Old coach old ways: Italy still in crisis

The Italy national team still have not come to terms with the failure to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup. This is particularly true of the Azzurri's key and most experienced players, who are expected to lead the turnaround, starting with Nicolo Barella and Sandro Tonali. There were hopes that the return of Roberto Mancini could provide a positive shock, but that was not evident in the match against Belgium. In general, one of Italy's biggest problems is that, with the exception of goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, their best players fail to come anywhere near the level they show at club level when wearing the national-team shirt. There are two schools of thought as to why this happens. The first is that none of them is a genuine leader at the club they play for and, consequently, they lack the points of reference they have at club level when they join the national team. The second school of thought is that the teams from which the majority of the internationals come, or used to come, do not play in the same formation used by the national team.##TWITTER_<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="it" dir="ltr">🚨DROPPED VS TURKEY🇹🇷🇮🇹🚨<br><br>• Honest Ahanor<br>• Nicolo Barella<br>• Diego Coppola<br>• Samuele Inacio<br>• Eddy Kouadio<br>• Daniel Maldini<br>• Gianluca Mancini<br>• Massimo Pessina<br>• Samuele Ricci<br>• Mohamed Ali Zoma<br><br>They will STAY in Coverciano<br>Eyes onto France<a href="https://x.com/SkySport?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SkySport</a> <a href="https://t.co/dPxDPr2sV5">pic.twitter.com/dPxDPr2sV5</a></p>&mdash; AzzurriXtra🇮🇹 (@XtraAzzurri) <a href="https://x.com/XtraAzzurri/status/2104167166979506202?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 27, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>##Inter are the best example for both schools of thought. Alessandro Bastoni, Nicolo Barella, Federico Dimarco and Pio Esposito should, on paper, be the driving force behind the Azzurri, but they are not. Bastoni is missing Manuel Akanji, Barella is missing Hakan Çalhanoglu and/or Piotr Zielinski, while Pio Esposito is missing Lautaro Martínez and/or Marcus Thuram. With those players alongside them, they are different footballers — they give their best when playing next to them. As is well known, Inter have played in a 3-5-2 formation since Antonio Conte arrived. After Conte, Simone Inzaghi and Cristian Chivu continued down the same well-trodden path despite initial intentions to make changes. Different formations should not be a major problem for Nicolo Barella and Pio Esposito, but they certainly are for Alessandro Bastoni and especially Federico Dimarco, who have to significantly alter the way they play because of their different responsibilities.##LINKED_NEWS_69393##However, Inter's players are not the only problem. Sandro Tonali, the most expensive Italian player in the history of Italian football (counting Italians only), has produced only a handful of performances at a high level in an Azzurri shirt. Against Belgium, he was unrecognisable. The same can be said of Roma defender Gianluca Mancini and Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo. One of the puzzles Roberto Mancini has to solve is the fact that almost all of his centre-backs, with the exception of Gianluca Mancini, are left-footed. In that context, tonight's experiment against Turkey will be interesting: Giorgio Scalvini and Alessandro Bastoni as the centre-back pairing, with Michael Kayode and Matteo Ruggeri at right-back and left-back respectively.##TWITTER_<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">🚨Turkey manager Vincenzo Montella:<br><br>&quot;When I win, I become tall, handsome, and blonde; when I don&#39;t…the pressure is immense, I can assure you. I will give everything for Turkey and Turkish people&quot; <a href="https://t.co/Y3q9SVOBMs">pic.twitter.com/Y3q9SVOBMs</a></p>&mdash; Polymarket Sports (@PolymarketSport) <a href="https://x.com/PolymarketSport/status/2104300046644822261?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 27, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>##Apart from goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, the reason Italy still have hope for a brighter future lies in attack. Pio Esposito, Moise Kean and Gianluca Scamacca have enormous potential. Esposito is undoubtedly the most promising of the three, among other reasons because he is five or six years younger than Kean and Scamacca. However, Esposito needs to develop from a great talent into a great goalscorer, and he needs to do so as soon as possible, while Kean and Scamacca are expected to make the final qualitative leap, as these are crucial years for them. Of course, injuries have held them back considerably, but so have their personalities.##EDITORS_CHOICE##A third of the players called up to the national team come from the Premier League and other top European leagues and, in theory, almost half of the strongest starting XI should come from what is currently the strongest league in the world, from Gianluigi Donnarumma, through Riccardo Calafiori and Michael Kayode, to Sandro Tonali and Marco Palestra. Another new development is the increasingly visible multi-ethnic composition of the Azzurri. Kean is the leading figure among the “new” Italians, alongside Kayode, Ahanor, Kuoadio, Doumbia and Ali Zuma. The defeat to Belgium reignited the debate over Mancini's return to the helm of the Azzurri. Some journalists, members of the football community and supporters still have not forgiven Mancini for walking away from the national team in the middle of an important cycle four years ago, while some have linked his appointment to his friendly relationship with Italian FA president Gabriele Gravina.##LINKED_NEWS_69347##The Turkish national team do not have as many players unavailable, but the absences of Hakan Çalhanoglu and Kenan Yıldız are being felt. Turkey made a solid impression against France, certainly a much better one than Italy did against Belgium, and coach Vincenzo Montella can be fairly optimistic ahead of tonight's clash. In the absence of the aforementioned two Turkish stars, all eyes will be on Arda Guler. The match in Bursa carries huge significance, because whoever loses risks dropping into League B of the Nations League and potentially jeopardising their status as a seeded team in qualifying for the next European Championship and World Cup.UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE – DIVISION AGroup 3Monday21.45: (3.90) Belgium (3.70) France (1.90)21.45: (2.70) Turkey (3.35) Italy (2.60)Tuesday21.45: (7.25) Czech R. (4.40) England (1.45)21.45: (1.30) Spain (5.50) Croatia (10.0)***odds are subject to change***##SOFASCORE_<iframe id="sofa-standings-embed-64387-89945" src="https://widgets.sofascore.com/embed/tournament/64387/season/89945/standings?widgetTitle=UEFA+Nations+League+26%2F27%2C+League+A%2C+Group+1&showCompetitionLogo=true&widgetTheme=light" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="width:100%!important; height:483px!important;max-width:768px!important;"></iframe><div style="font-size:12px;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;text-align:left"> Standings provided by <a target="_blank" href="https://sofascore.com/">Sofascore</a> </div>##