Gianluca Mancini concedes Italy were ‘a bit clumsy and too frenetic’ in their friendly stalemate with Turkey, but they have time to get things sorted before EURO 2024.
The Azzurri began preparations for the EURO 2024 tournament with a 0-0 draw at the Stadio Dall’Ara in Bologna.
Bryan Cristante had the best scoring opportunity of the match, as his header thumped the upright on a Lorenzo Pellegrini corner kick just before half-time.
“We had four days of intensive training to get as much done as possible, but in the first half we were a bit clumsy and too frenetic on the second ball,” Mancini told RAI Sport.
“The second half was better, we need to rewatch it to see what we can do better. We sorted some things out during the break, with the wingers cutting inside or putting in cross-field passes to attack the box. Turkey were dangerous on the counter-attack and we were not sharp enough with our passing.”
Mancini has faith in Italy process
There is another game between ranks tomorrow, followed by a friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Sunday. Is there enough time for the Nazionale to resolve all these problems?
“There is time, it is up to us players to understand what the coach wants as a team and not as individuals. In modern football we must do well to remain solid, defending even with tooth and nail.
“We’ve to be even more united, because in 10 days a very important tournament begins.”
Luciano Spalletti often seemed irritated on the touchline this evening, so what did he complain about the most?
“The coach asks for lots of things. I made mistakes today playing out from the back, we’ve got to make as few errors as possible when inside our penalty area.
“Turkey clammed up a lot in the first half, I need to find the right moment to open things up, just like in the second half,” concluded Mancini.
The Nazionale begin their EURO 2024 campaign in the group stage against Albania on June 15, face Spain on June 20 and then Croatia on June 24.
Spalletti only took over in September 2023, so this is the first time he’s had more than a few days in a row to work with the squad.
Absolutely. I mean a week is more than enough time for the group to find an identity and quality they haven’t in over a year.
Lets hope a goalscorer will be born in this week or we are in big trouble
couties used to fear us nobody wanted italy in there group nobody worries about italy now