Spalletti: ‘Italy must expect counter-attacks’

Luciano Spalletti insists Italy had ‘the right intentions’ against England and must get better at expecting counter-attacks in exchange for a more attacking approach.

The Azzurri had taken the lead at Wembley Stadium with Gianluca Scamacca’s first every goal at senior level for the Azzurri.

However, Harry Kane converted a penalty to go into the break at 1-1, then Marcus Rashford on the counter-attack and another Kane solo effort secured a 3-1 England victory.

“I think we played with the right intentions for the full 90 minutes. Too often, we are conditioned by the result, but it should be normal to allow counter-attacks if we want to play a European and physical style of football, the kind shown by the best clubs,” Spalletti told RAI Sport.

The coach said he was looking for the response from his team, so what did he see at Wembley?

“I received the correct responses on looking for our style. Clearly, when it comes to face-to-face meetings, we suffered a few times against their physicality, in others the way we anticipate ideas and manage to see beyond the first pass, to expect the aggression. A few times we were surprised by what was happening.”

There was also controversy, as Kalvin Phillips should’ve been sent off for a second yellow card when it was 2-1, but instead the referee booked Giorgio Scalvini for dissent.

“It was a good game in general, we did some very good things and we allowed things that you cannot give to a side like England, because they will take advantage.”

Ukraine are now on 13 points, leaving Italy behind on 10, but the Azzurri still have a game in hand to be played against North Macedonia.

The final match of the group is a head-to-head with Ukraine on neutral turf in Leverkusen.

Only the top two qualify automatically, but Italy are at least guaranteed a play-off spot after winning their Nations League group.