One of the main criticisms that England faces is that the prevalence of foreign players in the Premier League inhibits the growth of the top young English players. Italy seems to be under fire for the same sort of situation, with such a lack of talented Italian football players.
In recent times the Azzuri have been less than impressive. The 2010 World Cup finals were hardly impressive for the Azzuri, with an equilizer in Ireland the only element that pushed them into the finals. Italy’s at the finals continued to dissatisfy fans, especially while playing Paraguay and New Zealand.
Despite Italy’s strong reputation for defense, their lack of imagination in attack was painful. Italy felt a loss of Pirlo’s unmistakable guile, Totti’s technique, and Toni’s form, and will moreover struggle to find stars to put in the Italy soccer jersey. Inter Milan made Jose Mourinho proud as the won the Serie A and Coppa Italia in 2010, ending up lifting the Europeans Champions League 2-0 against Bayern Munich at a match in Madrid. However despite this glorious season, Inter did not contribute a single player to the Italian World Cup squad. Inter’s first team hardly ever contained an Italian player for most of the season. Only youngsters Davide Santon and Mario Balotelli made a lasting contribution and they were used mainly from the substitutes bench and neither made the final squad for the summer’s showpiece event in South Africa.
Looking through Serie A big teams is enough to confirm this worrying trend. Even though AC Milan boasts a higher percentage of Italians in their first squad, most of the players are nearly or over thirty. The picture is a little brighter at Juventus, but the team is only saved by Chiellni, Giovinco and De Ceglie rising up to support the phenomenal Marchisio in the midfield. A large amount of Juventus Italian nationals, and especially those that are first team caliber, are all above thirty.
More and more, the majority of the players on the Italian national team are not coming out of the top four to five teams from Serie A, but instead from the teams which sit just outside of this elite crew. The current Italian World Cup squad boasts 6 players from Juventus (3 under the age of 30), 3 from Milan (0 under 30), one from Roma, but contains 3 players from Napoli, 2 from Sampdoria, 2 from Genoa, 2 from Fiorentina, one each from Bari, Cagliari and Udinese, plus one from Al Ahli from the UAE (Fabio Cannavaro).
The tendency against national players is one that is unlikely to stop soon, which may become a torment to the Italian FA as well as future Azzuri team managers. Many of these Italian players are now not playing in the Champions League each season and that will have an impact on their abilities to perform against the very best.
Italy’s future is not totally dismal, with such players like Salvatore Bocchetti, Leonardo Bonucci, Domenico Criscito, and Giampaolo Pazzini rising through the order, however, these players will be receiving an education in soccer from places like Lazio, Palermo, Bari, and Cagliari rather than Nou Camp, Old Trafford, Allianz Arena, or Bernebeu.
The shift is a nuisance to the Italian side and a change that needs to be addressed. Can the heroes of a country really be considered heroes if they don’t have their hearts in a national cause?
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