World Cup winner Fulvio Collovati slammed the English media for being ‘arrogant and only knowing about their own football,’ while England defenders had a nightmare against Federico Chiesa.
The Azzurri won UEFA EURO 2020 on penalties after a 1-1 draw at Wembley Stadium on Sunday evening.
“The English media only know about their own football, not the international game. I get the impression they know very little about football outside of England, they are very insular,” 1982 star Collovati told Calciomercato.com.
“Perhaps this is why they were surprised by Italy at the Euros. They are presumptuous, opinionated, arrogant. Instead, the humility of Roberto Mancini’s side managed to barge everyone aside.”
Italy failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, but are now unbeaten in 34 games and have been crowned the Champions of Europe.
An old-school defender, Collovati sees problems at the back for England compared to Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci.
“It was clear from this game how defenders ought to defend. England had an early goal, maybe one or two attempts after that, but nothing more.
“I worry that nowadays they are not teaching how to defend with your posture, how to place yourself when one-on-one with a player who is right or left-footed.
“Just look at how easily Chiesa got away from the English defenders. Clearly, he’s quick, but all he needed to do was shift the ball and run, because the defenders had their posture all wrong.
“It’s about anticipating the movement in these situations, and Chiellini is old-school, he knows how to do that. They don’t teach these basics that were the fundamentals of defending in my day.”
👕🙌 Introducing the official Team of the Tournament for #EURO2020
Who would be your captain? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/goGLi6qQzj
— UEFA EURO 2020 (@EURO2020) July 13, 2021