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Experience and expertise. Officially unveiled yesterday by FIGC President Giovanni Malagò as the new Technical Director and President of Club Italia, Claudio Ranieri addressed the media this afternoon with clear ideas and a touch of emotion. "I believe this role is the crowning achievement of my career," he said. "When I saw President Malagò calling, I never imagined something like this could happen. I'm incredibly proud. I know there's a huge amount of work ahead in what is a difficult situation. However, my managerial career has always been defined by difficult challenges, and I've never shied away from taking them on. I have two goals for the future: to make Italians fall in love with the national team again, and to ensure that today's children have the chance to see Italy playing at a World Cup."
EMPHASIS ON THE YOUTH. There will be several areas to work on, both on and off the pitch. "It's difficult to put a timeframe on when we'll start seeing the impact. Roberto Mancini has been tasked with turning things around for the senior national team on the pitch, while I'll focus on everything that happens behind the scenes," added the former Cagliari and Roma manager, who famously led Leicester City to the Premier League title. "At the beginning of June, I was in Cagliari and someone working in the game pointed out that it costs far too much to enrol children in football academies, and that simply can't be right. I want to study the situation, dig deeper and gain a thorough understanding of how everything works, particularly within the Youth and School Sector. We can't afford to lose children to the game in this day and age. We have to bring them back to football, and that certainly means finding a way to reduce the cost of academy registration fees."
INDIVIDUAL TECHNIQUE. Ranieri was clear about what he believes should be the priority. "The goal is to help the national team head coach have as many players as possible to choose from. In Italy, the biggest step is the transition from the Under-21s to first-team football. We're excellent at youth level, but that's largely because we're tactically very strong, whereas abroad that aspect isn't emphasised to the same extent. We need to get back to developing individual technique: first touch, one-on-one ability and dribbling. We have to get young players comfortable on the ball again and focus on their technical development." The President of Club Italia then expanded on the subject. "Maldini spoke about a project that would take eight to ten years. That's because there are young players whose individual technique needs to be rebuilt, particularly between the ages of 10 and 15. The difference between us and the other top national teams is, as I've said, that we're tactically very good, while they have superior technical fundamentals. Years ago there were fewer football academies. Children played in churchyards, town squares and parish fields, where they learned to dribble naturally. We need to encourage young players to express themselves with creativity first, and only later introduce the tactical structure and guidance they need."
RELATIONSHIP WITH MANCINI. Finally, Ranieri reflected on his relationship with Mancini: “If Roberto ever wants my opinion, I'll be more than happy to offer him some advice. Otherwise, I'll focus on my own responsibilities, because I'll have plenty to do. Throughout this process we'll ask everyone for support, including the institutions. We can't only remember we're Italian when things go wrong. We'll see who can help and how they can contribute, with the ultimate goal of giving the Head Coach the widest possible pool of Italian players to choose from.”