ENDANGERED RINO
Going into their Geopolitics World Cup qualifier against Norway on Sunday, the only way Italy could ensure they overtook Erling Haaland and chums to finish top of Group I was by hammering them by nine clear goals. It was a tough ask against a side who had shipped only four in total during their previous seven qualifiers and despite giving it their best shot the Italians came up woefully short, coming out on the wrong end of an embarrassing 4-1 hiding that prompted Gennaro Gattuso to flag up his side’s “fear and fragility”. Fairly certain that the automatic qualification jig was up before the match had even started, Italy’s head coach had used his pre-match presser to get his excuses in early by railing at the injustice of a qualification system that dictates European heavyweights such as Italy can win six of their eight qualifiers and get dumped into the fraught hellscape of the playoffs, while teams in other Fifa postcodes (yes you, Paraguay) can win just six of their 18 and nail down a spot at next summer’s dynamically priced jamboree in North America. He also had a moan about the increasing number of African teams (from two in his playing days to nine in the expanded tournament) who get World Cup places, in comments that many on the continent in question and elsewhere considered Eurocentric, dismissive and downright offensive.
“It’s not a question for me, but it is for whoever draws up the rules and the groups,” Gattuso moaned, before proceeding to wang on by way of response to the question he had decided was not for him. “In my day, the top team in each group would go through, plus the best runners-up. We’ve got 18 points, won six games, and still we have to go into another two matches to qualify. It doesn’t seem right.” And while watching a World Cup finals play out without Italy being involved also doesn’t seem right, these four-times winners were conspicuous absentees from the past two, staged in Qatar and Russia. There is now a very real chance of them missing out for a third time on the spin considering the lack of mental fortitude they demonstrated in defeats to Sweden and North Macedonia in the two playoffs they have previously been forced to play. Of course, the fact that they somehow roused themselves to win a European Championship during this absence from the global top table only adds to the generally stereotypical Italian craziness of the pickle in which they currently find themselves.
While Rino might have a kernel of a point about some countries having it easier than others when it comes to qualifying for the World Cup without having to repeatedly run a playoff gauntlet, many in Italy are pointing the Big Finger O’Blame for their national team’s shortcomings in their current manager’s direction. Gattuso is an unapologetic vibes man with no great coaching pedigree compared to the more cerebral Luciano Spalletti, who he replaced two games into Italy’s qualifying campaign. And while his predecessor used the tactics board as an educational tool, Gattuso has always conveyed the impression he is more at home kung-fu kicking it around the dressing room in a bid to instil fear in his players. “Between having a not good coach who is Gattuso and a not good coach who is somebody else, I will pick somebody else,” said the Italy-supporting legend that is Gab Marcotti on a recent podcast. “Because you need to send a message that this is not who we want to represent us at this stage.” Following an embarrassing second-half collapse against Norway that Corriere dello Sport likened to “snow melting in the sun”, Italy’s place in the playoffs was confirmed. Whether Gattuso will still be around to oversee yet another humiliating physical and mental on-field disintegration in March seems far less certain.
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Join Rob Smyth at 7.45pm for red-hot updates on Scotland 3-2 Denmark in the night’s big Geopolitics World Cup qualifier.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Is it disappointing? Yeah, of course. As I always say, I always keep conversations private. I can’t control other people. What I try to do is communicate at all times and I’ll make decisions in what I think is the best team to compete for the next camp or for the tournament. I’ll make decisions to win and that’s what I stick with” – Lionesses head coach Sarina Wiegman responds to Mary Earps and her recently published autobiography.
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The England manager, Sarina Wiegman, gets a grilling during her press conference on Tuesday. Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA
Re professionals playing with rank amateurs (Football Daily passim), I ran the second team at a Southern Amateur League club in the 90s (the same one that Max Rushden played for). We ran nine teams every Saturday and the captain of the fifth team told me in the bar one Saturday evening that a mate of a mate from New Zealand had filled in last minute (no subs in those days). They stuck him at left-back and he scored five goals. I told said Kiwi that he would be straight up to the second team the following week (bypassing the club’s strict ‘one team at a time’ selection rules) but he had to decline as he would be on a week-long trial at Leicester City. Not sure if he ever made it but he is possibly the only player ever to get five goals from left-back (normally the worst player on any amateur team)” – Ben Gibbes.
At Los Angeles’s Dorsey High School playing field, Saturdays were practice days for a squad I played with on Sundays where the talent varied from ex-internationals, ex-junior internationals, the rest of us and one guy that showed up one day for practice. He had that familiar ‘bay’ styled hairstyle: short back and sides with a bit of a hill on top. Everything he did happened fast but it barely looked like he ever ran at all. Later after a commanding performance he sat on the passenger side of a new silver S-class Merc changing. A young Mikel John Obi, then between Manchester United and Chelsea” – Reggie Akpata.
Back in the day I played for teams in the Walsall & District League (Premier Division, no less). I had just signed for Highgate FC but my registration had not come through by the time of our match against deadly rivals New Fullbrook. I was a substitute and told to use the name Tony Smith if I came on. Problem was that at that time in my life I was a solicitor and the referee was a current client. When I was eventually called on to the pitch the referee checked his book and said, ‘I can’t see your name Simon!’ ‘I’m Tony Smith ref,’ I said sheepishly. The referee looked perplexed. Fortunately the New Fullbrook players (who had obviously seen me play) shouted at the ref to let me on. I left the legal profession not too long after that” – Simon Manton.
Sad to hear that former Spurs winger Tony Galvin has suffered a stroke. To most non-Spurs fans, he was probably one of the less familiar faces from the great Keith Burkinshaw teams of the late 70s and first half of the 80s. But as a White Hart Lane regular, watching him fly down the left wing to latch on to a Glenn Hoddle pass was a great sight. Then it was a beeline to the corner flag, from where he’d swing in a cross for the likes of Crooks, Archibald or Falco. Potent combinations. Today’s Spurs players would be envious of his two FA Cups and one Uefa Cup, an excellent team man. Best wishes to him for a full and speedy recovery” – Christian Goldsmith.
Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day winner is … Reggie Akpata. Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here.
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