“Enthusiasm and hope are the two strong feelings within which we remain close, now that the match is over. But we must let reason prevail. And tell ourselves that the only thing to do is to remain calm, continuing to rely on Luciano Spalletti”. It starts like this Fabrizio Roncone in his piece on the Corriere della Seraregarding Italy’s success against Albania.
He continues: “He bleeds football. It’s his genius, his charisma. It was enough for him to train these Azzurri for a few days in a row. Finding them on the pitch every morning. Looking at them with his eyes full of embers. And transferring his magnificent obsessions to them (Walter Sabatini, loving him, claims that he is “a neighbor of madness”). It is the reason why our city wants its players, all without distinction, to live with sublime aspirations. A banal scheme demoralizes him, mortifies him.
Observing the harmony of the Azzurri’s game one could sense some of his ingenious strokes. Perhaps the most obvious: the idea that Pellegrini, floating on the left, would become a lateral, added, and unexpected director for the Albanians. For long stretches, we then saw the Azzurri defending with two, with Di Lorenzo and Bastoni, because Calafiori systematically became a midfielder. Of course, that’s what Thiago Motta made him do in Bologna for a good part of the season. But to put this boy making his debut in the national team at ease in the gears in his first match of a European championship, it takes courage and a certain visionary awareness.”
In closing: “Going behind after 23 seconds, and on top of that for madness, is very hard. But Spalletti had forged his team. Imagining relying on luck for even just one corner literally infuriates him. He doesn’t know what it is, luck Never met him in a match. He always had to rely on his passion.