SENT TO FLORENCE – These are Spalletti’s commandments. This is how Italy will have to play, the guiding principles of modern football to take inspiration from during the European Championship. The coach pinned them, or rather wrote them, on the board. He repeats them like a mantra, they are concepts he has been talking about for months and they are part of his way of talking about matches, training sessions, what he would like to see on the pitch. He’s trying to get into the minds of the Azzurri. The national team will have to try to stick to those principles, put down in black and white and discovered by chance, entering the Aula Magna yesterday for the conference Calafiori. The tactical meeting held before lunchtime with the team focused on how to hold the pitch and interpret the moments of the match. Lucio’s glossary opened before our eyes, becoming a document. The table with its coaching laws, divided into six chapters. «Our commandments». The things that make the difference in modern football. Here they are, trying to explain them.
1) The pressure continues
It has been Spalletti’s mark since he led and directed the national team. “High” recapture of the ball. Move forward with courage. Continuous pressure is the first point of his game plan. It has an emotional value. Pressing also means “take away trust” to the opponents. She has a bold and bold face.
2) Game control
The game can and must be directed through “ball handling”. Physicality and bodywork are used to attack opponents and recover the ball, but technique, precision and good phrasing guarantee control of the game.
3) Tied up
Team distances, shorts, close. Spalletti recommends that the Azzurri remain united between the departments. Italy, during the qualifying round, tended to “stretch” on the field. An aspect to improve at the European Championship, fundamental for tactical balance. The distances help you recover the ball, absorb it better and not expose yourself in the open field to restarts.
4) Fierce reaggression
The Azzurri, having lost the ball, will have to try to win him back quickly. The ferocity, the desire to attack and press have an emotional and prevalent meaning. Density and short distances help.
5) Recomposition
«Go back home», writes Spalletti. It’s the next phase. If you lose the ball and are not in a position to reattack and win it back quickly, you must return. Returning home means recomposing the team, regain positionscover the spaces, arranging the defensive phase and regrouping behind the waiting line.
6) Order, study and preparation
It is the last point and leads back to the first in the chain of commandments. When we have reorganized ourselves and the team has regained its tactical order, we return to pressing. Lucio, a hammer, asked the Azzurri to start seeing something good in this direction tomorrow at the Dall’Ara in Bologna. Turkey is immediately a good test on the road to Dortmund.
