Italy coach Luciano Spalletti is delighted by the reception the Azzurri received in the USA and explains why he used a three-man defence against Venezuela.

Spalletti spoke at a post-match press conference on Thursday after a 2-1 win over Venezuela at Fort Lauderdale. It was Italy’s first game in the USA in 19 years.

“We received a wonderful reception, a hug full of love and affection. After seeing it and experiencing it in first person, I can say coming here was the right decision, so we gave this love back,” the Azzurri CT said, as quoted by TMW.

“It’s great to notice that the Azzurri shirt gives all this emotion around the world and determines so much love from our compatriots who have spent their entire lives abroad.”

Spalletti insisted Italy’s players must be more focused and show a different attitude sometimes, although he was pretty satisfied with their performance.

“Sometimes, it seems that we are not so determined to take the fundamental chance we have. Venezuela pounced on us; it’s the South American mentality; they play every match like the World Cup Final. We must improve in this aspect; we are still too soft and in our comfort zone, so we make naive errors,” he said.

The Azzurri CT picked a 3-4-2-1 formation for the first time in his tenure, so he was asked the reason behind his decision.

“I did it to learn different things. Many Italian clubs play with this system so I wanted to make players feel at ease,” he replied.

“Perhaps we didn’t take a tactical advantage in the first half, but when we introduced technical players in the first half, we sent the game the way we wanted. I saw some interesting things, but sometimes we lost possession too easily so we must continue to work. Overall, I am happy with what we did even if there are details we must talk about.”

So why didn’t he play Matteo Darmian, Alessandro Bastoni and Federico Dimarco?

“They’ll play in the next game. You’ll see Darmian, Dimarco and Bastoni the next time,” Spalletti revealed.

The ex-Napoli coach has recently complained that some players remained awake at night in November to play PlayStation, so he was asked what it means to be a professional footballer to him.

“It means to feel like when we are 20 and we have a crush on the first girlfriend. You are so in love that you’d obey everything you are told such is the love you feel for this shirt,” he concluded.

Italy’s next game is against Ecuador at the Red Bull Arena in New York on Sunday, March 24.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Tickets Kit Collector