Totally agree that Italy should have considered goning for Luciano Spalletti, Carlo Ancelotti or Mancini all are young blood for a more youthfull approach. Whilst Spalletti may not be willing to switch, I feel that Carlo may have may have, as he has looked a little stale at AC and a switch would freshen him up. Having said this Donadoni has youth on his side but still stuck with an ageing side. Hopefully Lippi would have seen the mistakes that The Don made and is experienced enough to realise that that its time to blood many of the youngsters, but lets not get to carried away a team full of youngsters without some mature heads would fail akin to the Euro 08 side so I am sure Lippi would blend the two.
Nick The Suffolk Eye-Talian

I totally agree with the article. I have heard that Lippi is already considering bringing back a certain number of player's back into the set up. Just the thought of seeing Iaquinta pulling on that Azzurri shirt again is very worrying. Also, Totti does not deserve to be given the chance to represent Italy again after turning his back on the team in such a tasteless manner. Italy should be looking firmly forward, with emphasis on youth and new, exciting players. Forget Lippi. Get rid of Ambrosini, and build around Cassano.
Jason Hayward

I totally disagree with this article:
1) Lippi did not walk out on the Azzurri - he anounced he was leaving before the tournament did he not? Why? Because the Federazione had turned their backs on him and were offering him and the team  little support  due to the fact he had managed Juventus and was being wrongly linked to Calciopoli by the press, and his son Davide was being witch hunted for the GEA case.
2) I think it is widely recognised that for international football where you can't buy in players or Coach them to any great degree, what is required is somebody who can galvanise a group, motivate the players, organise them and have the experience to get the tactics right and adapt them if needs be. Mancini would be an apalling choice, as he may have many qualities but he doesn't have the ability to galvanise a team, he is not the type of coach people would run through walls for and little like Don his tactics would always be questioned by the veterans of the group.
Miguel Gonzalez

Interesting thoughts, but one mustn't be so negative with this possible scenario. Remember the success Marcello Lippi had when returning to Juventus after a dreadful spell as Inter Manager.
Italy has an exciting and promising future with the vast aray of talent coming through the ranks at youth and Under-21 level. In this current climate I can't see anybody better and available than Mister Lippi to guide these kids onto the road of success and so what if he was to bring back Nesta and Totti into the frame, this would only benefit the youngsters who will learn from their experience.
The only other coaching option in my eyes would be to draft in Ancellotti or Spalletti, with Lippi succeeding their post in their respective jobs, keeping everybody happy.
Onofrio Sanfilippo

I have no problem with Marcelo Lippi as a manager, but if he is considering bringing back some of the old faces from the world cup, I would rather not have him as manager. It's a big slap in the face to the talanted young Italians such as Giuseppe Rossi, Sebastian Giovinco and Claudio Marchisio that dream of representing their country.
Ric

A difficult conundrum for the Azzurri and the FIGC, and for me!  A die-hard Milan fan at heart, I can only see one viable alternative to Donadoni at this stage.
Firstly though, why would Lippi return?  He's won the world cup, therefore what more does he have to achieve by returning as the coach.  It's a bad move even if he was to return, as there are not many countries have won the WC twice on the bounce, therefore it's only destined for disaster and therefore will be interpreted as failure from his perspective.  Spalletti has so much more to achieve with a modest Roma side.  A side just starting to mature and youthful, as well he certainly will want to win more than just the Coppa Italia whilst Totti is still available for his plans.  Gracious in attack, but not the best in defence - not really compatible with the Azzurri style of play.
Mancini, seriously.....he's got a lot going for him, but you can't buy players (especially Argentinians...no offence Mauro Camoranesi) in International football, and Morratti's bank balance is the only thing that bought Inter success!
Donadoni, well?  Put it this way, criticism has been harsh and sometimes justifiable, but he's young and can learn from his mistakes.  It tears me apart to say this, as I was quoting the complete opposite on Monday (in fact up until yesterday!) but maybe the guy deserves a second chance.  Please don't beat me up yet, there might be good reason.  Think of the conversation between him and Abete, it's not gonna be nice and he's going to be told to buck-up his idea's, but he can change the style of play.  Yes the tactics, formation and team selection were disastrous in places, but that all proves he can move forward from not necessarily a bad place.  Remember we absolutely battered Portugal not so long ago under Donadonuts lead, and the Azzurri have a lot of young talent available as well.  He could take the next two years to build on that, but Abete has got to lay down the law first....in reality though I truly believe he has probably already lost patience.  So, completely contradicting everything I just wrote, it's gotta be Carlo Ancelotti.  Good for two reasons, a) I would love to see the Azzurri playing his style of football, focusing on the attack whilst remaining cautious in midfield and defence.  He would easily have made the 4-3-3 work, without any question.  b)  Milan need to freshen things up, who better than the old WC hero doing a job for Milan next season, and taking the title back to the Diavolo!
Simon Bushnell

I couldn't agree more, the look of pure relief on Marcello Lippi’s face combined with the mass celebration from his coaching staff when Fabio Grosso completed Italy’s World Cup bid in 2006 is implanted in my memory and doubtless the memory of nearly every Azzurri fan world wide. Would it not be strange to return when you have achieved your crowning glory? Then again perhaps once more Lippi is the answer to an Italian squad in desperate need of some redirection, and he will usher in yet another new era for La Nazionale, but surely there is another who can step in to the position?
I am by no means an Inter Milan fan but Mancini does seem to be the ideal candidate. Sure he had a bad performance with the Nerrazurri in the Champions League but was this down to just his actions or could players such as Louis Figo, who had a strop and refused to play, have something to do with it.
Other than this blip Mancini has had a great record at Inter and he is currently a young, charismatic and lets face it unemployed coach with a great deal to offer, this is by no means a rejection of Lippi but we must look to younger talent both in the coaching staff and on the team if we wish to recreate the glory of 2006.
Matthew Cunningham

Even though I feel like Donadoni wasn't given a fare shake, I have to disagree with you. First of all it is rubbish to say that the European Championship is harder than the World Cup. Did you forget about teams like Ghana crushing the Czech Republic, not to mention the USA? 6 out of the 16 teams that went to the finals were not European, and this does not count that Portugal and Switzerland only made it through because of absurd refereeing. Not to mention that in this Euro, Germany has managed to get through without really playing anyone difficult  - you cannot put Croatia in the same boat as France, Holland, Spain or Italy.
In any case, Italy has the best players in the world, they were just not used well by Donadoni. Despite the several poor tactical choices that he made, Italy stifled Spain in over 120 minutes of football, and you can look at the scores of all the other Spain games to recognise what an achievement this is. The only thing that needs to be done is to select the right player for the line-up and this Lippi can do better than any other coach around. It would be great to see some new blood in there, and Spalletti would be fantastic, but he has some honing of his skills to do with Roma before he should move on, and I have to agree with Garry about Mancini
In the meantime I have confidence that Lippi will integrate the newer players into the fold. It would be absurd not to recognise the potential of Di Natale and Quagliarella. As a Roma fan who has much respect for Totti, I have to say he shouldn't return. He is the most talented player in the world when you see what he can do, but he thinks he is owed space and falls down too easily. Nesta should be brought back but only as a substitute. Chiellini needs to grow and has proven he has enough to handle the starting place.
Good to hear all the opinions though.
Gio Libertino, Philadelphia

I disagree as well with this point of view that Lippi shouldn't return fot the Azzurri job. It all reminds me the situation with Juventus. Even then there were a lot of speculations simlar to that now....and it's true that vast majority of Coaches failed when coming back, but that was not the case for our cigar-loving genius: 2 Serie A titles and the Final of the Champions League, and all this within three years of his tenure. Anybody else to compare?
Donadoni could have built a new team around new Azzurri stars, but just before the Euro you can not do that. He even did not wanted to include Alex Del Piero in the squad and only because of the pressure from fans and Press and the fact that he become Cappocanoniere took him, even though did not give him a chance to play much. Shortly he failed to make splendid mix of generations, contrary to Lippi who made to play together likes of Del Piero, Totti, Nesta and Cannavaro with Grosso, Barzagli and Zaccardo. Result: early exit from the Euro, very disappointing exit for the reigning world champions.
Maybe it looks like the England way of looking back to ageing celebrities, but England and Italy are two different teams and proper coaching for them yet a different issue (Having said that, good luck Capello).
I am deeply assured he will revive the Azzurri and make it the accountable force for anyone again. Until recently I had the feeling that  the Italian players were running on the pitch without a clear idea of what to do, and if there was any success mainly due to the personality of certain players, You never have this feeling when Don Lippi is there... he is confident of what his team will do and you can see this confidence passed on to the players.
Bravo Maestro and welcome back!
George Chubini

I do agree on some of the things you wrote, needed more youth, coaching inexperience. Ancelotti  might be a good choice now, the other two gentlemen ARE inexperienced so they could be brought on as assistants.You do win with Lippi and he like youth with veteren leadership.When your team scores one goal and that came from a defender,it said a lot about this current national side.
Salvatore Alioto

I disagree. Lippi is one of the best Serie A Coaches ever, and has proved he can be equally as good as a National coach. That’s something Trapattoni sure could not do, and he had the #1 best record ever for a Serie A Coach. The truth is, Italy is unlikely to win a World Cup twice in a row regardless of who their Coach is. But if there’s any hope of another championship in 2010, then I say stick with the best Coach you can, and they're doing just that!
Joe, Brooklyn, NY