Gattuso Lands Italy Job to Rebuild the Azzurri’s Spirit | OneFootball

Gennaro Gattuso will be Italy’s new coach. The rumor had spread since quite a few days and, even though the official announcement is yet to be made, the Azzurri sporting director Gianluigi Buffon confirmed it to the press last night after Italy’s win over Slovakia at the U21 European Championship.

Gattuso will put pen to paper early next week, with his official introduction possibly taking place next Friday.

So, it will be up to Gennaro “Rino” Gattuso from Corigliano Calabro, aka Ringhio (“Growl”) – a nickname that speaks volumes about the former Milan and Italy star’s attitude – to make the Azzurri growl again.

A World Champions Staff for Italy

Gattuso will lead a staff that also includes former Azzurri legends Leonardo Bonucci, Andrea Barzagli, Gianluca Zambrotta and Simone Perrotta. Former Italy coach Cesare Prandelli, who was the last to hold Italy’s reins during a World Cup in 2014, will take a director role, supervising all Italy’s national teams – from the youth selections to the first team.

After Luciano Spalletti’s failure and dismissal, followed by Claudio Ranieri’s shocking refusal, with the Nazionale hitting an all-time low, the Italian Football Association’s (FIGC) direction was thus to restart from those people who know how to win with the Azzurri. Those who have been there already. They were the last to win trophies wearing the Italy jersey – the 2006 World Cup and the Euro 2021 – and to be in charge the last time the Nazionale featured in a World Cup.

It’s a choice that, given the current situation, makes sense. Italy need to restart from scratch and their players need to re-learn the basics, starting from the importance and pride of wearing a blue jersey with a tricolored shield. It takes somebody who has done that, and successfully, not too long ago.

FIGC President Gabriele Gravina wanted a former World Champion at the helm. Out of the three names that it seemed to have come down to – Fabio Cannavaro, Daniele De Rossi, Gennaro Gattuso – Ringhio is by far the most experienced. Perhaps – this is just our opinion – De Rossi would have been a more balanced choice overall as the Roma legend was already part of Roberto Mancini’s staff that led Italy to glory at Euro 2021 and has no less grit than Gattuso.

But, Gattuso it is and now, the whole country needs to back their new footballing commander in chief up.

A Generation with Little Talent

Gattuso surely does not lack the international experience. As a player, he even spent one season at Glasgow Rangers, back in the days when almost no Italian footballers use to play overseas. As a coach, he navigated troubled waters at OFI Crete, Valencia, Marseille and, most recently, Hajduk Split. He has also had jobs at Milan and Napoli, leading the Partenopei to a Coppa Italia win.

However, his resume his hardly an immaculate one as his last three experiences ended with the Calabrian-born Ringhio getting the sack. Has he proved to be a world class coach? No, not yet.

Still, that’s not a problem for today. We wish we could afford the luxury of debating whether Gattuso is the right man to open a winning cycle with the Azzurri, but the task at hand is a more basic one: To get to the World Cup.

Indeed, Italy’s problem is two-fold.

On the one hand, the Italian peninsula is facing a worryingly shortage of talents. In the Azzurri’s roster, perhaps only Gianluigi Donnarumma is an authentic fuoriclasse. Nicolò Barella, when fit, is potentially a star in the making, and so is Sandro Tonali. At the back, Alessandro Bastoni is a worthy representative of the glorious Italian defending school, though he is not (yet) a Bonucci or a Chiellini. But that is it.

The rest of the potential Azzurri callups are decent, fair players who can surely hold their own on the international stage – but there is no Jude Bellingham, Jerome Musiala, or Nico Williams (to name a few…) in sight.

That is not something that Gattuso can change. That is Prandelli’s job and, it will take no less than one or two generations, assuming we learn the lesson, start teaching our little Italian kids to play football in a more creative way, and give them space to feature and blossom in first teams.

But even admitting that this is one of the least talented generations of Italian footballers to our memory, that should still be more than enough, in normal conditions, for Italy to land a World Cup ticket.

Still, the recent, disheartening performances against Norway and Moldova showed that the risk of missing the world stage for a third time in a row is real. That is the second part of the problem and, it’s a mental one.

What Gattuso Brings to Italy’s Table

Especially against Norway, our players looked scared, inconclusive, mentally and physically drained. That cannot only be due to this key match having come at the end of a grueling season. Erling Haaland or Antonio Nusa played no less games than, say, Giovanni Di Lorenzo or Mateo Retegui this term.

There is something else, which goes down to how the Nazionale is felt and lived.

This is where Ringhio’s passionate, straightforward personality will come at hand. This is why he is the right man for this job. What Gattuso can do goes way beyond the cliché of the “drill sergeant style” coach that will kick his players’ asses if they don’t show the right attitude – even though he would be perfectly capable of doing so.

In his coaching years, Gattuso emerged as a gaffer who will always stand for his players. His key message evolved into “I will give everything for you, if you give everything to our cause.” That is the sort of deal he will strike with his players. He will challenge them. He will push them. But he will defend them, right at a time when they need to be shielded from a disillusioned audience that is seriously questioning their commitment to the Nazionale.

That is, of course, if they show the right mindset.

Gennaro Gattuso will not be afraid to drop those who too often send a medical certificate to skip one of those “minor” Italy games. But, make no mistake, he will manage to get the best out of those who genuinely care for the Maglia Azzurra.

One example comes to mind, dating back to his Milan days, when he was not afraid to start 19-year-old striker Patrick Cutrone out of the blue. With Gattuso in charge of the Rossoneri, Cutrone shone in his maiden Serie A season, tallying 18 goals across all competitions.

Known as a “nice guy”, perhaps too soft to play football at a top level, Cutrone indeed showed his best under Gattuso’s guidance. The coach got into his mind and made him show what he’d got. Since leaving Milan and Gattuso, Cutrone has not even come close to replicating his maiden season’s exploits.

Gattuso’s Italy-redeeming campaign kicks off on September 5 in Bergamo against Estonia. Credit must be given to him for taking the job that nobody wanted, the best job in the world at the worst possible time.

Frankly, he has more to lose than to win. If he brings the Azzurri to FIFA World Cup 26, he has done the bare minimum that was asked of him. If he fails, he goes down in history as the gaffer who made Italy miss the Mondiale yet another time, which would basically tarnish his coaching career for good.