Mancini chose to rebuild the team on new pillars: attacking football, technical players, youth.
Roberto Mancini took over as Italy’s coach in May 2018, six months after the elimination against Sweden in a cruel, ugly World Cup qualifying play-off. The main attacking and creative spark will be the Roma winger Cengiz Ünder but there is a lot of young talent coming through and Güneş is not afraid to give them a chance. There are not a lot of options up front with an ageing Burak Yilmaz and Cenk Tosun in the forward line. The midfield do not exactly play aesthetically pleasing football but they are industrious and protect the back four. And they are all young, the oldest being the 25-year-old Ayhan. Çağlar Söyüncü is the standout name but there is intense competition to be his centre-back partner with Juventus’s Merih Demiral, Fortuna Düsseldorf’s Kaan Ayhan, Ozan Kabak of Schalke and Roma’s Mert Çetin all competing for a spot. After years of defensive trauma it is strange to see Turkey so strong at the back. But they surprised just about everybody and even managed to take four points from the world champions France, booking a place in Euro 2020 with a game to spare. To be completely frank when Group H was first drawn I did not expect Turkey to qualify – Şenol Güneş inherited a side in complete disarray.
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