Italy's football federation has named Roberto Mancini to return as national team coach following Gennaro Gattuso's departure after a World Cup qualifying loss. The appointment comes amid Italy's third consecutive failure to reach the FIFA World Cup since 2014. Giovanni Malago announced the decision during a Federal Council meeting.
“Roberto Mancini to be named Italy head coach for second time, source says”
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Italy’s repeated World Cup failures expose structural governance problems and a reactive cycling of coaches without addressing systemic issues like youth development or diversity.
“Institutional instability and preference for established figures over broader reforms”
Mancini’s return provides pragmatic continuity based on his 2021 European Championship success after experiments like Gattuso failed.
“Competence, discipline and proven results over novelty or untested candidates”
Federation-driven appointments illustrate recurring shortcomings of centralized selection compared with market-driven club environments.
“Limited accountability in state-adjacent institutions versus voluntary contracts and competition”
All views assume the right coach is decisive while overlooking squad weakness, Guardiola’s refusal, and the structural reorganization signaled by Ranieri’s appointment and other resignations.
“Empirical questions on competitiveness and execution failures ignored by ideological binaries”
Ratings by MBFC