Italy's national coach Luciano Spalletti accepts responsibility for the reigning European champions' poor performance and early exit from the European Championship and announces talks with the federation.
"Without a doubt, the responsibility for what happened lies with me," said the 65-year-old after the 2-0 defeat to Switzerland in the round of 16. Italy were completely outclassed in the match in Berlin. Association president Gabriele Gravina and Spalletti will speak at a press conference on Sunday.
Spalletti avoided making a clear statement about his future immediately after the game, but indicated that he wanted to continue. He is now certain "that something has to change", said the coach. "The national team needs different decisions in the future, players with more skills." However, he rejected some of the criticism of the defending champions' performance. "It's not such a scandalous result," said the national team coach.
Spalletti cited injuries to key players and the lack of preparation time as reasons for the weak performances at the European Championships. He only took over the team in September 2023 after European champion coach Roberto Mancini moved to Saudi Arabia. "I don't want to make excuses," he said. "But all the other coaches had 20 games before the tournament or 30. I had 10, and we had to win." He added that his team were "not in a position to show more than that at the moment".
SDA
