After the great disappointment suffered yesterday, with the elimination from Europeans arrived against Switzerland in the round of 16. The coach ofItalia Luciano Spalletti spoke at a press conference together with the president of the federation Gravina to give his opinion on what didn’t work in this tournament: “It gives me enormous pleasure to thank the fans for the closeness and love they have shown us, to thank the players for their availability And above all the staff of the whole Federation for the quality and for the availability in finding solutions for any small problem there might be. There is disappointment because through my result their level of quality was not shown, they are truly gods top collaborators. I am the one who has the most responsibility of all.”
Go back to May 30th, would anything change?
“It’s a little game that I don’t play, that of going back… In my life I have always been careful to look at what I have to do next, that’s what I’ll go with in my future. I can’t go back, but it’s clear that I did something wrong: I tried to rejuvenate the team and since I’m staying here, even more will be done in the future.”
Have we ever seen the best version of Spalletti in these 10 months?
“The answer is no, otherwise I would be here today making different speeches. I have been accused of having raised the tone too much, of having made use of myths to follow but I have set up my whole life like this. You always need examples to follow. There are many things still to be seen and my commitment will be equally total, probably with experiences gained and more knowledge because then you have to be complete and honest in the story of these 14 games. I came in when there was an urgency for results and probably for what the moment needed we were good up to a certain point, we were not able to grow within this mini-course taken and in yesterday’s game we took a significant step backwards that cannot be accepted. But we start again from there and I think I know what to do”.
What needs to change?
“After yesterday’s match we went back to zero and we have to start again from there. In future choices I will try to further rejuvenate the squad because the management of some things did not give me the answers I was looking for. We are looking for a more bottom-up future, younger, with new energy and who has new strengths”.
Yesterday there was also a lack of emotional reaction, how to react to this aspect?
“Footballers of the level of Chiellini and Bonucci are difficult to find, but we have also seen that by giving space to players like Calafiori, new protagonists can be found. We must follow this path and go straight down this path, decisions must be made on the pitch “.
Was it the hardest night for you?
“No more complicated night, sometimes even nights have been complicated to manage. I have received many pats on the back, in these years I have made thousands of friends who are there to support me and the most obvious is Matilde’s call, her I love you”.
Yesterday you said that the result is not scandalous in itself: how do you define it? Did you and the team get along and understand each other?
“If we judge the European Championship we must say that we got there with a well-deserved qualification, even if it was difficult. There was an immediate need for these results and we knew we had a group with maximum difficulties, as history also tells us a bit: we faced teams organized from the point of view of experience and maturity. Both in terms of experience and average age, we were among the 5-6 youngest teams, even the second to last in terms of attendance of players called up for this competition. But it was a choice made together and we were thinking of different results. Up until the qualification there was an adaptation, a reaction in the matches that was different from what we saw yesterday, no, there wasn’t and we feel bad, we become responsible in a way important On the second question I say that every day, after all the training sessions, I met with the team: dialogue becomes fundamental and I spoke with many face to face, I always spoke to the team as a coach and I didn’t see any particular critical issues. what the relationship was. I tried to do my job 100%, I thought it was right not to let anything pass. Yesterday I put fresher people in the team, but it’s an analysis that I have to do on the relationship with the team. It all seemed quite normal to me because then I’ve been through some situations like this: when you fight not to be relegated to C2 it’s the same stuff, the same heaviness. Here the volume changes, there is the Italy shirt, but it’s the same stuff regardless of the category.”
Were you a little disappointed by what the players did on the pitch?
“I said in these conferences that I was positively surprised by the team’s willingness and desire to accelerate in order to learn certain things. But I was a little disappointed with yesterday’s match, I didn’t see a reaction. Previously I talked about adaptation when we were in difficulties and that adaptation also occurred against Spain, where we deserved to lose but at least there was a final reaction. Yesterday I saw less of this anger of wanting to go and recover balls, of wanting to challenge and duel an opponent who it was within our reach and different from Spain in terms of quality the answer is this, I definitely have to do something different.”
Three years ago we saw that there was a unique group, a positive arrogance in wanting to challenge the limits. This team, however, seemed a bit sad to me, as if it were a burden to play this European Championship
“The mood in the team was perfect, very correct. Then I don’t know if you are referring to plastic smiles, but there was the right reflection on the importance of the tournament. There was a healthy group, a solid group and they don’t go away to tell lies. I don’t know what your impression might be, but I saw them calm in the things we could and should do both in training and outside. All very close, very friends, with this room all together playing then I don’t know if the blue shirt could become a burden, but after this match we will try to understand and look for answers. Yesterday before leaving in the morning meeting we asked who wouldn’t feel like taking the penalty kick and there were several who didn’t raise their arm, who didn’t want to beat him. These tests will also be done to understand who feels capable of handling this pressure, but a complete and honest story must be given. Not so much to reveal it a fuss because there is already dust of its own”.
He had a very coaching approach: after this month, what was the main difference you found between the role of coach and that of coach. Is he comfortable in the CT outfit?
“The differences are objective. Today I tell a player one thing, tomorrow to get a reaction I do something else, I encourage him and make him play again. Here you can’t do that because you don’t have all that possibility to play with the mind of the subject, with the experience of the subject. I put the suit back on today, it fits me very well. But it’s clear that there are differences in being a coach of the national team and if these have brought complications I also have to hurry to complete this path, this experience here puts me in front of new things that I probably have to learn quickly”.
