Roberto Mancini has insisted that Italy has a far more limited talent pool than England following Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate's pessimistic comments about the declining number of English players in the domestic league.
The Italy boss was even less optimistic about Italy's future prospects, despite three Serie A teams making the quarter-finals of the Champions League this season.
Ahead of meeting England in Thursday's European Championship qualifiers in Naples, Mancini argued his case that Southgate's problems would pale in comparison to those facing the Italian national team.
His comments came as Mancini publicly changed his stance over calling up players born in different countries, which the former Manchester City manager had railed against in 2015.