Not the catchiest title but I hesitate to use the word crisis when discussing Italian football. The country’s national sport has seen many dark days over the years thanks to scandals, poor form and hooliganism. The Torontero match-fixing scandal in 1980 (which famously involved Italy’s star striker, Paolo Rossi) was labelled a crisis after the case dirtied the reputation of what was then considered Europe’s finest league. In 2006 Juventus, one of Italy’s greatest clubs was relegated to Serie C (the punishment later amended to allow the Turin club to play in Serie B) for bribing referees.
Both incidents were labelled crises at the time, yet were quickly forgotten as Italy answered its critics by winning surprise World Cups in 1982 and 2006.
Fast-forward to 2011 and there’s no sign of a major scandal. However Italian football is arguably in its most difficult situation since World War Two.
Since the introduction of democracy to Italy Serie A has constantly been one of the top two leagues in Europe. Torino were arguably Europe’s finest team until the tragic 1949 plane crash which killed the entire squad. Their Turin neighbours Juventus took Torino’s place as Italy’s best team during the 50s. The 60s saw Inter’s revolutionary defensive tactics earn them consecutive European Cups, with their city-rivals AC Milan picking up two European titles in the same decade. Throughout the 70s Italian clubs threatened in Europe, and during the 80s both Juve and Milan triumphed in Europe with some of the best players of the era, such as Platini and van Basten. Italian clubs continued to succeed during the 90s with Sampdoria reaching a European Cup final and Milan and Juve adding to their trophy cabinets with Champions’ League titles. Even during the first decade of the new millennium both Milanese sides have won Europe’s top club competition.
More than any other European league Serie A has consistently produced great teams, until now.
This week saw table-topping Milan exit the Champions’ League at the expense of England’s fourth best team, Spurs. Before that Roma were hammered 6-2 on aggregate by the Ukrainian champions, Shakhtar Donesk. Next week the last remaining Italian representative in the Champions’ League, Inter, could be eliminated by Bayern Munich who hold a 1-0 lead from the first leg. Should Inter complete the trio of eliminated Italian clubs it would be the second time in three years that no Italian club has made the quarter-finals of the Champions’ League.
This would be an astonishing failure for one of Europe’s biggest leagues, less than a year after Italy’s national team exited the World Cup at the group stage of the tournament following a shock defeat at the hands of underdogs Slovakia.
So what’s happened to Italian football? In truth its stubborness has cost Serie A. Whilst the English Premier League, the Spanish La Liga and the German Bundesliga have all adapted to the 21st century Serie A has chosen to do nothing, and as the saying goes “If you’re standing still in football, you’re going backwards.”
Serie A clubs are being run by the same old suits that were running them twenty years ago, whilst English clubs are seeking foreign investors. This has lead to a lack of ingenuity in Serie A that has left this once glorious league vapid and dull. AC Milan’s team against Spurs featured four players over the age of 32. Seven players over the age of 30 played for Roma against Shakhtar on Tuesday. Clubs have struggled to cultivate a new generation of players, due in part to a lack of funds compared to English and Spanish clubs. Arguably the two biggest Serie A signings of last summer were loan deals for Ibrahimovic and Robinho. European Champions Inter were eager to bring in Mascherano from Liverpool, but couldn’t compete with Barcelona and therefore missed out on the Argentine’s signature. Ten years ago almost every top player in Europe was playing in Italy, with the likes of Ronaldo, Zidane, Del Piero, Shevchenko, Cafu and Maldini all delighting audiences in Milan and Turin with their sublime skills.
As well as the lack of foreign talent playing in Serie A, the country has stopped producing exciting young players. Mario Bolotelli bucked that trend as he impressed for Inter, but he was forced to move to England as he wasn’t being appreciated at Inter. Giuseppe Rossi is now Italy’s brightest young star, yet he had to move to Manchester as a teenager to get his chance to shine.
Attendances reflect the lack of recent development in Italy. The average Serie A attendance is just 23,207. This season AC Milan, arguably Italy’s biggest club, have been averaging a miserly average of just 46,065. Napoli, who drew crowds of over 50,000 in Serie C1, are averaging just 43,777 this season. The Old Lady, Juventus, has an average attendance of just 21,505, that’s less than English League 1 team Southampton.
Though there’s no sign of major scandals in the near future Italian football is in a dark place. The country’s footballing culture desperately needs revitalising and reinvestment. Corruption, stagnation and an inane refusal to evolve has left Serie A and the national side in a worrying situation. However with no money, no promising youngsters and no willingness to reform, things can only get worse for Italian football.
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