The rumour mill in Italian football has taken a sharp turn towards the surreal. According to information gathered by GoalZaza, Andrea Pirlo has emerge...
The rumour mill in Italian football has taken a sharp turn towards the surreal. According to information gathered by GoalZaza, Andrea Pirlo has emerged as the favourite to take the reins of the Nazionale. This is not your standard backroom whisper. The twist The name being pushed hardest is none other than Paolo Maldini, a man who knows a thing or two about the weight of the Azzurri shirt.Let's be honest. When you think of the current mess the Italian federation is in, your mind doesn't immediately leap to a man who has managed a single senior club season and a short stint in Turkey. Yet here we are. Maldini, a figure of immense respect and unimpeachable authority, is apparently backing Pirlo as the man to rebuild. And frankly, it makes a strange sort of sense. If you are going to gamble on a project, why not gamble on a genius Pirlo's time at Juventus was a disaster in the results column, but his ideas were never the problem. The problem was a squad that looked like it had been assembled by a committee with no budget and no direction.Can a coach who favours pure possession and high pressing really work with a squad that has forgotten how to hold the ball for more than three consecutive passes That is the question. Pirlo's Juventus were chaotic, yes. But they were also brave. They tried to play through pressure when every instinct screamed to lump it long. That is a rare commodity in modern football. If Maldini, a man who has spent decades policing the most clinical finishing in Europe, sees a future in that naivety, then perhaps we should all pay attention. It would be a romantic appointment, but romance rarely wins you a low block. Then again, when you are clawing your way back from the edge of international obscurity, a little romance might be exactly what the doctor ordered.The next few days will be squeaky bum time for the Italian FA. They could play it safe, or they could follow the whisper of a legend. Pirlo in the dugout. Maldini in the ear. It sounds like a fever dream. But in this beautiful game, dreams sometimes win.
