5 reasons why Italy would be right to sack Gian Piero Ventura

Football in Italy is a religion as much as, or more so, than in any other European country. The Azzurri have been the heart and soul of Italian sporting culture for nearly a century, and have been one of the most successful national teams in the history of the game.

With 4 World Cup triumphs, only second to Brazil, and a host of legendary players like Paolo Rossi, Dino Zoff, Paolo Maldini and Roberto Baggio among others, Italy are perennial giants of the game.

These are only a few reasons why the current state of the Italian national team is nothing short of a travesty. Their catastrophe of a match against Sweden is only worsened by the fact that no one in the country seems to have any idea how to fix the innumerable problems ailing the national side.

While the players themselves aren't entirely blameless, Italy's tactics have left most pundits baffled in what many regard as a fiasco of a qualifying campaign. It may be harsh to put the blame squarely on Italian manager Gian Piero Ventura, but here is a look at 5 reasons why the manager failed to take Italy to the World Cup, a first for the country in 60 years.

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#5 Frosty relationship with senior players

Ventura didn't get along with some of the senior players

One of Ventura's main strengths coming into the national team was his ability to nurture and bring out the best in his players, as evidenced by his time in Torino and Bari, where he launched the careers of Leonardo Bonucci and Andrea Ranocchia. It is, therefore, extremely surprising that Ventura was unable to get along with Italy's living legends.

Giorgio Chiellini is Italy's leader alongside Gianluigi Buffon, and has easily been their best defender in the recent past. After Chiellini's red card in a 3-1 victory against Israel, Ventura remarked, "Usually Chiellini makes two mistakes every five years, so he used up all his bonuses."

While Chiellini may not have had the best of games that night, public ultimatums issued to senior players by the coach for a single bad performance does not bode well for the team.

Ventura also clashed with Daniele de Rossi during Italy's second leg horror show against Sweden. Italy's senior players have always formed the core of every successful campaign for the past few decades. Buffon and other senior players may have retired following the debacle, but an inability to build a rapport with them does not go in favour of an extended stay for Ventura.

#4 Shifting the blame

Ventura has blamed his players on more than one occasion

Several successful coaches have unstable relationships with their players, and several more have committed blunders at various points in their careers. What sets Gian Piero Ventura apart, however, is his refusal to accept responsibility for his mistakes.

In the past few months, Ventura has blamed new factors after every game to explain his side's dwindling form. From expressing shock at Sweden's physicality to blaming foreign players for the lack of development of homegrown talent in Italy, Ventura has always found reasons to explain his team's shortcomings.

Although he has apologised, the manager is yet to criticise himself. The former Torino coach has committed several errors this season, obviously influencing the team's performance. After an underwhelming performance against group minnows Macedonia with whom Italy drew 1-1, Ventura remarked, "I think a lack of fitness levels made a big difference and when that drops, the sharpness goes, so we could not develop anything more. In football, when you don't propose anything in attack for an entire half, it can well be that you concede."

The Italian players may also be at fault for their recent difficulties, but Ventura's refusal to accept the blame has resulted in a loss of support from his players as well as the Italian people.

#3 Lack of stability

If it ain't broke, don't fix it

For a team to have qualified for 14 consecutive World Cups, stability is essentially a key factor. The current Italian team, however, are lacking the values that brought them nearly incomparable success.

National teams do tend to constantly shuffle their teams during the qualifying campaign to give youngsters a chance to shine for their country. Most successful teams, however, not only have a premier starting eleven in mind, but also a formation that works best for the team.

Ventura's constant tinkering of the starting eleven and formation, with seemingly no direction or reason, has visibly hurt the team. Italy, as with some of the other European teams, have an abundance of raw talent in multiple departments.

Ventura, however, has failed to nurture the talent available to him, instead blaming a lack of resources available. It is not only the results but also the performances by the national side that have disappointed fans of the Azzurri. A strong backline of Chiellini, Barzagli and Bonucci have been unable to add sufficient stability to the team with Ventura's constant and at times, unnecessary tinkering.

Ventura himself has not done the team any favours by blaming injuries for the team's lack of cohesion. Considering the state the team finds itself in, it would be in Italy's interest to cut Ventura's time at the helm short.

#2 Inexplicable squad and team selection

Jorginho has been a surprise exclusion in most of Ventura's teams

Ventura initially arrived with the promise of furthering the careers of Italy's young talented ensemble. The reality, however, is that Ventura has failed to add value to the abilities of the likes of Immobile and Insigne, due to his preposterous team selections.

Jorginho has been a revelation for Napoli this season, playing an extremely influential role in the club's unprecedented successes in the Serie A. But for all his exploits in the middle of the park, the 26-year-old has been left out of Ventura's plans most of the time, featuring only recently in the game against Sweden. Jorginho, to his credit, put in an impressive shift, but the delay in calling the player up to the national team raises a lot of questions.

Ventura's constant refusal to play Jorginho, and at times, Insigne, is indicative of a reputation based selection instead of a merit-based system. Simone Zaza has also been kept on the sidelines, in spite of his scintillating form with La Liga club Valencia. Decisions such as these have damaged Italy's creative play and have left several fans pondering what might have been.

#1 Tactical blunders

Italy v Spain - FIFA 2018 World Cup Qualifier

If there ever was a match that described everything wrong with Italy's tactical set-up under Gian Piero Ventura, one needn't look further than their 3-0 humbling at the hands of Spain in September. The result inevitably derailed Italy's campaign and prevented them from finishing at the top of their group.

Against arguably the best midfield in the world boasting the likes of Iniesta, Silva, Isco and Thiago, Ventura inexplicably decided to play a 4-2-4 formation. The result was inevitably disastrous, with Veratti and de Rossi being completely overrun in the middle of the park.

His utter misuse of Italy's best attacking player Lorenzo Insigne has also baffled Italian fans. Insigne was asked to play in a central midfield role, a position he is completely unfamiliar with, in the first leg against Sweden.

To make matters worse, he was left on the bench as an unused substitute in the second leg, when Italy desperately needed a goal and would have benefited from some creativity in the final third. The decision to leave Insigne out of the game left de Rossi fuming, and the latter reluctantly came on late in the second half, thoroughly shocked at his manager's decisions.

Ventura had several chances to understand the players he had at his disposal but failed to deliver on most of his promises. With Italy shockingly sitting this World Cup out, the clock is ticking on Ventura's reign as manager of the Azzurri.