Italy CT Roberto Mancini says England are in better shape than the Azzurri and admits Sandro Tonali could return to his club Milan as he hasn’t trained with the national team due to a minor injury.
The Rossoneri star hasn’t trained with the team over the last few days and will miss tomorrow’s Nations League game with England.
“Tonali has never trained with us, we’ll try to recover him for Budapest, but he is not feeling too well and I think he will return home,” Mancini said at a press conference on the eve of the game with the Three Lions.
“There is always enthusiasm, especially before games like this one,” the CT continued.
“I am not worried, it’s a game we face at a particular moment for us. They are in better shape, but we have the enthusiasm and we can play a good game.
“England are one of the best countries in the world, full of talent. They have many players in attack and it’s going to be a tough match.”
Most Italian media report the CT could switch to a 3-5-2 system against England tomorrow, but Mancini believes identity is more important than formation.
“If changing the system would mean winning all games, I’d always do it. I believe this national team has an identity which has helped us for a long time.
“I have to adapt to the players I have. That’s what we made when we built the team four years ago. It depends on the players we have. Right now, we could change [system] but we are making our assessments. To qualify for the Nations League’s second phase will give us some joy given that we’ll suffer in December.”
The Azzurri beat England in the Euros 2020 Final in July 2021, but less than nine months later they failed to qualify for the World Cup for the second time in a row.
“Memory will remain there forever, to win the Euros for the first time in 50 years was extraordinary,” said Mancini.
“Not having many players getting regular playing time in Italy could be a problem but we can’t talk about this all the time.”
Mancio also explained why he called Sampdoria striker Manolo Gabbiadini to replace the injured Matteo Politano.
“We were looking for a left-footed striker. There aren’t many. We wanted to call him before, but he wasn’t fit.”
The Azzurri have only scored 18 goals in their last 14 games and will face England at home and Hungary away in the last two Nations League group stage games.
His exclusion of Zaniolo, Calabria and Spinazzola is strange and annoying. It’s also frustrating that the likes of Parisi & Udogie still have to “climb the ranks” via the U21 set up! Give them a go for crying out loud!
I hate excuses, he is setting them up for failure
Who the hell would even watch these games? Shambles
The players have lost the want to continue to play under Mancini. After failing to make the World cup for the second time in a row, regardless of being euro champions Mancini should’ve stepped down. Italy basically have to win the next Euros to make up for this disaster and bring confidence back into the team if he chooses to go on. The new national team starting 11 should consist of a 4-4-2: Meret; Lazzari, Buongiorno, Mancini, Spinazzola; Chiesa, Barella, Frattesi, Zaccagni; Zaniolo, Balotelli/Scamacca.
Spot on @Manga Cake, not only is Mancini already getting his excuses in, he’s also giving his players an out. It’s this kind of mentality which saw us get battered by Germany. It’s also similar to what we hear from Allegri.
Again it comes down to caution. Having won the Euros , it was time to say goodbye to the old guard. Mancini should have been braver and introduced lots of young players for the remaining World Cup qualifiers.