There is little support for Pirlo as manager, but were De la Fuente and Scaloni any better?

The mention of Andrea Pirlo as a “Maldini-style” candidate for the Italy national team manager’s job has set the country’s finest footballing minds (and others) alight. Everyone is against the idea of entrusting the national team’s fate to him. It’s hard to understand such ferocity: Pirlo, who lit up every team he played for on the pitch, has only ever managed to dim the lights from the touchline, as his spells at Juventus and Sampdoria show. Attempting to poach the architect of the Azzurri’s renaissance from United FC in Dubai appears ill-advised at a time when France is backing Zidane and Germany is backing Klopp (poached from Trivago, oops).

It is clear that Pirlo is Paolo Maldini’s candidate and therefore also Leonardo’s. Even the walls of Via Allegri, the new headquarters of the Malagò family, know this. The important thing at this stage is not to make any ‘Pirlo-esque blunders’. This means not giving the impression that the men in charge of the Italian Football Federation and Club Italia have already split. Setting out without absolute conviction would be the biggest mistake, because it would lead to a crisis at the first sign of trouble, and given the Nations League schedule, it’s best to start preparing for the worst. If Paolo Maldini – a man who loves to be surrounded by an adoring entourage but has never accepted purely ceremonial roles – is suggesting Andrea Pirlo, a manager he had already wanted to bring to Milan, he isn’t doing so out of friendship. He is not foolish enough to risk everything just to snatch a friend away from the dugout in sunny Dubai. He is doing it because he sees in Pirlo the right qualities to reshape the Azzurri’s style of play, starting with the youth national teams that win matches but fail to produce players ready for the big leap. And here, Serie A – Malagò’s key electoral base – should also take a good look at its own conscience.

When the Italian football gossip circuit floated the idea of Pirlo as an alternative to Mancini and Conte, we all turned up our noses because the only person who really believes in Pirlo as a manager is Paolo himself. However, if we then broaden our view to the World Cup and look at the managers who will be competing for the trophy, we find De la Fuente on the Spanish bench and Scaloni on the Argentine one. Two managerial profiles that are closer to Pirlo’s than to those of Mancini and Conte. The Spanish manager was out of work: he responded to a job advert from the Federation. The Argentine was promoted after three colleagues turned down the role, even though the great Diego considered him unsuitable. If we dig through the internet for the comments that accompanied De la Fuente and Scaloni’s rise to the dugout, we’ll find opinions very similar to those that have greeted the Pirlo proposal in recent days. What matters is a truly shared vision, a management team willing to defend it against the firing squad of public opinion, but above all a genuine rebuilding of ‘Club Italia’ with the full cooperation of the Serie A clubs. If Maldini manages to convince Malagò, it means he has some very strong arguments on his side, and who knows – perhaps he has genuinely recognised in Pirlo the right man to give Italy its own Scaloni or De la Fuente. Of course, compared to someone like Conte or Mancini, it may seem like a mad and risky choice – not exactly the gamble we need to pull ourselves out of the quagmire we’re sinking into. But the important thing is not to make the mistake of listening to others when you’re truly convinced of your own choice.