The Italy midfielder’s angry reaction to being asked to warm up against Sweden when a goal was needed was heartfelt but we can’t have players debating managers’ decisions mid-matchOn Monday evening Daniele De Rossi questioned his manager’s request for him to warm up when Italy were in desperate need of a goal to rescue their fading hopes of qualification for the World Cup. In a passionate outburst he pointed to Lorenzo Insigne, a forward, and reminded one of the team’s backroom staff in no uncertain terms it was a win Italy needed, not a draw. Trust me, what De Rossi did was something that at some time or other every player has felt like doing.I have felt De Rossi’s anger – the...
The story of Italian’s past decade provides an illustration of the difficulties experienced by so many creative players who set out to translate their talents to the manager’s roleGianfranco Zola left the manager’s job at Birmingham City on Easter Monday, the local paper said “with dignity”. His decision acknowledged the implications of supervising only two victories in 24 matches and he was praised for turning up to explain himself rather than slinking out of the back entrance. The manner of his going was consistent with the class he had shown during a 20-year playing career that took him from an amateur team in his native Sardinia to glory with Napoli, Parma and Chelsea, and to 35 senior international appearances for...
Coverciano outside Florence has been the nerve centre of the Italian game for almost 60 years and the reverence in which it is held by many seems to have had a positive effect on plenty of its graduatesAs long as he doesn’t blow it, and nothing in his record suggests that he will, sometime within the next three months Antonio Conte will become the fourth Italian manager to lead a team to the Premier League title. Remarkably, that quartet – in which he would join Carlo Ancelotti, Roberto Mancini and Claudio Ranieri – will have claimed the English championship in four of the past eight seasons.No English-born manager, of course, has won the title since Howard Wilkinson in 1991-92, the...
Major League Soccer is no match for the top European leagues but playing in the States doesn’t mean you will fail at international levelWhen Giampiero Ventura decided to exclude Sebastian Giovinco from Italy’s squad for the upcoming matches against Liechtenstein and Germany, it barely registered as a surprise. Ventura, who became the Azzurris’ new manager in June after Antonio Conte left for Chelsea, echoed his predecessor’s sentiments by declaring that Giovinco’s decision to play in MLS hurt his chances of being selected. “I have done everything to help him but the reality is that he plays in a league that doesn’t count for much,” said the 68-year-old. “And the number of goals he scores is less important because with the...
The minute-by-minute report of one the great finals featuring Carlos Alberto’s iconic goal, from the pages of And Gazza Misses The Final, a collection of World Cup MBMs by Rob Smyth and Scott MurrayCarlos Alberto’s classic goal: brick-by-brick video animationFinal, Azteca Stadium, Mexico City, Mexico, Sunday 21 June 1970 Continue reading...