Luciano Spalletti named the same starting lineup for Italythe first two matches at Euro 2024, but after the previous defeat Spain Changes will be made for the final match of Group B vs Croatiathe manager said on Sunday.
After Italy’s 2-1 victory AlbaniaSpalletti still maintains faith in his players, but after a 1-0 defeat to Spain in which his team were completely outplayed, the coach spoke of a tired team unable to compete at pace. the attitude and energy of the Spaniards.
“After a match like that, the idea of maybe changing something came up, because maybe I made a mistake not changing before, looking at the performance,” Spalletti told reporters. performed in front of Spain.
“But for me, the team against Albania looked so good that I thought it was a gamble to change things. Now we see there is a bit of fatigue, a bit of rust, something will definitely happen. change.”
The result against Spain and the manner of defeat has led to much discussion within the Italian camp over the past few days but now the time for talking is over.
“I think the loss to Spain the other day taught us a lot,” said the Italian defender. When you lose, you see the making of a person, the making of a player.” Alessandro Bastoni.
Spalletti added: “We analyzed and talked about it, we took a step back in terms of what we saw in the upcoming matches.
“I hope the match against Spain taught us some lessons, even though we played poorly and suffered at the end of the match.
“We must now put the facts before us and put words aside.”
Italy used to be famous for their defensive ability and ability to seal victories, but the days of that “Catenaccio” (“door-stopping”) style have long passed away from them and no longer have a place in modern football. , according to Spalletti.
“Football today is no longer just about doing one thing, you have to know how to do more than one thing,” Spalletti said.
“With Croatia’s quality, sometimes we will be forced to defend with 11 players, press and then turn the situation around without allowing the opponent to redeploy a defensive phase.
“Obviously in today’s football you can’t do that the whole game, you can’t just live in a low defense and start again.”
Spain with 6 points finished top of the group and Italy with 3 points needed a draw against Croatia to secure runner-up position in the round of 16.
Defeat would see Croatia, who have one point, leapfrog the Italians and could leave them sweating as one of the four best third-placed teams to progress, or eliminated altogether if Albania, also got a point, beat Spain.
“There are certain matches that decide whether it’s a great story or a forgettable one,” Spalletti said.
“So in the end the glory of your story belongs to games like this.”
Information from Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
