Arrigo Sacchi is one of five esteemed Italian national team managers to reach a FIFA World Cup final. Recognised as the man who revolutionised football, winning eight trophies in four seasons at Milan, his experience at club and international level is rivalled by only the very best in history.

During a time when European football was evolving into the world game, Sacchi emerged from the lower tiers of calcio to create order from chaos, installing a sense of discipline, loyalty and ingenuity, which many of today’s coaches have strived to emulate.

It is his work putting Italy at the heart of football’s evolution that makes the national team’s current plight ever more painful, almost personal. Having missed out on qualification for the past two World Cups, they have made an inauspicious start to their latest qualifying campaign after a 3-0 humbling at the hands of Norway and the departure of head coach Luciano Spalletti. Sacchi believes he can put his finger on the key issue.

“What’s missing? One thing in particular is to have a team,” the 79-year-old tells Destination Calcio. “To have one national team, there are 20 (Serie A) teams.

“For example, in my time, football was dominated by defence, catenaccio and counter-attack. Now, only a few teams are looking beyond that.”

Indeed, it was Sacchi who transformed a struggling Milan side into the world’s best with his vision for a dynamic system fortified with an impenetrable defence and hard-working midfielders, followed by a selection of incredibly gifted playmakers like Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten.

For the former Parma coach, it was all about how his players trained during the week and the sense of camaraderie and professionalism. Everybody had to be on the same page, and reliability was a non-negotiable dogma that players had to buy into.

These days, Sacchi believes that the proliferation of various coaching styles in Serie A could be the undoing of the national side’s cohesion.

“At club training, every team does different things, training in certain ways,” Sacchi continues. “But all clubs should have a linked community, really. Football is made by the players.

“Today, while Italian football is actively trying to improve, there are problems because we’ve always had the mindset of defence first and then counter-attack.”

Defence-minded football has been synonymous with the Italian game for decades. To garner the interest of young Italians who have prioritised other sports or hobbies, the 1989 World Soccer Manager of the Year believes that expansion through integrity is the only way forward.

“Football must always evolve if it wants to create interest,” he says “And since everyone wants to make money, they have to play proactive football, have trustworthy people and win with merit.”

Of course, growing older and wiser means there is a political aspect to Sacchi’s approach to the problems Italy faces.

“We are a nation of individualists, which can be seen everywhere, from our factories to our football,” he says. “Now, the country is improving, but almost all of our teams have different attitudes.

“Therefore, there have been a lot of difficulties for the national team because there are so many players who don’t know the same football. A team that never moves together in the same direction – that’s a real problem.”