Francesco Totti’s autobiography calls Luciano Spalletti “a great Coach, possibly the best I’ve ever had” but reveals he hit the roof over a late night card game.
Er Pupone’s autobiography ‘Un Capitano’ was released today, and revealed a furious argument between player and Coach in the dressing room.
Francesco Totti’s autobiography calls Luciano Spalletti “a great Coach, possibly the best I’ve ever had” but reveals he hit the roof over a late night card game.
Er Pupone’s autobiography ‘Un Capitano’ was released today, and revealed a furious argument between player and Coach in the dressing room.
Spalletti is alleged to have yelled at the Roma legend, including a complaint about card games which dates back to his first spell and is also detailed in the book.
“Spalletti is a great Coach, possibly the best I’ve ever had,” Totti writes.
“And that applies to both his spells at Roma. In his first spell he was something more, especially for me, because he was a Coach with whom you could go to dinner and talk freely, without worrying about expressing your opinion.
“We used to organise Briscola [an Italian card game] tournaments and the end of the season was up in the air because the final table hadn’t yet been decided.
“So after dinner I proposed that those of us who were going to sleep at Trigoria should settle things.
“The troops unanimously accepted and that made us forget about the clock. So it was only when someone knocked on the door we realised it was 5.30.
“‘Who’s there?’
“‘Don’t be sly, Francesco’. I opened the door slowly, and I saw Spalletti with his index finger pointing at the clock.
“‘Do you know what time it is?!’.
“‘Boss, we’ll win tomorrow all the same, I’ll take care of it!’.
“But Spalletti wouldn’t let it go, he moved me aside and came into the room. He sees [Stefano] Okaka, [Alberto] Aquilani and [Aleandro] Rosi and he can tell others are hiding in the bathroom.
“So, halfway between surprised and disgusted, he says: ‘do you think this is normal before a match?’.
“Spalletti went back to sleep, but he urged Rosella [Sensi, the owner] to make some punitive sales. Perhaps his phobia of cards that would go on to have a part in the controversy relating to my retirement began there.”