Reporter Han Bing reported that Mancini was still the European Cup champion coach praised by Italy 8 months ago, and after 8 months, he changed from a hero to a sinner, and the harsh italian public opinion environment, in fact, all coaches have been mentally prepared. Serie A is one of the five leagues with the most frequent coaching changes, and from club owners to media to fans, patience with coaches is limited to staggering. Indeed, Italy's consecutive World Cup failures have hit the old football powerhouse too hard, and italy will pay a heavy price for it, whether psychologically, the football system or the economy.
But should this responsibility be borne by the European Championship champion coach Mancini 8 months ago? Don't forget, Italy is still in excellent shape in the 3 World Cup qualifiers before the European Championship, and everything only happened in the 8 games after the European Championship. In a way, Italy's exit this time is more like a very accidental accident of Murphy's Law than an inevitable result. After all, losing at home to a team ranked below 60 is itself a small probability event. Of course, everyone, including Mancini himself, admits that Italy should not be in the play-offs in the first place, and this cold goal is only the result of the accumulated mistakes of the previous 8 games.
Perhaps the European Championship, as Sacchi put it, was just a fortuitous accident in the overall decline of Italian football. But looking at Mancini's achievements for most of his time in office, it's hard to accept this difference between heaven and hell over the course of 8 months. Perhaps the only positive factor for it is that it may force the Italians to admit that they are completely behind the world-class football powerhouse and really begin to rebuild systematically like Germany did then.
Italy was in fact "accidentally" by a succession of details after the European Championship, pushed to the precipice of exit. Even against North Macedonia, without Chiellini, Bonucci, Spinazzola, Chiesa Junior, And lucatelli, the Blues, in fact, can only be regarded as half of the European Cup champion team, and the strength has been discounted. Even so, the Italian still has an overwhelming advantage, unfortunately, all the accumulated details of the accident, so that the players lost the mentality they should have.
Italy won only one of its six qualifiers after the European Championship, with a win rate as low as 16.7%, two games against Switzerland, and two weak teams in Bulgaria and Northern Ireland, which lost eight points, directly sending the team to the backwater battle of the play-offs. Against Switzerland, Jorginho missed even one of the two penalties that Jorginho missed, and Italy was able to avoid the disaster. Similarly, against Bulgaria and Northern Ireland, Italy can qualify even if they have a chance to score a goal. This accumulated disappointment has a growing impact on the morale of the dressing room.
When he won the European Cup, Mancini led the team to 37 unbeaten and 13 consecutive wins. It's just that Italy's highlight performance is behind the good luck of the advanced defense line and the main players in the midfield who are almost injured. But luck can not always be taken care of, the main team that won the European Championship all the way is bound to be in a slump in the early stage of the following season. However, the two most important games of Italy's qualifiers in early September last year, against Bulgaria and Switzerland, were in the midst of a downturn in the team, Chiellini, Assellby, Spinazzola, Villati and Chiesa Jr. could not be fully present, and Jorginho, who had all the penalties in Chelsea, continued to have a nightmare of missing points in the national team.
It was as if everything was against the Italians: with numerous injuries, the continued slump of the main players at the club, especially on the offensive end, Mancini did not want to change, but it was difficult for a woman to cook without rice, Berardi, Las Padori, Zaniolo, Moses Keane and Skamaca all had the opportunity to play, but they could not seize the opportunity. After a two-game draw in September, the 5-0 victory over Lithuania gave the team the wrong signal at the wrong time, and everyone thought that the four points lost were just accidents, not warnings that changes had to be made. After the Defeat of Spain in the UEFA Nations League in October, Mancini wanted to make adjustments, but he was faced with a life-and-death battle at home against Switzerland. In that game, Chiellini, Spinazzola and Verratti were absent, and the offensive end was also missing Inmobile, which could only make Berotti top the job. Rao, if Jorginho can score a penalty, Italy still has to save...
Of course, too much luck doesn't mean that Mancini has no responsibility. As a world-class coach who has proven himself in Serie A, the Premier League and the European Championship, he failed to adjust the mentality of the players in time after winning the European Championship, and made a sufficient B plan for the possible main state of the team and injuries, especially in the Problem of The Lack of Broken Dense Defense that had been revealed at the European Championship, Mancini was of course to blame. Italy's four draws in the post-European Cup qualifiers were all related to Mancini's strain misdeeds. Although he can use the fact that no one is available outside the main Italian team as an objective reason, he has been coaching the Blues for 4 years and has not made enough to deal with the two sets of teams of second- and third-rate teams in Europe, and it should not be in any case.
Inmobile and Berardi are both big hits in the league, but when they get to the national team, they can't find a crosshair, and Mancini is responsible for this - the manager's tactics can't let the players bring their good form at the club to the national team, and the pot can only be carried by Mancho himself. In terms of psychological adjustment, Mancho's pot is even bigger, and after winning the European Championship, he thinks too highly of himself, and first of all, he commits the taboo of light enemies. For Bulgaria, Northern Ireland and North Macedonia, Mancini's platoon deployment is obviously not targeted enough, after winning the European Championship, the coach himself first released the "World Cup to win" satellite, how to make the aging players calm down and face the opponents who have come up with targeted tactics?
After Italy's exit, Mancini voluntarily resigned less likely. After all, there are still more than 4 years of contracts left, and the Italian Football Association cannot afford to pay 16 million euros in liquidated damages. Fa president Gravina and old defender Chiellini both have the intention of retaining, and it is also because of this that even if Italy changes the coach, the current personnel reserves are thin, and everyone is equally stretched. Mancini needed a few days to think about it, and I was afraid that he was thinking more about how he woke up from this head-to-head drink and found the true position of the Blue Jackets.
With Italy up to take on Argentina in June for the resumption of the European and American Championships, and a new UEFA Nations League against Germany and England, this should be enough time for Mancini and the Italian Football Association to find a precise starting point for a restart.
