Italy Roll the Dice on Andrea Pirlo: Another gamble at the worst possible time by the Azzurri?

Andrea Pirlo is set to take over the Italian national team starting with the Euro 2028 qualifiers. (Image credits – CommonsWikipedia, License Details)

Italy promised a positive change after another humiliating failure to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup for the third consecutive time. Instead, they've made another huge gamble, and it may repeat the same mistake that has defined the decline of Italian football over the years.

The Italian Football Federation has appointed Andrea Pirlo as the new head coach of the Azzurri after their approach to Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola was unsuccessful. Pirlo, who is currently in charge of Dubai United, is expected to lead Italy’s UEFA Euro 2028 qualifying campaign and restore one of football's biggest fallen giants.

Pirlo is undoubtedly one of the biggest legends of Italian football and one of the finest footballers Italy has ever produced. He lifted the 2006 World Cup with the Azzurri, is a two-time Champions League winner and is one of the best midfielders of his generation.

His legacy as a player is totally unquestionable, but his resume as a manager tells us a different story. His first coaching job came at Juventus back in 2020. Although he won the Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa Italiana, Juve finished fourth in Serie A and was knocked out of the Champions League in the Round of 16. 

He was removed by the Turin giants, and his next spells at Fatih Karagümrük, Sampdoria and Dubai United haven't shown much promise either, as he hasn't lasted over a season at any club. He is not among Europe's elite coaches, and that raises the biggest doubt over this appointment. Italy is not in need of a coach to oversee a regular transition.

They are trying to recover from their darkest ever period in football history, having failed to qualify for three consecutive FIFA World Cups. Italy needs a complete structural revamp, a tactical identity and a long-term vision, not another appointment based on just legendary status.

Italy initially had pursued Carlo Ancelotti, who is arguably the greatest Italian manager of all time. When he showed his commitment to Brazil, they turned to Pep Guardiola, arguably the greatest manager of all time. Both declined the opportunity, forcing the federation to look elsewhere.

Former manager Roberto Mancini was also an option, but it also didn't materialise. Pirlo wasn't even the third choice in the list, but this doesn't directly imply he'll fail. We've seen how Lionel Scaloni, with no previous coaching experience, brought back Argentina's glory days and created one of the best international teams of all time.

However, this appointment has repeated a pattern which cannot go unnoticed. In recent years, Italy has repeatedly placed its faith in former Italian legends, hoping that their understanding of the Azzurri would bring back its glory days. However, football coaching needs more than just intelligence.

It requires experience in managing relations, managing transitions, experiments and the development of young players over years. These are the qualities Italy needs the most right now. Italy's quality of youth players has declined; they've failed to produce world-class attacking talent, and a coach with little experience cannot resolve these issues.

However, Pirlo will be expected to implement a clear identity. If he can modernise Italy's approach like Luis de la Fuente did with Spain, trust the youth players and build a cohesive team, he might prove his doubters wrong. However, based on his reputation as a manager right now, the doubts are understandable.

Pirlo has never experienced a job of this magnitude before, and this is one of the most pressurised jobs in football. When Italy desperately needed certainty, they went for another gamble. For a nation, searching for answers after so many repeated failures, this is a worrying place to be right now.