Roberto Mancini insisted “this Italy team proved it can play football and do it well. We’ve been able to progress faster than expected.”
The Azzurri dominated for over an hour, but failed to make their chances count and the 0-0 draw mathematically puts Portugal into the Nations League Final Four.
Roberto Mancini insisted “this Italy team proved it can play football and do it well. We’ve been able to progress faster than expected.”
The Azzurri dominated for over an hour, but failed to make their chances count and the 0-0 draw mathematically puts Portugal into the Nations League Final Four.
“We pinned them back and they never got the ball, but unfortunately we were unable to transform that possession into a goal. Overall, I’d say it was an excellent performance,” commented the CT in his Press conference.
“It’s difficult to press for 90 minutes the way we did in the first 50. If you score a goal, then the opposition has to open up. It is nonetheless a step forward for us, as the team proved it can play football and do it well.”
With the quick passing and 4-3-3 formation, Mancini’s approach looked to be emulating Maurizio Sarri’s style at Napoli and Chelsea.
“We have very technical players and we went down this path because these are the strengths that we have available to us right now. That doesn’t mean we’re ruling out counter-attacks entirely, as our team must be able to do everything. We’ll slowly sort out the attack, but when we play most of the game in the opposition half and dominate possession, we’ve got more chances to score and win.
“I’ll be honest, we had planned for this development stage to last longer, but with the help from the lads, we’ve been able to progress faster than expected.
“Now we still need to resolve that problem of scoring goals. We were unlucky in the first half, but also have to improve in front of goal. That first half performance was extraordinary and we were just missing the goal.
“I don’t think there’s too much that needs doing, as in some situations it’s purely about shooting 5cm one way or 10cm higher up.”
This was perhaps Marco Verratti’s best performance in an Italy jersey and the 4-3-3 appears to suit the Paris Saint-Germain star.
“Verratti is a great player and technically so gifted, you can’t get the ball off him. He played a lot lately and was tired towards the end.
“Nicolò Barella is phenomenal considering his age. I’d say Italy have no complaints when it comes to midfielders we can choose from.”
Mancini was irritated by the jeers from Milan supporters at San Siro against their former player Leonardo Bonucci, who returned to Juventus over the summer.
“Those jeers should not have happened. They petered out after 15 minutes, but this is the Nazionale playing and everyone should be cheered on, regardless of club affiliation.”
Italy will face the USA in a friendly on Tuesday evening, to be played in the Belgian city of Genk.