Italy did use the three-man defence several times in the warm-ups for EURO 2024 and won all of them, so Luciano Spalletti’s change against Croatia was not entirely shocking.
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The coach was expected to stick with the 4-2-3-1 formation used in the opening two games against Albania and Spain, or to tweak it slightly to a 4-1-4-1.
Instead, it is a total transformation to 3-5-2 with Giacomo Raspadori and Mateo Retegui upfront, Federico Dimarco and Giovanni Di Lorenzo moved into more advanced roles, Federico Chiesa dropped to the bench.
Spalletti told Sky Sport Italia that this was not entirely unusual, as he had tested out a three-man defence in the warm-up matches.
Italy have been leaning towards three-man defence
He was not wrong, as they played 3-4-2-1 in the 2-1 victory over Venezuela on March 21 and the 2-0 win over Ecuador three days later, both friendly matches played in the United States of America.
Earlier this month, they switched to 4-2-3-1 for the 0-0 draw with Turkey, then returned to 3-4-2-1 when beating Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-0.
Spalletti only took charge of the Italy squad in September 2023 and has just 12 games under his belt.
Naturally, he started out mid-qualifiers for EURO 2024 by continuing the 4-3-3 he had inherited from predecessor Roberto Mancini, who resigned suddenly in mid-August.
Looking at Serie A this season, most of the teams play with three at the back, including Scudetto winners Inter and Europa League victors Atalanta.