as the won the Serie A and Coppa Italia in 2010, ending up lifting the Europeans Champions League 2-0 against Bayern Munich at a match in Madrid. However, in spite of the great season, Inter failed to send a single player into the Italina World Cup team. Inter’s first team hardly ever contained an Italian player for most of the season. Young Mario Balotelli and Davide Santon did in fact make a lasting contribution, but were used mostly as substitutes and neither player ended up on the final squad for the showpiece in South Africa.
If we look to the rest of Serie A, it becomes apparent that the giants of the league are facing the same conundrum. AC Milan can be commended for a higher amount of Italians in their first team, but this victory is diminished by the fact that most of these people are nearing or beyond thirty. It’s a slightly rosier picture at Juventus, but only just thanks to the likes of Chiellini, Giovinco and De Ceglie coming through the ranks to supplement the impressive Marchisio in midfield. A large amount of Juventus Italian nationals, and especially those that are first team caliber, are all above thirty.
In recent times, players on the Italian national team are less likely to come from the top few teams in Serie A, and players are instead being chosen from the groups which rank just below this group. 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.
Italy does have hope for the future, with players like Domenico Criscito, Salvatore Bocchetti, Giampaolo Pazzini, and Leonardo Bonucci as up and coming players. Sadly, though, these players are likely to gain their football education not on the pitches of Old Trafford, Allianz Arena, Bernebeu and Nou Camp but on those of Palermo, Bari, Cagliari, and Lazio.
The shift is a nuisance to the Italian side and a change that needs to be addressed. Can the heroes of a country really be considered heroes if they don’t have their hearts in a national cause?
