Italy Going Back to Mancini Following More Turmoil | OneFootball

The FIGC ended the overly laborious process to find the new Italy coach with Roberto Mancini, who was an early frontrunner due to his ties with president Giovanni Malagò. Instead, Paolo Maldini and Leonardo lasted only 16 days and fell on their swords after Pep Guardiola rejected the offer and the appointment of Andrea Pirlo was nixed.

Claudio Ranieri will serve as the technical director, while a new coordinator will be appointed later on. The duo took the opportunity in stride, unlike his predecessors, Malagò confirmed in a presser (via Sky).

Mancini is returning to the Italy bench three years after abruptly stepping down to manage Saudi Arabia for a much higher salary. Despite winning Euro 2020, he was on thin ice because the Azzurri missed out on the 2022 World Cup. Plus, he had been feuding with the then-FIGC head, Giuseppe Gravina. He lasted for just over a year in his new job before being ousted. Afterward, he managed Qatari club Al-Sadd for 12 games before resigning to stay ready for the Azzurri.

Our Take on Italy and Mancini

This was the most obvious outcome from the beginning, but the road to get there was unnecessarily windy. He’ll have to bring immediate results to distance himself from spurning the national team and the previous World Cup flop, which was by far the worst of three.

It’s unclear why Antonio Conte never really seemed in the running, despite being the most decorated option this side of Guardiola. The problems tied to the figures don’t hold up after pursuing the Catalan. The only solid explanation is that he didn’t want to commit to a long-term project.

The president should have tried harder to patch things up with Maldini and Leonardo, who are far from blameless, and consider a different, respectable, and inspiring fresh face, instead of going with a retread with a lot of baggage. It’s a particularly dispiriting choice after Germany and France landed the big guns.