Desailly warns Italy: ‘It takes time to recover after a crisis, 5 or 6 years from now’
MADRID, SPAIN - MARCH 03: Marcel Desailly, Member of the Laureus Academy attends the nomitations reaction Q&A during the Laureus World Sports Awards 2026 nominations announcement at Real Casa de Correos on March 03, 2026 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images Laureus World Sports Awards Ltd.)
Marcel Desailly has warned Italy supporters and head coach Roberto Mancini that it will not be an immediate fix to bring the Azzurri back to its former glories, and says that it could take five, six or seven years for a new cycle to truly begin: ‘It takes time to recover after a crisis’.
Desailly talks Italy ahead of France Nations League clash
Former Milan man Desailly will be watching with great attention when France host Italy at the Stade de France in the Nations League on Friday evening, in what will be Zinedine Zidane’s first home match in charge of Les Bleues.
Italy have also had a recent change of head coaches, with Roberto Mancini returning to the role of CT following the resignation of Gennaro Gattuso earlier this year.
Mancini’s second spell in charge of Italy began with a 2-0 defeat at home against Belgium and a more encouraging 4-1 victory away against Vincenzo Montella’s Turkey on Monday night.
Desailly gave his thoughts on the current state of the Italy national team in a brief interview with the Corriere della Sera.
The 116-time France international explained that there is no point in trying to estimate how Italy will fare against France given the state of Mancini’s rebuild project, which is still in its infant stages.
“You’ve just changed coaches. The potential is out of the question, it could be any one of about three different teams that he could put out against France.
“When I say it takes time, I mean it’s not an immediate process to change formation or switch to a more attacking game. You don’t build trust by winning just one game. The coach has to work on identity to start a new cycle in five, six or seven years from now.”
So, what is the main reason behind Italy’s recent failures on the international stage?
“I think the problem concerns the academies, stadiums and the philosophy of the game, a bit of all of these things combined. Something is missing in the way that new generations are brought through.”
And on Mancini, Desailly added: “There’s a lot of interest around him, but it’s not easy to perform magic. It takes time to recover after going through a crisis.”
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