Spalletti: Possession of the ball and pride for revenge-hungry Italy

Presumably, the willingness to take a year-long sabbatical also played a role. We say “supposedly” because three months later he became Italy coach, which angered De Laurentiis, who wanted the federation to pay him a million euros as compensation for letting Spalletti leave, who had another year by contract.

With this controversy already forgotten, Roberto Mancini’s successor at the helm of the Azzurra faces the European Championships in Germany with a thirst for revenge: although Italy won the previous championship, held in 2021, it did not qualify for the last two World Cups, which meant it all as a national trauma . Spalletti, regarded by commentators as one of Italy’s finest modern managers, has built a career from the bench with a style that is the antithesis of the “catenaccio” (hyper-defensive play) so often criticized at Calcio.

Possession and pressure are higher

The 65-year-old Florentine likes teams that don’t give up possession and press very high when the ball is in the opposition’s boots. Of course, it will be necessary to see if he maintains his credo against a team that is as dominant in possession as Spain. “We must command. Otherwise we will end badly. Italy has a team, but it lacks a player of the highest level who independently decides the outcome of the game,” Azzurra’s coach commented this Wednesday.

His ideal scenario would be for his players to repeat the scenario they showed in their first European Cup match, which they played against Albania (2-1). In the match they showed their strengths, typical of all Spalletti teams: persistent pressing, good ball movement and the ability to attack with different players and in different ways.

Although his team had only played a dozen games in those ten months, they had already warmed to his style of play, with which Napoli not only won last season but was one of the most attractive teams in Europe. Thus, he has earned the admiration of both fans and his colleagues, who consider him a modern coach with a great capacity for innovation.

Football player under 33 years old

Spalletti was born into a modest family, which forced him to regularly hitchhike in his youth. At the age of 33, he finished his football career playing for Empoli, and the following year began his coaching career with the same team. , which he transferred from Serie C (third category) to A.

He then spent time on the bench at Sampdoria, Venice, Udinese, Ancona, Roma (two periods), Inter Milan and even emigrated abroad to lead Zenit St. Petersburg. This experience has allowed him to develop a character that many fans admire as he combines the profile of a modern coach with that of an experienced fielder who brings order to today’s fractious young players.

Spalletti made his point clear in a February interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport: “We live in a world where there is little incentive for hard work and sweat. Today’s boys prefer to post photos on Instagram wearing caps rather than putting their heads down and pedaling. These are not the values ​​that my Italy should convey. “You come to the team with laughing eyes, a beating heart, and you are like a pack of wolves, walking in single file to push your teammate forward so that no one is left behind.”