Spalletti's last night, coaches come and go but Italian football goes further and further down

In addition to the defeat against Norway, another bitter perception was also fatal: that in 12 months, from the collapse against Switzerland to the European Championship, little or nothing has changed. A mediocre record of 4 wins, 3 losses and 2 draws. With only one real surge: the 3-1 in the Nations League in Paris. For the rest, a scrape by, with many goals conceded (16) and the impression of always being in trouble even with less titled teams that once, like Norway itself, we would have shot down with vehement goleades. In fairness, we should also remember the 4-1 against Israel and the 2-2 against Belgium, despite Pellegrini's expulsion. Brief flashes of light and then back to darkness. In the dark and stormy night of Oslo.

A disaster, in short. Hoping tonight to get by with Moldova (even if they are 158th in the ranking it is not so obvious), and that Spalletti is replaced by a "safe used" like Claudio Ranieri, it is right however to reiterate that all this amazement for the embarkation with Norway, is really out of place. As are also hypocritical these indignant tones on the vilified shirt or the lack of attachment shown by our Azzurri.

But what are we surprised about? Didn't we see how Acerbi, not exactly a defender who will remain in the gallery of unforgettables, refused the call-up with a text message? And didn't we see in what physical and mental conditions all the others arrived? Half ready for the holidays, the other for the infirmary. Drained by a crazy schedule that multiplies commitments to multiply the income of a football that devours itself to exhaustion.

Now: Spalletti must have made a mess of things. Something must have gotten out of hand. With his always slightly convoluted eloquence that turns simple things into nebulous things. And he could have avoided certain tactical choices that are difficult to assimilate quickly. However, Spalletti didn't go on the pitch against Norway. But did we see Barella and company?

They couldn't stand up, they couldn't get a dribble right, they never dared to cross the halfway line. If Guardiola or Ancelotti had been on the bench, would anything have changed? This is our football, worn out by a neurotic season and a championship where Italian players are almost an exception.

Apart from Inter, in the other top teams you have to look for them with a lantern. Especially in the key roles. Let's look at Milan, where only Gabbia remains to speak Italian. Even the national team suffers in the end. If those three four who make the difference are out due to injury, the others are second-string players, not used to international comparisons. We are also very presumptuous. And we forget that we had Rovella and Udogi on the field, while they had that devil Haland and that intoxicating talent Nusa, a jewel of the Bundesliga.

Fabio Capello also says it, we need to change the mentality of the youth teams, let our talents play more, force a minimum threshold of Italians to be fielded in the starting eleven in all matches. But these are useless sermons. If Capello had been the coach, sooner or later he would have ended up like Spalletti.

As always, we are very theatrical. It is useless to tear our clothes, to cry scandal for our teenagers orphaned by the World Cup summers. Italy's problem is that we overestimate ourselves. We continue to hark back to a glorious past - the magical nights, Tardelli's scream, the haunted eyes of Totò Schillaci - that has long since disappeared. The last real triumph, apart from the unlikely European Championship in London, dates back to Berlin 2006 with Lippi. And then? How many coaches have fallen through along the way? Do we want to talk about Prandelli resigning after the flop in Brazil in 2014? And the general mockery of Giampiero Ventura being thrown out in 2017 for missing his first World Cup?

And the embarrassing dance with Mancini himself, guilty of having ruined the 2022 World Cup for the second consecutive time because of that terrible play-off with Macedonia? And now it's Spalletti's turn, even though he was welcomed as the man of providence, who came to the rescue of his country after his predecessor's less than thrilling escape to Arabia.

The architect of Napoli's Scudetto, Luciano seemed like the right man in the right place. A winner, a coach who has traveled the world and done well even in a difficult place like Rome. After less than a year, he comes out of this adventure in pieces, chased away with tears in his eyes by a President, Gabriele Gravina, very skilled at avoiding obstacles and resignations, despite a World Cup lost on the road and a last European Championship that is a museum of mistakes.

Coaches come and go and Gravina remains, despite the growth of Italian football's indebtedness and the decrease in clubs' respect for the national team, considered a residual Cinderella who must take what the rich and indebted convent of the championship gives her.

If we really want to start over, we must do so without telling ourselves any more lies, aware of our current limits. If, instead, to console ourselves, we continue to tell ourselves how good we were, we risk crashing again.