Is Serie A back?
4 months after taking on the role of Serie A's International Media copyright Director, Anna Guarnerio received the most enjoyable news. For the first time in 17 years, Italian football has 3 representatives in the Champions League quarter-finals.
That makes selling the message Calcio is back much easier. That message is being strongly promoted.
Having 3 teams in the round of 8 of the strongest teams in the Champions League among the 6 Italian clubs still in the European Cup (AC Milan, Inter Milan, Napoli, Juventus, Roma and Fiorentina) created an international boost for Calcio.
This comes at a particularly important time as we look to change the image of Serie A abroad ahead of the new television copyright cycle.
However, Guarnerio is deeply aware that the tournament is in dire need of help from top teams on the pitch, because off the pitch, things have not gone well for a while.
Infrastructure is a big problem for Italian football. Last year, coach Maurizio Sarri said: "We are 30-35 years behind other tournaments, but when I talk about the pitch, they say I always complain. If you watch a Bundesliga match and you switch to a Serie A match, you wonder, 'Where am I? ''
Ownership is clearly a big problem with the status of Serie A grounds, many of which have not been renovated since the 1990 World Cup and are controlled by local authorities.
Guarnerio said that Serie A is trying to do its part for many reasons, especially because the scene of thousands of empty seats in the dilapidated stadiums has damaged the brand.
"Let's look at the image that the Premier League sells to football fans around the world. The stands are modern, close to the stadium and packed with people," she said.
And so, a task force was established with the task of asking clubs what they could do to help them improve their pitches and facilities.
In fact, it is not
But it's not just that, in terms of expertise, young Italian players have few opportunities in big teams. National team coach Roberto Mancini does not really appreciate the fact that Serie A has 3 representatives in the Champions League quarter-finals.
According to him, Serie A should only be revived when "there are 33 Italian players playing for AC Milan, Inter and Napoli". But we cant because we dont even have half of that, he said.
According to former player Andrea Carnevale, talent is there, but opportunities are not. The problem is that big teams want to win titles, said Udineses head of the scouting department, While clubs like ours want to survive.
And so the stars are brought in, while the young Italian players are sent to other, smaller clubs, for development.
Serie A also faces the risk of losing top stars, with a wave of " migration" of Gigi Donnarumma, Cristian Romero, Achraf Hakimi, Cristiano Ronaldo. The near future could be Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Victor Osimhen...
On the other hand, they welcomed the return of Romelu Lukaku but he was considered a "crazy guy" rather than a "Murderer" as before. Or Paul Pogba in... hospital for longer training and competition...
Long-term strategy
Television copyright is also an issue, but it is also necessary to rely on the images of stars or young factors to create attraction. Therefore, the big challenge for Guarnerio and other important figures in Italian football is to implement a long-term strategy that can restore Serie A to its former glory.
"The idea is to focus on Italy. We need to think, 'What can we do to become a characteristic of Serie A? What can we do that others wont or cant say Guarnerio.
"Therefore, our new 'Made in Italy' motto was born from this way of thinking. Obviously we can learn from some previous tournaments, but we also have to try to do something different and have unique abilities.
We believe that Serie A's strength is that it is unlike any other tournament in the world, in terms of passion, romance and history. That is something we need to remind the world of." And if they can do that, Calcio will really come back.
