To better grasp Italian football one have to understand the culture and what is plaguing Italian football as a whole. Lets start from the former. Italian football is quite known for being kneejerk to the ridiculous level. There's also a sense of arrogance by the old heads who just love shitting on the younger managers ( Sacchi vs Allegri is a classic example). When they win they are perfect and their manager is a football genius. When they are not winning they are all shit. Regarding the latter the Serie A had been plagued with lack of funds mainly (but not solely) due to the lack of infrastructure needed to generate football. For example most Italian clubs lack a stadium of their own. One of the very few who have (ex Juventus) has a stadium of around 41k which is smaller to St James's park, Villa Park and Spurs stadium. FFP rules are quite tough in Italy as well which often forces clubs to sell players. That had contributed greatly in lowering the level of football. Not to forget that the Serie A lack the sugar daddies the EPL and the French league have.
Regarding Serie A managers, I find Capello's argument a bit simplistic. That's because there are a number of styles used. On one hand there's the typical defensive style used by the likes of Allegri. At the other side of the spectrum there's managers like Sarri and Gasparini who tend to rely on an exciting style of football. Most use a rather pragmatic approach were they try to maximise on the little quality they have. Sometimes they manage to do wonders with it. For example Mancini was able to win the Euros with an average side. That's more then Capello had done when he crashed with a much more talented England.
To conclude let me put forward an Ibra's quote regarding Capello
'When Capello gets angry, hardly anyone dares to look him in the eye, and if he gives you an opportunity and you don't take it, you might as well be selling hot dogs outside the stadium, basically. You don't go to Capello with your problems. Capello isn't your mate. [...] After the very first training session, all the others in the team had gone in to shower, and I was completely exhausted. I would have gladly called it a day as well. But a goalie from the youth team came over from the touchline, and I twigged what was going on.
Italo was going to feed me balls – bam, bam! They came at me from all angles. There were crosses, passes, he chucked the ball, he gave me wall passes, and I shot at goal, one shot after another, and I was never allowed to leave the box, the penalty area. That was my area, he said. That's where I was supposed to be and shoot, shoot, and there was no chance of taking a break or taking it easy. The pace was relentless. [...] "
I'm gonna knock Ajax out of your body," he [Capello] said. "I don't need that Dutch style. One, two, one, two, play the wall, play nice and technical. Dribble through the whole team. I can get by without that. I need goals. You understand?
I need to get that Italian mindset into you. You've got to get that killer instinct." [...] Under Capello, I was transformed. His toughness was infectious, and I became less of an artiste and more of a bruiser who wanted to win at any price.'
