The Italy on his mind Luciano Spalletti is taking shape. The Italian coach has very clear ideas about what the team that will defend our colors in Germany from 14 June to – hopefully – 14 July should be. The Tuscan strategist is making his own assessments of the players at his disposal and is assessing which of them are in top form and who instead could be put aside between now and 6 June, the date on which Spalletti will have to loudly declare his final choices in view of the European championships. In the press conference, the former Napoli coach answered many of the questions that have been circulating in recent days on the subject of choices (at the moment there are still 29 players in the meeting, but they must become 26), game module and some evaluations on key players. We have tried to summarize in five points what we were able to deduce from Spalletti’s words.
1. Fagioli can remain in the squad
One of the biggest surprises on the day arriving on the famous pre-call day was the call of Nicolò Fagioli: can a guy who has been out practically all seasons due to well-known betting problems (2 appearances for 100 total minutes) be able to face a European championship? Spalletti’s words about him dispel any doubt: the coach has defined it “a technical choice”Fagioli is a boy who has “quality and creativity. It lacks something about the duel and the physical clash, but it is to complete and have more things available that make you manage the game“. And then again: “He can do everything. He’s delightful with the ball, he sees things that others don’t see“. Beans can remain therefore: it could be a vice-Jorginho or a midfield joker that comes in handy on several occasions.
2. Hybrid module, THIS IS WHAT IT MEANS
What module will Italy play with? Difficult question, answer to be interpreted. Spalletti talks about “four-man defense and three-man attack”, especially against teams that line up with 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3. “Strong teams are unpredictable in taking positions on the pitch. We are all game builders and all defenders. You need quality“. It will therefore be an Italy without a fixed module, or rather with a hybrid module, which will vary depending on the opponent and the interpreters. “We would like to do something not rigid, quite free. Give this possibility of freedom of expression to the talent of the players and at the same time have an organized team”. Yes part of the famous 3-4-2-1 already tried in a friendly match recently, but then room for freedom of expression.
3. EXCLUDED AND PRESENT: FORM COUNTS
Spalletti is an attentive, very attentive coach: this is why when it comes to talking about the excluded, he doesn’t gloss over, rather he explains. “I apologize for not calling Locatelli: he has a good foot, exceptional defensive qualities, perhaps he is a little too conservative for where the role is going.” Then on Bonaventure, which he himself had compared to Bellingham a few months ago : “Another one of those that makes my heart cry to have left it out, it has an incredible quality and delicacy. I watched it a bit with bated breath…“. On those present: “Folorunsho it has a shock, Frattesi He’s more of a midfielder while Folo is more of a mid-space player who isn’t caught by midfielders and defenders.”. Spalletti evaluates everyone, but evaluates them in the current moment: too important is how you are in this moment, how you can position yourself on the board that the manager has in mind and not necessarily the basic value of each individual element.
4. Chiesa’s position
“It will have to adapt in the five channels of the field”said Spalletti of Federico Church a few months ago referring to the football pitch, which is ideally divided into five vertical stripes. Today he adjusts his aim: “Chiesa knows how to play anywhere, he’s the one who has the flash and the shock of the shot in the night that you can’t understand where it came from. He can also play on the right, he can also stay inside as he did against Juventus. But he still needs to be isolated , without letting him have traffic around him, because in one-on-one spaces it is devastating.” Chiesa is a rare commodity for today’s Italian footballSpalletti knows this well: for this reason he will pay special attention to him when designing his team on the pitch.
5. Scamacca has grown in availability
Spalletti is an advanced coach also because he knows how to change opinions. Just as he adjusted his shot on Chiesa, the Italian coach also did the same with regards to Scamacca. The exclusion from the American tour at the end of March seemed like a rejection of the Atalanta striker: it wasn’t like that. Also thanks to Gasperini… “In my opinion, the person who worked on it and built something different is Gasperini. Having it available there every day, dealing with it every day becomes easier. (…) In some ways I didn’t like Scamacca and that’s why I left him out in March. If you don’t give your best it becomes difficult to compete against the strongest teams. But then he showed this growth, the goals, more continuity than other times and Atalanta also benefited a lot from his new availability. He’s a bit lazy, we need to lose some laziness. Maybe he lost it…”. We shouted a lot about the lack of the striker from the national team, but we didn’t realize that the player was there: we just had to trust him.
The goals of the top scorers present at Euro 2024 from March to today:
| Cole Palmer (Eng) | 13 goals in 14 games |
| Harry Kane (Eng) | 13 goals in 14 games |
| Kylian Mbappé (Fra) | 12 goals in 16 games |
| GIANLUCA SCAMACCA (ITA) | 12 goals in 18 games |
| Phil Foden (Eng) | 11 goals in 14 games |
