The Italian Job

So Italy has won 10 out of 10 Euro 2020 Qualifiers... some sort of record I think... and they look to be back at their best as the spectre of the European Championships is starting to loom large. Roberto Mancini is the man to lead them back to glory; and I think he is a terrific manager; after the earlier memorable success at Manchester City. You could tell how some smart players could become fine managers: examples are Carlo Ancelotti; Josep Guardiola and Mancini; who was simply a genius of his kind at Sampdoria. They were such smart, thinking players that you just knew they could be killer managers.

After the horror of not qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia; Italy has had to take a long deep look and re-group. A World Cup without Italy is like a world without air; that's how bad it got. Gone were the great players of Italy past; such as Gianluigi Buffon; Franco Baresi; Alessandro Del Piero; Francesco Totti and Andrea Pirlo. There was just not enough good players to replace them and the individual and team philosophy and chemistry nose-dived.

Well now they look back to their best. New players have come up such as precocious AC Milan goal-keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma; defenders Daniele Rugani and Alessio Romagnoli; but it is in midfield where I actually like them most these days. One of my favourite players is the PSG maestro Marco Verratti... whose passing is beautiful to say the least... also Chelsea stalwart Jorginho is another pass-master there to keep things humming... Upfront, they have the flourishing Ciro Immobile who is banging in the goals at the minute... and of course new face Federico Bernardeschi and the sentimental favourite Federico Chiesa, son of the ex-Parma legend Enrico Chiesa. And of course Everton's Moise Kean... who we hope will rise to fulfil his potential and become a superstar for his country.

It's all looking exciting for Euro 2020... there are many so-called smaller teams coming up now and it looks almost like anyone can beat anyone... which should make for an exciting tournament across a multitude of countries.