Mission Spain underway. The technical commissioner of the national team Luciano Spalletti, having dismissed the 2-1 against Albania, returned to the field yesterday with all 26 players available: tactical tests for the coach who must decide in the next two days whether to field against the red furies a photocopy team compared to the one seen at the BVB Stadion or a more physical eleven with the additions of Cristante and Mancini. Meanwhile, yesterday it was Davide Frattesi’s turn at the press conference. Below is the full question and answer.
Why does the coach often call you back?
“Okay, it means that the coach believes in me. Then from outside the match can be seen better, sometimes we don’t realize the best position to take and he tries to give you a hand and advice. When the opponents are crushed I asks me to get out of the traffic and spread out so I can have more space.”
Mbappé and Thuram have taken a clear political position. What do you think about it?
“I think it’s right for a person to express themselves, everyone must carry forward their ideals, then I haven’t followed the story too much… It’s right, however, for everyone to have their say.”
Spain will attack, can they open up the right spaces for you? Why do you play more with Italy than with Inter?
“I think so, there will be more space and also more to defend, even if we want to play a more possession-based match. On the second question I say that it is never easy to join a team that comes from a Champions League final, Inzaghi’s management it was the right one. With Spalletti I started from the beginning of his cycle, we had time to learn the mechanisms and starting from the beginning is certainly better.”
You play more with Italy than with Inter…
“It means that he will have to put the Italy shirt under that of Inter (laughs, ed.). In my opinion it was the right management, then one tries to play as much as possible and when you are called into action you always have to give your best “.
What do you expect differently against Spain?
“We will certainly have less possession than in the match against Albania, it is their strong point, we will have to be more attentive in the defensive phase even if, unlike Albania, it will not close for 90 minutes. We must be good at exploiting the opportunities that will come our way.”
Do you Inter fans talk a lot before matches given that there is a lot of talk about the Inter block?
“Certainly the fact that we were together for a year helps, many times you don’t even need to talk to each other to understand things. Just like the combinations with Scamacca, we already know what we have to do. What we did at Inter a little ‘We’ll bring him here.”
What do you think of Yamal and what do you think is Spain’s strong point?
“We won’t find out about Yamal now, he’s destined to become a great player in world football. Spain’s strengths have always been the same as they have been for years, the possession phase and dribbling. We’ll have to be good at exploiting opportunities because Spain doesn’t have any will grant many.”
Does the fact of having played less at Inter allow you to be here a little more rested?
“More or less… The tiring thing about a year like this is mostly the travelling. The more you are on the pitch, the more fit you are, you are only tired on a mental level because you get into good shape when you play the matches “.
How does your time pass here on retreat? Did he bring something from Rome even superstitiously?
“I brought Scamacca with me… (laughs, ed.). Here we spend most of our time in this room that they made for us kids where there are play stations, billiards, pinball machines. We all stay there for a couple of hours together and in my opinion it’s a great thing, that’s where the group is formed. I happened to play ping-pong with a partner I wasn’t too familiar with, Stephan El Shaarawy, and the relationship I don’t play with was born Scamacca because he shoots all the balls, he’s better at the Play Station.”
How does your way of playing change here compared to Inter?
“I think it changes more in the defensive phase, I play a little lower when we have to defend. Then the role is that of Inter, I move up from attacking midfielder: here we don’t have two strikers, we only have one, but we have two external forces that can take man away.”
How can Italy beat Spain?
“Especially at this moment, without mincing too many words, I believe that Spain is ahead of us. We must know how to suffer, know how to fight, this is fundamental. If we put them in one-on-one duels the match is difficult, very difficult “.
TMW – Without the ball you are the midfielder who reads spaces best in this Italy: who are your role models? Who is Spain’s best midfielder?
“Simone Perrotta, but also Claudio Marchisio: these are just the two models that I also look at to understand the positions to take on the pitch. As far as Spain is concerned, I believe that Rodri is the strongest midfielder in the world”.
Here in the national team the midfielders are called upon to score more because of how the team plays
“I believe those are characteristics, they shouldn’t be a burden. In the last three months Scamacca has shown that he can score goals on any occasion, as soon as an opportunity presents itself I’m sure he will exploit it. It is said that a 9 is missing in this national team, but instead we have it”.
For the first time in the last 10 years, Spain did not have more ball possession than their opponents. Have you seen it? Have you spoken with Inzaghi and Marotta in recent days?
“No, we only said hello with the coach and Marotta, then we’ll talk again with the coach. Every match then needs to be reviewed, Spain was ahead 3-0 and didn’t have a great need for ball possession. Maybe there’s a slightly different version ‘more modern than Spain, basically it no longer has those three phenomena in midfield that ten years ago made the whole team rotate and never let you take it. It’s a more modern version.”