Gentile also sees Napoli as clear favourites to retain their Serie A title.
"Too many mediocre foreign players around and a lack of space for young players," said Gentile when interviewed by Il Fatto Quotidiano.
He also outlined the problems of Italian football, with their World Cup qualifying hopes in the balance: "Not going would be a final blow. It can happen once, the second time you think it's bad luck, but now there would be no excuses."
Today's national team, among other things, seems to lack tough defenders like Gentile, who, among his many highlights in his career, is also famous for his brutal tackling on Diego Armando Maradona: "Today everything is more dispersive, it's complicated to create core groups like the one at Juve in 1982."
The former Juventus defender, who coached the Italy U21 team, still sees Napoli as favourites to win the Scudetto: "Milan is an important test for (Max) Allegri, Inter are still incomplete, and Juventus are at year zero."