Giampiero Ventura believes he’d have been lambasted in the media no matter what system he’d used after Italy’s 3-0 defeat to Spain.
The 4-2-4 tactic was torn apart by Isco and Alvaro Morata at the Bernabeu for the Azzurri’s first qualifying defeat since 2006.
“I can say there was a difference in terms of physical fitness and quality,” said the Coach in his Press conference.
Giampiero Ventura believes he’d have been lambasted in the media no matter what system he’d used after Italy’s 3-0 defeat to Spain.
The 4-2-4 tactic was torn apart by Isco and Alvaro Morata at the Bernabeu for the Azzurri’s first qualifying defeat since 2006.
“I can say there was a difference in terms of physical fitness and quality,” said the Coach in his Press conference.
“In the first half we did some good things, and only allowed one shot on target from open play, whereas David De Gea needed a miracle on Andrea Belotti. Then Lorenzo Insigne could’ve opened the game up again and we gifted them a third goal.
“This match allows us to test things out, as we want to go to the World Cup and that is the objective. If one match cancels out all the good work done so far, then I may as well give up now.
“If we take away the five shocking mistakes – conceptual mistakes, not individual ones – and add five things we could’ve done better… If we had won here and lost against Israel on Tuesday, we’d have gone to the play-offs anyway.
“I realised yesterday that I’d get criticised whatever I did. People were saying I’d play 3-5-2 and blasting me for not using Insigne. I realised then there is absolutely no balance in the feedback you get from social media.
“We attacked very little down the left compared to the right flank and that penalised Insigne. Marco Verratti was in the middle of the park and paid the price for a very high tempo.”
Ventura was also asked if Gigi Buffon was slow to get down to the two Isco goals because of his age.
“That seems a bit silly. They were well-taken goals, Isco is a top level player, just remember his nutmeg in midfield. When I saw that, I felt like standing up and applauding too.
“This is where the issue becomes both quality and fitness levels. We must have the humility to accept that we’ve got work to do. There was an abyss between the sides in terms of fitness and form.”
The Nazionale had to run risks in order to go for the win, but has this heavy defeat damaged confidence going forward?
“If a loss to Spain, one of the best teams in the world, is enough to ruin your confidence… it means you are not a team. We shouldn’t even be discussing this. Spain were an important step on the journey, but not the final destination.
“In our last few games, we had scored 26 goals and conceded one, so we were doing well. We can’t just cancel out everything that came before.
“It’s only right there is criticism, but that’s not how we see it from the inside. We knew full well this was difficult.”
Albania beat Liechtenstein 2-0 and closed the gap on second place to four points, while Macedonia won 1-0 away to Israel.
“Of course we need results against Israel, Albania and Macedonia. We still need points for qualification. These are also matches to help us grow, because there’s no point going to the World Cup if we crash out after three games. Our objective is to get there, but not everyone has played five Champions League Finals. Experience has to be earned.”