Giuseppe Rossi believes Serie A lost its edge on the world stage. Once regarded as the top league in the world, Italy’s top flight-league has experienced a decline.
Not only has Serie A suffered a decline, but the Italian national team has had shortcomings. Italy has failed to reach the FIFA World Cup in three consecutive qualification cycles. That is disappointing, especially for a nation that is a four-time champion.
Serie A once featured legends including Roberto Baggio, Diego Maradona, Zinedine Zidane, and Ronaldo. However, it has since struggled to attract top players in their prime. Instead, more players are joining the league toward the end of their careers.
In addition, Serie A clubs have previously performed well in the UEFA Champions League and even won on occasion.
Rossi believes the root cause stems from Serie A’s lack of progression. He noted that league executives also deserve blame for not promoting the personalities and players the way other top leagues do.
Giuseppe Rossi Urges Serie A to Follow English Premier League
Giuseppe Rossi acknowledged the English Premier League for creating a blueprint that Serie A should follow.
Rossi noted that the Premier League has exemplified its strength in marketing and strong quality of its play.
“At this point, the Premier League is in a league of its own only because they had the courage to evolve from their old ways,” Rossi exclusively told Heavy Sports via Ozoon. “You had innovators, you had people that saw the big picture.”
He added:
“I think there’s greed everywhere in every league and in every country, but maybe they were able to put that to the side a little bit and help grow the league itself to where it is now. Now, they’re reaping benefits left and right.”
For Rossi, Serie A must evolve with the times and embrace change. He pointed to the greed from those in power, but highlighted the importance of strong marketing.
“[The Premier League,] that’s a model that I think Italy, and not only Italy but everybody in the world, should look at,” he said. “They should understand how they market themselves and how they’re able to just adapt to the times.”
Rossi Urges Serie A to Change
Rossi urged Serie A‘s leadership to change its priorities for the greater good of Italian soccer. He noted that revenue has been a primary focus in decision-making rather than player development and building a competitive league.
“This is now and they can grow their brand because Italy’s Serie A is history. Back in the day, 20 or 30 years ago when I was a kid, everybody was there. The biggest teams in the world were there and they have to get back to the world stage,” Rossi exclusively told Heavy Sports via Ozoon. “That starts with all these leaders and presidents from the teams coming in and deciding what is best for the game of football and not their pockets.”
Perhaps now that Italy has failed to qualify for three consecutive World Cup tournaments, changes will be made.
Like HEAVY’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
The post Giuseppe Rossi Explains Why Serie A is Falling Behind Europe: Exclusive appeared first on HEAVY.