Football: the league is back – Inter remain favourites, but anything is possible further down the table
Will Inter defend their title? Who might give them a run for their money? Will Juventus and Milan have another disappointing season, or will they bounce back under Spalletti and Amorim?
As punctual as a utility bill after the holidays, the league is back. We should be glad about that. In a world that’s not exactly normal, the league is a guarantee of normality. Wars, bereavements, droughts, stabbings, inflation and sky-high petrol prices. We’re certainly not missing out on anything. On this depressing menu, spearheaded by the Lavitola–Ranucci scandal, football – despite its well-known excesses – is almost a noble subject
Although we’re now just spectators at a minor tournament, we’re more than happy to get back to arguing about VAR and making predictions for the mid-August break. Will Inter defend their title? Who might give them a run for their money? Will Juventus and Milan flop again, or will they be reborn under Spalletti and Amorim? And will all these new foreign signings – who arrived after all that pointless debate about our home-grown players – prove their worth, or will they be dismissed as rejects from the Premier League or the Bundesliga?
A deep crisis for Italian football
Our football, as we all know, is in the throes of a deep crisis. An ageing aristocrat, with weak and lacklustre offspring, beset by debt. Adding to this disheartening picture, alongside the achievements of Sinner and Antonelli, have come the latest exploits of our athletics and swimming teams. A shower of medals. First at the European Championships in Birmingham, second at the European Aquatics Championships in Paris – our athletes have thrilled us in a way we haven’t experienced since the Paris Olympics two years ago, when the Italian team (especially the women) swept the board with medals and won over the hearts of the public. You might ask: why contrast the achievements of these magnificent young people with the bleak state of Italian football? Is it really necessary?
The answer is yes, of course it is. Not to do so would be hypocritical and counterproductive. Comparisons are unwelcome but they shed light on the situation. Of course, for years football has funded the whole of Italian sport and brought us so much joy and excitement, but if this system has broken down (and the breakdown is made all the more evident by our achievements in Birmingham and Paris, where we beat powerhouses such as Great Britain and Germany), it’s clear that we need to ask ourselves some questions. And above all, we mustn’t bury our heads in the sand and pretend everything is as it was before, after missing out on three World Cups in a row – a situation clumsily remedied by the shambles of the new Azzurri cycle.
The protagonists’ different approaches
But beyond the results (which are dismal even by club standards), what is most striking is the different approach taken by the players. They no longer convey any warmth or emotion. Can we really be inspired by players who, like mannequins, endlessly repeat the same four clichés prepared by the press officers? That it’s up to the manager to decide, that we need to work hard, that the club will make its own choices, and so on and so forth. It’s true that the questions are often even worse, but how sad… Compared to the Italian athletics and swimming teams, and the women’s volleyball squad – who’ll soon be back on court – the difference is vast. The former stammer out clichéd phrases, whilst the latter convey passion, joy, tenacity, warmth and cultural depth.
