Capello: Italian football has been harmed by melonism, and Serie A starter should be forced to start local players

Football     9:06pm, 8 June 2025

Italian coach Capello was interviewed by the "Milan Sports" and expressed his views on the poor results of the Italian national team.

- Norway has talented players (Nuasa, Odega, etc.), but Italy does not have

Capello: "I am not surprised by this. If in the youth training system, they do not cultivate the creativity of players, but require them to follow a fixed routine, maintain possession of the ball, and pass the goalkeeper back... Then what kind of players can we develop? To be honest, we have taken the wrong path on the 'guardiolismo'. Our midfielders never face the opponent's goal, while players from other countries always look forward and have the execution speed we dream of, which has also been confirmed in the Champions League final."

- Do you have any solutions to this problem?

Capello: "Changing the mindset of the youth training system is worrying, but it cannot be just a problem for a certain generation, but a problem of youth training methods. Secondly, let our young players get more first-team opportunities. If it is up to me, I will force all Serie A teams to have at least 3 Italian local players in each game starting."