After Guardiola’s no, the reservations regarding the next national coach are dissolved. He has a less than impressive CV, but his relationships with the architects of the new blue course are excellent.
Andrea Pirlo will be Italy’s technical commissioner, the man chosen by Paolo Maldini and Leonardo to try to relaunch the senior national team accompanying the process of re-founding the entire national team supply chain. A few hours passed from the polite refusal of Pep Guardiola to the definition of the definitive candidacy of the 2006 world champion, former coach of Juventus for one season and – in his latest adventure – on the bench of United FC of Dubai.
When everything is defined, he will lead Italy from the Nations League commitments in September, not an easy start for the national team’s opponents. Belgium, Türkiye And France with the obligation not to make a bad impression and not jeopardize their permanence in the top division of the competition. A bet with the guarantee of who the FIGC president, Giovanni Malagò, has chosen as the architect of the reconstruction of Italian football with a focus not only on the senior national team.
It had been clear for a few weeks that Pirlo was the main, if not only, candidate in the event of Guardiola’s signature not being reached. The pressure from Serie A, not even too hidden given the words of Torino president Urbano Cairo on the need for a strong figure at the helm of the national team, was not enough to change minds. Maldini and Leonardo would have had a strong influence in selecting the technical commissioner and so it was.
Once free of the contract until 2027 with United FC, Pirlo will be Italy coach with a view to the 2028 European Championship as an intermediate step before the race for the 2030 World Cup. He will work closely with Maldini and Leonardo, the relationships are excellent with both as evidenced by many statements from the past, he will have a deputy in the person of Roberto Baronio and a staff to integrate with that of the FIGC.
A federal council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday 28 July which could be the moment for the announcement. The salary will not be a problem because Pirlo will remain well within the federal parameters, even lower than the generous 2 million that Roberto Mancini (never contacted) would have been satisfied with and very far from the operation necessary in the event of a positive response from Guardiola.
Why was he chosen despite a less than excellent CV? For Maldini and Leonardo it responds to the main need which was to find a coach who shared the same approach and idea of football as the technical direction of the FIGC. In essence, following the reasoning made by Leonardo in front of the presidents of Serie A, someone willing to embrace a proactive and modern game, less linked to schemes and more to the development of technique and individual imaginationdevoted to one-on-one and speed on the pitch. Something that helps Italian football, at least that of the national teams, to have a different DNA compared to the recent past.
