
<p>Last month, the Italian Football Federation confirmed that Luciano Spalletti will be taking over as the new Italy coach.</p>



<p>Roberto Mancini, who had been manager for five years, resigned and was replaced by the former <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/teams/napoli-tv-schedule-for-viewers-in-united-states">Napoli</a> boss. The 64-year-old has a lengthy club management resume that includes stints as manager of <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/teams/roma-tv-schedule-for-us-viewers">Roma</a> and <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/teams/inter-milan-tv-schedule/">Inter</a> and as head coach of Russian club Zenit St. Petersburg for five years.</p>



<p>Last season, he guided the Partenopei to their first Serie A championship in 33 years. After his success, he decided to leave Naples. His term will start in September.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<div class="ck-twitter"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">VERY EXCITED to see Buffon back with the Azzurri. It just feels right 🇮🇹<br><br>He will be Spalletti&apos;s Capodelegazione, the role previously held by Gianluca Vialli.<br><br>We saw the passion De Rossi brought to the Azzurri squad during the Euros. Hopefully having Buffon in the locker room… <a href="https://t.co/Hh00Bc1sch">pic.twitter.com/Hh00Bc1sch</a></p>— Italian Football TV (@IFTVofficial) <a href="https://twitter.com/IFTVofficial/status/1697964991788277905?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 2, 2023</a></blockquote></div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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<p>Wembley will host Italy on October 17 since they are a part of England’s Euro 2024 qualification group. They are presently third in Group C of qualification, behind England and Ukraine. Spalletti’s job now is to get Italy ready for <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/uefa-european-championship-tv-schedule/">Euro 2024</a> in Germany, where the champions will try to retain their title after defeating England in the final in 2020.</p>



<h2>Spalletti spoke at his first press conference with Italy</h2>



<p>With Luciano Spalletti at the helm, the Italian national team will be moving in a new, more offensively-focused direction. The Italian coach, 64 years old, was introduced to the public during a news conference held in Coverciano on Saturday.</p>



<p>There, he detailed his roster additions, the legacy of Roberto Mancini’s tenure, and his strategy moving forward. Spalletti is credited with leading Napoli to their first <a href="https://www.espn.co.uk/football/story/_/id/37638375/napoli-win-first-italian-serie-title-33-years-draw-udinese-maradona" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Scudetto</a> title in 33 years last season because of his electrifying style of aggressive football played in a 4-3-3 formation.</p>



<p>In his news conference, Italy’s new coach addressed the team’s perennial problem of not having enough consistent strikers by suggesting that some established players may be recast in the position.</p>



<h2>What will the new Azzurri look like?</h2>



<p>“There are strikers who can wear the national team shirt. I didn’t call up Kean and Scamacca because of their playing time, I called up three others. Of course, a physical striker has some clear qualities, but perhaps Raspadori is better to link up.</p>



<p>“I feel there is good potential up front. I feel players in other roles can play as a striker too, despite having played in different positions. There is work to do. I trust myself and my staff members who I’ve known since the very first day I started coaching. Their help has helped me become the coach I am today”, he said.</p>



<p>About how he wants the new Azzurri to look like, he added: “We need to play a football that everyone will enjoy to watch. We want to play with a 4-man defense and some players were chosen because they play in this system. But also, in my opinion, there’s no difference because whoever plays in a 3-man defense adapts well to the football we want to play because we always want to go and get the ball.”</p>



<p>“We have a midfield that’s one of the strongest around and this is fundamental to build any style of play. We’re going to start with the 4-3-3, then if we need to be a little more attacking we can put in an attacking midfielder and switch to a 4-2-3-1. To start we’re going down this road.”</p>



<p>Photo credit: IMAGO / sportphoto24</p>


Luciano Spalletti: Italy's problems and how he may fix them

Key attacking strategies will be revamped with Luciano Spalletti at the helm of Italy moving towards Euro 2024

<div style="float: right;margin-left: 5px"><a href="http:\/\/view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/entertainment/soccer-jun-fifa-world-cup/image/9214435?term=Italy+world+cup+fans" target="_blank"><div><figure class="image"></figure></div></a></div>
<p>One Italian national team played a match yesterday, and the results were quite dispiriting.&nbsp; With a seemingly safe 2-0 aggregate lead over Belarus, the Italian U-21 club found a way to lose 3-1 in the return match and be eliminated from the UEFA U-21 championship.&nbsp; The practical result is that the club not only will not have a chance at another U-21 championship, but has been eliminated from the 2012 Olympics.&nbsp; In a year when the senior club was embarrassed at the World Cup and fans looked to the youth system for hope, this was a very poor result.</p>
<p>On Friday, the Italians convincingly beat Belarus 2-0 on goals by AS Roma’s Chuka Stefano Okaka and Genoa’s Mattia Destro.&nbsp; With a two goal lead and playing a country with little soccer tradition and two players currently playing top-flight football (including Cagliari’s Mikhail Sivakov), Italy was the heavy favorite.</p>
<p>But Belarus sent a message early on a goal that was as much brilliance by Vladimir Yurchenko as it was incompetence by keeper Vito Mannone.&nbsp; Mannone tried to gather a shot in the third minute but lost the ball, which led to an empty net goal.&nbsp; Not a good result for the keeper who last week became the latest Arsenal keeper to <a href="http:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1318495/Vito-Mannone-tells-Arsenal-manager-Arsene-Wenger-Play-let-leave.html" target="_blank">complain about playing time</a>.</p>
<p>And Belarus did not waste any time putting more pressure on Italy, with Yurchenko scoring again two minutes later off a field-length pass.&nbsp; However, even down 2-0 after five minutes, Italy could have advanced with a single goal (away goals being the second tiebreaker).&nbsp; However, both teams played even for the rest of regulation.&nbsp; In the overtime period, however, Oleg Veretio made the young Azzurri pay by slipping the third goal past Mannone, putting Belarus ahead for the 3-2 victory on aggregate.</p>
<p>Italy had their chances in this match – chip shots by Destro (30th minute), Okaka (77th minute, 100th minute) and Ranocchia (final minute) either hit the post or were right at the keeper, and scoring just one of those quality chances would have advanced Italy.&nbsp; Their defense was not helped by the loss of captain De Silvestri to suspension, but better play should be expected from both the backline and especially the keeper.</p>
<p>Where does the U-21 program go from here?&nbsp; I wouldn’t be surprised if this was Pierluigi Casiraghi’s last match as the team’s manager, and the club will have to lament the missed chance to play across the continent in the 2012 Olympics.&nbsp; But all is not lost for the Italian youth.&nbsp; The U-19 club has advanced in its tournament and is looking like a favorite to win.&nbsp; Plus the U-21 has some definite talent that will be ready for the next World Cup.&nbsp; Overall, this loss is a set back for Italy but not a definitive one.</p>


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Luciano Spalletti: Italy's problems and how he may fix them

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Italy Out of 2012 Olympics