Roberto Mancini looks back over his Italy mistakes and is proud to have “run risks” with young talent, but while praising Marco Verratti, warns Mario Balotelli “has to do more.”
The Nazionale boss sat down with Italian television station DAZN to discuss his first year on the bench.
“I think people like this Nazionale. We have players who are technically gifted and I hope that can bring the fans back towards feeling close to the team. There is a lot of enthusiasm around us at the moment and I think that’s very important.”
Roberto Mancini looks back over his Italy mistakes and is proud to have “run risks” with young talent, but while praising Marco Verratti, warns Mario Balotelli “has to do more.”
The Nazionale boss sat down with Italian television station DAZN to discuss his first year on the bench.
“I think people like this Nazionale. We have players who are technically gifted and I hope that can bring the fans back towards feeling close to the team. There is a lot of enthusiasm around us at the moment and I think that’s very important.”
Mancini has helped bring through more young players, including Roma talent Nicolò Zaniolo and Juventus striker Moise Kean.
“I don’t think Zaniolo expected the call-because he hadn’t yet made his Serie A debut at the time, but we had watched him carefully at the European Under-19 Championship and he improved so much over the last six months. There’s a long road still ahead of him, obviously.
“Kean was in the same Italy Under-19 side as Zaniolo and he too perhaps thought he wouldn’t be in the senior Nazionale so soon.
“The important thing with young players is not to expect too much consistency. They can have one great game and the next maybe not so much, but we must show patience to wait for their development and have faith in them.
“When I first took over, it was a risk to choose younger lads with the help of three or four more experienced figures. We have four or five relatively young players who can really become extraordinary. The only advice I give them is to train seriously, because I think there’s nothing better than doing what you love for a living.”
There was a similar approach to his advice for Balotelli, who has seemingly rediscovered his scoring touch at Olympique Marseille.
“He has to give much more and celebrate when he scores a goal, the way he did when he was a kid. Mario is a player of great talent and at the age of 29 is at the peak of his football maturity. It is all still in his hands, his feet and his mind.
“I gave him his debut as a kid, so he knows how much I respect and admire him, but at this moment he needs to do much more.”
There are other Azzurri who are impressing abroad, such as Verratti at Paris Saint-Germain.
“Verratti is the most creative of our players, as he hardly ever loses the ball and runs a lot of risks like that, even when playing out from the defence. He is an extraordinary player.”
Mancini admits he has made mistakes too in his tenure so far, particularly during the Nations League.
“With the defeat to Portugal in the second Nations League game, we transformed the whole team, whereas we probably only could’ve afforded to change up half.
“Our objective was to get these new faces settled in, even at the risk of losing, unfortunately. Lads only improve if they get to play such important games.
“Right now, our target is to qualify for Euro 2020, but in general every Italy game must be played to win, especially as our current ranking is simply not good enough for a nation like Italy.”