Nottingham Forest director Filippo Giraldi analyses the issues of Italian football, but refuses to rule out a return to Serie A one day: ‘I hate the word project’.’
Giraldi released an interview with Tuttosport newspaper going through the many different issues faced by Serie A and Italian football over the last few years.
“The starting points are infrastructure and the training of coaches,” he said.
“We have good tacticians who have been filled with tactical dogmas, not to mention how young players train. We are far behind. Too many times during the Italian crisis I heard people saying: ‘Everyone envies Coverciano.’ Who? Where? Maybe that was true 20 years ago, but many things have changed and we haven’t noticed. Not only in England.”
Italy won the Euros in 2020 but didn’t qualify for the last two editions of the World Cup in 2018 and 2022.
“I see guys who train using just one half of a football pitch, with training sessions suspended because it rains. There are differences on a mental level, but other things too,” continued Giraldi.
In fact, Italy’s problems are not only on the pitch.
“The truth is that we are not selling the product in the right way. The launch day match on Sunday is often a disarming spectacle, with stadiums half empty.
“Why should it have an international appeal when even Italians are not watching it? If the sport becomes an own goal, it’s useless.”
Despite all the issues, would he consider a return to Serie A one day?
“It will happen sooner or later, but only under certain conditions. I hate the word ‘project’ but I don’t want improvisations either.”
FIGC hope to solve the problems related to stadiums with a bid to host Euro 2032. If the competition will be played in the Peninsula, there will likely be more financial resources to build new arenas all over the country. As of today, only a few Serie A clubs have their own stadiums, including Juventus, Atalanta, Udinese and Sassuolo.