"You're not as applied once you win the league" - Luciano Spalletti bizarrely blames Inter Milan for Italy's Euro 2024 elimination
Luciano Spalletti has chosen to blame Inter Milan for Italy's elimination from the Round of 16 of the EURO 2024. The Blues were second-best against a more clinical Switzerland side in a 2-0 loss on June 29. A goal in each half from the Swiss knocked them out of the competition.
Remo Freuler (37') and Ruben Vargas (46') were both on target, getting past goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. The situation was recognizably different for Italy's attack, as they stumbled, unable to get past the Rossocrociati.
The match was a displeasing situation for Luciano Spalletti, who took his wrath out on Inter Milan, the club that won Serie A last season. The Italy national team had five players from the club: Federico Dimarco, Davide Frattesi, Nicolo Barella, Alessandro Bastoni, and Matteo Darmian.
Bastoni, Barella, and Darmian all started against Switzerland, with the latter two getting substituted off in the second half. Spalletti put the blame on Inter in his press conference, saying (via Daily Mail):
"It all began with how [Serie A] ended. Inter Milan won the title [with five games to spare] and I made sure they were still being professional. The manager Simone Inzaghi kept training them in a certain way because I was in touch with him often. But perhaps you are not as applied once you win the league so early."
He also noted that he had very little time to work with the players before EURO 2024 started, adding:
"All the other coaches of Italy had 20 or 30 matches before a major tournament, but I had 10, and we were under fire to win. That's only right but I probably need to get to know my team a bit better. We have had a number of players with injuries who I was also counting on."
Inter won the title comfortably by a whopping 19 points over their rivals AC Milan.
Meanwhile, Spalletti will be hoping to spend more time with the players before they begin their Nations League campaign against France and Israel in September.
Italy FA confirm that Luciano Spalletti will be retained after EURO 2024 disappointment
The Italy FA has confirmed that they will retain Luciano Spalletti as head coach despite him faling to take them further than the EURO 2024 Round of 16. He notably replaced Roberto Mancini in September 2023.
FA president Gabriele Gravina made it clear that they were going to work with Spalletti moving forward. He said, in a statement, (via Daily Mail):
"Spalletti has our full trust and we will move forward with him. It is not thinkable to change head coach and stop this project. This is a big disappointment. We are all responsible and we won't abandon the project started with Spalletti."
The Italians were notably poor in their group games in EURO 2024. They lost 1-0 to Spain and drew 1-1 to Croatia, only beating Albania 2-1 in the opener. While this saw them make it into the Round of 16, their performances fell apart against Switzerland, as they failed to score a single goal.