Do you think we’ll see Italian players of Totti & Del Piero’s caliber again, or were they the last of a dying breed?

9 comments

1. Never. They don’t them anymore.

2. Quality wise, yes. There will be players matching their speed, control, grace, passing, free kicks and you name it.

   Honor wise, no. Those players were absolutely loyal to their clubs and refused to leave for Madrid in a period their own club didn’t do so well. I am afraid we will never see players as gracious as them any time soon..

3. Football has changed too much, so, no, I don’t think so.

   Fantasy has become a rare thing in modern football, especially in Italy. 🙁

4. In some ways yes, but in other ways no. Football as a sport and now business, the training methods, the tactical approaches, and heavy reliance on data have all changed how the game is played and how youngsters are developing.

   You can argue that these two were “born with talent” but I disagree to an extent. My point is the freedom to play “fantasista” football is less common and teams play team defence entirely as a whole unit now. I’ve never seen more teams with 10 men behind the ball more often than the past two seasons.

   On the bright side, we see players like Bellingham, Foden, Wirtz, Dybala, Leao, Kvaratskhelia, and others able to play with some more freedom.

5. 2006 was the last of the dying breed. It culminated a 40 year run from the 1966 fiasco until the 2006 championship. Fantastic players all over the pitch. Always a hole in one or two positions but easily made up by the others. I’m not sure Italy can ever capture that quality again, outside of a few brief moments (like the 2021 Euros).

6. I think that the latest investment and change on the young teams will bring back skill, it just required time as we had a gap of talent generation. But to stay at Milan AC i have to say that Camarda to name one, seem to be a future champion

7. We’ll see it again from Italy. Maybe not in the same numbers as seen from that 2006 team but there are still creative amazing players and Italy will have their fair share over the coming years as well.

8. Hopefuls for the future who have quality now:
   Lorenzo Pellegrini
   Sandro Tonali
   Nicola Barella
   Alessandro Bastoni

9. Maybe Chiesa could have been one without the injuries? Idk