Roberto Mancini has found an ally in the debate over young Italian talent in Serie A in the form of Andrea Pirlo, who believes that coaches are afraid to give homegrown youth an opportunity.
It is a topic that raised its head on Monday at the start of international week when the Azzurri boss bemoaned the fact that Italian youngsters are being deprived of chances by less talented foreign players.
Even Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini waded into the debate to call for a restriction on foreign players in Italy’s top flight and Pirlo believes that coaches are also culpable and should show the courage that Gennaro Gattuso and Stefano Pioli are when it comes to youngsters.
“Italian coaches lack courage but that happens every so often,” he said bluntly in an interview with La Repubblica. “Many foreigners aren’t as good as our players and this also happens in Serie B and the lower divisions.
“It probably costs less for the clubs, when they are doing deals, otherwise I can’t see the logic behind it. I think that [for Mancini] the problem mainly comes from the bigger clubs.
“Inter, Juventus, Napoli and Roma don’t deploy many Italians, the exceptions are AC Milan and Fiorentina. It is difficult for an 18-year-old to take a place away from a 28 or 30-year-old player.
“However, the Under-21s is usually a good mirror for a generation and we haven’t won it since 2004. There are no excuses. If you are good enough, you’ll play as Marco Verratti demonstrated at Paris Saint-Germain.”
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com