Oddo on the Italy national team: ‘Our talent needs more support’

Massimo Oddo believes the Italy national team still has the same problems as in recent years, and he has called for more support for the country’s young talent.

Speaking to TuttoMercatoWeb, the 2006 World Cup winner says the problems need to be fixed at the source, as Roberto Mancini prepares his side for Thursday’s Nations League game against France at San Siro.

“The national team now has the same problems as in recent years. They have to be solved at the source if we want it back at the very highest level,” Oddo said. “We need to work with the youngsters, who should have different goals from the ones they have today, and the same goes for coaches. The Italian game also needs more support.

“It takes courage, because the talent is there, as the Under-15s and Under-17s show, but it needs backing. Many kids get lost along the way for reasons that have nothing to do with the pitch, such as the regulations, the huge number of foreign players and too much impatience. What’s missing is the hard graft of working your way up. Compared with when I was young, kids now want everything straight away, even when they’re not ready. Without support, they waste time they need to develop.”

Oddo coached Milan Futuro, the Rossoneri’s Under-23 side, and he believes the system works. The problem, in his view, is that players reach it too late.

“If Sinner always played the world No 100, he wouldn’t learn anything more, but if he plays Alcaraz, he improves. The problem I saw personally is that the kids get there late, and 20 is late. Abroad, they’re playing first-team football at 17. Here they’re stuck in the Primavera, and those three lost years are years of talent held back.”

Mancini has also had to look further afield. He named teenagers Riccardo Cassano and Simone Lontani in his latest squad, and he’s trying to persuade Club Brugge striker Nicolò Tresoldi to choose Italy over Germany.

Oddo also praised his 2006 teammate Gennaro Gattuso, whose Lazio side are top of Serie A.

“I’d be a hypocrite if I said I expected it. I don’t think anyone expected to see Lazio like this. They’re doing amazing things. They have ideas, identity and spirit. I know Rino, and I know that when there are problems outside the dressing room, he pulls the group together and shuts everything else out.”