National team, head coach chapter: Conte tempted by a return, doubts about Mancini

There is no one down from the tower, but there are those who are better off on the tower than others. Antonio Conte, Roberto Mancini, Massimiliano Allegri and surrounding areas: Italy without a technical commissioner is like a ship looking for the right route and the right route is worth its weight in gold. Conte advances, Mancini remains firm, Allegri takes more than a step back, thus in the bag of possibilities now that the electoral campaign for the new president of the FIGC is about to take shape. Yes, Count. In Naples he won the scudetto on the first try and, under Vesuvius, he enjoys esteem and credibility: his contract with the De Laurentiis family expires in June 2027 and the relationship with the Neapolitan patron runs smoothly. So what? Then there is the fact that Antonio has never stopped cultivating a desire: to reconnect with the blue ship after the two-year period between 2014 and 2016 enriched by a European trip, the one to France, always lived to the fullest and always at the center of his group until the elimination, in the quarter-finals, with the favorite Germany due to the lackluster penalties of Pellè and Zaza. Conte still feels the blue shivers, the FIGC knows his passion for Italy and, even more so, in the FIGC there is no politician who does not recognize his ability to rebuild what has been broken. De Laurentiis, when the curtain fell on the night in Zenica, expressed his opinion in favor of Malagò as federal president, which is no small detail: the dialogue between Napoli’s number one and the former CONI number one is open and continuous, so much so that the contract that binds Conte under Vesuvius for another season would not represent an obstacle. Translated: no Spalletti-bis case if the offer to Antonio arrived from Via Allegri because with Spalletti there was a risk of a lawsuit in civil court in light of what De Laurentiis considered an unauthorized escape to the FIGC.

the poisons of mid-August

—

If the Football Federation calls, Napoli responds: the green light would not be hindered. Conte listens, takes notes, thinks about the duel with Milan on the agenda tomorrow evening. And, Mancini? Too many doubts and uncertainties weigh on his possible return to the national team. How appropriate would it be to rely on those who, on August 15th 2023, sent an email to via Allegri, addressed to President Gravina, to communicate the choice to fly to Saudi Arabia? And how risky would it be to bet on a coach who spent his last match on a Serie A bench way back in June 2016 and who said goodbye to Italy in June three years ago? A question of style and a question of knowledge are intertwined, not to mention that Malagò himself, one of the possible candidates, would not like the idea of ​​linking himself to a coach who is all too friendly.

passions

—

Conte advances, Mancini does not. And Allegri pulls the handbrake: the Milan coach has been a potential coach of the national team for some time because with every change of direction we think of him, but he doesn’t think of the Azzurri bench. “In my head there is fourth place here and the desire to get used to the Champions League again. Italy? We need a vision for the next ten years and, in any case, I haven’t thought about a role as technical commissioner…”, so Allegri. Once the world playoffs failed, a crisis began with effects yet to be written: at the center there is the profile of the new coach to be identified without playing a throw-in. The stages are marked: first the federal elections on June 22nd, then the choice perhaps with the advice of a technical director with sensitivity for field issues as already happens elsewhere. Conte advances because no one would have any objections to his return: the experience of the 2014/16 two-year period was built around an Italy with the magic formula behind it – Buffon, Chiellini, Bonucci, Barzagli -, but not in the rest of the scene. An example? Against Germany, in the quarterfinals, our midfield presented itself with Parolo as director, Sturaro and Giaccherini alongside. That team withstood the blow of the Germans until the aforementioned penalty shoot-outs.

candidates

—

Mancini is the technical commissioner of the Wembley magic, on 11 July 2021: Mancio would come back in a hurry, however, there is no shortage of contraindications. Allegri erased himself from the blackboard of possible choices, while Gian Piero Gasperini also didn’t send any smoke signals from Rome. In the next few hours, the short-lived electoral campaign will open: by May 13th the candidates will have to come out and deliver their programs to the FIGC. Malagò is, in fact, on the pitch, Giancarlo Abete could end up there soon: our football needs unity and planning. At the end of September, when we will be under the spotlight of the Nations League, we will have a coach on the bench with the prospect of putting us back on the waterline with our historic rivals and with the mission of bringing us back into a World Cup.