While outgoing Italy coach Marcello Lippi will always be considered a legend for masterminding the 2006 World Cup success, it has been clear since he returned to the Nazionale in 2008 that the Azzurri need to turn over a new leaf and start afresh with a younger generation.

But is Cesare Prandelli the man to write the next great chapter for Italy?

On the plus side, we can be assured that Prandelli’s Italy will play constructive and entertaining football. The 52-year-old’s favoured systems are 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3, andFiorentina have been one of Serie A’s best sides to watch for a number of years now.

The long ball will not be part of Prandelli’s make-up, and there will be no politics and less distrust of fantasistas. This will mean that naturally gifted stars such as Antonio Cassano, Fabrizio Miccoli and Mario Balotelli won’t be overlooked like they have been under Lippi.

Unlike Lippi, Prandelli will focus significantly on youth. During his two seasons at Parma and five at Fiorentina, the ex-Juventus midfielder was perhaps only second toArsene Wenger in Europe at identifying and cultivating fledging talents. Alberto Gilardino, Adriano, Sebastien Frey, Adrian Mutu, Riccardo Montolivo, Stevan Joveticand Khouma Babacar are just a selection of those Prandelli has been responsible for developing.

Prandelli will almost certainly begin a medium-term project which aims at grooming many of the supremely gifted, yet internationally inexperienced, starlets so that come Euro 2012 they are ready for the big stage.

This is where Lippi went so wrong during the World Cup qualifiers. The Azzurri were in such a weak group that they had the perfect opportunity to shed the oldies from 2006. The Confederations Cup experience was completely wasted as Lippi took with him a group of 30-year-olds who unsurprisingly flopped, and in the 12 months since only a few newboys have been invited into the group. 

These include Domenico Criscito, who has just five caps, Leonardo Bonucci (1 cap),Christian Maggio (3 caps), Mattia Cassani (2 caps), Claudio Marchisio (3 caps) andGiampaolo Pazzini (6 caps). If these six players, among others, had been part of a project beginning in August 2008 when Lippi returned, they would now have more than 20 caps each.

Without this experience you risk what happened at Euro 2008 with Alberto Aquilani, a fine young player, who was totally overawed by the occasion during the Spain quarter-final because he had only a handful of caps to his name. As stated above, Italy's qualifying pool was so weak that Lippi should have prepared his younger players mentally for South Africa. Throw them in at the deep end in a big tournament and the results can be disastrous. Prandelli won’t make the same mistake.

There are some concerns about Prandelli, though. First and foremost, this is a coach who has never been in charge of a European supergiant like Juventus, Milan, Inter, Real Madrid, Barcelona or the English Big Four. So, in many ways, he will be moving into unfamiliar territory.

While Prandelli has twice been named Serie A Coach of the Year, and in essence (but for Calciopoli) earned Fiorentina Champions League qualification four years in a row, the only trophy he has won as a coach is the Serie B championship. Some sceptics will argue that a top national team that is always expected to win should not employ a trainer with a virtually empty trophy cabinet.

If Prandelli opts to use the 4-3-3, this may also cause a few problems. This is a formation that Italy’s players have never felt comfortable using, a system that Lippi’s Azzurri have consistently failed with. Tactically it just doesn’t suit the Italian attitude. A 4-2-3-1 could certainly prove a success, and it is this strategy that most fans are hoping Lippi uses at the World Cup. 

Prandelli’s appointment will probably spell the end of a number of international careers. Almost certain to go will be Fabio Cannavaro, Gianluca Zambrotta, Mauro Camoranesi, Rino Gattuso, Antonio Di Natale, Vincenzo Iaquinta, and possibly Andrea Pirlo. Uncertainties are Christian Maggio, Andrea Cossu, Simone Pepe, Giuseppe Rossi and Giampaolo Pazzini, who fell out with the coach at Fiorentina and was eventually sold to Sampdoria.

Guarantees in Prandelli’s squad are Gianluigi Buffon, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini, Domenico Criscito, Alessandro Gamberini, Daniele De Rossi, Marco Marchionni, Claudio Marchisio, Riccardo Montolivo, Angelo Palombo, Marco Borriello, Alberto Gilardino and Fabio Quagliarella. The four newboys will be Antonio Cassano, Fabrizio Miccoli, Mario Balotelli and Lorenzo De Silvestri.

A possible starting XI could be as below: