Alberto Zaccheroni has criticised the state of Italian football, saying that players know ‘neither how to defend nor how to attack’.
The 61-year-old’s managerial career has spanned 30 years and seen him take in Milan, Inter and Juventus.
Considering the current state of Serie A, the former Japan boss has offered his reasoning behind the perceived decline in recent years.
“It seems simple – we have less resources than we did before, but we still adopt the same method,” Zaccheroni explained to the Gazzetta dello Sport.
Alberto Zaccheroni has criticised the state of Italian football, saying that players know ‘neither how to defend nor how to attack’.
The 61-year-old’s managerial career has spanned 30 years and seen him take in Milan, Inter and Juventus.
Considering the current state of Serie A, the former Japan boss has offered his reasoning behind the perceived decline in recent years.
“It seems simple – we have less resources than we did before, but we still adopt the same method,” Zaccheroni explained to the Gazzetta dello Sport.
“The great families that invested in football are not there any more – names like Agnelli, Berlusconi, Moratti, Sensi, Cragnotti, Tanzi.
“Those who do business, like the Americans, come to bring their own model. The Arab investors, by contrast, buy a business when the model is already set.”
Zaccheroni also believed that the problems carried over from the business of large clubs into the smaller sectors of football.
“The Coaches of our most prominent youth teams – like those of the smaller clubs – only ever think about winning, so they neglect a fundamental process called growth.
“In Serie A and Serie B there are more and more players who know neither how to defend nor how to attack.
“At most they know how to interpret their role within the formation chosen by the Coach.
“I watch the games and I see that eight goals out of 10 come out of crosses coming from the wings – though these happen rarely in a game, because the strong wingers and full-backs are dwindling in numbers.
“The defenders look at the ball and they don't follow the moving player. If the striker takes a position in ‘no-man's land’, he scores.
“If the fundamentals vanish, we can forget about people like [Paolo] Maldini and [Fabio] Cannavaro.”
Zaccheroni had a similar line of thought with regards to strikers.
“One example above all others – [Mario] Balotelli. He has great qualities, there can be no doubts.
“But if he spends 80 minutes out of 90 with his back to the goal, he's always going to score small numbers of goals.
“A striker must always look at the ball and the opponent, choose the direction to make a run, and have someone behind him who knows how to pass the ball.”