Italy’s old timers will pay the price for failing to reach the World Cup – who will face the axe?

ALVISE CAGNAZZO: Italy’s old timers will pay the price for failing to reach the World Cup and could NEVER play for their country again… so who will join veteran defenders Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci on the chopping block?

  • Italy’s failure to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar has given them a wake-up call
  • The Azzurri are ready for a drastic revolution nine months after Euro 2020 glory 
  • Four players are likely to have played their last game for the national team
  • So who will be watching the Finalissima against Argentina in June from the sofa?

The collapse against North Macedonia and the elimination from the final phase of the World Cup in Qatar has given Italian football a wake-up call and Italy is now ready to experience yet another drastic revolution on its long path. 

Failing to qualify for the second consecutive World Cup means Italy have had the wrong project, made the wrong choices and probably never had players available with charisma and personality. 

Despite the 1,592 days between Italy’s qualifier for the 2018 World Cup against Sweden and the big match with North Macedonia, there were four players who were present at both nefarious events. 

Alessandro Florenzi, Ciro Immobile, Jorginho and captain Giorgio Chiellini took the field both in Milan and in Palermo. 

And many of Italy’s side will leave the national team after the latest terrible disappointment. 

But who will be the big four excluded from the new Italy? Who will be the players who will experience the Finalissima against Argentina on 1 June 2022 comfortably seated on the sofa?

Italy’s shock defeat to North Macedonia has given the Azzurri a needed wake-up call

CHIELLINI

One of Italy’s most faithful servant but who can no longer be considered a top player of the national team. 

The charismatic defensive chief who gagged Harry Kane in the Euro 2020 final will certainly fall off the radar of the national team due to his persistent physical problems. 

He has a contract with Juventus until June 2023 and most likely next year will be the last year as a protagonist in Serie A before leaving the world of football for good. 

Giorgio Chiellini fall off the radar of the national team due to his persistent physical problems

Giorgio Chiellini fall off the radar of the national team due to his persistent physical problems

The desire to continue to be a protagonist in the national team is there but surely the player will know how to make the best decision, allowing Alessandro Bastoni and Alessio Romagnoli to take possession of his key role in the defence. 

Chiellini is 37 and in the last three years his physical form has been severely tested by calf problems. 

He will be sad, it will be difficult to overcome this moment but it is the right time to say goodbye to the national team forever, dedicating himself to the last 12 months.

BONUCCI

The Juventus defender is 34, he is the man with the most appearances for Juventus in the last three years but he is also the player who has the least chance of remaining in the Italy side. 

This season in Turin has been very difficult due to the constant physical problems that have prevented him from playing regularly in the last month. 

Bonucci’s departure will be very difficult to overcome because the defender creates the most chances after Jorginho.

Leonardo Bonucci is the player who has the least chance of remaining in the Italy side

Leonardo Bonucci is the player who has the least chance of remaining in the Italy side

He is also the man in charge of vertical passes and assists for his team-mates. 

His future at Juventus is 100 per cent certain but in the national team it is close to just 40. 

Italy need to rebuild to become a strong national team again and to do so you cannot be forced to start again with a 35-year-old player.

INSIGNE

Difficult to admit but the choice of Lorenzo Insigne, captain of Napoli, to go and play in Canada, in Toronto, reveals the difficulty of Italian football to remain competitive on an international level. 

The choice to go there at the age of 30 in a tournament with the quality of Serie C reveals a lot about the personality and character of a player who is technically among the top three in Italy. 

The choice to leave Europe will lead him to experience an embarrassing technical downsizing and will be cut away from the future of the Italian national team. 

The new Italy will need players accustomed to great rhythms and great formations and his presence in the new march towards the next European Championship will no longer be conceivable.

Lorenzo Insigne's decision to leave Europe will lead to an embarrassing technical downsizing

Lorenzo Insigne’s decision to leave Europe will lead to an embarrassing technical downsizing

IMMOBILE

‘Ciro il Grande’ becomes ‘Ciro Il Piccolo’ – ‘Ciro the small’ – when playing in the national team.  

Immobile’s story with Italy is very different from that with Lazio and its main problem seems to be the lack of charisma. 

His season at Lazio is of a high level with 21 goals in 25 appearances. But in the national team the numbers collapse and show how Immobile is ineffective in big international matches. 

Ciro Immobile's great numbers for Lazio collapse when he plays for the national team

Ciro Immobile’s great numbers for Lazio collapse when he plays for the national team

His last goal scored was against Switzerland in the group stage of Euro 2020 last summer. 

Ciro’s last decisive goal for Italy dates back to the Euros qualifying match between Italy and Armenia, which ended 9-1 in favour of the Azzurri, in which he opened the scoring.

Now his adventure with the national team seems to have definitively ended after yet another disappointment.

His departure is also due to the presence of Gianluca Scamacca and Giacommo Raspadori who will 100 per cent become part of the new Azzurri cycle.