Can Roberto Mancini Rebuild Italy Yet Again?

Winning Italy’s first trophy since the 2006 World Cup was an incredible accomplishment for Roberto Mancini, the Coach galvanising his squad and leading them to glory in the Euro 2020 Final at Wembley.

It took a penalty shootout to give them that victory over England, and their journey to lifting the Henri Delaunay Trophy showcased everything that made Mancini’s group of players so very special.

Captured perfectly in the documentary “Azzurri – Road to Wembley,” they were a group that leaned heavily on experienced players like Leonardo Bonucci (now 34 years old), Giorgio Chiellini (36), Lorenzo Insigne (30) and Ciro Immobile (31).

Indeed, no fewer than eight members of that squad are now in their 30s, and they have struggled to replicate the form they showed just a year ago. There are of course many reasons for that, including Leonardo Spinazzola’s injury and Donnarumma’s lack of regular playing time at PSG.

Italy have won just three of their 12 matches since the Euro 2020 Final, but while they have notched victories over Lithuania, Turkey and Hungary, they have also lost to North Macedonia and been held to draws by Switzerland, Bulgaria and Northern Ireland.

Those results have seen the Azzurri fail to qualify for the second World Cup in a row, and there is an inescapable feeling that this team has come to the end of an era. With Qatar now nothing more than a potential holiday destination, Italy’s focus shifts to Euro 2024, and you have to wonder how many of their current squad will be able to contribute in Germany.

Chiellini has stepped away from international football and is moving to MLS, as is Insigne. Immobile hasn’t scored a competitive goal for his country since the Group Stage win over Switzerland in June of last year, while Andrea Belotti’s came in a World Cup qualifier back in March 2021.

Mancini has certainly recognised that, making countless changes to his squad and even searching in unlikely places for players that can improve those poor results. Over the last few games he has given debuts to FC Zurich striker Willy Gnonto (18) and Federico Gatti, a 23-year-old defender owned by Juventus who spent last season on loan at Frosinone.

SPAL midfielder Salvatore Esposito (21) has also seen action, and none of those three have ever even played in Serie A, which shows just how wide the net needs to be cast to find answers.

But the defeats are stacking up and the pressure is mounting on the Coach, particularly after the embarrassing loss to Germany last time out. Yet Mancini still believes they are on the right path, taking to social media shortly after his team were hammered 5-2 in Mönchengladbach.

“What we started a few weeks ago is a new process that will see some good things and others not so good,” Mancini wrote on Twitter. “We need to still grow in terms of awareness, but we’ll do it all together as a real squad.”

That solidarity was a key component in winning Euro 2020, and the Coach’s ability to instil the same unity in this current group will be crucial if they are to revive the fortunes of the ailing Azzurri.

It is worth remembering that he took charge of the national team immediately after they failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. That was the first time Italy had failed to qualify for that tournament since 1958, and it was the first time they had failed to make it to any showpiece even since Euro ‘92.

Now Italy is waiting to see if Roberto Mancini can stop it from becoming a habit.