Luciano Spalletti split his Italy side into two groups for their first training session today and confirmed he would stick with a three-man defence from now on.
The Azzurri came together after a dismal EURO 2024 experience that saw them crash out of the tournament in the Round of 16 to Switzerland.
The second stage of the Spalletti era begins this week, as they visit France on Friday and then take on Israel on neutral turf in Hungary on Monday September 9 for the Nations League.
The first part of today’s session at Coverciano was gym work, then the coach split his squad into two groups.
He set them up in a brief game of five against five (Vicario, Frattesi, Bellanova, Tonali and Calafiori against Meret, Brescianini, Retegui, Ricci and Dimarco), then all eight outfield players worked on playing out from the back.
The other 13 had played from the start on Saturday or Sunday, so focused only on light fitness training.
The only exception was Inter defender Alessandro Bastoni, who was not at 100 per cent.
During his press conference today, Spalletti assured his time of tactical experimentation was over and he would stick to a three-man defence from now on.
It’s time to get back to work 💪#Azzurri #VivoAzzurro pic.twitter.com/rDvAm5IWgK
— Italy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@Azzurri_En) September 2, 2024
Italy squad for France and Israel
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain), Alex Meret (Napoli), Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham); Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Raoul Bellanova (Atalanta), Alessandro Buongiorno (Napoli), Riccardo Calafiori (Arsenal), Andrea Cambiaso (Juventus), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Dimarco (Inter), Federico Gatti (Juventus), Caleb Okoli (Leicester), Destiny Udogie (Tottenham); Marco Brescianini (Atalanta), Nicolò Fagioli (Juventus), Davide Frattesi (Inter), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Samuele Ricci (Torino), Sandro Tonali (Newcastle); Moise Kean (Fiorentina), Giacomo Raspadori (Napoli), Mateo Retegui (Atalanta), Mattia Zaccagni (Lazio).
It was such an obvious thing that the most logical choice for Italy is a 3 man defense, since almost all the players in the squad play in that formation for their clubs. Too bad you understood too late.
Preach Milan fan, I agree. Italy must play to their strengths and the club football formations of the top clubs. Can’t go changing that with only a few days or weeks together trying to change the entire way the footballers play. Spalletti should have known this he is supposed to be a top coach. I hope he and Italy get the results they need for the World Cup qualifiers. I’, hoping for some positive football playing style in the Nations League even if we don’t get the results against the big teams.