Mancini: ‘I regret leaving three years ago; now let’s get the national team playing well again’

Three years after leaving for Saudi Arabia, Roberto Mancini is back in charge of the national team. And he’s not holding back: ‘It’s as if I’d lost the love of my life; I’m so sorry.’

He admits to a breakdown in communication with the Federation at the time, led by Gabriele Gravina — “if we’d spoken face to face, everything would have been different” — and acknowledges the second chance he has been given: “Fate and President Malagò have given me the chance to make amends, and I’ll try to take Italia to where it deserves to be.” At his side, in the new Azzurri management structure, is Claudio Ranieri, appointed technical director of the national team, who regards this role as the “crowning achievement of a career”.

Among the two new arrivals – to whom a third will be added in the coming days – is FIGC President Giovanni Malagò, who, in his opening remarks, highlighted the significance of the initiative: “We all feel the weight of responsibility, perhaps due to the fact that we have failed to qualify for three World Cups, or because it has been twenty years since we last played a knockout match at a World Cup.” On the media attention surrounding the Azzurri: “Football involves everyone at every level. This intense scrutiny and the passion of the people are what make our country so wonderful.”

Mancini makes no secret of the scepticism surrounding his return: ‘I realise there are those who are against it, but I’ll try to get the team playing so well that the fans can forgive me for what happened.’ And he judges the current squad by the same standards as the European triumph: “I’ll try to field a team capable of doing what we managed to do a few years ago. We’ve got the players; they’re young and we need to put our faith in them.”

Ranieri reveals the background to his ‘no’ to the national team when he was still in charge of Roma: ‘I couldn’t break a contract with the club I love; there would have been huge conflicts of interest in Italia, so, with a heavy heart, I was forced to say no’. The new technical director has clarified what his first steps will be: “Roberto has to sort out the pitch; I’m here to sort out the situation that isn’t visible – the work behind the scenes.” Ranieri identifies the over-emphasis on tactics from a very young age as the limitation of Italian football: ‘The difference between us and other national teams is that we’re good at tactics, whilst they’re good at technique. We need to get back to dribbling.’ He proposes coaching the youngsters ‘as they do in tennis’, teaching them to stop the ball, shoot at goal and handle one-on-one situations. There are two concrete priorities: reducing the costs of football academies — “there are families who cannot afford them” — and countering the competition from video games, which are drawing children away from football. The stated aim: “To make Italian fans fall in love with the national team again and to enable children to finally see them play in the World Cup.”