Live TMW
1.30pm – The Euro 2024 mission begins for the national team Luciano Spalletti. The rally kicks off today in Coverciano, with the technical commissioner who will answer journalists’ questions starting from 2.30 pm.
Italy, here is the list of 29 pre-summoned players
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint Germain), Alex Meret (Napoli), Ivan Provedel (Lazio), Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham);
Defenders: Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Raoul Bellanova (Turin), Alessandro Buongiorno (Turin), Riccardo Calafiori (Bologna), Andrea Cambiaso (Juventus), Matteo Darmian (Inter), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Dimarco (Inter), Gianluca Mancini (Roma), *Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta);
Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Nicolò Fagioli (Juventus), Michael Folorunsho (Hellas Verona), Davide Frattesi (Inter), Jorginho (Arsenal), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Samuele Ricci (Turin);
Attackers: Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Stephan El Shaarawy (Roma), Riccardo Orsolini (Bologna), Giacomo Raspadori (Napoli), Mateo Retegui (Genoa), *Gianluca Scamacca (Atalanta), Mattia Zaccagni (Lazio).
*will reach the collection on Monday 3 June
2.38pm – Spalletti arrives, the press conference begins: “Today we will take a photo with the slogan with the writing: ‘The blue unites us – Always’. It concerns all the players called up and twenty children with all the shirts of the 20 Serie A teams, it is a thank you to the clubs with which I immediately felt very comfortable. Italy belongs to everyone, blue belongs to everyone. It unites us in a single feeling, always, it’s a passion, the blue one is a unique one.”
What does Italy lose without Acerbi and Zaniolo? What do you earn with Fagioli? Can it represent what Paolo Rossi represented in 1982?
“When we are in the national team we think differently, we are always convinced that we can do well because we can find many elements, many players. If we immediately ask ourselves what we lack, we start badly, we have everything available what is needed to do well. First of all it is a technical choice, then for the rest they are two slightly different stories compared to Rossi. He has that quality, that flair… He lacks the body, the physical confrontation, but I called him to have more things available to help you manage the game, the attempt to find more things to have the ball for us. Then the field will evaluate whether we made the right choice or the wrong one, the boy in the last interview given he said some wonderful things. I spoke to him on the day of the Italian Cup final in Rome, I was lucky that Juventus was there so I could talk to him and he made an excellent impression on me. I think he also deserves a bit of understanding , he didn’t bet on his things but because he was in the throes of a moment of difficulty and couldn’t defend himself from this temptation. It was purely a technical choice. Zaniolo is a player who seems strong to me, but what I see in Zaniolo I hope to find in other players.”
What criteria on cuts and on the Captain?
“The criteria will be to continue to look at what we need, taking into account many things, we wanted to bring 2-3 more players precisely to have the possibility of replacing the surprise. It is not certain that since Acerbi left, a player with experience and who is part of a team that can give us something, a midfielder or a forward will necessarily leave. There are several defenders, they can leave from any department. It will be a very difficult and painful choice for the way I am, but it’s part of the role. For me, leaving people out kills me, it bothers me enormously. I’m now at an age that makes me emotional, but we evaluate things day after day now Donnarumma remains”.
How do you want to play?
“First of all we would like to do something not rigid, quite free. Give this possibility of freedom of expression to the talent of the players and at the same time have an organized team. The more unpredictability there is, the more surprise it becomes for our opponents. We would like to know do a bit of all things, because then here in Coverciano they teach us that the game systems are no longer so rigid, they never have been. We will play against teams that play 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 , we can no longer give away a man in midfield: we will try to defend with four, to build with three. We can see that the stronger teams now know how to have this relationship, this unpredictability in going and taking areas on the pitch. We are all a little ‘ builders and all a bit of defenders.”