5 reasons why Antonio Conte may be appointed Italy manager

#4 Current Italy struggles

Ventura cuts a sorry figure as Italy fail to qualify for the World Cup

Ventura wasn't a popular choice with Italian fans when he was selected to take over from Conte in 2016, and his popularity never increased. He was a limited coach who had spent his entire career at mid-level Italian clubs, never finding great success anywhere. It must be noted that Ventura has a good overall win record with the national team - an admirable win percentage of 56.25% - but the most damning fact is that he was in charge when Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1958.

For a proud footballing nation, this was a disaster. Italy comfortably finished second in an easy group where the only difficult opponents were Spain but it was in the play-off phase that they collapsed. Drawn against an ageing Sweden side, a 1-0 away loss meant it was set up for Italy to overturn this deficit at the San Siro in the second leg but they could only muster a scoreless draw.

Ventura stubbornly refused to resign but he was inevitably sacked immediately. Spirit and belief in Italy is perhaps at an all-time low, meaning the next manager has to be the right choice to resurrect the country.

Ventura never found a rapport with his players but there is talent there: AC Milan's Gianluigi Donnarumma is ready to replace his idol Buffon as number one goalkeeper; Lorenzo Insigne and Simone Zaza are in excellent form for Napoli and Valencia and should be able to transfer this into the national fixtures.