ITALY boss Luciano Spalletti has been caught up in a massive PLAY STATION row with his players – as they prepare to start their Euros defence.
The former Napoli chief, who replaced Roberto Mancini at the Azzurri helm, has been accused of banning his squad from using the consoles.
Hardliner Spalletti has also introduced strict rules on time-keeping and implemented a post-dinner block on stars using their mobile phones.
But the old-fashioned approach has caused anger and frustration among the players, and saw Spalletti on the back foot as he was grilled ahead of tomorrow’s opening clash with Albania in Dortmund.
Spalletti, visibly furious, shot back: “Sometimes I’m very sad and disappointed to have to comment on things like this – and I can’t understand why I have to comment.
“We have a games room where there are two modern cutting edge Play Stations. I’ve even had a go on it myself.
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“But they do so within the scope of the right time of day. What matters is that they sleep at night.
“I’m not bothered about what they do but I don’t want them up all hours so they are not properly rested and unable to train properly.
“We are here to play important games and if you want to do that you simply can’t be awake in your rooms until 3 or 4am.
“That’s not acceptable. You need to sleep at night – and all the studies by professors and psychoanalysts have proved that.
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Italy Euro 2024 guide
THEY are reigning champs and have a habit of defying the odds – yet little is expected of this Azzurri side.
At least they qualified, given a nasty recent habit of missing major tournaments.
MANAGER: Luciano Spalletti
The 65-year-old who, in 2023, led Napoli to their first Serie A title in 33 years will not stand for any nonsense.
STAR MAN: Gianluigi Donnarumma
The PSG goalkeeper is Italy’s only genuine goalkeeping superstar, as England know to their cost after losing the Euro 2020 final on penalties.
How Italy attack
Spalletti’s Italy will be dogged from a defensive perspective but also flexible and fun to watch in possession.
They can be patient and composed on the ball but also attack in a much more direct way when the opportunity comes.
How Italy defend
Italy no longer play the deep, defensive football they were known for in the past.
They will look to press high out of possession, led by their two wide forwards – likely Federico Chiesa and Lorenzo Pellegrini.
Read the full Italy Euro 2024 guide here, including predicted line-ups, odds and Wags
“So we need to impart on the player the need for a correct lifestyle to produce our best football. And that means you cannot be up all night on the Play Station.”
Spalletti’s tetchiness summed up the feeling that Italy have arrived in Germany as holders without much honour and European Champs who turned back into World Cup chumps.
Three years after their shoot-out triumph under the Wembley Arch, the night of mayhem and misery for England and delirious joy for Roberto Mancini, a very different-looking Italian team, still scarred by the failure to reach Qatar 2022, kick off fearing the worst.
That old dependable back line led by Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci is long gone, while West Ham flop Gianluca Scamacca is the unlikely but unquestioned first choice striker.
Yet the expectations of the supporters in Rome, Milan, Naples and Turin will be no less demanding, even though Spalletti’s side, well beaten home and away by England in qualifying, only scraped through when Ukraine were denied a nailed-on spot kick in stoppage time of their decisive final group game.
Former Azzurri coach Arrigo Sacchi claimed an Italy victory would be “almost a miracle considering our strengths on the pitch and those of our opponents”, suggesting France, England, Germany and Portugal are all stronger.
He added: “Luciano can convey innovative ideas and give the team a game-plan but we must not burden them with too much responsibility.
“And we must avoid useless and harmful criticisms which will do nothing but create a strong instability in the whole environment.”
Hardly a ringing endorsement and skipper Gianluigi Donnarumma, one of just five likely surviving starters from the team that began at Wembley three years ago, spoke of Albania as a “banana skin”.
He said: “We cannot afford to be at 70 or 80 per cent. We have to be 100 per cent. This match will be hugely important for us.
“The team has changed since 2021 but when you prepare to embark on something like this we have to be motivated and our spirit will be the same as three years ago. We will try to reproduce those magical nights.”
For Spalletti, this is about his players ignoring the doom-sayers.
He added: “We need to feel we are part of something, not just the 11 on the pitch and the rest of the squad in Germany but the 60 million Italians who will be playing with us.
“We’re not merely asking them to cheer us on – we want them out there, beside us, on the pitch itself.
“My players are now taking a starring role.
“They are out there for every Italian who came back after school with a ball under their arm and came home hours later with their shirt dripping in sweat and grazed knees.
“We are the dream for all of them. For our people we are heroes, we are giants, so we cannot possibly not put 100 per cent on the pitch.
“That means showing the stuff of players who don’t struggle with the atmosphere or the importance of the match. We must go and show we are giants and heroes and have no fear.”
Scamacca’s impressive season for Atalanta will have been a huge shock to Hammers fans, although not as much as hearing Spalletti claim: “He has really improved a great deal. He’s a complete striker, he really has everything.”
Yet, maybe NOT everything, given the coach then warned: “He needs to compare himself to the other guys occasionally and make the sort of runs other strikers make.
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“If you make 10 runs, you might get the ball five times. So you have to make 20 runs, in case you get it 10 times.
“That is tiring, yes, but there is a certain number of efforts you need to do in a match. You must make as many runs as any other player in that position.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
