One of football’s most famous cliché’s is that “it doesn’t matter how old you are, as long as you are good enough.”
This formula may be followed in a number of European countries, however is it adhered to in Italy?
According to Azzurrini Coach Pierluigi Casiraghi it most certainly is not.
“In my position I would prefer that everyone has the chance to play, grow, mature in terms of experience and quality,” the ex-Chelsea and Lazio hitman moaned yesterday.
“If a few chances are given in the small to mid-table teams, the same cannot be said of Milan, Inter, Juventus and Roma.”
“It is an issue of a winning mentality. Here they want to win immediately and there is no time to wait around for a youngster to prove himself, so clubs go straight to champions of experience who are considered reliable. It’s a different approach overseas.”
The Italian philosophy is that youngsters should be allowed to develop and mature slowly while they are still young. They shouldn’t be thrown into the pressure-cooker environment of a big club while they are physically and mentally still under-developed.
This approach I have to say I am 90 per cent in agreement with. In Italy, young players are protected. Very few make their debuts for the Italian national team until they are at least around 22 or 23, while even fewer become real regulars until they are in their mid-20s.
The average age of the Italy team that won the World Cup was close to 30, while the 11 that will take to the field for the Azzurri’s first game of Euro 2008 against Holland will probably contain just one player under this age – the 29-year-old Andrea Pirlo.
The reason that Italy follows this system, in my eyes, is simple. They fear that by blooding youngsters too young they will ruin or destroy their talent.
There is also the physical angle – in Italy it is considered dangerous to the long-term fitness of a youngster if he is playing 40-50 games a season when he is still only 17 or 18, especially when this is at a big club.
There have been numerous instances from abroad where players have become superstars as young teenagers, only to see their later careers ravaged by injuries due to the damage this inflicted. The most obvious examples that spring to mind are Ronaldo and Michael Owen, who from their mid-20s onwards could barely play two games in succession, it seemed, without picking up another injury.
“I am sure that if Cesc Fabregas, Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were in Serie A, they’d play regularly as well, although they certainly would not have been given their debuts in these big clubs at 17. They would’ve had to wait a few more years,” is another quote from Casiraghi’s interview with Tuttosport yesterday.
Abroad there is a totally different mentality to the blooding of youngsters. England in particular follows the aforementioned motto of “it doesn’t matter how young you are if you are good enough.”
This philosophy is just one of the many areas where England are going wrong in the game, and it seems that they never will learn.
As soon as a young English player with any promise (think Wayne Rooney, Theo Walcott) bursts onto the scene, he is immediately hailed as some kind of wonderkid.
Unbearable pressure is mounted on the starlet, and before he has even reached the age of 20 he has already made the England squad.
Often by the time the player reaches his mid-20s he is physically and mentally burnt out, another example of this being Jonathan Woodgate, and the career of the player has thus been totally ruined. This may not happen with Rooney, but the amount of football he has played since he was 16, if I was an England fan I would be very worried.
In Italy, players who are recognised as world-class when they are say 27 or 28, are usually complete unknowns in European football until they reach the age of 22 or 23. These players may be termed as “late-developers” but in truth it is just the way the Italian system is.
The fact that Italy are only second to Brazil in World Cup victories proves that the system works, especially in comparison to countries such as England and Spain, who are always proud to announce the great young talent they have coming through, but have not won anything (or even come close for that matter) for more than 40 years.
Currently Italy have a wealth of brilliant young players – with the likes of Sebastian Giovinco, Giuseppe Rossi, Luca Cigarini and Lorenzo De Silvestri in Casiraghi’s Under-21 team.
These players will probably not become regulars in the full national team for another five years in order to protect their incredible potential.
It is slightly unfair of Casiraghi to say that young Italian talent is not allowed to prosper at the big four of Milan, Inter, Roma and Juventus.
While at the former two this is most certainly the case, Roma and Juventus have certainly given youth a chance.
The Giallorossi have the likes of Daniele De Rossi and Alberto Aquilani as regulars, although once again these are not teenagers, they are in their early-to-mid-20s. Meanwhile Juve, who have an astonishing crop of brilliant young Italians on their books, have regularly used the likes of Antonio Nocerino, 22, and Raffaele Palladino, 23.
Youngsters in Italy often gain their opportunity to shine at clubs lower down, although Casiraghi certainly shouldn’t be complaining given the potential of the likes of Riccardo Montolivo, Giampaolo Pazzini and Marco Donadel who are playing at Fiorentina.
This is a debate that I could talk about forever and there are a number of angles that I have left untouched, including the fact that the bottom-half of Serie A is made up of around 80 per cent home-grown players, something that certainly couldn’t be said about the English Premiership.
However in simple terms, I would have to disagree with Casiraghi’s viewpoint. Young players in Italy are nurtured through their formative years, and will not play regularly for the bigger clubs or for the national team until they are physically and mentally ready.
The thought of a teenager playing for the Azzurri is almost unthinkable, although there have been exceptions to this law in recent times, as legends such as Paolo Maldini, Giuseppe Bergomi and Gianluigi Buffon will attest to.
At the end of the day though - would Calcio fans prefer to see more Italian youngsters and a less successful national team? I don’t think so.
This formula may be followed in a number of European countries, however is it adhered to in Italy?
According to Azzurrini Coach Pierluigi Casiraghi it most certainly is not.
“In my position I would prefer that everyone has the chance to play, grow, mature in terms of experience and quality,” the ex-Chelsea and Lazio hitman moaned yesterday.
“If a few chances are given in the small to mid-table teams, the same cannot be said of Milan, Inter, Juventus and Roma.”
“It is an issue of a winning mentality. Here they want to win immediately and there is no time to wait around for a youngster to prove himself, so clubs go straight to champions of experience who are considered reliable. It’s a different approach overseas.”
The Italian philosophy is that youngsters should be allowed to develop and mature slowly while they are still young. They shouldn’t be thrown into the pressure-cooker environment of a big club while they are physically and mentally still under-developed.
This approach I have to say I am 90 per cent in agreement with. In Italy, young players are protected. Very few make their debuts for the Italian national team until they are at least around 22 or 23, while even fewer become real regulars until they are in their mid-20s.
The average age of the Italy team that won the World Cup was close to 30, while the 11 that will take to the field for the Azzurri’s first game of Euro 2008 against Holland will probably contain just one player under this age – the 29-year-old Andrea Pirlo.
The reason that Italy follows this system, in my eyes, is simple. They fear that by blooding youngsters too young they will ruin or destroy their talent.
There is also the physical angle – in Italy it is considered dangerous to the long-term fitness of a youngster if he is playing 40-50 games a season when he is still only 17 or 18, especially when this is at a big club.
There have been numerous instances from abroad where players have become superstars as young teenagers, only to see their later careers ravaged by injuries due to the damage this inflicted. The most obvious examples that spring to mind are Ronaldo and Michael Owen, who from their mid-20s onwards could barely play two games in succession, it seemed, without picking up another injury.
“I am sure that if Cesc Fabregas, Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were in Serie A, they’d play regularly as well, although they certainly would not have been given their debuts in these big clubs at 17. They would’ve had to wait a few more years,” is another quote from Casiraghi’s interview with Tuttosport yesterday.
Abroad there is a totally different mentality to the blooding of youngsters. England in particular follows the aforementioned motto of “it doesn’t matter how young you are if you are good enough.”
This philosophy is just one of the many areas where England are going wrong in the game, and it seems that they never will learn.
As soon as a young English player with any promise (think Wayne Rooney, Theo Walcott) bursts onto the scene, he is immediately hailed as some kind of wonderkid.
Unbearable pressure is mounted on the starlet, and before he has even reached the age of 20 he has already made the England squad.
Often by the time the player reaches his mid-20s he is physically and mentally burnt out, another example of this being Jonathan Woodgate, and the career of the player has thus been totally ruined. This may not happen with Rooney, but the amount of football he has played since he was 16, if I was an England fan I would be very worried.
In Italy, players who are recognised as world-class when they are say 27 or 28, are usually complete unknowns in European football until they reach the age of 22 or 23. These players may be termed as “late-developers” but in truth it is just the way the Italian system is.
The fact that Italy are only second to Brazil in World Cup victories proves that the system works, especially in comparison to countries such as England and Spain, who are always proud to announce the great young talent they have coming through, but have not won anything (or even come close for that matter) for more than 40 years.
Currently Italy have a wealth of brilliant young players – with the likes of Sebastian Giovinco, Giuseppe Rossi, Luca Cigarini and Lorenzo De Silvestri in Casiraghi’s Under-21 team.
These players will probably not become regulars in the full national team for another five years in order to protect their incredible potential.
It is slightly unfair of Casiraghi to say that young Italian talent is not allowed to prosper at the big four of Milan, Inter, Roma and Juventus.
While at the former two this is most certainly the case, Roma and Juventus have certainly given youth a chance.
The Giallorossi have the likes of Daniele De Rossi and Alberto Aquilani as regulars, although once again these are not teenagers, they are in their early-to-mid-20s. Meanwhile Juve, who have an astonishing crop of brilliant young Italians on their books, have regularly used the likes of Antonio Nocerino, 22, and Raffaele Palladino, 23.
Youngsters in Italy often gain their opportunity to shine at clubs lower down, although Casiraghi certainly shouldn’t be complaining given the potential of the likes of Riccardo Montolivo, Giampaolo Pazzini and Marco Donadel who are playing at Fiorentina.
This is a debate that I could talk about forever and there are a number of angles that I have left untouched, including the fact that the bottom-half of Serie A is made up of around 80 per cent home-grown players, something that certainly couldn’t be said about the English Premiership.
However in simple terms, I would have to disagree with Casiraghi’s viewpoint. Young players in Italy are nurtured through their formative years, and will not play regularly for the bigger clubs or for the national team until they are physically and mentally ready.
The thought of a teenager playing for the Azzurri is almost unthinkable, although there have been exceptions to this law in recent times, as legends such as Paolo Maldini, Giuseppe Bergomi and Gianluigi Buffon will attest to.
At the end of the day though - would Calcio fans prefer to see more Italian youngsters and a less successful national team? I don’t think so.
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