‘Italy behind in stadiums’

By Football Italia staff

Carlo Ancelotti believes sub-par stadiums are holding Italy back, and explains why he rotates more at Napoli.

The Partenopei Coach spoke to Il Mattino this afternoon, and was inevitably asked about the state of the Stadio San Paolo.

“Italy is behind in terms of structures, not technically,” Ancelotti, who has worked in France, Spain, England and Germany confirmed.

“We don’t have any huge talents, but I don’t think we have a technical problem, we have good players like [Lorenzo] Insigne, [Nicolò] Barella, and [Federico] Bernardeschi, and others just below that like [Alex] Meret who is a goalkeeper with a great future.

“We behind in terms of stadiums, people don’t go to the stadium. In Europe it’s different, people go to the stadium and spend time there. There are restaurants and attractions and you can spend a day with your family.”

Carletto also discussed the atmosphere of Italian football.

“In Italy rivalry has been transformed into insults and rudeness. Nowadays we’re the only country, there’s a huge rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona but they never cross the line. In Italy we always do.

“We should lower the tone and make stadiums suitable for families.”

The former Real Madrid Coach’s predecessor, Maurizio Sarri, wasn’t keen on squad rotation but that has all changed this season.

“I’ve never done as much rotation as at Napoli, because the quality of the players is the same level.

“If I have Cristiano Ronaldo and another player with less quality, then I’ll rotate less. If you play [Marek] Hamsik or [Amadou] Diawara, for example, it doesn’t upset the rhythm of the team.

“If you have 13 top players and the rest are all average it’s one thing, but here it’s balanced.

“We need to be competitive on three fronts, and with this squad - which gives me a lot of guarantees - we can be competitive.”

Ancelotti was also asked which of his players could become Coaches in future.

“Hamsik, [Jose] Callejon and [Raul] Albiol, but the best may be Callejon. He sees things clearly, he speaks at the right time and has great awareness.

“For a Coach it’s not important that you speak a lot, but that you speak at the right time.”

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