Serie A

[ACMILAN1983]

Really interesting discussion by you guys here. I think with modern globalisation, you have to differentiate between Italian and homegrown players. Homegrown players don't have to be Italian, they can be of foreign origin. This is why in your point nefremo of only having 2 Italians on the pitch in the Napoli - Inter match isn't necessarily the best way to gauge the stats. You're not wrong at all mind, you're spot on, the clubs played with a lot players of the quality that surely could have been grown at home for a fraction of the cost. However, often the method that people use to measure this is fundamentally wrong, which is to look at the number of nationals in lineups.

In fact, Using this as a measuring point is imo limiting to how far you can cast your net to find the best talent. That isn't to say Italians shouldn't be targeted, after all, having a group of talented players of the same culture and traditions are likely to find it easier to form a bond and work with the same mindset. However, if you're talking about homegrown talents that will be a cost effective method of building a strong team, then the players nationality shouldn't be a primary focus.

Investing in foreign youth gives clubs a great chance to help them assimilate into the club and culture before they have the pressures of first team football. This, in addition to them potentially becoming naturalised and eligible to play for Italy may benefit the strength of the national side anyway.

The common factor in all these points and the crux of how Italy can potentially return to being one of the best, if not the best, is that investment and trust needs to be given to youth development. This serves multiple benefits to the nation, for example:

1) fundamentally increases the number of core skilled player eligible to play for Italy
2) increases the volume of talent in Italian football at the grassroots level
3) reduces costs for clubs to invest in more senior players (assuming they actually use their youth), meaning the investment can be focused on getting the very best talent
4) Develops players at an early age to fit into the club culture (thus giving room to grow the club culture)
5) More likely to find consistent levels of quality from generation to generation

That's just some of the examples, where there is no initial dependency on nationality of a player. This should be the focus for Italian clubs, they will inherently get more Italianas as a result anyway, simply because it's only natural that they would be scouting heavily in Italy. Point being, the number of Italians in a match between Napoli - Inter is simply a byproduct of how players are developed or purchased in Italy, it's not indicative of how well clubs develop homegrown talents.

Another point, something you guys touched on is the fact that it's cheaper to buy foreign players than Italian ones, which come at a "premium" cost. Again, that means that the number of Italians in a side isn't necessarily indicative of smart business sense. Milan are a great example actually, because if you look at the cost of Romagnoli and Bertolacci, they came at a premium cost and there's been a lot of debate on how much was spent for them. However, Milan's much more complex, as you also have Abate, Antonelli, Ely, Donnarumma, DES and Calabria, all of which have come at low costs or nothing, mostly because of their development in the Milan youth system. It's never just black and white, but usually a shade of grey.

Finally, I just wanted to say I don't think Italy's actually really struggling for quality players, but clubs not necessarily focusing on getting the best Italian players and some rather odd decision making on the national team imo results in it appearing weaker than it actually is.