Spain are the primary EURO 2024 Finalist, however moderately than being a comfort to Italy it additional highlights errors made by Luciano Spalleti in the course of the event and particularly towards La Roja, writes Lorenzo Bettoni.
Spalletti and Italy gamers have been on vacation for greater than ten days already whereas Spain are getting ready for his or her third Euro Closing within the final 5 editions.
When the Azzurri and La Roja met in Gelsenkirchen within the group stage, the technical and tactical gulf between the 2 sides appeared immense and solely an outstanding efficiency by Gigio Donnarumma helped the Azzurri get away with a slim defeat.
After a convincing debut towards Albania, the loss to Spain was a actuality test for the Azzurri and their coach, Spalletti, particularly after the CT claims on the eve of the sport.
We already highlighted at the moment how Spalletti’s want to “dominate proceedings” towards the Spaniards was an bold plan that even his predecessor Roberto Mancini failed to perform within the Azzurri’s profitable European marketing campaign three years in the past.
A skinny line separates braveness and conceitedness and, as Fabio Capello urged just a few days in the past, Spalletti crossed it towards Spain and in the course of the Euros.
The Azzurri CT needed to point out that even Italy is “an necessary college of soccer” and that his lads might play on par with La Roja. Not solely it didn’t occur, however the end result on the pitch was precisely the other. Italy needed to play attacking soccer and press excessive, nevertheless it was so troublesome to take action that they didn’t even counter-attack or produce a shot on the right track.
Moreover, Italy have been even tactically unorganised and disjointed and Spalletti was unable to make any tactical change that will assist the defence and ease the stress on Federico Dimarco and Giovanni Di Lorenzo, who have been hammered by Lamine Yamal and MOTM Nico Williams down the flanks. Italy didn’t double-mark Spain’s wingers, exposing their left-backs. This was an evident error in the course of the match already, and it’s additional highlighted now that La Roja have reached the Closing.
Yamal and Nico have clearly been the most effective wingers within the event and are among the many few gamers who’re capable of dribble previous opponents on this event. How was it doable to depart Di Lorenzo and Dimarco in one-v-one conditions towards them for 90 minutes?
Spalletti lined up the Azzurri nearly as if he have been enjoying towards no opponent. After the Spain defeat, the coach admitted for the primary time that he had made a mistake by beginning the identical XI as within the earlier match towards Albania.
From that second, nonetheless, he took precisely the wrong way.
He not solely modified the line-up for each Italy recreation but additionally made a minimum of one substitution throughout half-time breaks, that means that the Azzurri by no means performed with the identical XI for greater than 45 minutes straight.
We have already analysed Spalletti’s many errors in the course of the Euros, however finally, the largest one, amplified by Spain’s qualification for the Euro Closing, is that the coach didn’t actually perceive the ability units of the crew at his disposal. Not solely as a result of he used a four-man defence in three video games from 4 regardless of together with ten defenders within the crew.
He didn’t realise that his gamers didn’t have the standard to compete on the identical stage as Spain. Not even France, arguably the strongest crew within the event, gained the ball possession towards La Roja or was capable of Palleggiare in faccia—dominate proceedings—towards La Roja.
It’s no sin. Spain have been the most effective crew on this regard for greater than ten years, so Spalletti ought to have discovered a distinct resolution as soon as he noticed that Yamal and Co. would trigger hassle too simply for his lads. One could even argue that Spalletti and a part of the dressing room misplaced certainties after such a poor efficiency.
All of us wish to see an Italian nationwide crew that performs good soccer, however it’s unimaginable to do it in each match. The defeat towards Spain was a nasty turning level for the Azzurri on the Euros and now that Luis de la Fuente’s boys have reached the Closing, Spalletti’s errors are much more evident.
