Giorgio Chiellini sees a ‘generation gap’ in Italian football, with no-one to supplement the experienced veterans and promising youngsters in the Italy squad.
Antonio Conte’s latest squad has seen veterans such as Emiliano Moretti, 33, and Manuel Pasqual, 32, included alongside the likes of Daniele Rugani, 20, and Mattia De Sciglio, 22.
Giorgio Chiellini sees a ‘generation gap’ in Italian football, with no-one to supplement the experienced veterans and promising youngsters in the Italy squad.
Antonio Conte’s latest squad has seen veterans such as Emiliano Moretti, 33, and Manuel Pasqual, 32, included alongside the likes of Daniele Rugani, 20, and Mattia De Sciglio, 22.
At the age of 30, Chiellini is one of the most experienced players in the squad, with only Gianluigi Buffon and Daniele De Rossi amassing more caps, and he believes there’s a gap between the youngsters and the veterans.
“It’s not a prosperous period for Italian football,” Chiellini acknowledged in a Press conference ahead of the Euro 2016 qualifier with Croatia.
“We’ve got a bit of a generational gap in the squad, it goes from people aged around 27 or 28 to around 19 or 20.
“There’s a gap there which has unfortunately not been filled. I believe this situation is clear in all areas, but especially those [like defence] which are important to the organisation and cohesion of the team.
“I don’t know why this is. It’s not my problem to fix, I’ll just play.
“We can see there’s a gap in defence, there aren’t many [defenders] in Serie A in the age range between 20 and 26 but I don’t know why.”