Sky Sport Italia reporter Peppe Di Stefano says the workload at Coverciano in the first five days of preparation for Euro 2024 justifies Italy’s poor performance against Turkey on Tuesday.
Luciano Spalletti’s Italy were held to a 0-0 draw by Vincenzo Montella’s Turkey at the Stadio Dall’Ara in Bologna on Tuesday.
The Azzurri had few chances to score and moved the ball too slowly, suggesting that some players are still not entirely in shape.
Nicolò Barella, a key player for Italy, is recovering from a minor muscle injury so he was rested in Bologna. Nevertheless, according to Sky Sport journalist Di Stefano, there is another main reason why the Azzurri failed to impress at the Stadio Dall’Ara.
The reporter said that the “first five days of preparation were highly intense physically.”
“The feeling is that, regardless of lack of intensity, many players didn’t seem entirely in shape and could not sprint as much as they wanted,” he continued.
“This was probably caused by the ‘mini pre-season’ Spalletti and his staff prepared in the first few days.”
The Azzurri are currently playing another friendly at Coverciano against Italy U20, and Spalletti will hold a press conference later today when he could announce his final 26-man squad list for Euro 2024.
Disagree, this is not a fitness issue but a coaching issue.
Why would you have that intense of training at the end of the season?
@Tony, because the Euros are about to start and Spalletti wants to get a fitness edge over the other teams?