Claudio Ranieri says Italy need to develop young players after an 'excellent' Euro 2016, whilst Napoli and Roma will have a hard time against Juventus.
The 64-year-old had a reputation for not being a winning Coach, but he disproved that famously last year by winning the Premier League with minnows Leicester City.
The historic result saw him being touted for the bench of the Azzurri. Although that position eventually went to Giampiero Ventura, Ranieri very much enjoys following international football.
Claudio Ranieri says Italy need to develop young players after an 'excellent' Euro 2016, whilst Napoli and Roma will have a hard time against Juventus.
The 64-year-old had a reputation for not being a winning Coach, but he disproved that famously last year by winning the Premier League with minnows Leicester City.
The historic result saw him being touted for the bench of the Azzurri. Although that position eventually went to Giampiero Ventura, Ranieri very much enjoys following international football.
“I think that having increased the number of teams playing in Euro 2016 was a good idea,” he told La Gazzetta della Sport. “It allowed small and middling football cultures to confront themselves against football's great nations.
“A few of the games may have been a bit boring but on the whole it was a good tournament. I thought Italy were excellent, [Antonio] Conte really did a fantastic job.
“He must be thanked, because he gave the Azzurri game and a soul. France made it to the final and Germany played well, although I didn't appreciate [Joachim] Low's change in formation to face us: it showed that they feared us.
“Wales and Iceland were both a breath of fresh air. The haka [the fan's 'war-cry'] of the Scandinavians was fantastic. Portugal deserves to win, but I had the sense they could make it under Fernando Santos, the same Coach who led Greece in the 2014 World Cup.
“The real disappointment was England. They had enough quality to reach the semi-finals.
“Ventura? The worst possible thing would be to compare him to Conte. Every Coach has his history and his moment. Ventura is a maestro of football, but he can't make miracles happen on his own. The system, in its full complexity, has to back him.
“My advice is to develop youngsters seriously, and not just use that as a slogan. Developing them means investing on the youth teams. Our models should be France and Germany.”
Ranieri then went on to discuss Serie A, where Juventus is once again dominating the market.
“Juventus' strength is that of thinking simultaneously about the present and about the future. They are reinforcing the current squad and buying youngsters for the future.
“Right now Juventus are running in their own race. Only Napoli and Roma can theoretically compete with them, but we've got to wait until the end of the market.
“The Milanese teams are undergoing a summer of profound changes at the club level and right now they're not in the front-line.
“The team that fascinates me the most is Sassuolo. I hope they can make it past the preliminaries of the Europa League.
“Sassuolo could turn into the Italian Leicester. They remind me of Udinese a few years ago, with the fundamental difference in their approach: the Zebrette developed foreign youngsters, the Neroverdi go for the Italian youngsters, and this could jolt the entire national movement.”