Page 54 - Soccer360 Issue 105

EURO
2024 FEATURE
LEFT:
Will Luciano Spalletti unlock Italy’s potential?
BOTTOM:
Immobile will be one of the veterans that Spalletti will look to lean on.
“SPALLETTI KNOWS HE
HAS A TOUGH REBUILD
JOB ON HIS HANDS”
the need for a much-needed rest. That sabbatical lasted no more than three months as the Italian Football Federation came calling despite Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis’s protests and claim that a €3m release clause needed to be paid to free Spalletti from his contract.
Looking at the player pool he has available to choose from as Italy boss, there are some key ingredients missing compared to the squad he built in Naples. They are seemingly without a world class finisher in the mould of Victor Osimhen, a midfield metronome like Stanislav Lobotka, and a fast, dominant ball- playing centre-back like Kim min-Jae. A fit and in-form Federico Chiesa could arguably be Spalletti’s new Kvicha Kvaratskhelia, but the Juventus star has yet to recover his best form since returning from a 10-month injury lay-off in November.
Spalletti will want his side to press high as a unit, to be in love with the ball, and attempt to play quick one-touch football with the hunger to run up the scoreline. His Napoli side was insatiable at times last season and if the veteran coach can bring that desire
to the national side, then Azzurri fans can prepare for an exciting summer.
However, the truth is that it’s hard to
know exactly what to expect from Italy
at Euro 2024. They’re a team that edged through qualifying with a series of mixed performances, but held their nerve impressively to draw a tense decider
against Ukraine and secure second
place in their group behind England. The triumphant squad at Euro 2020 came into that particular tournament as dark horses having hit form throughout qualifying
and in the build-up, but this time around they’re unlikely to be considered among the favourites.
So does that make them rank outsiders? After all, Italy have been known to exceed initial expectations at major tournaments before. Well, it depends on whether a goalscorer can be found to lead the line
in Germany. Despite his consistently
good record in Serie A, Ciro Immobile
never impressed in the role and has been overlooked after captaining his nation in Luciano Spalletti’s first game in charge.
The likes of Gianluca Scamacca, Giacomo Raspadori, and Wilfried Gnonto, have started under Spalletti in the centre-forward role but none of them have locked down
the position. Scamacca is injury-prone
and has been unable to get a good run of games in his legs since moving to Atalanta
in the summer, Gnonto is playing in the Championship with Leeds United and is more accustomed to being utilised as a winger, while Raspadori has spent more time riding the pine at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona than on the field this season. Although he’s found game time hard to come by this season, Raspadori could be vital to how Spalletti wants his Azzurri side to play going forward at Euro 2024, and
due to Italy’s attacking dearth could have
a leading role against Spain and Croatia in their final two Group B fixtures.
Spalletti is likely to keep with his favoured 4-3-3 formation and could ask Raspadori to drop deep and play as an extra midfielder. Often when Italy face Spain they see less
of the ball and are outnumbered in the
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