Giorgio Chiellini admits “it’s clear there’s a need for reform” in Italian football, and clarifies his comments on Pep Guardiola.
Italy have failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1958, and the recriminations are still being felt, with CT Giampiero Ventura sacked yesterday, and calls for FIGC President Carlo Tavecchio to resign.
“There’s disappointment, as is normal,” Chiellini admitted, speaking to Corriere della Sera.
Giorgio Chiellini admits “it’s clear there’s a need for reform” in Italian football, and clarifies his comments on Pep Guardiola.
Italy have failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1958, and the recriminations are still being felt, with CT Giampiero Ventura sacked yesterday, and calls for FIGC President Carlo Tavecchio to resign.
“There’s disappointment, as is normal,” Chiellini admitted, speaking to Corriere della Sera.
“It’s still fresh and we don’t quite realise what has happened. Maybe we’ll only 100 per cent feel it in June, because it seems impossible not to be at the World Cup.
“We need to make sure that such a low point is a point of rebirth, the atmosphere of San Siro is the base, I’ve never experienced such unconditional love.
“I’m still getting chills from the national anthem. That will help bring the new group to 2020, and restart as a movement.
“Clearly a bit of a witch hunt has started now, but completely ripping everything up would be a mistake. It’s equally clear though that there’s a need for reform.
“Regardless of the names though, we need to find unity among the various factions. That seems very far away right now, as evidenced by the fact the two top leagues can’t find a President.
“Nothing gets done, because there’s no desire to meet in the middle. So football is a bit stagnant.”
Chiellini caused a stir when he said that Pep Guardiola’s style of football had “ruined a lot of defenders in Italy”, but the Juventus man says he was misinterpreted.
“Let’s be clear, Guardiola is like [Lionel] Messi or [Cristiano] Ronaldo, the problem is when people try to imitate him with very little knowledge.
“If I were to think of a model I’d actually think of the German one, but we can look around and take the good things from everyone.
“We can do some things better, without throwing away everything we’ve done in the past few years. We have capable people, it’s not like we’re all schemers.
“The players got it wrong first of all, but if we’re witch hunting we need to keep the balance. There’s no rush to decide everything today.”
After the elimination, there have been numerous reports about senior figures in the dressing room having lost faith in Ventura, and even that he threatened to resign.
“I’ve read so many of these stories,” Chiellini sighed.
“They’re fantasies, fables similar to the famous Cardiff scandal which I still want to know about. They’re all fairy tales.
“I’ve always been able to talk to the boss, and I repeat that I would never presume to say that we should play in this way, or that Chiellini should play and not [Andrea] Barzagli.
“That goes for myself and my teammates. That takes away 99 per cent of these fairy stories which have come out. Then you’ve still got the famous ‘Turin meeting’ in the middle…
"That was nothing out of the ordinary, it's happened a thousand times with Juve, the national team or elsewhere.
"Above all though it was agreed and shared with the Coach. We wanted to give more security and certainty, not delegitimise the Coach. The exact opposite, in fact."