Luciano Spalletti was furious with a Sky Sport journalist last night, but he raged at reporters again during a post-match press conference, especially when asked if the line-up was the result of a ‘pact’ between him and the team.
A late equaliser from Mattia Zaccagni helped Itay secure a 1-1 draw against Croatia last night and qualify for the EURO 2024 Round of 16.
Spalletti’s tension erupted after the final whistle. First, he angrily answered a question from a Sky Sport Italia journalist, and then he raged at reporters during a post-match press conference attended by Football Italia.
One journalist asked if the starting line-up was the result of a pact between him and the team and the CT didn’t take it well at all.
“Would do you mean with pact? I think you have been told this! What do you think? How old are you? 51? So you still have 14 more years before you make it to 65. I am 65. I speak to the players. I need to hear with their ears and see with their eyes,” he replied.
“What do you mean with ‘pact’? They must have told you that. You haven’t interpreted that. You’ve been told that, and you’ve done well to repeat that. It’s not your poetic license; it’s a weakness for those who actually leak things if somebody leaks things from what happens inside, it’s somebody who hurts the national team. I speak to the players day in and day out.”
The journalist said that “honestly” he wasn’t told that.
“No, honestly, I am sure they have,” Spalletti replied.
“But I always speak to the players before every game. What does that mean? What is so great about having discovered this?”
During his interview with Sky Sport Italia, Spalletti blamed his players for the lack of quality they showed on some occasions against Croatia, but later, he added that they should be tougher in duels as well.
“There comes a time when Donnarumma launches the ball, or there is a throw-in; these are times when the ball doesn’t belong to anyone, there are always challenges and 50-50, and you need to clean up the ball,” he argued.
“Whenever there is a challenge, we don’t win any of this. It’s not a technical question. It comes down to experience, physical challenges, and being willing to do the dirty work, which allows you to produce the quality because you need to win the challenge and clean it up. We need to improve on that.
“In the second half, we did so. We kept five players up the top. Frattesi was like a striker. Fagioli was in there, Barella and Frattesi too,” he continued.
“We had four strikers high up the pitch. They were perfect in terms of their shape. It’s incredible what they achieved. We didn’t risk conceding a second or third goal and the guys were excellent. Those who came on did really well. Scamacca did well, Fagioli did well, Zaccagni…you saw the quality of his goal. Chiesa did excellently. We need to congratulate the players, but there are things to revisit; otherwise, we won’t manage to get the potential out of every one of us.”
Spalletti got even more upset with another journalist when he was asked if he had feared Italy would not qualify.
“Worries and concerns are part of this job. Every time we go to the hotel, thousands of kids wait for us just to stare at us from two yards,” he said.
“They spend hours there just to look at us for five seconds. I love everyone and everything. But if I see people who target me, then I get very angry. In general, I love people. But I am always under pressure, and I am always struggling.
“And if you go out? What sort of question is that? Are you afraid? What am I afraid of? Otherwise, I would have simply come here like you guys and watch games. If I was afraid, I would have done what you guys do. I would have done another job. I would have come to watch the game. There’s no point in being afraid. I can pay for a ticket. Actually, they give it to me for free because now I know so many people…You can’t have fear before a game starts. I’ve lost so many matches in my lifetime. I’ve collected a host of losses since I took charge of Empoli and I had to keep the team up in the fourth tier, it’s natural, it’s the level of football we play. What might happen? Croatia could have won the game, they are a good team. Everyone can win a game at this level of football.
“You analyse things and then you say. Ok, you’ve not been a very good head coach because of X, Y or Z and you accept it quite calmly. It’s part of the job. But don’t take the piss out of us before, excuse me, because we lost a game. That’s not acceptable. I am sad and disappointed if we lose a game. I give everything for my country because I love people. I am not envious. I could not be a journalist. I would not be envious of somebody who wrote a lovely piece of prose because I am not good at writing articles. It would take me a month. I am not envious of somebody who gets a result and I can’t get it. I want to do my job well and I don’t want additional pressure than people put on my shoulders. We saw that we could get that goal, but it’s all natural and normal.”
Italy will meet Group A runners-up Switzerland in the Round of 16 on Saturday, June 29 at 18:00 CET.