Spalletti rages at ‘lack of quality’ from Italy players

Luciano Spalletti angrily shouted at the Sky Sport Italia pundits when asked if his tactics were too timid in the 1-1 draw with Croatia. ‘If we make banal errors, we’ll struggle with any system.’

It was a heart-stopping final group game, as the Azzurri were seconds away from a 1-0 defeat that would’ve left them in third place needing to wait and see if it was enough to qualify for the Round of 16.

Instead, Mattia Zaccagni curled a stunning right-foot finish into the far top corner for 1-1 at the 98^th minute, cancelling out the Luka Modric goal after Gianluigi Donnarumma’s penalty save.

“When games are decided like this at the end, it all becomes more emotional, as nobody believed any more, but the players did. They kept their heads clear, risked very little despite being left with only three defenders on the field,” Spalletti told Sky Sport Italia.

“I can only congratulate them for their reaction and dealing with such an attacking line-up on the pitch.”

This result means Italy will face Switzerland in the Round of 16 in Berlin.

Once again, Italy struggled in the first half and took a while to get going, only really waking up after going a goal behind.

“There’s no denying it, we were below our usual level in the first half. If we don’t create very much, we’re not going to score very much. You can see we were thinking about bringing a result home, without really believing that we needed a win. It was involuntary, but I expect more from my players, because they show it in flashes.

“These games are difficult because Croatia are a very strong team, they have a lot of experience at this level and can cause problems for anyone they face.”

Davide Frattesi came on at half-time for Lorenzo Pellegrini, but Spalletti’s first substitute immediately gave away a penalty with his handling offence.

“We made the change because we were always free on the wings, so we needed to make the most of those spaces opening up and we never did take advantage of the tactical shapes of the two teams.”

Spalletti furious at tactical questions and his own players

When asked if Italy were too prudent in their initial approach with the 3-5-2, Spalletti reacted with anger and irritation, shouting at the Sky Sport Italia pundits.

“We were absolutely not prudent. If the limitation is that we struggle to play out from the back with simple balls, then we will struggle with any line-up or any tactical system that we use.

“In the first half, we lost the ball in ways we absolutely cannot afford to do. That’s not prudence. If we don’t play with quality, if we do the basics and nothing more, then we will struggle.

“It was not about the system, we were too timid in the first half, but the system was irrelevant compared to the attitude and quality seen on the field.”

Do Italy just not have the quality or are they simply struggling to express themselves?

“They do have the quality, but at times we make really banal errors. We have better capabilities than what we saw today,” concluded Spalletti.

“Jorginho played well today, so did Barella, Calafiori is a top player who knows how to do everything. We have ways of playing out from the back, but we’ve got to do better.”