We bring you Part Two of our exclusive interview with Paolo Bandini on Antonio Conte’s man-management, Serie A myths and how Roma handled the Francesco Totti situation.
As the season comes to a close, we asked Italian football expert Paolo Bandini to cast his eye over the campaign in the Peninsula and beyond.
We bring you Part Two of our exclusive interview with Paolo Bandini on Antonio Conte’s man-management, Serie A myths and how Roma handled the Francesco Totti situation.
As the season comes to a close, we asked Italian football expert Paolo Bandini to cast his eye over the campaign in the Peninsula and beyond.
You can read Part One of the interview here and see Paolo in person along with James Richardson and James Horncastle at the one-off Gazzetta Football Italia – Live, Londra Edizione at Union Chapel in Islington on June 19.
How could the Francesco Totti situation have been handled differently and who is most to blame for the lack of clarity?
“Boy, this is a big one to answer. I honestly felt like Luciano Spalletti handled it pretty well for a man who was trying to navigate his team towards a really important goal this season (the guaranteed €40m of Champions League revenue will make a huge difference to Roma's recruitment options), but doing anything in Rome is difficult because the media glare is so intense.
“I think it would have been better for the club to insist on making a united statement with Totti, rather than having Monchi come out and announce that his time playing for the club was at an end without the player being present. But it's clear that Totti himself was having a hard time letting go, so maybe that is just the way it had to be.”
Is Antonio Conte currently the best man-manager in the world? He and Jose Mourinho have a similar focus on motivation and forming a group dynamic. Is that why Inter feel he’d be perfect for their particular issues?
“The best? That's a tricky one. Diego Simeone has been drawing more than anyone thought possible out of the players he has at Atletico Madrid for several years.
“But Conte is certainly right up there. You can see that his players would run through walls for him, and my only reservation is whether – like Mourinho – he demands so much that it can only be sustainable for a few years.
“Given the reports of disunity and cliques in Inter's changing room, it certainly makes sense to pursue an individual like him, who has shown that he can convince players to buy into a greater cause.”
What myths still exist that you’d love to dispel about Calcio?
“Oh, so many. That it's boring (words that could not be said by anyone who saw a Napoli game this year), that it's full of cheats (England is only just catching up to Italy's policy of retrospectively banning divers), that every game at the end of the season is pointless (relegated Palermo beat Empoli on the final day, while midtable Genoa were a whisker away from denying Roma second place).
“Italian football has plenty of flaws, as does every league, but in general I just wish fans from all countries would take their blinkers off and actually go watch the games being played in different places rather than relying on hackneyed old clichés. They might find they enjoyed it.”
What do you make of Italy’s squad going towards the 2018 World Cup?
“I'm more excited about Italy's options throughout the team than I have been for some time. The Juventus core is still there, but suddenly there is a wealth of young talent coming through at all different positions, from the Atalanta contingent of Andrea Conti, Mattia Caldara, and Leonardo Spinazzola through to Andrea Belotti at Torino and Roberto Gagliardini at Inter.
“There was already the foundation for a whole new defence forming with Gigio Donnarumma, Alessio Romagnoli and Daniele Rugani. I just really hope that Marco Verratti can stay fit this time, and become the central figure for this team that he is meant to be.”