Special guest today in the studios of DAZN. The national coach intervened after the Fiorentina-Roma 5-1 match Luciano Spalletti: “The performances of Di Lorenzo, Retegui and Kean? They have been doing very well lately, we are very happy with their behavior during the championship. We always see new things that we can work on for the future, it’s continuous growth. I think of footballers like Retegui who every time I see him I find more reasoning in him, I find him critical of himself and these are important messages.”
Here comes Kean: “In the last call-up he wasn’t available because he had a problem, he was super available to come and be examined by the doctors. This maturity can be seen in him, before looking at him from the outside it seemed that he still had some growth to do, while now that I know him more in depth I find him to have matured. Then now he’s in Florence, I’m from Florence too. I’ve been saying for a long time that he will become a great footballer. He never played consistently. He has strength, attacks space and can improve a lot technically too. Plus he has a lot of international experience
Is he also a player who gives different characteristics in the open field?
“Yes, he has these qualities. You can play the ball on him, Roma had more ball possession today and Fiorentina relied a lot on him. He has these qualities but he is also a bomber, he can feel the goal. We need players with his personality. Now we have made this choice to field more midfielders and for the moment we prefer to continue like this, but we have the qualities to allow the attackers to coexist too.”
Pilgrims?
“He has quality in his foot, having players who take set pieces well becomes an asset. We have often bet on him and Dimarco. He is a player who accepts to play midfielder every now and then and sometimes striker, it is clear that now he is probably below level, he hasn’t been lucky. There are moments that occur in the match that must be interpreted differently, I’m thinking for example of the moment in which there was the counterattack where Hermoso was then sent off.”
It’s nice to see Di Lorenzo like this.
“Especially because he went through a difficult time where he was told everything unfairly, now he has found himself and can certainly be useful to me too”.
Nice to see Napoli like this again
“There are 7-8 players that I have coached and am close to, I am happy to see them there at the top. I was surprised by Anguissa’s hair… I’m sorry she didn’t do it when I was there, I didn’t know you could lengthen your hair in such a short time.”
Does a coach like it when a match ends 4-4 or does he prefer 0-?
“It always depends on the progress and what happened on the pitch, on how the match took place. It was certainly a bit of a crazy race which puts the public in a position to see a good show. But underneath there are many interpretations that could have been done better.”
We also saw two goals under the legs today, is this something you train?
“Many situations are discussed and then the player understands how to develop them in the match. It’s something I hear about in the locker room, it certainly bothers. But Buffon also saved these…”.
How important is it to have Buffon as a manager?
“For me it is important to have him as a friend, after meeting him I found him to be an extraordinary, mature and expert person. He transfers everything he has to me, now we are in tune and we love each other. It is very important to have it. Having characters of this level in the locker room allow you to dilute some situations, with their experience they also allow you to analyze other situations. Chiellini also comes to me while on tour in America, having figures like that allows you to find a synthesis.”
For the Scudetto, how long did you hide for when you coached Napoli?
“I tried to hide in the office when I started to see the celebrations, I hid because I was afraid. There was a moment where if we hadn’t won I don’t know where I would have been able to hide.”
The evolution of Spalletti as a coach?
“By going to work with the players every day you realize their qualities. I had a very technical team at Roma, so solutions are constantly being found.”
On the role of coach.
“How long did it take Gravina to convince me? One afternoon… he arrived for lunch and then left with the contract. I have been in all categories, being able to coach the national team was the highlight of my career, the pinnacle of pleasure in doing this job.”
What level is your Italy at?
“In my opinion we are now at a good level, we have seen interesting things in the matches, this not giving references helps us a lot. Last year we came from a particular championship where Inter had won well in advance, it was difficult to maintain high concentration.”
Is there room for the Church in this national team?
“Before we started from different choices, now we relied a little more on talent, on players who make the 70 meter run-up. It is clear that these specialized players and specialists must do it at a level that is the basis for building at team level, if they do it below that level it becomes difficult for the team. It’s always right to go and gain experience abroad, the young players coming out of the Primavera team for example should force themselves to go and play abroad. I think of Calafiori, Donnarumma, in my opinion it’s something that everyone should do.”
Do you miss your daily work?
“Yes a little, yes, but for how I work maybe sometimes it’s better. I made some errors in evaluation, I claimed to do in ten days things that can be done in months. We need the love and affection of our audience.”
Totti wants to play again, would you consider it?
“He was so imaginative in playing the ball for his teammates that perhaps this creativity could also lead him to make this choice to return to play…”.
An undisciplined super pure talent or a team player?
“A perfect undisciplined person would be the best…”.
Balotelli returns to Serie A.
“We don’t close the doors to anyone, we can’t tell someone they can’t aim to get there. We must absorb everything that is good in football and make it available to this team.”
More Real Madrid or Manchester City?
“Both, you have to be able to get the best. Sometimes, with this encirclement, City is unable to serve Haaland well vertically. It takes everything, there are many coaches I spoke to who previously believed in frenzied ball possession who are now instead thinking about an evolution.”
Which player do you think has improved the most?
“I don’t improve anyone, at most I put the player in a position to be able to work or what aspect to develop. There have been players who have done well, I’m thinking of Pizarro as a midfielder.”
The podium for the Ballon d’Or?
“For me Kroos, I won’t say the others so as not to offend anyone”.