The sensational turning point in the choice of the next technical commissioner: after weeks of rumors the former Rossoneri and Juventus player could win, with a curriculum not comparable to the other hypotheses.
Months of discussing Antonio Conte or Roberto Manciniwith the suggestion of in the background Pep Guardiola for which at least one phone call was spent trying to understand the possible interest and feasibility (yet to be demonstrated) of the project. Now that the moment of truth has arrived, however, the least awaited outsider is rushing towards the bench of the new Italy which will have to rebuild the relationship between the blue colors and the World Cup that has been missing since 2014: Andrea Pirlo.
It is the name given by Paolo Maldini and Leonardo, the figures that the FIGC president Giovanni Malagò chose to entrust to them the technical part of the federation starting from the senior national team. A surprise name, but Leonardo’s involvement as advisor was also a discovery for everyone at the time of the announcement. Therefore, it is useless to imagine that there cannot be a similar scenario also in the call of the technical commissioner of reconstruction.
Pirlo was the hero of 2006 (but Gattuso was too)
Pirlo, one of the heroes of the 2006 World Cup (but so was Gattuso and it didn’t go very well) and with a short and not extraordinary career as a club coach even if he recently claimed to have always achieved the objectives set by the clubs he worked for. Andrea Agnelli had already fallen in love with the idea and had bet on him in the summer of 2021, leaving the never-born relationship with Maurizio Sarribeing rewarded with two trophies (Italian Cup and Italian Super Cup), but also with the feeling that the former midfield champion was not the right man in the right place.
Then, in Italy, his adventure at Sampdoria in Serie B which ended with his dismissal at the start of his second season and now Dubai where he won promotion to the top division with United FC. Bound by a contract until 2027 which would obviously be the least of the problems given that Pirlo would run on foot to Coverciano to make himself available to Italy.
Maldini already wanted him at Milan at the end of Stefano Pioli’s cycle, then confirmed in the last year with the dismissal of the manager. They have played together for a lifetime, in blue and with Milan, winning the Champions League twice: mind and arm on the pitch, but from the bench there are no certainties.
The gamble of a technician without a CV
The problem, however, is all here. It is a gamble and too large a delta between his profile and that of Guardiola – but Conte and Mancini also have comparable CVs – not to cause concern. Italy doesn’t have time to make another mistake and, if it’s true that Malagò’s goal is focused on the 2030 World Cup, in the middle there is a European Championship that cannot be considered just a territory of experiments.
Even the Nations League which starts in September against Belgium, Türkiye and France, to be honest, must be treated with great attention to avoid disasters in the FIFA rankings. Without the World Cup, the Azzurri have slipped to 15th place, their worst performance since 2019, and if they were to go even further back they would risk finding themselves in the red-sticker qualifying groups with all that entails.
In short, full trust in Maldini and Leonardo but a shiver runs down my spine thinking that the man of the restart is Pirlo. Malagò continues to think of Mancini who is weighing down the Serie A niet (who is pushing for Conte and is also willing to put in money to pay for his salary). It is the first tug of war of the new era, it will be an important litmus test to understand the functioning of Club Italia from here on. Italian football is at its last call (the beaches have been over for a while): woe betide people.
