Italian soccer is on the wane because there's too little skill and too much muscle, according to national idol Roberto Baggio.

Baggio is the latest soccer icon to be tackled by the Gazzetta dello Sport since the paper began a campaign last week to find out the causes of Italy's woes.

The national side, World Cup finalist in 1994, has slumped to a dismal 14th in the FIFA rankings, while none of its club sides have made it into either of the European cup semifinals this season - for the first time in 13 years.

Baggio believes that Italian soccer is now all about physique rather than technique, and that coaches are more interested in systems of play than bringing out the best in players.

"When I was little, I was taught how to stop the ball, how to hit it when it was stationary and when you were running forward," he told the paper. "Today, three-quarters of training is done without a ball.

"Players run. Once I even got injured because I was made to run with weights. It felt like I was pulling a train."

And things are little better on the pitch, he claimed.

"The real problem is coaches who put their system of play above everything else. Organization is useful, but it should come afterwards - as a way of putting together 10 footballers. But first, you need the footballers.

"Today, unless you run, they don't just tell you that you're slow, they say you don't understand the new kind of football.

"I, on the other hand, would always pick players who are on first-name terms with the ball. It's better to have 10 disorganized people who can play football than 10 organized people who just run."

Baggio also paints a portrait of a high-pressure game where there is no room for a moment's fun, not even in training.

"During the week, if you try a joke or do something different, you'll be criticized and accused of not being concentrated," he said. "It's hard now to have any fun, even in training.

"And yet, passion and entertainment should come first in this job."