The Italian Football Federation FIGC is reorganising its men’s national teams. National coach Roberto Mancini will be given even more power as a result.
As the FIGC announced after its meeting in Rome on Friday, Mancini will in future not only select players for the Squadra Azzurra, but also make nominations for the country’s U20s as well as the U21s and be responsible for coordinating all three teams. “The functional integration of these teams will lead to the same playing styles and systems being applied on the pitch, which will favour and accelerate learning,” the federation justifies this measure in a statement.
This is also accompanied by the appointment of new coaches for the two U teams. Attilio Lombardo, who previously served as Mancini’s co-coach with the senior national team, will take over the U-20 national team in order to carry Mancini’s style into the lower age group. Carmine Nunziata, who most recently led the U-20s to the World Cup final (0:1 against Uruguay), moves up to the U-21s in his place. The contract of the previous U-21 coach Paolo Nicolato expired after the team was eliminated in the European Championship group stage and was not renewed.
There will also be changes in Mancini’s staff in the senior national team. Among others, the ex-Wolfsburg player Andrea Barzagli, 2006 World Champion, will become one of Mancini’s assistants. The former central defender was previously the technical coach of the national U teams and will now be explicitly responsible for the defence in Mancini’s team. Following Lombardo’s departure, the new co-coach will be Alberto Bollini, who most recently led the U-19 national team to the European Championship title.
This title is now “a symbolic turning point” in the direction of Italian football, the statement said. “It is an evolution, not a revolution,” FIGC president Gabriele Gravina is quoted as saying. “We are starting again with new ideas, but also with some fixed points of our previous project. “
