Oliver Bierhoff says Italy must accept that repairing the problems affecting its national team will take longer than two or three years, while suggesting Paolo Maldini may have left his role at the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) because he did not feel the organisation was ready to support his plans.
The former Germany national football team manager was speaking at the Festival dello Sport in Trento on Friday. He discussed his work with the German FA, his conversations with Maldini and the Nations League meeting between France and Italy.
Maldini was appointed technical director of the FIGC after Giovanni Malago was elected the federation’s President in June. However, his time in the role lasted only 17 days.
Bierhoff, who managed Germany from 2004 until 2017 before becoming technical director during a restructuring of the national set-up, remained in German football for 18 years. He said Maldini regularly contacted him for advice after taking the position.
“We always used to speak on the phone. I told him about my experiences, I was cheering for him. I saw how much determination he was willing to put into the rebuilding of Italian football,” Bierhoff said, via TMW.
“He had clear ideas, but from the beginning I said that you also have to feel that the system is willing to follow you. He probably didn’t feel that.”
Asked where Italy’s main difficulties lie, Bierhoff said the causes were widespread rather than limited to one area.
“I have to say it’s a little bit of everything. We have to realise that the changes won’t happen in two or three years, it takes time,” he said.
He pointed to Germany’s long-term reforms as an example. In 2000, the country changed its training and education methods and began investing more heavily in infrastructure, stadiums and academies.
“We thought it would take 10 years. We saw a different Germany side at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa with technically gifted players. It requires patience, but also the conviction to say ‘we have to change’,” Bierhoff added.
He said he could not assess Italy’s situation fully from outside, but believed the country needed to address its problems at their deepest level before expecting progress at the top.
“It seemed like Italy had reached that point and that it had started to say ‘enough’,” he said.
Bierhoff was also asked whether Roberto Mancini and Jurgen Klopp were the right figures to guide Italy and Germany through their respective difficult periods.
“It’s difficult to do it in the short term, there’s a lack of quality right now, all due respect to the players,” he replied, comparing the current group with Italy’s World Cup winners in Germany, including Totti, Del Piero, Pirlo and Cannavaro.
He also questioned whether Germany currently had players capable of making a major impact in Europe, contrasting them with champions such as Lothar Matthaus, who moved to Italy and became a top player.
Looking ahead to Friday’s Nations League match, Bierhoff said France remained capable of overwhelming opponents.
“You never know with France. They can beat anyone 4-0 on their day because they’re that strong, like Spain today. It won’t be easy for Mancini at the beginning and it will definitely be difficult today.”
