Why does Mancini’s Italy problem start in Serie A?
Italian under-21s played 1.9% of Serie A minutes in 2025. Dror Feldman argues Italy's fix sits with the clubs, and Mancini should reward those who act.
What is xG in football, and how do you read it in Serie A?
Why have Italy missed three World Cups in a row?
Sweden in 2017, North Macedonia in 2022, Bosnia in 2026. Why Italy keep failing, the pattern behind it, and what Mancini's second spell needs.
Most Valuable Italian Players in 2026: Who Tops the Ranking?
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Why did Gazzetta put Kean, not Pio Esposito, on Italy’s defeat cover?
Before Italy v Belgium, Gazzetta crowned Inter's Pio Esposito. After the 2-0 defeat, Como's Moise Kean was the face on the cover. A look at the framing.
Serie A Analysis: The table is lying after five matchdays, and these clubs prove it
Expected goals say Cagliari and Frosinone are overachieving while Bologna, Monza and Juventus are better than their Serie A 2026/27 positions.
Serie A Analysis: Roma, Inter and Lazio all have 13 points, so who is really leading?
Three teams share first place after five matchdays of Serie A 2026/27. The numbers say Roma are the real leaders, Inter are close and Lazio are not.
Catenaccio: a spare man behind the line
Helenio Herrera’s Inter put a libero behind four markers. Every attacker had an owner, and one defender had nobody to mark. It was called cynical for sixty years and copied for just as long.
Zona: Sacchi takes the markers away
Milan’s back four defended space instead of opponents, pushed the line up to the halfway mark and squeezed the game into thirty metres. Italy stopped defending deep because it had to and started defending high because it chose to.
Difesa a tre: both ideas at once
The modern Italian back three marks inside the box and holds a zone outside it. Every generation here argues about the same question: who owns the space, and who owns the man.
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I have followed Serie A and the Azzurri since I was a kid. By day I build content operations for global brands. This is where I write about the game without a brief.
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