I’ve just got home from watching Switzerland steamroller Italy in the EUROs. I’m not even Italian, but with my somewhat over-the-top interest in the country’s football and culture, I feel infuriated at what I’ve just watched.
First off, Luciano Spalletti got it wrong. Not just tonight but as this game proved nicely, he got his squad selection entirely wrong. To not take Manuel Locatelli, Riccardo Orsolini or even Samuel Ricci was a humongous oversight from the coach. And to not take them to have space for the number of defenders to then play four at the back is even more baffling. Federico Gatti, Alessandro Boungiorno, Andrea Cambiaso and Raoul Bellanova collectively barely got a kick.
Isolating last night's match, I was dumbfounded at the team selection. I just cannot understand the decision from Spalletti not to go three at the back after qualifying following a draw against Croatia with that formation. The team isn’t built to be able to play four at the back. This isn’t his Napoli side. The strengths lie in setting up with three, especially with Bastoni to the left. To expect anything other than defeat when starting Bryan Cristante and Nicolo Fagioli in a midfield three and Stephan El Shaarawy on the wing as if it’s 2012 is naivety at its finest, too. The performances those three put in were poor, especially Fagioli who was largely at fault for both goals by not tracking his midfield man as a regista should do and then dropping one of the worst starts to a half I’ve seen in a long time. I had a slither of sympathy for Spalletti in that moment but it was utterly perplexing how he kept Fagioli on the pitch for so long and Nicolo Barella was subbed for Mateo Retegui, shifting the team into a 4-4-2 (or at least that was my guess...).
I am not buying into the lack of talent excuse, either. Yes, this pool of Italy players isn’t as good as we’ve been spoilt with in history but it’s certainly not as bad as everyone is making out. Italy performed better in a tournament with Graziano Pelle and Eder upfront.
But I’m not stupid. Italy are lacking. The striker situation is worrying and if Francesco Camarda isn’t ready by the time the World Cup rolls around (that’s if Italy qualify that is), then it’s not looking great for the Azzurri in the goals department. Federico Chiesa isn’t the man he once (if ever) was and Gianluca Scamacca, despite ending the season on form, looks lacklustre and lacking firepower. Maybe Mario Balotelli was right when he said he was still Italy's best option.
And to cut him some slack, Spalletti was dealt some blows in the build-up. Francesco Acerbi, Giorgio Scalvini and Destiny Udogie getting injured. Sandro Tonali’s ban. Four huge misses for him, for sure. Regardless, the management of the pool of players he had for the tournament has been shoddy and then for the squad to seem this disjointed and lacking in a settled gameplan going into a major tournament is baffling. The key decision-making from Spalletti was a disaster during this tournament and his coaching weak.
I’m not calling for Spalletti to get sacked, though, despite my harsh critique. I’m a fan of his, given my allegiance to Napoli. But this tournament was shocking for him and Italy, largely down to squad and team selection and calamitous tactical decisions. It’ll be interesting what happens next, especially as he’s also imploded in his post-match press conference and blamed Inter winning the Scudetto too early as one of the reasons for Itay’s failure. I don’t think sacking him is the right thing, especially giving the pool of managers available being made up of Max Allegri, Stefano Pioli and Maurizio Sarri - all of who don’t solve the issues at hand.
With apologies from Donnarumma and the likes being rejected by fans and with the structure of Italian football under more scrutiny than ever before, what happens next is vital. Sacking the coach or not, the infrastructure and systems of the FIGC need an overhaul and fast.
