Former Germany star Oliver Bierhoff said it would take two or three years to address the problems hampering Italy on the international stage, and explained why his friend Paolo Maldini stepped down as coach of the Italian Football Federation after just two weeks earlier this summer.
Bierhoff was among the guest speakers at the Sports Festival in Trento on Friday, where he discussed his role in the German Football Association, his advice for the Italian national team, his conversations with Maldini, and the UEFA Nations League match against France today.
Maldini was appointed technical director of the Italian Football Federation after Giovanni Malago was elected president of the federation in June. Bierhoff assumed the position of director of the German national football team from 2004 until 2017, before moving to the position of technical director, as Mancini did, as part of a restructuring of the German technical staff.
Bierhoff says that Maldini often called him to ask for advice in the early stages of his management of the federation.
Bierhoff said in statements reported by the Italian website Tutto Mercato Web: “We were constantly talking on the phone; I told him about my experiences and encouraged him. “I felt the determination he had to contribute to rebuilding Italian football.”
The former AC Milan striker added: “He had clear ideas, but I told him from the beginning that you must also feel that the system is ready to follow you and support you. "Maybe he didn't feel that way."
Regarding the Italian team’s problem, Bierhoff said: “I have to say that it is a combination of several factors. We must realize that changes will not happen in two or three years; “It takes time.”
He added: “In 2000, we changed the methods of training and education, and began investing more in infrastructure, stadiums and academies. We thought it would take 10 years. Indeed, we saw a different German team at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, which included players with high technical skills. “It requires patience, but it also requires conviction and boldness to say: ‘We have to change.’”
He said: “I cannot judge the situation from the outside, but sometimes you have to reach the bottom in order to begin the journey back to the top.” "It seemed as if Italy had reached that stage and started saying 'enough'."
If Barcelona and Catalonia represent the technical and creative side of Spanish football, then the Basque Country represents its distinctive character and identity.
Spain has become the dominant force in world football in recent years, being a World Cup champion, a European champion, and an Olympic Games champion. Moreover, the Spanish national team has not lost a match in two and a half years, and has won 5 titles out of the last 10 major international tournaments. The Spanish national team has an international record of not being defeated in 38 consecutive matches. The team has not lost - according to Dan Massey on the BBC website - since its 1-0 loss to Colombia in a friendly match in 2024. Success is not limited to the senior men’s team; During that period, Spain also won 6 European Under-19 Championship titles, 3 European Under-21 Championship titles, in addition to the Women’s World Cup in 2023. At the club level, Spanish teams have won half of the titles available in the Champions League and Europa League since 2009.
Speaking to BBC Radio, Spanish football expert Guillem Balague explained that there are “three pillars” that explain the training culture in Spain and the reasons for its unprecedented success. Balaghi said: “The first pillar is the university, specifically an institution known as the National Institute of Physical Education. Universities introduced physical education programs in Spain a long time ago, specifically in the 1990s, graduating physical education coaches and football coaches with a deep understanding of learning and training processes.” He added: “Some of these physical trainers have become great coaches; Such as Rafa Benitez and Marcelino Garcia Toral; They came after having learned and studied what football is and its dimensions before anyone else.” He continued: “The second pillar is Basque culture. The Basque Country has historically represented a special reference in Spanish football, due to its association with work ethic - specifically a tremendous work ethic and tireless daily effort. The third pillar is what everyone knows: the influence of Barcelona, Johan Cruyff, and the tactical revolution that followed thanks to him.
Barcelona effect
The roster of the Spanish national team, which won the 2010 World Cup, under the leadership of Vicente del Bosque, included 8 players from Barcelona’s “La Masia” academy, and the roster of Luis de la Fuente - which won the title again this summer - included 8 other players from the same academy. Barcelona won its first European Cup title in 1992 under the leadership of Cruyff, relying on the “total football” method - a method whose foundations were laid by the Dutch team in the seventies of the last century with the participation of Cruyff himself, and then later applied at the “Camp Nou” stadium under the leadership of Pep Guardiola during the period between 2008 and 2012. That period witnessed Barcelona winning the Spanish Premier League title three times in a row, while the Spanish national team won the European Nations Cup title twice in a row in 2008 and 2012, including winning the 2010 World Cup. Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets all graduated in a training system in which players learned the art of possession of the ball and positional play in its best form.
Speaking to BBC Radio, Jordi Gratakos - who served as international director of Barcelona’s academies between 2009 and 2011, and then from 2016 to 2020, said: “The most important thing is to understand the tactical meaning of movement on the field; “The goal is to prepare players who are intelligent and have a very high technical level.” He added: “At this level, all players are distinguished by excellent technical skills, but the most important thing is those players who are always able to choose the best solution on the field and raise the level of their teammates. The main goal is to prepare players to fill their positions effectively. It is an open educational process that depends on creating scenarios, contexts and an environment that requires the player to make decisions, while the technical director intervenes to say: This was the best option, but next time, choose the other option. The most important thing is that the players must make their own decisions during the match.”
During his first two seasons at the helm of Barcelona's technical leadership, Hansi Flick repeats what Guardiola did; The matter is not limited to his winning the Spanish Premier League title twice in a row, and his pursuit of a third title. The emerging talents from the youth academy form the core of his project. Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo and Pau Kuparsi represent key pillars of success at the local and international levels, just as the Barcelona generation did during the period between 2008 and 2012. Spain has found the perfect recipe for repeat success, and Barcelona is at the heart of the equation.
Basque Country
If Barcelona and Catalonia represent the technical and creative side of Spanish football, then the Basque region represents its distinctive character and identity. The Spanish national team’s roster for the 2026 World Cup included five players from this region, who rose to the ranks of Athletic Bilbao or Real Sociedad. These are the two clubs from which 8 players joined Spain's squad that won Euro 2024. There is also Mikel Merino, who scored the winning goal in the quarter-final match against Germany in Euro 2024, and then continued his brilliance by scoring 6 goals in 6 matches in the World Cup qualifiers, in addition to scoring decisive goals in the last moments against Portugal and Belgium during the summer.
Although he is not Basque in origin, Merino comes from the city of Pamplona in the autonomous region of Navarra. It is a region heavily influenced by both Spanish and Basque cultures. Only 5 kilometers from Pamplona is the town of “Zezur Mayor”, the town where Cesar Azpilicueta, the former Chelsea captain and Spanish national team player, grew up. When asked to describe Basque culture, Azpilicueta told BBC Radio: “Discipline, a culture of hard work, perseverance and resilience. These are traits that may not be flashy or showy. People usually tend to highlight the culture of fighting and toughness similar to English football, which is characterized by many tackles and reliance on physical strength more than technical skill. But it is also about the tactical approach: defensive cohesion, great awareness of where to move, and playing simply when in possession of the ball, while trying to move forward as quickly as possible.”
The five Basque players on Spain's roster for the 2026 World Cup formed an important part of Spain's recent success, and they embody Cruyff's view of the players in that region. Cruyff once said: “The first thing I did as a manager was sign four players from the Basque Country. They are not afraid of anything.” In the Spanish national team's roster for the 2026 World Cup under the leadership of current coach De La Fuente, Unai Simon participated in goalkeeping, while former Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte was a mainstay in a defense line that conceded only one goal in the 8 matches the team played throughout the tournament.
Nico Williams assisted Ferran Torres' winning goal in the final against Argentina, and Martin Zobimendi left a positive impact when he came on as a substitute in the final matches of Euro 2024 and the World Cup, while Mikel Oyarzabal scored 18 goals in his last 20 international matches with Spain. This impact is not limited to the field only; Rather, it extends to the Basque coaches who lead 4 of the largest English clubs: Mikel Arteta at Arsenal, Unai Emery at Aston Villa, Xabi Alonso at Chelsea, and Andoni Iraola at Liverpool.
Training of trainers
We now move to the last pillar: training and education, as Rafael Benitez, former Liverpool coach, explained, saying: “We were working in Spain to prepare a group of fitness trainers who have extensive knowledge of football.” He added: “I visited Liverpool John Moores University to see the sports scholars program there, and I found that they did not have the football knowledge that we did. They were really physically fit, but they didn't know how to handle the ball or act on the field; “There was no availability in England of the kind of professionals or specialists in football and sports medicine, and all those fields that we were studying at the university.” He concluded his speech by saying: “This was an essential element in shaping the course of the development of Spanish football, a development whose pace has continued since then.”
In addition to the academies, Spanish technical officials point out the existence of a formative identity that has begun to take shape with the first team since the transformation led by the late coach Luis Aragones in 2008. David Gutierrez, director of the National School of Coaches in the Spanish Federation, and Jose Francisco Molina, the former sports director of the national team, said in statements published by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) that Aragones recognized the type of players produced by Spanish clubs, and built a method of play that suits their characteristics. The Spanish League's study indicates that the team that won the 2024 European Cup adopted a more direct and rapid style of transitions, while the team that won the 2026 World Cup emerged in a more cohesive style and relied on possession. The study believes that the ability of a number of players themselves to succeed in both contexts reflects a model that focuses on creating an integrated player who is able to adapt, rather than limiting him to one style.
Manchester City confirmed on Friday that it had lodged an appeal against a harsh ruling that found the club guilty of all charges relating to serious breaches of the Premier League's financial rules. The League announced on Tuesday that an independent committee found the Abu Dhabi-backed club guilty of more than 100 charges. The potential punishment is still unclear, but City, currently the leader of the richest local league in the world, could face a significant deduction of points, a fine, or even expulsion from the top flight.
The club, owned by an Emirati fund, said in a statement, “The club is innocent of the accusations brought against it by the English Premier League, and there is a complete set of compelling evidence that supports its position in this case,” explaining that the appeal was submitted on Thursday evening. He added: “The club’s firm position is that the opinion contains, in many aspects, clear fundamental errors in the law, principles and facts, and it cannot be relied upon.” He continued: “The club is innocent of the accusations brought against it by the English Premier League, and there is a comprehensive set of compelling evidence that supports all of its positions related to this issue.”
The English Football Association broke its silence on the issue on Friday, saying that the committee’s decision “has major repercussions on the integrity of the game.” He added: “We are carefully studying the decision and its repercussions, and we will take appropriate measures where necessary.” He continued: “Given that the procedures between the English Premier League and Manchester City Football Club are still ongoing, we do not intend to make further comments at this stage. But we will continue to follow developments closely.” The independent committee concluded that City concluded “sham” deals to artificially inflate its revenues and reduce its costs by more than 900 million pounds ($1.2 billion) between 2009 and 2018, a period during which it won three English Premier League titles and other tournaments. The committee found that the club concealed the true state of its financial situation, saying that City had "significantly breached the spending limits of both the League and the European Football Association (UEFA)".
Not above the rules
Downing Street said on Thursday that the giant club is not "above the rules", following criticism directed at British Prime Minister Andy Burnham over the case. A spokesman said: “As the Prime Minister has made clear, the initial ruling is serious and there can be no suggestion that anyone is above the rules.” Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester, told the BBC on Wednesday that he did not want to see the club's Emirati owners withdraw as a result of this case. He continued: “I would be very concerned if we lost them,” highlighting the investments made by Abu Dhabi United Group, which owns the controlling stake in the club, in Manchester.
Oasis star and City fan Liam Gallagher published an angry blog post on the X platform on Friday, in which he defended his club. He said: “All this hatred directed at City from other clubs should be directed at Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool,” adding: “They are the ones trying to prevent other teams from winning titles, not Man City.” Everton and Nottingham Forest were subject to points deduction in the 2023-2024 season due to one violation of financial sustainability rules. Based on this, City may face relegation given the huge scale of the case, and there is also speculation about the possibility of being stripped of its titles.
Etihad Airways, City's main sponsor, said it was considering taking legal action against the English Premier League. A spokesman for Etihad Airways, the sponsor whose name appears on the team's shirt and whose name is named at the club's stadium in Manchester, said in a statement that the company "categorically rejects any allegation, inference or suggestion that the airline was at any time involved in improper commercial arrangements." The Abu Dhabi-based airline expressed its regret that it was not consulted during the proceedings regarding the information on which it was based “to reach conclusions that may now be interpreted as damaging to the airline.”
Another factor is the potential influx of compensation claims. Former Liverpool managing director Christian Borslow told the BBC that the clubs "will be lining up to demand compensation." City has become the dominant force in the English Premier League since Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Vice President of the UAE and Deputy Prime Minister, took over the club in 2008. The team will play its next match against Liverpool at Anfield on October 11. It faces the club that has been its closest rival for most of the past decade.
