Should Roberto Mancini decide to quit as Italy coach, Fabio Cannavaro, Roberto De Zerbi and Gennaro Gattuso are all in the running to replace him.

The Azzurri suffered a disastrous 1-0 loss to North Macedonia in their World Cup play-off match against North Macedonia on Thursday, meaning they will not take part in the upcoming tournament in Qatar later this year. This is the second consecutive World Cup that Italy have missed out on following their failure to qualify for the 2018 edition in Russia.

As detailed by La Gazzetta dello Sport, the decision to stay or go lays solely with Mancini as both the squad and the FIGC are happy to move forward with the former Inter coach. Should he decide to resign however, a number of coaches are in the running to replace him.

Topping the list is Cannavaro. The 48-year-old Italian has experience working in Dubai, Saudi Arabia and China, where he won the league title with Guangzhou Evergrande. He may decide to return to a three-man defence with the Azzurri, should he take the role, and Marcello Lippi could join his staff.

Also on the cards is Gattuso, whose modern and exciting work with both Milan and Napoli is appreciated by many. Roberto De Zerbi is another idea. The former Sassuolo man is technically contracted to Shakhtar Donetsk but considering the situation in Ukraine, he could leave in June.

19 thought on “Cannavaro, De Zerbi and Gattuso top list of Mancini replacements”
  1. It would be foolish to return to a 352 base given the scarcity of top quality central defenders right now. Plus the fact that we have so many strong central midfielders.

    While it’s good to have various systems and contingencies, it makes sense to use a back 4 for as our base, and then from there we can go with a 433, 4321/12, 442, 4231 …

    1- De Zerbi
    2- Gattuso

    No to Cannavaro and Pirlo. Let them cut their teeth with the youth sides.

  2. Change CT and then what??? It fixes nothing-same old problems remain. Hope the message gets through to the dinosaurs at the top.

    This 2nd WC non-qualification must be a catalyst for reformation of calcio otherwise we run the risk of dealing with this scenario every few years, which we actually are experiencing.

    The foundation of the game in Italy clearly needs change so don’t lose this opportunity. Every time we win, just like last Euros, it creates the illusion that everything is well in the game. It is NOT and just masks the deep issues and allows it to be swept under the rug.

  3. De Zerbi ok choice.
    Gattuso bad choice(average coach at best + unpredictable health problems)
    Cannavaro complete crazy choice
    but at least they don’t consider Pirlo

  4. Maybe it’s time for a forign manager to come in!

    But we need to limit forign players and play more italians. The stadiums need upgraded

  5. Guys with the name I read to replace Mancini it is purely clear that Azzurri has no more future, We are done for good atleast until next decade , Would prefer Mancini to stay on instead of this kind of replacements , No future here guys no good players no good coaches available at the moment on top the league Serea-A is becoming dump
    Very very dissapointed for Italian football in Total

  6. Everyone is missing the point. It’s a deep rooted Italian mentality problem! Every time Italy win a tournament or finish second, they then have a bad tournament.

    I realise the futility of saying this because no manager will ever drop players who have just won them a tournament, but when Italy win a Euro or a World Cup, they have to bring in new players.
    Italy are going to have a poor tournament directly after a win so why not bring in new & young players and even if Italy still perform badly in the next tournament, then at least these new players have experience playing for Italy.
    It’s time to realise that loyalty towards the players does not work!
    Simple!

  7. Gel is spot on. Everytime we win something, we play badly afterwards. The minute I see the lineup the other night I knew we were in trouble. None of these players are in good form atm. Tonali and Pellegrini had to start for me. David Calabria should have also played.

  8. Pirlo, Del Piero, Totti, Baggio, etc. should start a scoring school. Back to basics. Learn how to put the ball in the onion bag and all will be well.

  9. Italy lack of strikers.. Top scorers in the league mostly non-Italian. Gone have the time where Italy was flourished with the like of Inzaghi, Vieri, Del Piero

  10. What about Ancelotti? Real Madrid will probably fire him at the end of the season, because they are that stupid.

  11. De Zerbi- Not ready.
    Rino- love the guy but is average.
    Cannavaro- garbage.

    Carletto would be sufficient if available.

  12. Adoii on Mar 26, 2022 13:42 at 1:42 pm
    Italy lack of strikers.. Top scorers in the league mostly non-Italian. Gone have the time where Italy was flourished with the like of Inzaghi, Vieri, Del Piero

    From all the posters finally someone is singing my tune!

    Italy needs a special academy only for strikers to focus only on that.
    There is a serious issue with the clinical finishes with Italy going back from the 90’s, even the great names like Baggio, Del Piero etc missed a few times.
    The issue is a clinical finishes, and there is also a luck paranormal element to this as well (Lippi once said it also takes a littel bit of luck)(quackery? ok go count how many times we hit the crossbars and posts during Lippi’s 2nd tenure and Prandelli-I actually counted them and it’s an insane number almost 100 x’s)

    You need to do it this way the training special training on finishes, and the luck factor-just look at CM the quintessential Vegas cooler if we have never scene one before. Go see the move The Cooler-that’s CM!

  13. It doesn’t matter if the coach resigns and is then replaced. This is a circle, it will always repeat itself. I think it is everyone thinking they can win and don’t need any practice. Right after they won the euros, they had a draw with bulgariaAfter watching the game, think the front (attacking) needs to replaced. They have potential and are good players, but just aren’t suitable to play with one another. Midfield, pretty strong, though jorginho needs replacement. Defence, players need more training together. They aren’t chiellini and bonucci who have played together for such a long time. Donnarumma needs to replaced for a little for a little experiment. I also think Mancini isn’t open to change and that’s why he didn’t let Joao Pedro shine. Balotelli would be okay to have been called up.

  14. There’s no problem with or in Italy. As an Economics of Sports analyst I suggest that coaching is a form of labour that is subject to the law of diminishing returns. Matches analysis and ICT has made it easy to counter competitive advantage once time period is availed. Mancini could have learned from compatriot Lippi (2006 World Cup and after), Loew’s Germany (2014 WC and after), Domenech’s France 2000 Euro and after, Del Bosque’s Spain 2010 and 2014 WCs, and Scholari’s Brazil 2002 and 2014 WCs. Let Coverciano “Soccer University” consider integrating Resource Based View in its curriculum.

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