Italy becomes former Euro champion and the eccentricity of coach Spalletti

(Dan Tri) - Italy was comprehensively defeated by Switzerland and became the former European champion. Coach Luciano Spalletti made up a lot of reasons to justify his and his students' failure.

Switzerland is more than just watches and Italy is no longer the champion

The 2-0 scoreline did not fully reflect the difference between Switzerland and Italy in the Euro 2024 Round of 16 match on the evening of June 29 at the Olympic Stadium (Berlin, Germany). At many times, the ball was almost exclusively on the Azzurri side. Switzerland dominated and controlled the game, to the point that Italian players were taken away whenever they brought the ball near the middle of the field. Statistics show that Italy only had one shot on target, while Swiss players had a passing accuracy rate of up to 91.8%. Switzerland is not just about banks, watches, and chocolate. Including Euro 2024, Switzerland holds the record of reaching the knockout round 6 times in a row at major tournaments (World Cup and Euro). The only European national team (NMT) with a better record than Switzerland is the giant France, with 7 times in a row. In addition, defeating Italy helped Switzerland reach the Euro quarterfinals for the second time in a row. Switzerland are not easy to bully, but defending champions Italy are too bad. In fact, not many experts rated the Azzurri highly before Euro 2024 started, even a few speculated that the Azzurri were as bad as what the Azzurri showed in Germany. Italy's failure can be explained by an underrated generation of players, including poor defenders in defense, a shaky midfield with lethargic midfielders, and an attack with the presence of too mediocre strikers.

Italy was completely outclassed by Switzerland in the competition in Berlin (Photo: Getty).

However, it is impossible not to blame the failure of the Italian team on head coach Luciano Spalletti, even though this coach cited a lot of reasons to justify the defeat. "Conceding the second goal right at the beginning of the second half was a heavy blow to the team's spirit," Spalletti said what the general who led the team on the field could not say. "We played at a slower pace than the opponent," this strategist assessed, but within his own responsibility, could he not speed up?! "The players have had a long season at the club and the weather today is very hot," Spalletti gave the reason. Perhaps the Swiss have been resting at home for the past year and brought the cool air of the Alpine mountains to the field. "We lacked fast players," he said, but football is not a 4x100m relay. Most notably, Spalletti excused: "I did not have much time to work with the players and coaching staff." That is an unacceptable statement. Because the nature of national football is intermittent, limited in time and limited in human resources.

When Spalletti struggled with the nature of national team football

Despite its tight budget, Serie A remains one of Europe's top five leagues. The Italian national team still has a few world- class players, a few former world-class players, a few potential world-class players, and the rest are mostly stopgap players.

Italy's defense became too fragile against Switzerland, which is not too strong in attack (Photo: Getty).

Spalletti is on the highest salary of any coach at the Euros to find a solution for Italy. The experienced 65-year-old clearly has the right profile. He has been named Serie A Coach of the Season three times. Spalletti's knowledge and tactical ability are respected. Years ago, when he was in charge of AS Roma, Spalletti invented the strikerless formation, with Francesco Totti playing up front. Less than a year ago, Spalletti led Napoli to their first Scudetto in 33 years and to the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals with brilliant attacking football. The problem is that club football is very different from national team football. Spalletti never showed his tactical talent with the Azzurri because he simply did not have the time to endlessly repeat tactics on the training ground. The 65-year-old needed to keep things simple, read the situation, read the players and adjust quickly. And Spalletti failed miserably. Entering the tournament, the respected captain of the Italian team talked about "identity" and maintaining the ball control, overwhelming attack mindset built by his predecessor Roberto Mancini and reaped success with the European Championship. Coach Spalletti wanted the whole team to develop on that foundation. However, when the predetermined strategy failed miserably against the Spanish team, Spalletti made a 180-degree turn in both system and personnel. This strategist eliminated strikers Federico Chiesa and Gianluca Scamacca and switched from a 4-3-3 to a 3-5-2 formation in the decisive match against Croatia.

Coach Spaletti's personality and eccentricity are not suitable for leading the national team (Photo: Getty).

This adjustment, or rather, shaking things up, did not work. It was not until the 8th minute of injury time that the Azzurri avoided defeat and elimination. When it came to the encounter with Switzerland, Spalletti made another change. Stephan El Shaarawy was brought into the starting lineup, the Scamacca-Chiesa pair returned, a defensive midfielder (Cristante) was added and instead of replacing the injured Federico Dimarco with a player capable of destroying on the left wing, the strategist chose Darmian, 34 years old and used to playing in the center-back position, to take on the role of full-back.

Lessons for national team coaches

One day it can't be Pep Guardiola, the next day it can be Jose Mourinho. In football, the more a coach adjusts, the less effective it is. The message is important, not only are Spalletti's professional decisions inconsistent, but the 65-year-old's attitude towards public opinion is also problematic. He is obsessed with the idea that there is an insider in the national team who has leaked information to the media. Spalletti is eccentric, strange and rude to the point that he once said in a press conference that "if you indulge in sex every day for 14 years, you will know as much as I do". Spalletti is too sharp, sour and sensitive to criticism, whether real or fake. This coach left Napoli because he did not receive praise and a salary increase after the championship, the club simply sent him an email informing him of a contract extension for another year.

Italian football needs a revolution after Euro 2024 (Photo: Getty).

Napoli's handling of the situation was undeniably clumsy, but the way Spalletti stormed off and stormed off was telling of the manager. He said he was "on leave," and the leave lasted just over a month, until Mancini himself left the Italy job for a lucrative job in Saudi Arabia and the Italian Football Federation promptly offered Spalletti the national team job. With his sharp tongue, eccentric personality, and wit, Spalletti looks charming when things are going well. But when things go wrong, it all quickly becomes frustrating. Spalletti doesn't have a Ferrari or even a BMW for this Euros. He has a stock Toyota, which he has tinkered with to get as far and as fast as possible. Unfortunately, tinkering under the hood only made the machine more problematic, before Spalletti drove the car into one obstacle after another until the wheels fell off.

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