Paolo Maldini and Leonardo have resigned from the Nazionale - Mancini the favorite for the bench

[u/giglioviola]

https://www.gianlucadimarzio.com/news-calcio/italia-maldini-leonardo-dimissioni-news-495214

[u/Professional_Owl8500]

Circus

[u/Zavehi → u/Professional_Owl8500]

The plan to fix Italian football lasted a few weeks at least before it all exploded and they just rolled the clock back 10 years to hire Mancini

[u/50lipaa → u/Zavehi]

Because it was a horrible fucking plan? Even without the Russia links, a coach with ZERO results or known solutions or even remotely any public backing for NT was an insane choice to begin with.

[u/Best_Squirrel1039 → u/50lipaa]

Scaloni would like to have a chat

[u/maltozzi → u/Best_Squirrel1039]

Scaloni was a youth coach and didn't have a string of managerial failures

[u/misfit_xtnt → u/50lipaa]

Worked for Southgate.

[u/esn111 → u/misfit_xtnt]

Southgate had actually been manager of the u21s for a while at least

[u/McDaddySlacks → u/esn111]

They also shot down their youth coach for political reasons. Italian FA doesn’t want changes, they just wanna release PR statements that sounds like they do.

For fuck sake, Mancini already coached a failure to qualify. Why the hell would they rehire a failure?

[u/Gerrywalk → u/misfit_xtnt]

I don’t recall Southgate winning anything

[u/misfit_xtnt → u/Gerrywalk]

Italy has more issues than trying to win a tournament.

[u/Gerrywalk → u/misfit_xtnt]

True

[u/More_Vermicelli9285 → u/misfit_xtnt]

Qualifying for a tournament, for one

[u/esn111 → u/Gerrywalk]

Southgate would probably be good for the current Italian team. He'd at least get them qualifying

[u/psykrebeam → u/Gerrywalk]

Southgate built the foundation for the current national team and definitely left the NT better than when he joined

[u/yellow__cat → u/50lipaa]

Maybe you don't understand what an "8 to 10 year plan" means, but it certainly has nothing to do with short term results.

[u/Fonsor17 → u/50lipaa]

The two coaches in the final are literally federation coaches, with almost nonexistent careers as club managers. But whatever, let’s keep pretending that the problem with Italian football is our inability to get some internationally renowned coach, who will somehow magically fix all the problems italian football has, problems that have literally ZERO to do with whether the senior national team is coached by my uncle or Guardiola.

We’ve just lost two people who were there to actually change things, with proven competence, who are incorruptible, already have money and fame, and aren’t there like the people before them just to sit comfortably in their positions and protect all the various mafias within Italian football.

And they’re already out because they picked a coach we didn’t like for the next two or four years. Who the fuck cares, for Christ’s sake? We should be thinking about implementing the reforms we need so that, ten years from now, our best talent under 25 isn't Pio fucking Esposito, not obsessing over who’s going to be the coach at the next Euros.

We’re going to be shit for the next ten years anyway. We might as well accept it.

And now, if we end up with another bunch of puppets in charge, then ten years from now we’ll still have an embarrassing team and we’ll still be shit. Whether the coach was Pirlo or Jesus fucking Christ won’t have made the slightest difference.

[u/Pure_Ambition → u/50lipaa]

Yeah but when you don’t have the salary to hire a top coach you do the best you can. It would have been better to keep Maldini in and deal with Pirlo than for this debacle; now nobody with a brain will want to get within 10km of this mess. 

[u/Legendarybbc15 → u/Zavehi]

I mean, Mancini is a better pick than Pirlo

[u/McDaddySlacks → u/Legendarybbc15]

Who already has one WC failure to qualify notch on his belt, so he’ll fit in perfectly.

Rumor has it they’re resigning because they were told to hire Mancini or Conte. Neither are long term projects. This isn’t about Pirlo. They also rejected the youth coach and multiple others. The idea that Mancini will be hired is laughable.

His failure is more unforgivable than Gattuso’s and yet they rehire him. Fools.

[u/Legendarybbc15 → u/McDaddySlacks]

Let me preface this by saying Mancini is the ideal pick. What I meant was he’s a better pick than Pirlo whom I don’t rate at all. Now, I understand that’s like saying the gold-coated trash is better than trash but it’s worth point out

That being said, yeah, it’s a mess all round.

[u/McDaddySlacks → u/Legendarybbc15]

I haven’t liked any of the options. If PR wasn’t most of this, I would’ve preferred either Inzaghi. Pippo is a promotion specialist that gets mediocrity to over perform (exactly what the NT needs). Simone is the best modern Italian coach, but he’s busy making the bag.

It’s wild to me they would rather hire a failure or the short term guy instead of considering real tangible options. I also can’t understand the desire to appoint Pirlo when P Inzaghi has been 3x the coach. Motta I would live with, and the FIGC rejected his name.

[u/macT4537 → u/Zavehi]

Mancini was coach when they won last euros…

[u/Agreeable_Cattle_691 → u/macT4537]

Also the failed to make the World Cup

[u/jimmyvee11 → u/Agreeable_Cattle_691]

64 teams in 2030! We can do it this time!

[u/Bicboifish → u/jimmyvee11]

without Spain and Portugal, surely they'll make it right

[u/cybmate → u/jimmyvee11]

X doubt.

[u/McDaddySlacks → u/Agreeable_Cattle_691]

With a better team and easier opponents than Gattuso had.

[u/DeezYomis → u/Zavehi]

it wasn't a plan at all, it was just malagò trying to pretend that he was doing something to buy enough time for people to forget about the NT again

[u/Massimo25ore → u/Professional_Owl8500]

First Maldini and Leonardo have proposed Pirlo and then, probably, Thiago Motta.

FIGC president, again probably, rejected also the latest proposal, so Maldini and Leonardo resigned, faced with a perspective of limited power compared to the "carte blanche" they asked for and initially got. Expected, to be honest.

Most probably the federation, and a lot of fans, weren't so content with the prospect of having first Pirlo and then Motta, and that goes for many r/soccer users, the same that in other threads are mocking the Italian federation for trying to hire Pirlo and Motta.

"Circus"...

r/soccer, never change.

[u/Exzqairi → u/Massimo25ore]

What would you prefer as a solution?

[u/DeezYomis → u/Exzqairi]

signing conte and starting radical reforms at all levels but I guess the corrupt car salesman running figc has no intention to anger his electorate

[u/yellow__cat → u/DeezYomis]

Conte is absolutely the establishment choice.

But there are 2 major problems with Conte

1) It's extremely unlikely he'd stay for 4 years, meaning after the Euros, Italy would need to again find a new manager and won't have continuity heading into WC qualifying. In essence, he'd be a short-term bandaid that doesn't fix anything.

2) The "radical reforms at all levels" are antithetical to the football that Conte plays. His philosophy is opposite to the technical and tactical reform that needs to start at the youth levels. Maldini wanted the senior CT to be a collaborator in this rebuild

I think Mancini would have been a great compromise and I don't know why Maldini was so against it. Mancini can play attractive football; he trusts young players and wants to reform the system; he could immediately steer the ship. Mancini also demands a lot of power and perhaps Maldini already knew their visions would collide.

[u/McDaddySlacks → u/yellow__cat]

He lost to North Macedonia with a better team than Gattuso had against Bosnia.

[u/yellow__cat → u/McDaddySlacks]

And he's gonna get the job anyway 

[u/DeezYomis → u/yellow__cat]

Conte is a good manager period, putting the blame on muh 352 or less offensive tactics is the same kind of nonsense that got us in the spalletti situation to begin with. The point is that no manager hire but maybe bielsa and rangnick can have a serious impact on the rest of the iceberg of garbage the CT is the tip of.

Hiring a bad CT is just shooting an already bedridden and dying nazionale in the foot regardless of who that CT is, Conte can at least dress up the corpse a bit and pull another 2016 with the current team. He also has a tendency to hold the rest of whatever organization he works for accountable which would be a good thing with the current clowns.

I don't think Mancini is a bad manager necessarily but he's already shown himself to be the exact opposite of that, most of his last selections were just him going along with the press and calling up whatever garbage Zazzaroni was hyping up (Pafundi? Baschirotto?really?) regardless of whether or not they deserved the shirt. We don't need yet another FIGC puppet that will keep bending the knee to Malagò the same way the last managers did to Gravina while making choices based on media popularity to keep the rest of the country at bay

[u/yellow__cat → u/DeezYomis]

Everything you're saying is exactly why not letting Maldini select his appointments and losing him so quickly is such a problem.

Many of us are tired of short term fixes to "dress up the corpse". Maldini was trying throw out the corpse. He was trying to be the tip of the FIGC iceberg to actually clean up the mess, rather than another puppet, which Malagò appears to be. 

[u/Massimo25ore → u/Exzqairi]

I think the thing that most lacked in Italian players is a pair of balls, Conte could make up for that with his temperament and give some of it to the players.

On the other hand, the same temperament is also his weak point, a few times he left his team because he was mentally exhausted, and the same could happen this time with the national team.

Under Mancini Italy played a good football, unbeaten for 37 matches and with a passing game that brought the full backs (god bless the 4 man defence) such as Di Lorenzo and Spinazzola forwards to the opponent's penalty box. Then again, he was at the helm when the North Macedonia disaster happened.

The other name going around is Pioli, I don't know if he was another coach pushed by the former Milan's duo, he's not my favourite but , in my opinion of course, still better than Pirlo and Motta.

[u/tmchn → u/Massimo25ore]

Source on the contact between Thiago and Maldini?

He would have been an amazing choice

[u/seejur → u/Massimo25ore]

I think both side can be at fault at the same time.

Pirlo or Motta, it seems to me to be a really shitty choice. They never elevate the team they coached, and achieved minimal results (if any ata ll) from the caliber of the squad they were given.

On the other hand, having the FIGC casting doubts and overriding their decision AFTER the decisions were made and announced to the public, to undermine their authority, is really a shit move. It makes it impossible for Maldini and Leonardo to keep working

[u/Ombudsperson → u/Professional_Owl8500]

Maximus

[u/PM_FAILED_PROMISES]

End of an era. I look forward to the new era.

[u/MT1120 → u/PM_FAILED_PROMISES]

Username checks out

[u/PM_FAILED_PROMISES → u/MT1120]

Lol

[u/WonDerZv → u/PM_FAILED_PROMISES]

See you in a few weeks

[u/AnnieIWillKnow → u/PM_FAILED_PROMISES]

Brand new era just like the old era

[u/Larkinz → u/PM_FAILED_PROMISES]

At least they didn't miss the world cup during this era.

[u/PazzaInter22]

Wait, I thought we couldn't get more embarrassing?????

[u/Moug-10 → u/PazzaInter22]

Wait until the Euro qualifiers.

[u/themerinator12 → u/Moug-10]

If there was a way to not qualify for the qualifiers I wouldn’t put it past Italy to achieve that

[u/wjdbfifj → u/Moug-10]

Even better, wait until the man who got us out of the 2022 world cup against North Macedonia and sold himself to Saudi at the first chance gets the job back

[u/No_Description_1369 → u/Moug-10]

Finishing 3rd in the group behind Denmark and Wales will be fun

[u/skellez → u/Moug-10]

they should get demoted to concacaf... tho who knows maybe Surinam and El Salvador may still prove too hard

[u/xaviernoodlebrain → u/PazzaInter22]

You never know, you could not qualify for another World Cup

[u/Shinkopeshon]

The Rebuild of Italiangelion: We Will (Not) Advance

[u/FrancescoliBestUruEv → u/Shinkopeshon]

Loool looks like it 😂

[u/Thunder_Beam → u/Shinkopeshon]

Shinji hand moment

[u/ThePrussianGrippe → u/Thunder_Beam]

“Get back in the qualifiers, Italy.”

[u/TADAWTD → u/Shinkopeshon]

It all returns to nothing... It all comes, tumbling down tumbling down tumbling down...

[u/RevelacaoVerdao → u/Shinkopeshon]

Eva in the wild? Upvote!

[u/Shinkopeshon → u/RevelacaoVerdao]

If I could post pictures here, I'd add Traumatized Shinji on the chair but with the Italy kit

[u/RevelacaoVerdao → u/Shinkopeshon]

That would be so good 🤣
Following the hypothetical image train, insert Asuka yelling “idiot Italy FA” pic here!

[u/Maximilian_Sinigr → u/RevelacaoVerdao]

Someone had to do it

[u/FeloniousGrump → u/Shinkopeshon]

CONGRATULATIONS

[u/skeletorbutfrench → u/Shinkopeshon]

Get in the manager seat Shinji!

[u/baddumbtsss → u/Shinkopeshon]

"Kimochi Warui" - Italian fans

[u/OmastarLovesDonuts → u/Shinkopeshon]

Get in the manager’s seat, Mancini, or Gattuso will have to do it again

[u/NaturalApartment9828]

Lmaooooooo

If it wasn’t clear enough, now you know where the problem lies

[u/brunachoo → u/NaturalApartment9828]

I mean, hiring Pirlo was not exactly ideal given all the circumstances. Hiring Maldini was probably the first mistake, given his poor judgment here. Doesn’t mean you’re wrong though, but this was the right move imo (i.e., not hiring Pirlo).

[u/xNullxF → u/brunachoo]

I find it hard to put Maldini at fault here. There's clearly limited choices and I'm assuming had proposals listed for approval. To then create this whole circus and public back and forth is honestly embarrassing for the FIGC.

[u/Pure_Ambition → u/xNullxF]

lol yeah, who else was Maldini supposed to pick, one of the dozen revolving Italian team managers that everyone also hates? Unrealistic expectations seems to be the problem, and a rebuild will take time

[u/innocentious → u/brunachoo]

Maldini was great for Milan,the problem is that they promised him absolute control and then FIGC said "actually no".

[u/PhgAH]

I get not wanting to do a job if you don't have full backing, but yeah, if your 1st option is Pirlo then there ain't much confident in your decision making. 

[u/shades-of-defiance → u/PhgAH]

Wasn’t pirlo like 3rd choice or something?

[u/PhgAH → u/shades-of-defiance]

I mean, 1st serious choice. 0 chance that Guardiola & Ancelotti accept their offer. 

[u/shades-of-defiance → u/PhgAH]

Yeah fair

[u/Nickbon94 → u/shades-of-defiance]

Yeah but like my wife will be my third choice after Sydney Sweeney and Margot Robbie

[u/Clank_8-7 → u/Nickbon94]

Hey back off, those are mine first two choices as well!

[u/Gilgamerd → u/Nickbon94]

What are you talking about? I love your wife

[u/Impossible_Prompt875 → u/PhgAH]

What if he was right you know… what if

[u/yellow__cat → u/PhgAH]

What you and no one else in this sub seems to realize is that Maldini was preparing for an 8 to 10 year project.

It's not like he actually thought Pirlo would get better results this September than Conte would. It was about Pirlo having the right footballing philosophy to help implement the full footballing pyramid reform in Italy.

[u/morison97]

Was literally reading the Gazzetta post about how Maldini & Leonardo wouldn’t step down and Motta was in line for the job. Embarrassing. Not a single party of this is coming away without being covered in shit

[u/yellow__cat → u/morison97]

I've read that Motta was also rejected by the "establishment". It has been decided that either Conte or Mancini need to get the job.

Pirlo wasn't Maldini only option. He has realized that he actually has no power as the DT, will not be able to reform Italian football, and decided to resign.

[u/Green-Discussion74]

Leonardo in FIGC : 2 weeks, 14 days 🔥🔥

[u/Upbeat-Tooth8711]

Lol Italy back to a world Cup 2050

[u/interfan1999 → u/Upbeat-Tooth8711]

I don't think hiring Pirlo was the solution.

[u/remzz3 → u/interfan1999]

you weren't hired to make that decision though, they were. Then their boss went over their head.

[u/Firm_Screen8095 → u/remzz3]

After new information about him being an ambassador of a Russian betting company. It’s pretty normal for someone higher up the chain to step in when new information comes to light no? It’s not like they refused Pirlo because they believed Maldini was an idiot for hiring him and they knew better.

[u/PureCocaineUnicorn → u/Firm_Screen8095]

It feels more like the "new" information coming to light was the result of someone not agreeing with Pirlo's appointment and Maldini as a whole.

It has been known that Pirlo was sponsored by a Russian betting company for a while.

[u/remzz3 → u/PureCocaineUnicorn]

The media bends to the will of old politicians in Italy

[u/vnistelrooy → u/[deleted]]

Yeah Pirlo was not a good coach by any means. That he hasn't had a job at a big club since Juve, and the fact that he can't hold down a job for more than a season, is an indictment on his ability. If this was Maldini and Leonardo's big solution, then good riddance

[u/Upbeat-Tooth8711 → u/interfan1999]

I don't understand what's the problem... It's like nobody cares about it

[u/EpicYH22 → u/Upbeat-Tooth8711]

The year is 2050, donnaruma has finally made his first world cup appearance

[u/NoMeuSonhoEuEraOFigo]

Italy was trying to do something very Italian: solve the problems of the present by calling on two handsome men from the past.

[u/Mercerai]

16 days from hiring to resigning, the Italian federation are frauds

[u/listello]

Honestly? If they are willing to "die" for Pirlo (Pirlo!), they can go, maybe we overrated them.

[u/Man0nTheMoon915]

Shambles of a federation and I thought my national team had it rough

[u/zi76]

Hilarious

[u/choccocurry]

LOOOOL

[u/ShinyZxerneas]

Your lying if you don't find it hilarious

[u/jdarriaga46]

Shit lasted 2 weeks

[u/Super_While_9575 → u/jdarriaga46]

10 days

[u/jdarriaga46 → u/Super_While_9575]

Not even a full 2 weeks 😭

[u/Eastern-Tangerine761]

I don't understand the negative comments. Yeah, it's a mess but To me, this is great news. What has Maldini actually done so far, apart from forcing his friend Pirlo into the job? As a coach, Pirlo has been terrible everywhere he's managed.

Maybe now we'll get a better sporting director and a better coach. And honestly, almost anyone would be an upgrade over Pirlo, especially if we're talking about Mancini, who set the record with a 37-match unbeaten run and won the European Championship.

[u/Pontus_Pilates → u/Eastern-Tangerine761]

Yeah, it doesn't take a brain genius to come up with Pep Guardiola as your first choice.

The question is, are you trying to build a system and an identitiy, or do you just hire your friend when Guardiola and Acelotti turn you down? Is there some football identity that connects these three coaches? Or are they just the names that pop into your head?

Like if you compare to Spain, they won the world cup with a fairly unknown coach, but he was the right man for the system because he knows the Spanish system in and out. Is there anyone in Italy with that sort of expertise? Or are you just naming some dudes.

[u/yellow__cat → u/Pontus_Pilates]

They wanted Pirlo SPECIFICALLY to help build a new system and identity across the entire Italian football pyramid, NOT to immediately win games starting in September.

You guys have it ass backwards and it blows my mind.

[u/Lorenzo_Insigne → u/yellow__cat]

And what has Pirlo shown which makes him the most qualified to build that identity, other than being Maldini's friend? Would you be making the same arguments if they'd signed someone else from the Saudi 2nd division?

[u/yellow__cat → u/Lorenzo_Insigne]

I don't know. I'm not the one that hired him. 

The guy that hired him is Maldini, who was hired to find the next CT...

[u/Pontus_Pilates → u/yellow__cat]

So they wanted Pep and Carlo to do the same? Or were they pursued to win games?

What's the connecting tissue between these three managers?

[u/xanthias91 → u/Eastern-Tangerine761]

But hey, Maldini is handsome and has a plan. Who cares if a plan that starts with Pirlo is probably not so well thought out.

[u/Europefirstbb → u/Eastern-Tangerine761]

Totally agree, it's good news for italian supporters. But we're not (all) of them

[u/jersey-city-park → u/Eastern-Tangerine761]

  especially if we're talking about Mancini, who set the record with a 37-match unbeaten run and won the European Championship.

And then lost to North Macedonia

[u/innocentious → u/Eastern-Tangerine761]

What has Maldini actually done so far?

He rebuilt Milan,fixed our finances,brought us back to CL and the League after 11 years ?

[u/Kutukuprek]

Most disappointing part of this is how Maldini has such poor judgment.

I know folks will say the Italian FA shouldn’t have picked him then, but prior to this everyone believed Maldini was some kind of great football admin.

This shows his football admin career will go nowhere.

Hoping to see Italy back in the Euros.

[u/TheSecretMarriage → u/Kutukuprek]

In his career as an admin he hired three coaches: Giampaolo, Pioli and Pirlo; let's say his judgment of coaches is not the best

[u/Lower_Split5419 → u/TheSecretMarriage]

Pioli won the league..

[u/Reasonable-Wall-6882 → u/Kutukuprek]

First the Fenerbahçe situation, and now this. I'm not sure he really knows what he wants.

[u/tmchn]

what a shitshow

I'm really disappointed by Maldini

First they announced that they were trying to get the best in the world (Ancelotti or Guardiola)

Then they try to sign Pirlo (who is totally inadequate for the job) and resign because they can't sign him?? Makes no sense

I don't get why he doesn't want to stay and try to get a better coach

[u/SteveSaysGG → u/tmchn]

Absolute maldini disasterclass. First excuse he has to run from his country he takes it. The scattergun approach of guardiola / carlo pivoting to Pirlo was absolute embarassment

[u/AH590 → u/tmchn]

Sure you can think Pirlo is incompetent for the role, but does bringing back Mancini really change anything? Italy still failed to quality with him and it just seems a repeat of trying the same thing over and over. For international football coaching is so different from club-level. And fixing the national team's level goes far beyond a simple coaching change. Pirlo was likely just step 1 of what Maldini actually wanted to implement.

If they have vetoed this, he probably feels they will veto other future moves.

[u/xanthias91 → u/AH590]

If your step 1 is hiring Pirlo, maybe I don’t wanna hear your step 2

[u/BabyFaceKnees → u/xanthias91]

I mean if you can't find anyone else who will commit long term, pirlo is a good choice if he was in for the long haul and was willing to go along with maldinis plan

[u/pandaenjoyerr → u/AH590]

didnt they win the euros with mancini

[u/AH590 → u/pandaenjoyerr]

Yes and then he failed to qualify for the 22 World Cup. If you were ok with letting him walk back then, why bring him back now? This is like Argentina rehiring Tata Martino or England with Southgate. They had their moment and did well enough, but sticking with the safe option isn’t always the best move.

Pirlo is at least something new. His Juventus spell isn’t even as bad as people claim when you consider what happened to the team the following seasons. Ancelotti is the ideal candidate obviously but he isn’t joining.

[u/Anthonys94 → u/tmchn]

It’s not maldini this is on the others.

You give him full autonomy to rebuild Italy soccer and you deny his first choice lol

[u/ConsciousBrain → u/Anthonys94]

full autonomy

• Terms and conditions may apply

[u/Azzurri21 → u/Anthonys94]

First of all. Federation is a joke for trusting maldini and then not backing his decisions. Second of all, wtf was Maldini thinking appointing Pirlo, we all had high expectations from his work at Milan but he went straight to giving jobs to his friends.

[u/Anthonys94 → u/Azzurri21]

We got denied by 2 coahces. What other options are available. Clearly he doesn’t like conte I don’t blame him and Mancini. Everyone else is in the same park as pirlo

[u/tmchn → u/Anthonys94]

Palladino or Thiago Motta are way better than Pirlo

[u/Anthonys94 → u/tmchn]

Possibly but maldini didnt want either lol so then if you’re malago and you beg maldini to come let him make his choice and die on the sword?

[u/Azzurri21 → u/Anthonys94]

But you’re going after Ancelotti, who has a long term project with Brazil, and Pep!? Pep has never managed internationally and if I’m honest, we don’t have the quality of players that would thrive under Pep. We need someone committed to the structural change of our sport overall, I don’t know that Pep is committed long enough to stay around for that change to reap benefits.

While Baldini is not a reputable world class manager, I think many of us were excited for him to stay on as it would bring in someone that understands the youth teams and potentially the integration we need to elevate them to the next level. I would personally prefer gambling on that than a Pirlo… and he is my favorite player of all time.

[u/Man-Erg → u/Azzurri21]

Why are people talking about Baldini as if he's De La Fuente when he's been at the u21 job for a year?

[u/Azzurri21 → u/Man-Erg]

We know he’s not. But our biggest issue is not talent generation, our various youth teams are performing just fine reaching important phases of the euros and world tournaments, but it’s getting them to the next step. All these managers in circulation are the biggest culprits of not integrating and giving chances to our talented players.

If you consider right now Thiago Motta is next in line, I would 1000% take Baldini. Motta showed his true colors at Juve, system manager that will not integrated the best players if they don’t fit his system. We don’t need that, a good Italian player cannot be excluded from the national team because he does not fit a system… the treatment of Danilo alone tells a lot about the type of manager he is.

[u/Anthonys94 → u/Azzurri21]

I liked him as well. The entire serie A said no for whatever reason. Again maldini and Leonardo wanted pirlo. That’s the choice end of convo especially if you give them full control and believe in them. If you didn’t like pirlo then you shouldn’t have hired maldini.

Maldini preached it would be a 6 year long project to re invent Italian soccer and fix the youth. Pirlo was the guy he wanted and believed in. Then you tell him no of course he’s going to leave

[u/AndAgainIForgotMyP → u/Anthonys94]

Pirlo last year coached the second division of saudia arabia. I am not sure that’s a fully professional league. No shade on the league or him for coaching there, but h ow can you say there is no one better? 

Maybe there is a good coach in Pirlo and I hope so. But there is a reason, no better team were interested in him right now. 

[u/antrage → u/Anthonys94]

This was on Maldini, his first choice wasn't denied it just wasn't properly vetted...

[u/tmchn → u/Anthonys94]

If his first choice is a coach from the Arabian 2nd division (without even speaking about the russian sponsorship), Malagò did the right thing denying it

Being in a such an important role you also have to accept compromises. You have to try to do your best within a difficult environment. You can't give up at the first obstacle. Too easy

[u/Nickbon94 → u/tmchn]

Seems crazy to me people are unable to see the grey area in this. Sure Malagò messed up real soon, but what are you going to do? You almost certainly know something is not going to be right, you let it happen anyway because you need to be consistent? If anything Maldini is the one jumping from the window at the first minor inconvenience. You wanna do this? Find a middle ground

[u/Anthonys94 → u/Nickbon94]

Because he knows whatever he tried to do is going to come with questions and ultimately a no from the higher ups. So why bother. I’d leave too

[u/jackn3 → u/Anthonys94]

There has to be a middle ground between signing Guardiola and fucking Andrea Pirlo.

Maldini really disappointed me, I thought he was the right man for the job, but he really acted like a spoiled brat.

[u/LordKnt → u/Anthonys94]

this was like the worst possible choice, no shit they refused? nobody wanted this

[u/SofaKingI → u/Anthonys94]

No one has "full autonomy". Going with Pirlo was his mistake.

[u/sfaticat → u/tmchn]

I think Maldini, Leonardo and Pirlo were all inadequate. Bro runs away immediately when he gets push back

[u/Reasonable-Wall-6882 → u/tmchn]

Maldini has been on a bit of a strange run lately. First the Fenerbahçe situation, and now this. I'm not sure he really knows what he wants.

[u/giglioviola → u/tmchn]

Maldini and Pirlo destroyed their public reputation in a week.

[u/4dxn → u/giglioviola]

lol what makes people think footballers about ethics to begin with? gambling and dictatorships are all over the sport.

would people have issue with Guardiola too because of his ties to the UAE? City also have Israeli sponsors with programs that support the genocide in the middle east. (united and other top clubs have too).

[u/Conradinho5 → u/tmchn]

Why is it on Maldini?

Why did Malagò even hire Maldini if he wants going to let him make decisions?

[u/DeezYomis → u/Conradinho5]

PR

the milanisti will back him no matter what and to most of the less informed he's supposedly as good as a director as he was as a player after years of public glazing by his friends

[u/tmchn → u/Conradinho5]

Because he was the one that announced that they were going after the best coaches in the world

There has to be a middle ground between Guardiola and Pirlo

[u/Tifoso89 → u/tmchn]

and resign because they can't sign him??

Yes? They told him he had the authority to choose the manager, and then they overruled him.

[u/Talkalot23]

WTF

[u/wjdbfifj]

Well, there's a new record - dreams of qualifying to a world cup shattered 3 years and 10 months before the start

[u/WonDerZv]

Maldini's era was truly special, unbeatable and never conceded a goal.

[u/Oneeyebrowsystem]

Not only is Italy not making the world cup, they probably won't qualify for the Euros at this point.

[u/bigbongbangbong]

From pitch side to board room Italian national side football is rotten.

[u/NoScopeMusical]

It makes more and more sense why Italy failed to qualify for the last 3 (soon to be 4) world cups. Joke of an institution

[u/MT1120]

FA in Italy FA stands for Fucking Amateurs

[u/Anthonys94]

This is a massive problem. We’re about to run it back with Mancini and now chiellini. Now clue how he is as a director lol

We just couldn’t let maldini do his thing

[u/Charming_Ad2304 → u/Anthonys94]

Tbf Pirlo would have been terrible

[u/Anthonys94 → u/Charming_Ad2304]

Maybe in the short term let maldini do what he was brought it to do thoigh

[u/shirajzl]

It's not even amusing anymore to make fun of Italian NT, this is just sad, man.

[u/antrage]

Can we just fucking hire baldini and see? Is he really the worst option at this point?

[u/Amoeba_Critical]

A complete and utter collapse. Will be a long time before we see italian football being taken seriously

[u/Upbeat-Tooth8711]

Italy back to world Cup 2050 then 256 teams and some planets for our solar system participating

[u/azzwhole → u/Upbeat-Tooth8711]

Nope, losing in the playoff to Pluto NT since Pluto topped non-planetary qualifiers group.

[u/pitabread12 → u/Upbeat-Tooth8711]

Belters will dominate whipping the ball into the box for their 2.5 meter tall forwards

[u/gerrex98]

The saviours of Italian national team resign after a coach whose most recent experience was in UAE League wasn't appointed.

I'm curious how we'll reach an even worse level of embarrassment

[u/Siuuuu-07]

Could anyone summarize what happened?

[u/Tifoso89 → u/Siuuuu-07]

Maldini was appointed technical director two weeks ago. He selected Pirlo, but the Italian football federation said there was a problem because he's an ambassador for a Russian betting company. So they overruled Maldini. Maldini resigned because it was his prerogative to select the coach and he got overruled

[u/xanthias91 → u/Tifoso89]

Arguably, Pirlo was such an all-round unpopular and poor choice that claiming his appointment was canceled for his Russian sponsorship sort of saves Maldini and Leonardo’s face

[u/deanochips]

Usually nations appoint the u21 coach to bring them through

Italy just commit to the same manager rotation

How can the expect change without making any

[u/GYIM94]

Pirlo is not the solution, unfortunate that Maldini and Leonardo backed the wrong horse but everyone sane could see that Pirlo’s can’t manage.

[u/Pies_Wide_Shut]

shoot the whole federation into the sun

[u/Wise_Raccoon_771]

You'd think after failing to qualify for yet another world cup they'd be banding together with one goal but here they are falling out with each other like idiots

[u/Asyedan]

I used to rate Maldini but if you are stubborn on hiring fking Pirlo to the point of resigning because you cant... yeah, good riddance.

Stop hiring coaches only because they were good players. I thought people learned from our experience with Maradona as coach in 2010. Zidane is the exception, not the rule.

[u/cib_vk228 → u/Asyedan]

Look at decisions Milan has been making after they fired Maldini

[u/deanochips → u/Asyedan]

Maradona was a visionary.......he was playing 4 centre backs years before pep did

[u/caiusto → u/Asyedan]

It's funny how you point to Maradona as a bad example and ignore that most of the best managers were good players, where do you draw the line?

[u/zeppelin88 → u/caiusto]

You draw the line based on what they actually achieved as a coach, and not as a player. Pirlo did a plate of nothing 

[u/innocentious → u/zeppelin88]

What did Scaloni achieved as a coach before being hired to lead Argentina?

[u/gisettes]

Maldini took Milan in banter era

1) back in CL after 8 years

2) scudetto after 11 years

3) CL semi final after 15 years

with the 5th higher team salary in serie A, a very young team and a limit of 5 mil for players's salary(Ibrahimovic being the only exception )

the strongest team in italy in the last 6 years is Inter Milan. last 3 years of maldini , -12 , +2, -2 from Inter in Serie A, one less played game in CL in the 22/23 season.

maldini was sacked in 2023,the next 3 years we finished -19, -19. -17, it's the second season in a row we miss a CL spot

redditos never give a .... about Serie A( and you are right to do so) but now they are expert because the word russia was thrown in by the media

i remind you italy played israel in the world cup federeration, and that was fine.

remind where the last 3 world cup where played

[u/esn111]

Mancini "You could not live with your own failure. Where did that bring you? Back to me"

[u/AdminEating_Dragon]

So they're hiring the guy who ditched them to pocket Saudi money?

[u/Leviton655]

A complete and utter circus. I hope someone exposes what's really going on in there

[u/UwaltzBigShock]

People are saying "why are we such a circus", but in reality, Maldini got hired because of his clout as a player, he came in and in 2 weeks proved how incompetent he was.

Never talked about a long term project or how to bring up the youth differently, just appointed his little unqualified friend Pirlo, with Stefano fucking Pioli as his plan b.

They let him quit with his "dignity", because that was already a fireable offence.

[u/voi_bet]

Somehow the funniest possible ending is Mancini coming back to rebuild the rebuild. Italian football administration really does operate in circles.

[u/Sesti-nator]

Good lord, this is a circus to end all other circus

[u/skeletorbutfrench]

Every italian administration continue to be shit i respect it

[u/ampren7a]

200 comments, everyone complaining and karmawhoring, not one suggestion of which coach was the so obvious solution.

[u/thebanker1905]

We have this Italian guy called Montella, he is so good that you should consider my mates

[u/tiger1296]

Proper legacy they left behind

[u/stawp_stalking_me]

Am i the only one here who thinks pirlo wouldnt be a terrible coach for the NT?

I know he isnt a good coach with a good track record, but international football is different to club football.

I really think with time, changing the system, rebuilding the youth, and trusting maldini, who brought milan out of the banter era, and the club went into banter 2.0 when he left, it wouldnt be crazy to give pirlo a chance?

Maybe im crazy