Another opportunity wasted by Nicolò Zaniolo

There is always a moment, in every tormented career, in which the line between bad luck and personal responsibility becomes clear. In the case of Nicolò Zaniolo , that moment seems to come more often than it should. The latest episode, the verbal aggression (and perhaps not only) against some of the Roma Primavera players in yesterday's semi-final played at Viola Park is yet another stumble of a talent who has lost his way. And to think that this year he has had two opportunities in a few months, ones not to be missed after a career as a "damned". The six months with Gasperini did not go well, leaving Atalanta for Fiorentina could have been his revenge but it was not to be.

Right in Florence, where there was already the end-of-season breakup, the player added another unedifying episode to his “bad boy” curriculum.

Zaniolo took to social media to share his version: admission of responsibility, apologies, denial of any physical act.

Measured words, perhaps sincere, perhaps strategic. But the crux remains: why does someone like him – who went from being a promise of Italian football to an eternal unfulfilled figure – continue to stumble?

The most convenient answer is that of the “misunderstood genius”. Zaniolo has been labeled, since his time at Roma, as a predestined one . He was already one before, passing through Florence and the black and blue side of Milan . And like every predestined one, he perhaps convinced himself that talent was enough to justify everything : the highs, the lows, the pauses, the outbursts of anger.

Psychologist K. Anders Ericsson wrote in his research that natural talent is a romantic myth, not a scientific reality. Studying violinists, athletes, and scientists, he discovered that what distinguishes champions is not a gift, but a process. Daily training, deliberate practice, resilience. Basketball legend Ray Allen was infuriated when people attributed to him as having “a natural perfect shot”: “Don’t belittle the effort I put in every day.”

Zaniolo, on the contrary, seems blocked by that myth. He is not the only one. As sports psychologist Pietro Trabucchi explains , Italian sport (and not only) is still steeped in that culture that seeks “talent” instead of building it. Promising youngsters are pampered, praised, elevated to future champions, and then left alone to face the first real difficulties. Talent becomes a fragile armor: it protects until it breaks.

Mindset matters more than talent. Carol Dweck , a professor at Stanford, has shown that those with a growth mindset, or a growth-oriented mindset, not only learn more, but also make better mistakes. Mistakes are not failures: they are part of the process. But those who feel “special” often do not accept mistakes. They reject them, deny them, delegate them. This is why Zaniolo disappoints . Not (only) for what he does, but for what he continues not to learn.

His story, from success in the Giallorossi to the headlines on current events, is the story of a career that never really took off . A champion is not someone who makes a splash, but someone who transforms their skills into an example for others. Instagram is not enough to write it: without method, without self-criticism, without that silent effort that distinguishes those who want to last from those who are content to shine at times. The real wasted opportunity is not the episode itself, but yet another missed chance to change course.

Zaniolo still has time to do it, most likely once again far from Florence. But every uncontrolled explosion, every illusion of having already arrived, pushes that moment away. And transforms his talent into a slow and continuous melancholy.

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