The president of the FIGC, Gabriele Gravina, appears to have aimed a dig at AC Milan over their handling of teenage striker Francesco Camarda.
Camarda had a viral rise to fame within Italy and even beyond the borders of his home country when articles surfaced revealing that he had scored over 500 goals with the Milan youth sector. Then, he became the youngest debutant ever in Serie A at just 15, and the youngest scorer in the history of the UEFA Youth League.
Gravina spoke during an interview with Messaggero Veneto and as part of it he was asked for his thoughts regarding how Italian talents are developing compared to other countries, mentioning Camarda specifically.
“In the last five years of our governance we have had the best results in the youth teams. From 20 to 19 up to our pride: the Under 17 National Team, the symbol of a project. Those boys beat the very strong Portugal 3-0 also with intensity and style of play,” he said (via Calciomercato.com).
“Here, it will not be long before Italy will return to being a reference with the senior national team, will return to the restricted circle of the great world championships.
“Because we have talents, it is sad to see how often they are not used by the clubs, I am thinking of Camarda at Milan. Talent needs opportunities, abroad they give them.”
To answer Gravina’s comments, Camarda has collected two call-ups to the first team this season, playing all the other remaining games with Milan Futuro in Serie C. He missed three of those due to a physical problem but when he is available he always plays under Daniele Bonera.
He’s having plenty of opportunities with Milan Futuro, and guess what, he’s not doing so well there in Serie C. He is definitely not ready for Serie A. Let’s allow him to develop in peace. What Gravina is doing, is that he is putting MORE pressure on Camarda’s shoulders.
ok true i agree with you but answer me this why others teams using players in the same age as camarda?
Other teams also use young players only when they are ready or when the teams are bankrupt and have no other option, but even Barca wouldn’t use Camarda currently. Go watch a Futuro game if you don’t believe it.
Other teams like what, Barcelona and Yamal? Yamal is a one-in-a-generation player. Camarda is good but he’s no Yamal. Brazil had another one-in-a-generation youngster: Pele in 1958. That’s 66 years ago. They took this long to produce another possible one, Endrick; and still, Endrick is doing terribly with Brazil’s National Team and Ancelotti (who knows a thing or two about players) has given him a tiny bit of minutes and has said that he still needs lots of help. Juve have youngsters but I actually don’t know them; not sure if they are the rule or the exception. But here is what the rule is: 99.99% of all youngsters worldwide are not ready to play for their first teams. Some exceptions exist (see Yamal and Pele). Camarda and Liberali have great potential but are not those exceptions. They are the rule; that is, not ready. Their records in Serie C are very demonstrative proof of this.
Ok, so he will explode in Serie A, but won’t show any signs in Serie C? That makes a lot of sense.
Play Inzagi in Milan futuro, he will struggle too…
Ok, so the FIGC president is obviously not following any Futuro games, which I think should be part of his job. Cause then he would know that Camarda is still far from being ready for Serie A (even the Serie C minutes are not because of his contributions there but purely for his personal development). The calendar didn’t allow for much ,Talent‘ minutes so far, and when there is an opportunity it should be Zeroli and Barts who are more ready (and both got their minutes already), maybe Liberali soon
Exactly right
Barca trusted Yamal and Cubarsi because they were ready to make high quality performances. The youth team should make the youngsters ready, and the first team should integrate them. It is not about giving a chance, but being ready and worthy of the first team. If they can’t win vs Serie C teams, it is hard to argue they are ready for the first team and blame the coach for not giving them a chance. One thing is to score goals against other kids in the youth sector, and another one is to play in the Serie A, let alone the UCL.
Barca is anyway a different story. They have to play young players to put high numbers in their books to hide their massive financial problems. And yes, absolutely agree: scoring a lot against other kids mean nothing. In senior football some other factors become more relevant. I wouldn’t be surprised if e.g Magni or Scotti become regular first team players before Camarda does.
Indeed, their financial issues play a major role, but it should also noted that they have a very good academy.
Camarda plays as a striker, and generally strikers seem to need more time to reach the level to be first team-worthy. From Milan’s youth I would especially take a look at Zeroli and Jimenez. They seem to have talent and they are 19 years old; at that age they are supposed to be ready to play for the first team, at least as rotation options/backup. Otherwise they, and maybe others like Bartesaghi, might need to be loaned to small Serie A teams where they can get experience. If that does not work as well, then they are not Milan-worthy and should move on.
Genuine Milan Fan
I wish Camadra, Zeroli and Liberali switches team asap.
Italy need talents and Milan r masters of wasting talents.
Haha you say this and you call yourself a genuine Milan fan???
Why do you suppose Milan invested 40 M Euro establishing Milan Futuro, registering it in Serie C, reforming a stadium for them, and hiring for them players like Vos and Jimenez, and giving to Camarda, Liberali, Zeroli, Bartesaghi and Torriani plenty of opportunities with Milan Futuro? According to you, with the goal of wasting their talent, rather than the obvious goal of developing them with more playing time and less pressure without the need to loan them out (so that they remain close to Milanello)?
Do you even realize that only two other Serie A teams have a second team in Serie C (Juve and Atalanta)?
So, it seems to me that we’re doing as much for youth development as two other Serie A teams and better than 17 others.
“Great” Milan fan you are, rooting for our great youngsters to go elsewhere.