Italy vs. Belgium: Roberto Mancini Surprised Bergomi—and Not in a Good Way

The debut of Roberto Mancini’s new Italian national team against Belgium left everyone speechless, even Sky commentator Beppe Bergomi. The national team was defeated 2-0 at the Olimpico, and according to the former Inter legend, there’s very little to salvage. Bergomi’s criticism is aimed primarily at the choices made by the Jesi-born head coach.

“Losing is one thing, but I expected to see some of what’s currently happening in Serie A. Some ideas seen with Inter, Roma, Frosinone… No, instead it was the same old stuff: Barella or Tonali playing alongside the center forward—old-school stuff.”

“I expected different rotations, with the fullback pushing up and playing wide. Cambiaghi made the biggest impact of all; one-on-one, he set up Kean and Pio, and made two great saves. He put in a good performance, like few others. In midfield, Barella was the best, while at the back we struggled.”

“I believe Mancini has some ideas, and he’ll need time to implement them, but even today I expected something different: our league is offering a lot of new things; it’s entertaining, and there are teams with distinct styles. Instead, Italy didn’t offer any of that.”

No less harsh than Bergomi was Daniele Adani, who, from the RAI studios, had some very tough words about the Azzurri’s performance: “If we keep doing this—trying to put ourselves on par with so many teams playing in the World Cup—we’ve already lost. We’re searching for something others already have; we’re giving new young players their debuts, and they’re already doing that. They’re ahead of us in many ways. We can try to spin it however we like, but we’re the only national team in the top 20 of the rankings that isn’t participating in the World Cup.”