Mancini’s resignation leaves Italy in blue moment – can they improvise like Miles Davis?
On Saturday night, the snowy-haired president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), Gabriele Gravina, received a notification. It was a PEC — the certified emails that have replaced the fax machine in the mythology of binding football paperwork. The message, on behalf of Roberto Mancini, tendered his resignation as Italy manager.
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A long weekend awaited. Literally, in this case.
Ferragosto is a public holiday. Visit one of Italy’s big cities at this time of the year and, aside from the tourists, they are deserted. The Italians are at the beach. It’s the last weekend before the start of a new Serie A season. A chance to be beside the sea rather than in the stands of some stadium up and down the bel paese. But relaxing wasn’t for Gravina. Not as it should have been.
Upheaval has characterised this summer.
Paolo Nicolato stepped down from the under-21s job after his Azzurrini failed to get out of the group stage at the European Championship in late June. A team captained by Newcastle United’s new arrival Sandro Tonali never recovered from the refereeing mistakes in the opening game against France, which were scandalously uncorrected in the absence of VAR and goal-line technology from the competition in Georgia and Romania.
A month on, Milena Bertolini handed in her notice after group-stage elimination from the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Criticised for leaving such a leader as Juventus captain Sara Gama at home, Bertolini’s team selections and faith in inexperience backfired.
The players felt all alone on the other side of the world. No one from the FIGC flew out to support the team in a perceived show of no confidence.
Gravina did not escape criticism.
His priorities were questioned amid
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