5 replacements for Gian Piero Ventura as Italy manager

There is an argument that Italian football has never truly recovered from the ripple effect of the 2006 Calciopoli scandal. Longtime Calcio kings Juventus were relegated to Serie B and stripped of two league titles for match-fixing, while other teams were affected also. The Bianconeri climbed back onto their perch almost seamlessly, having now won the Scudetto for six straight years, but the recovery hasn’t been so smooth overall.

It was incredibly sad for the game in Italy that its darkest moments immediately followed, and cut short, the celebrations of its greatest. The Azzurri, led by a spine of world-class players, won a fourth World Cup in Germany just weeks before the results of what had happened were announced. Serie A was once the best league in the world, and while Juve, another affected team, Milan, and Inter have all enjoyed some success since, the league and the national team have never really hit a stride over the last 11 years.

Excluding Euro 2012, when they reached the final, Italy have really struggled in tournaments; the exact place they used to come alive. Two World Cups have passed since Fabio Cannavaro lifted that trophy aloft in Berlin, with two failed attempts to get past the Group Stage.

Next year, in Russia, Italy won’t be there. It is the first time they have failed to even qualify since 1958. Understandably, that cost Gian Piero Ventura his job and the Football Federation are looking for their fifth different coach in just over a decade.

Here are five possible options they could explore.

#5 Luis Enrique

The managerial career of Luis Enrique is a strange one. Up until he won an unprecedented second treble in the history of Barcelona in 2015, the Spaniard, who played for the Catalans and Real Madrid, was not seen as anything special in terms of coaching.

It was once hoped he’d go in the same direction as his former teammate Pep Guardiola, now arguably the best tactical mind around, but a failed spell at Roma back in 2011/12, after three years post-Guardiola with Barça B, rained on parade somewhat.

He was then able to rebuild his reputation at Celta Vigo before returning to the Camp Nou in 2014, where he stayed until last summer. Now his stock is high and people are eager to see if he can bring top-level success to another club; yet he is the biggest name foreign coach to be linked with the Azzurri post, currently at 25/1 with some betting takers. His blend of style and steel really could have an impact on Italian football, but perhaps he is scarred by his experience with the Giallorossi.

#4 Simone Inzaghi

Questions of the kind of man Italy will target have not been answered, at least not publicly. Most international managers are older, more experienced and prefer to take on a more condensed workload. Fabio Capello had a mixed tenure in charge of England, and it ended in tears with Russia, but he would certainly fit the bill if, at 71 years of age, he fancied a go at the ultimate job in his homeland.

Dutchman Guus Hiddink has taken the unusual route of globetrotting even further, also enjoying a spell with Russia as well as South Korea and Australia among other national sides.

But this is an opportunity to try something completely radical; that might be what’s needed to arrest this Italian slump, which has been in motion since 2006.

Simone Inzaghi is an impressive young coach who has not, as yet, got much recognition outside of Serie A. He stepped in at Lazio after Marcelo Bielsa changed his mind about a spell in Rome after just two days in 2016, driving a talented squad of players to the highs of a Champions League.

At 41, he is considerably younger than the other names on this list and certainly a left-field option. But having spent his playing career as a striker in the shadow of his legendary brother Filippo, he is certainly trumping him in the dugout.

Inzaghi has not been mentioned for the Italy job and he may not be, but with a long list of top Italian bosses around, he certainly has a lot to inspire him. It won’t be long until he gets the praise he merits from far and wide.

#3 Maurizio Sarri

Counting the teams better to watch than Napoli right now only takes on hand and that is thanks to Maurizio Sarri. The Partenopei are as strong as they have been for years domestically, and they are becoming a real threat in Serie A with swashbuckling style.

Last season, on the way to finishing third behind Juventus and Roma, they scored 94 goals. They were unbeaten in the league until earlier this month until Juve ended their run. La Vecchia Signora had also snatched top goalscorer Gonzalo Higuain in the summer of 2016, turning the Argentine from potential Napoli legend to instant traitor; that didn’t phase Sarri, though.

He transformed the side; they went from playing through Higuain to attacking with a pacey, energetic front three of Lorenzo Insigne, Jose Callejon and Dries Mertens as a false number nine. The Belgian netted 28 times last term and has caught the eye of Europe’s big boys.

Sarri has coached no fewer than 18 clubs during his career, working his way up through the ranks with no professional playing experience. He has always gone against the grain and doesn’t adhere to Italy’s stereotypical defensive preferences. The 58-year-old would certainly shake things up, that’s for sure.

#2 Claudio Ranieri

Before the 2015/16 season, Claudio Ranieri was rarely taken seriously anywhere, which always felt rather harsh. He had brought cup success to clubs in Spain and Italy, as well as working in France and England, but he never earned much respect. When he was appointed Leicester City boss two and a half years ago, it was seen as confirmation of the Foxes' impending relegation.

Ranieri, though, proved doubters wrong in the biggest way possible, achieving perhaps the greatest upset in sporting history by leading Leicester to the Premier League title; comfortably, too. The success was built on a bit of a siege mentality.

While Ranieri is a very nice man on appearance, something that unfortunately increased the mockery of him, he was able to get a squad full of players also doubted throughout their careers to work hard and show what they could do.

The key was Ranieri’s personal growth; known as the Tinkerman for his rotation policies at previous clubs; he inherited a side that had survived in dramatic circumstances the previous season playing a certain way. Evolution, rather than revolution, stunned the world.

Of course, it didn’t end well. Nine months later, he was sacked with the club struggling again. The atmosphere was toxic, but it appeared nothing is enough to save a manager from the sack during a poor run.

He is now at Nantes, but surely he’d find it tough to turn down a call from his country. If anyone can galvanise a nation straight away, on recent evidence, it is Ranieri.

#1 Carlo Ancelotti

The most obvious choice and a clear favourite with the bookmakers, Ancelotti may be the in the right place at the right time to clean up Ventura’s mess. The former Milan midfielder turned successful coach is currently out of work having been sacked by Bayern Munich earlier this season.

His stock may be the lowest it has been for years, but he is still among the best coaches in the world, capable of moulding big egos and young players together to create winning teams. Not only did he win the Champions League twice with the Rossoneri, losing another final, but he brought Real Madrid their tenth crown, something they’d craved for 12 years, less than a year into his Santiago Bernabeu reign.

He also kickstarted the Qatari era at PSG and broke all sorts of records at Chelsea.

Results looked good on paper at Bayern, winning the Bundesliga last season, but the performances weren’t. Like everywhere else he has been, Ancelotti was popular in Bavaria, but he didn’t have the trust of the dressing room, who believed he wasn’t playing the right way.

Man-management remains his core strength, coupled with great tactical nous, and with the Italian side are in a delicate moment in terms of quality coming through, he appears the perfect man to oversee the transition.