Chaos reigns as Italy search for new manager | OneFootball

The hunt to find a new Italian national team manager is becoming a farce.

First Carlo Ancelotti turned it down. Then Pep Guardiola turned it down. Then Andrea Pirlo accepted the job but was forced out before he even started having got caught up in a political row.

Add into the chaos Paolo Maldini, appointed two weeks ago as Italy’s technical director with a brief to overhaul Italian football. He only lasted 16 days.  

On Tuesday he resigned after Pirlo’s coronation was blocked because of his link with a Russian betting company. Leonardo, his adviser, went with him. Pirlo was Maldini’s man and he walked out in fury, plunging Italian football into crisis.

Now the next cab off the rank looks like Antonio Conte or Roberto Mancini.

On the basis that the new man in the job needs to have the patience of a saint and a long-term vision, neither the incendiary Conte or Mancini, at 61, completely fit the bill. But both have the pedigree and calibre to at least get the ball rolling.

It could only happen in Italy.

How did Italy get here?

Italy – four times champions – became the first World Cup winners not to qualify for three consecutive tournaments when they missed out on the USA, Canada and Mexico after a shock play off defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Having last won it in 2006, it meant an entire generation of young Italian football supporters have grown up never having seen their team play on the global stage.

Coach Rene Gattusso quit within hours and the soul searching, as well as a search for a new manager, began.

Belatedly Italy have cottoned on to the idea that they need long-term thinking and a proper pathway for young talent.

Newly appointed Italian Football Federation (FIGC) President Giovanni Malago appointed Maldini to start that overhaul. While Ancelotti and Guardiola were spoken to and refused, Pirlo was Maldini’s choice.

Now neither of them are involved.

Baggio’s ignored plan

This isn’t the first time Italian football has undergone a period of introspection, but it’s important they learn the lessons from past mistakes.

Roberto Baggio. Image credit: Nazionale Calcio (Source: Flickr)

Back to 2010, after finishing bottom of an average group at the World Cup in South Africa, the Italian football federation turned to Roberto Baggio, one of the country’s sporting legends. His remit, as president of its technical sector, was to give the national team a shot in the arm for the future. Much like Maldini was supposed to do this time round.

A 900-page document called “Renewing the future” duly followed, offering an overhaul of the young player pathway and a new way of thinking and coaching. It sat on the shelf gathering dust and an angry Baggio departed two years later.

What followed only highlighted the stupidity and lack of foresight in the federation’s thinking. Dumped out at the group stage in 2014 was followed by a failure to even qualify for Russia 2018, Qatar 2022 and USA 2026.

Throw in a betting scandal which saw over 40 Italian players involved in illegal betting in the early part of the decade, and the general demise of quality in Serie A underlined by a poor season in European competition, it’s fair to say Italian football is in a complete mess.

Pirlo shock

It was widely expected that former midfielder Andrea Pirlo would take over the reins. He interviewed well, had Maldini’s backing and was expected to be rolled out ahead of the Italian media when a problem struck at the weekend.

Politicians in Italy kicked up a huge fuss because Pirlo had a sponsorship deal with the Russian betting firm Fonbet and was a global ambassador for the firm.

They argued that the coach of the national football team, an incredibly high-profile figure in the country, should not hold views contradictory to Italy’s support of Ukraine.

Pirlo, in his defence, said the deal was purely commercial and sports based while he was a coach for United FC in Dubai, alluding to it not showing any direct support for Russia.

But, as the BBC pointed out, he was a global ambassador for Fonbet and the company had sponsored several sporting events at which Pirlo appeared alongside pro-Kremlin figures.

Whichever way you want to look at it, it’s not a great look.

Ancelotti and Guardiola

Before Pirlo, there came Carlo Ancelotti. Currently head coach of Brazil, the Italian coach didn’t pull up any trees at the World Cup and, with no real prospect of Brazil getting a lot better quickly, would have appeared to the Italians to have been ripe for persuading to jump continents.

But Ancelotti made it clear that he wants to honour his contract, which runs until 2030 and the next World Cup.

Attention turned to Guardiola, fresh from leaving Manchester City in the Premier League. Three days of talks failed to persuade him. Guardiola is believed to want at least a year out of football.

So what now?

No manager or technical director, Malago is under pressure to deliver.

Both Conte and Mancini are popular and have bags of experience and current reports suggest Maldini will get the role.

But is this potentially a really strong opportunity to appoint someone younger and with a more longer term outlook? Someone who could oversee and then deliver change.

It doesn’t look like it. The only other serious name in the frame is Stefano Pioli, who has manager Serie A clubs including Bologna, Lazio and Inter Milan. He was sacked from his latest club, Fiorentina, in December 2025.

Raffaele Palladino, at 42, does bring some youth and is a free agent after being dismissed by Atalanta at the end of last season, but must be considered a rank outsider.

It’s been a turbulent period for Italian football, and they need not just stability but a substantial rebuild.