Are Premier League riches damaging Italian football?
World Cup 2026 qualification
For the third consecutive FIFA World Cup, there will be no Italian team. It is a travesty that a team who have won the World Cup four times are now facing a third consecutive tournament without appearing.
Conflict of interest / Championship relegation
Is it a conflict of interests that Michael O'Neill conveniently in his matchday squad last night against Wales played two players from Oxford, a player from West Brom, and a player from Portsmouth—all direct relegation rivals of Blackburn?
Italy national team quality
If you look at them man for man in the starting 11, none of those players are world class. You could maybe hold a case for three or four being world class, but not on that elite superstar level like Totti, Del Piero, and all those players.
Managerial dual roles
It does open a massive can of worms. Imagine Thomas Tuchel managing Borussia Dortmund and then going to the England job during the international break. It would just be bizarre.
England striker depth
Who is the natural heir to Harry Kane? Ollie Watkins hasn't been as effective for Villa lately, and Dominic Solanke is playing for Spurs who are 17th for the second season in a row. It looks like a pretty grim picture if that's how England are without Harry Kane.
Serie A decline
The Calciopoli scandal killed the Italian league as a place to go. At that point, Italy was one of the best leagues in the world, and then everybody left because they kind of had to, and they didn't have the youth system anymore to blood the next lot through.
Italian football infrastructure
Back in 2010, they appointed Roberto Baggio as the technical director of the Italian FA. He wrote a massive 900-page report on how he wanted to change Italian football, but when it came to investment, they just ignored him and let it die.
England World Cup 2026 squad
You cannot seriously tell me that in 2026 England have no other centre forwards coming through apart from Watkins, Kane, and Solanke. That's it.
Italy national team
Gianluigi Donnarumma made his Italy debut at 17, and he'll be 31 by the time he plays his first World Cup if they qualify for the next one in 2030.
Tactical analysis
The obsession with scoring easy goals is what Pep Guardiola teaches. They don't smash it in from 30 yards very often; it's fluid, intricate play that cuts opponents to ribbons, and the finish is generally quite easy.
