Since Roberto Mancini’s appointment in March 2018, Leonardo Bonucci has continued to be an ever-present in the Italy starting XI and Euro 2020 will make no exception, writes Elio Salerno.
Having recently surpassed 100 caps, becoming only the 8th Italian to ever do so, the 34-year-old centre back has been his countries captain on numerous occasions in the absence of teammate Giorgio Chiellini.
Bouncci made his Azzurri debut over 10 years ago, back in 2010, and since then he has clocked up more than 8,000 minutes in the famous blue shirt. There is no question the Leo brings extensive experience to a group that has few other players who have played on football’s biggest stages or even been to a senior international tournament.
Taking that into consideration, it would appear that Bonucci is nailed-on to be in Mancini’s starting line-up come the opening game of Euro 2020. However, there will be many that question should the Juventus stopper still be a guarantee for La Nazionale given his form in recent months and that he has undoubtedly declined over the last couple of seasons.
Bonucci was not an automatic starter in the latter days under Andrea Pirlo. Fitness issues have been cited as the reason why but missing out on crucial encounters is unlike him. Given the intense physical demands of the last year, Mancini could well be concerned with Bonucci’s ability to handle the tournament schedule.
However, due to Mancio’s preference for a heavily possession-based style of play, Bonucci offers him a ball-playing defender who can not only help the team build play and maintain possession, but one who can also play a variety of passes from deeper areas. From long diagonals to vertical passes into the final third, Bonucci can change the point of attack in one pass. These are qualities that few – if any – others available for Italy possess.
His leadership could prove to be invaluable and whilst he is certainly not the same centre-back he was the last time the national side were at the European Championships, it’s harder to find reasons why Mancini should not make Bonucci one of the first names on his team sheet.
Bonucci has been a fantastic servant of the Azzurri and if he arrives at the tournament in the right condition, re-discovering some of his best in the process, Bonucci will yet again have a pivotal role to play for the four-times world champions.