Former AC Milan manager Arrigo Sacchi has said that Italy must stop blaming the coaches for International failures and start to look within, according to a report in the Italian media.

Speaking during an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport today, Arrigo Sacchi explained that Gianpiero Ventura was blamed for the failure to reach the 2018 World Cup, Roberto Mancini will be blamed this time, but really there is more to it all.

“We are reaping what we have sown. We talk a lot, but we don’t solve problems with words. We need a broader vision of the issue.

“Before it was the fault of Ventura, when we failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, now it will be Mancini’s fault: but if we continue to think in this way we will not get anywhere.”

Arrigo Sacchi made the point that the decline Italy have shown since winning Eur0 2020 last season is just like the decline of Italian teams in Europe, who have not won a tournament since Inter in 2010 under Jose Mourinho.

“What happened in Palermo against Macedonia has been happening with club teams for twelve years. We have not won anything in Europe since 2010, after Mourinho’s Champions League with Inter.

“The national team at the European Championship was a wonderful exception to which we must all be grateful because he gave us a trophy won with merit and a good team.

“But it was an exception, in fact, and certainly not a rule. We continue to buy foreigners for our clubs, and the youth sectors are also full of young people who come from abroad: are we sure that this is the right way or, instead, is this not the real problem?”

Arrigo Sacchi then turned his sights on Serie A. He feels that the standard and pace of the football in Serie A is much lower than that of the other elite European leagues.

“The rhythms of our championship are ridiculous. Try to watch an English, or Spanish, or German match. The players are much faster, they get used to the European level in their nations. Here the referees whistle too much, the actions are always interrupted.

“How do you play in this way? I’ll say it again: we are backward, and not only in football. I love football, and Italian football in particular, but we must be honest: there are no ideas. First of all: we have to teach children to play, in short, we don’t always go to entrust ourselves to the saviour of the homeland that maybe even comes from abroad.”

This is the first time ever that Italy has failed to qualify for two FIFA World Cups in a row and Arrigo Sacchi thinks that is a blow that is difficult to get up from.

“It is a terrible blow, a knockout blow after which it is difficult to get up. But we have to try, and not look for a shortcut, which is our house speciality. Shortcuts and cunning, in all sectors and not only in football, have brought us to this point.

“Do we want to continue in this direction or do we want to take the opportunity for a real renewal? Which, I repeat once again, must first of all be cultural. Evolving means knowing, working, sacrificing and knowing how to put oneself in the discussion.”