Fabio Capello predicts Italian football won’t return to the top for almost ten years and believes Paulo Dybala ‘should have challenged’ Juventus.
The former tactician analysed the crisis of Italian football in an interview with Il Corriere dello Sport. La Nazionale have missed out on the second successive World Cup, while no Serie A club has qualified for the Champions League quarter-finals. Roma and Atalanta are the only Italian clubs left in European competitions.
Yesterday, Atalanta picked up a 1-1 draw against RB Leipzig in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals, while Roma lost 2-1 away at Bodo/Glimt in the first round of the Conference League quarter-finals.
“Italian football is far behind the others. The ball doesn’t move quickly, referees blow the whistle too often. They stop the play too frequently. Every challenge is a foul, so there is never intensity,” said Capello.
“The biggest problem remains that the best players don’t come to Italy anymore. You won’t learn anything if you don’t meet the best ones. We need stadiums and infrastructures.”
Does it mean that Italian football won’t return to the top for five or six years?
“Even eight. In Italy, everyone intervenes. Politicians, neighbourhood associations and so on…as for youth sectors, those in charge should have a trip to Spain where they work on the technique, not on tactics.”
Paulo Dybala, Dusan Vlahovic and Nicolò Zaniolo are among the best players in the league. How does Capello rate them?
“I like Vlahovic, he has pace, physical strength and desire to improve. He knows how to work for the team and stay inside the box. But Max [Allegri] is right when he says that he must learn how to play in a top club, managing the pressure and the different phases in a game.
“You can’t question Dybala technically, but he has had any sort of physical issue. One advice? If he was happy in Turin, he should have challenged Juventus. Ask them for a one-year contract and show how much he’s worth.
“The same goes for Zaniolo. He suffered two serious injuries and remained out for 18 months. He must rediscover self-confidence because he has the technical skills.”
Dybala will leave Juventus at the end of his contract in the summer. The Old Lady decided against offering him a new deal and no longer considers La Joya as one of the main players in the future. Zaniolo is one of the possible replacements that Juventus are considering. His contract with Roma runs out in June 2024.