Theatrics, protests, tactical speculation, breaks: our league does not train players for the kind of soccer that is now played around the world. And if the best dribbler in Italy is a full-back…

Intensity is like shallots in every recipe. As soon as Italian soccer stumbles, the word “intensity” jumps to the top of the trending topics. It’s to blame for everything. Even climate change. “We lack intensity.” Yesterday, however, the CIES Football Observatory provided us with data to discuss it in a slightly less vague way. It defined the concept of sprinting: a speed of 25 km/h maintained for at least 0.7 seconds.

It then compiled a ranking of European leagues in which the most meters are covered in sprints. That’s what intensity is: continuous fast running. In first place is the Premier League with 199.6 meters. Then comes the Dutch league (193.7 m) and the Swiss league (190 m). Italy? Outside the top 10, preceded by France, Norway, Belgium, Sweden, Spain, Germany, and Turkey. Serie A, full of drama, protests, tactical speculation, and constant breaks, does not train for prolonged sprints. So, if Norway changes pace, the Azzurri find themselves like Sinner’s opponents, monsters of intensity: overwhelmed, unable to keep up with a fast pace. The same thing happens to our clubs in the cup. If Roma, which has a weaker squad than many, is ahead, it is because Gasp has already instilled the intensity of Atalanta, the most revolutionary Italian team of the last 10 years. We have never seen revolutionaries who walk. You either dribble past an opponent or outrun them. The player with the most successful dribbles is a full-back (Palestra, 17), far behind Yamal (33) and Mbappé (30). We don’t know how to sprint or dribble. The playoffs are not an insult to our history, but a faithful reflection of it.