Roberto Mancini saw ‘positives’ in Italy’s 3-1 friendly win away to Albania and gave an important update on Sandro Tonali’s condition. ‘He was conscious.’
The Azzurri performed experiments in Tirana, including a new 3-4-3 formation and some fresh faces.
They had fallen behind originally to a header from Empoli defender Ardian Ismajli, but turned it around with Giovanni Di Lorenzo and a brace from Vincenzo Grifo.
“We need to play at our best, no matter the situation. The lads did some good things, we changed the system and it went well, so there were positives,” Mancini told RAI Sport.
“The forwards did really well, especially in the first half. Vincenzo is an extraordinary person as well as being a fine player, he is doing so well in the Bundesliga.
“Nicolò Zaniolo was positive too and it was good to see Federico Chiesa back with us after a long time.”
The negative was seeing Milan midfielder Tonali stretchered off looking dazed after a very awkward fall just before half-time.
“He was conscious. I think he just got a scare and a nasty knock, but his condition should hopefully be alright.”
In the final minutes, Mancini gave 16-year-old Udinese talent Simone Pafundi his debut, the youngest player to represent Italy at senior level in over 100 years.
They need to work on the defense, that was really sloppy. Very fortunate that Albania only scored 1
Well it was a new system, a new line-up, a young line-up and a defense and keeper that had never played together before. It will take several games for them to developer an understanding and iron out the errors. For me, it was the perfect way to treat a friendly – experiment while also playing with a hunger to win.
ITALY ARE STARING A NEW ERA OF PLAYERS UNDER MANCINI,SO THERE WILL POSTIVES AND NEGATIVES FROM THE GAME AND IT WILL TAKE TIME FOR ITALY TO BE SIDE THAT WON EURO 2020.ITALY ARE ON THE RIGHT TRACK AND WILL BOUNCE BACK FROM NOT QUALIFYING FOR THIS WORLD CUP, AS WE ARE IN THE LAST 4 OF THE NATIONS LEAGUE, THAT I HOPE WE CAN WIN THIS TIME AROUND NEXT YEAR AND WE MUST QUALIFY FOR EURO 2024 IN GERMANY AND DEFEND THE TITLE WE WON . FORZA ITALIA.