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Filippo Galli has hit back at Paolo Maldini, insisting the Milan icon cannot pass judgement on Italian youth football “without having ever gone through, from the inside, the daily work that development requires.”

Galli insisted technique cannot be taught in isolation from tactical understanding, and that Italy’s real shortfall lies elsewhere: “Italy’s technical problem isn’t the wall, if anything, it’s the courtyard,” he said, pointing to a lack of unsupervised street football rather than any excess of coaching.

He said the Rossoneri’s academy under his watch was built on attacking football that “never traded our idea of formative football for an immediate result,” with mistakes treated “as a stepping stone, not a fault.”

Gli Azzurri debutteranno il 25 settembre all’Olimpico di Roma. Sarà anche la prima partita della seconda esperienza da ct di Roberto Mancini

L'ex giocatore e ora dirigente scrive un lungo articolo in cui risponde alle parole dell'ex compagno. E la sua analisi fa riflettere

Thursday’s reports claim that 18-year-old forward Samuele Inacio could be handed a call-up to the senior Italy national team squad in September and that he could potentially be handed his competitive international debut in order to fend off interest from Brazil, who have sent scouts to watch the teenager over the last few days.

Former Italy and Lazio striker Ciro Immobile, who had been with Paris FC, has announced his retirement at the age of 36.

Paolo Maldini insists that there would not have been any major legal issues to overcome had the Italian FA truly wanted to appoint Andrea Pirlo as the next head coach of the Italy national team, and instead feels that his appointment was blocked by the court of public opinion.

Leonardo Bonucci will be part of Roberto Mancini’s coaching staff with the Italy national team, the FIGC has confirmed, as the full list of technical collaborators has now been confirmed.

Mancini will be assisted by Gabriele Oriali as ‘team manager’. The 1982 World Cup winner had previously served as a technical director while Mancini was head coach of Inter, and also worked as team manager of the Italy national team under both Mancini and Antonio Conte between 2014 and 2023.

Alberto Bollini will continue to serve as the assistant head coach of the Italy national team. The 6-year-old has been involved with the Azzurri set-up and its youth teams since 2019.

The list of first-team coaches will include Bonucci, Antonio Gagliardi and Massimo Maccarone.

Marco Roccati and Cristiano Lupatelli will serve as Italy’s goalkeeping coach and assistant goalkeeper coach respectively. Giacomo Ceci and Marco Montini have been confirmed as the fitness coaches and Renato Baldi and Christian Venturini are the chief analysts.

What would Buffon do if he were given the role of technical director?

“I would propose that the main goal is to qualify for the World Cup in four years’ time. On that basis, I would have chosen Conte, then Baldini, and then maybe some of the others. But you have to have courage in your choices and the skill to communicate them to everyone, even to the press.

“Too often, I hear people say ‘that’s the right person’ without having any real qualification. Okay, but these are instinctive choices, not ones that were studied. The project has to come first, then a functional individual.”

It was feared the players might respond angrily considering Mancini walked away in 2023 to take the lucrative Saudi Arabia national team job instead, but that was not the case.

“Last night, Gigio Donnarumma sent me a text that said ‘President, thank you, this is exactly what the squad and I wanted.’”

Roberto Mancini is officially back as the head coach of the Italy national team, Claudio Ranieri has stepped into the position of FIGC technical director following the resignation of Paolo Maldini, and the latest reports indicate that Gianfranco Zola is in line to complete the new Azzurri set-up.

There is still one position within the national team set-up yet to be filled: That is Gianluigi Buffon’s old position as head of delegation. This role has also previously been held by Gigi Riva and Gianluca Vialli.

This time around the role of delegation chief is expected to have a bigger focus on the youth teams and the links between them and the senior national side. The new head of delegation would work with the first team, but also alongside youth team co-ordinator Maurizio Viscidi.

Svolta per la panchina della Nazionale: Giovanni Malagò ha annunciato al Consiglio federale che Roberto Mancini sarà il nuovo ct dell'ltalia. L'allenatore deve ancora firmare il contratto, con l'ufficialità attesa tra il pomeriggio di oggi e domani. A breve Malagò dovrebbe inoltre comunicare la scelta di Claudio Ranieri come nuovo direttore tecnico.

Juventus executive Giorgio Chiellini says he’s happy with his role at the Allianz Stadium, so he’s not considering becoming Italy’s technical director.

Chiellini had emerged as a possible candidate for the Italy national team technical director role following Paolo Maldini and Leonardo’s resignation on Monday.

Best place to stay, best place to eat, any events on August 8th?

In caso di dimissioni di Maldini, consensi sul dirigente della Juve. E per la panchina il favorito diventerebbe l’ex allenatore del Napoli

Tramontata definitivamente la candidatura di Andrea Pirlo a commissario tecnico della Nazionale a causa del caso Fonbet. Da chiarire ora la posizione di Maldini e Leonardo, alla vigilia del Consiglio federale di domani. Malagò: "Sto lavorando sul nuovo ct, a breve saprete tutto. Il ministro dello sport parla di brutta figura? Bisogna vedere chi l'ha fatta...".

Andrea Pirlo faces new threats from the Codacons (Italian consumer protection agency), who warn they will take legal action to block him becoming Italy coach over his Russian gambling ties.

Over the course of 48 hours, Pirlo has gone from practically taking the Azzurri job to being lambasted from every angle for his ill-advised sponsorship agreements.

Which players should have received more Italy chances?