Gattuso and the Demise of Italian Football

The unsavory scenes at the end of Tueday nights match between AC Milan and Tottenham Hotspur were almost a microcosm of where Italian football is at this present stage - punching (literally) above its weight.

Gattuso, past his best?

Gennaro Gattuso, once considered one of the worlds finest players in his defensive midfield position, looked out of his depth on club footballs highest stage. Constantly mistiming his tackles, trying to wind up opposition players and in the end disgracing himself with a head-butt on Spurs assistant, Joe Jordan.


It was a sorry sight to see a once great combative midfielder resorting to foul and reckless antics, acting like a cheerleader to pump his side up rather than playing the game as it should be played. However, Gattuso's display personifies the fall from grace of the Azzurri and the Serie A.


If we go back to 2002-03 season, the Italian Serie A was probably the strongest division in Europe. Four of the three semi-finalists of the Champions League were from the peninsula, with AC Milan eventually triumphing over Juventus in an all Italian final.

Happier days for the Azzurri

Granted, AC Milan have since won the competition again in 2007, and Inter Milan are the current holders, but the Calciopoli trial of 2006 has tarnished the reputation of all involved in the game in Italy. World Champions only months after the trial, all of Italy's World Cup winning squad played in their native land at club level.


The punishments handed out to the clubs involved in the scandal left Juventus relegated to Serie B, whilst Milan, Lazio and Reggina were all handed hefty points deductions. A large number of that World Cup winning side came from these clubs and as a result of the verdict many of the sides top players either defected abroad - or to Inter Milan.


Inter Milan have been dominant in Italy ever since, winning the Serie A four seasons in a row, and despite the punished sides of the match fixing trial gradually finding their feet again, they still find it difficult to attract some of the worlds top footballers. Whether this is down to the lack of respect/interest the rest of the world has shown the Italian game since 2006 or that the money simply isn't there, is up for debate.


Despite Inter Milan's European success in 2010, it was a tragic year Italian football. Much was made of the lack of Italian players in the Inter squad, with not one of the starting XI of the Champions League final being from Italy. Although the biggest failure was that of the national side. The Azzurri failed to register a single win at the World Cup in South Africa, finishing bottom of a group consisting of Paraguay, Slovakia and New Zealand. How the mighty have fallen.


With AC Milan sitting on top of the Serie A, yet being humbled in their own back yard by a side playing in their first Champions League campaign, maybe it can be said that Italian football is a spent force? Gattuso did his best to illustrate this in the first leg match up. A once great player, trying in vein to keep up with the pace and ability of his younger and quite frankly more talented opposition. Is this a problem of Gattuso, or of a nations footballing demise?

Where from here?

On a completely unrelated note, I would like to end with a thank you to Ronaldo, who sadly retired this week. You were one of the first players that I truly remember Idolizing, giving me many a memory of how football should be played - from the 2002 World Cup final, that hat-trick against Manchester United and getting the record goal against Ghana in the World Cup in Germany - you played with a smile on your face. Thank you O Fenomeno.