Glorious Failures: Learning from Italy’s string of defeats

The dreams of Serie A grabbing an historic continental clean sweep were dashed and hopes of an Under 20 World Cup and Nations League double collapsed. But, Giancarlo Rinaldi argues, there were some positives to be taken from all the pain.

Football can be a game of brutal and often superficial judgements. A victory can, like skilfully applied make-up, conceal a range of flaws and blemishes. On the flipside, the anguish of defeat can often drown out rational analysis of any good points from a game – like letting your son smother the cordon bleu dinner you cooked him with ketchup. A middle ground is harder to find than the swift and unanimously accepted imposition of Italian sporting justice.

There will be those who are ready to lord it over Serie A once again over its triple tragedy in Europe. As the headaches still clear for the tens of thousands of Interisti, Romanisti and Viola who saw their hopes die, it would be easy to dismiss their efforts as entirely worthless. And yet that really does not do justice to how deep into all three European competitions Italy’s deputation managed to get in the season just ended. Call me delusional, but I reckon my Chianti glass is more than half-full.

Looking at the finals alone is surely sufficient to allow for optimism. All three sides who reached the last act of their tournaments had their chances to go on and win the thing. None of them, for sure, were outclassed in the manner some predicted. Defeats, perhaps, but by margins as thin as the finest homemade sheets of lasagna.

There were plenty who forecast a ritual slaughter for Inter against the financial and footballing might of Manchester City and yet that never materialised. The Nerazzurri managed to disrupt Pep Guardiola’s side as well as anyone has in recent times and produced a few chances of their own. If Big Rom’s big body had not got in the way of Federico Dimarco’s header how different might things have been? Like a schoolboy struggling with his maths homework, we may never know the answer.

Of course, that doesn’t mean there isn’t still a gigantic gulf between the Premier League and its Italian counterpart. There’s a separate article to be written about the financial rights and wrongs of that one but – as things stand – the British behemoth continues to batter its European rivals with a huge cudgel of cash. That Simone Inzaghi’s side kept them within touching distance throughout the game should show that there are foundations there to build a comeback on.

Fiorentina, too, went toe-to-toe with English monetary clout and came within inches of extra time at the very least. They were perhaps too cautious until they went behind but after conceding they showed they were more than a match for their London rivals. That the homeland of Catenaccio was caught out by a counter-attack in the closing stages tells its own story.

Roma were something of a rule apart, with all the gamesmanship and histrionics that José Mourinho suckles his superstars on. They sometimes seemed more intent on playing against the referee rather than the opposition before succumbing to tournament specialists Sevilla. Still, in the moments when football was allowed to break out, they looked more than capable of getting a result and almost did so until penalties snapped their resolve.

All three sides showed they had the reserves of talent to go far in the competition, but this was a year when almost all Serie A teams made good progress. That in itself should be cause for optimism. For too long Italian outfits have turned their noses up at the lower level European trophies as if they were somehow beneath them, but they now look ready to roll their sleeves up and battle to go as far as they can.

It is worth remembering that two other representatives of the league had to be knocked out by their Calcio compatriots. Milan stunned everyone – perhaps even themselves – by eliminating a Napoli side which was many people’s dark horse to win the Champions League. Certainly, the Partenopei produced some of the finest football in the competition prior to being shown the exit.

The Rossoneri, in turn, succumbed to their city rivals having, in truth, got much further than anticipated. There is work to be done by Stefano Pioli or whoever is in charge in future to rebuild the Milanese giants after some questionable activity on the transfer market last summer. Their squad is still strong, but it looked stretched in defending the Scudetto and trying to muster a serious tilt at Europe’s top trophy.

And what about Juve? Their Champions League demise was a miserable one, as they finished miles behind PSG and Benfica and level on points with Maccabi Haifa. Like Roma, they were unable to solve a problem like Sevilla after dropping down a level, but their overall performances were surely well below what a squad like this should be able to muster. Max Allegri might not have the keys to a Ferrari, but he still insists on driving his top of the range Alfa Romeo as if it were an Ape – one of those three-wheeled little trucks you see teetering along some hillside track in Tuscany. At a club where winning is the only thing, there can be no crumb of comfort in anything other than success.

Lazio were a case apart as they appeared to go at things more old school and clearly prioritised league position over European progress. They got what they wanted in the end, although they surely had the resources to get just as far – if not one step further – than Fiorentina did in their Conference League journey. Viola fans, despite defeat, will be telling tales of their trip to the Fortuna Arena for years to come. It seems unlikely that Biancocelesti supporters will be regaling their grandchildren with memories of how they finished 16 points behind Napoli in the Scudetto race.

They will argue, not without some justification, that qualifying for next year’s Champions League provides a solid financial footing and allows them to invest to further enhance their squad. That’s a very pragmatic approach, but it seems hard to believe that fans will ever find their souls more stirred by finishing a couple of places higher up the table than actually lifting a trophy. No doubt they got some satisfaction by watching their city rivals stumble at the final hurdle in the Europa League, but it’s surely much more rewarding to battle for silverware of your own. Maybe, with some solid player investment strategy to give Maurizio Sarri the depth of squad he feels he requires, they can stretch themselves to try flat out in two competitions.

The misery did not end with Italy’s club sides as its national teams too had some big summer appointments. The Under 20s had a brave tilt at their age group’s World Cup in Argentina, while the full Azzurri team had a less impressive impact in the Nations League final four in the Netherlands. The younger group, this time around, perhaps gave consolation to its more mature counterparts.

Cesare Casadei and Tommaso Baldanzi stole the headlines with Carmine Nunziata’s expedition to South America and, although it ended in defeat to Uruguay in the final, there were plenty of bright spots. They failed to do themselves justice at the last hurdle, but throughout the tournament they produced some cracking football. It was worth the journey to see Simone Pafundi’s exquisite free-kick to defeat South Korea alone.

The lesson, if there was one to be learned, was that there is a pool of talent there which needs to see more football at a higher level. Roberto Mancini was justifiably upbeat about what he had seen in terms of potential resources for a World Cup in 2026. The proviso, of course, is that these boys have to get game time.

What is not in doubt, after a defeat to Spain in the Nations League semi-final, is the need for another process of rejuvenation of the Azzurri side. Leonardo Bonucci’s calamitous display underlined the need to move on from the Euro 2020 generation and start to blood more up and coming players. Mancio has shown himself to be bold in that respect in the past – but can he achieve it once again?

That is a curious conundrum for the Italy boss as he is pulled between the loyalty he perhaps did not receive as a player for the Nazionale himself and the need to overhaul his side. There was a magic about this group of players when they won the continental crown in 2021, but it has vanished just a couple of years down the line. The materials are still there, but it is not always easy to throw the right ones into the cauldron to come up with the potion you require.

There was some consolation in the defeat of the home nation in the third and fourth place play-off. The Azzurri were reshuffled and the likes of Dimarco, Alessandro Buongiorno and Davide Frattesi all performed well. There was even a goal for Federico Chiesa, which was something to cheer about after his trouble with injury. There is plenty of work to be done to get back to the levels which won the Euros, but there were a few glimmers of hope. Perhaps the U21s can build on that at their upcoming European Championship.

This run of glum outcomes – for clubs and country – still has the potential to be a watershed moment. For Serie A, it showed that a different mindset to European competition could be rewarding for both fans and the bank balance. Building on that might not topple the English Premier League from its financial pre-eminence, but it could at least mount a more credible challenge.

For the national team, too, there were tasty treats of consolation to be found among the disappointment. Italy has still got talent, it is just about nurturing it and getting the correct mix and spirit when they get to full national team level. That needs a concerted effort to ensure that young players get enough football of a high enough quality to ensure they are ready for the rigours of top competition. Defeats always feel bad at the time, but it is all about how you learn from them and come back stronger. Then, perhaps, you get to lift a trophy and put a smile on the face of the fans who have suffered a summer of heartache.

Giancarlo Rinaldi is the author of a number of books on Italian football. He is also half of the Rigore! Podcast team. You can follow him on Twitter @ginkers.