Italy’s WORST tournament performance ever? Will Spalletti remain as Italy coach? | ESPN FC

Gab Marcotti and Julien Laurens react to Italy’s exit at Euro 2024 as they lose convincingly to Switerzland which raises questions over the future of manager Luciano Spaletti.
✔ Subscribe to ESPN+: espnplus.com/so...
✔ Subscribe to ESPN FC on KZbin: bit.ly/SUBSCRIB...

[@maldini3184]

Worse Italian performance at a major tournament has to be 2010. World Champions at the time and finish dead last in a group with Paraguay New Zealand and Slovakia but this Euro performance was very close to that.

[@NintendoFighter9000]

it definitely is very close, being reigning champs and letting in the quickest goal in euro history to albania, losing to spain and just barely qualifying after tying a mediocre croatian team, just to get dominated and outperformed by switzerland. whats funny tho is that 2010 italian team still had remnants of their 2006 squad and newer players that couldnt do much, but those younger players went to the euro final just 2 years later

[@misterlexx2721]

True. 2010

[@alessandrom7181]

Not even comparable. At least they tried to fight in some way. In this Euro Italy did absolutely nothing.

[@maldini3184]

@@alessandrom7181 Try or not Italy was supposed to walk that group. It was the easiest group in the whole tournament and to finish last was a disgrace. This italy team has no world class players

[@ItalianStallion01]

Here is where you are wrong Italy played that tournament without Buffon and Pirlo, look at the squad it was much worse than this one. You would think Italy would still have the depth to get through missing their 2 best players against these teams but the GK Marchetti was abysmal and the midfield couldn’t do anything without Pirlo. With Buffon and Pirlo they easily advance and top group.

[@jrossi91]

Spalletti has to be sacked, it is inexcusable to have almost half of your starters being from Inter and not playing the 352 that gave Inter all its success. I understand he was trying to bring the scudetto-winning Napoli tactics to the national team, but that sort of possession-based style only works when most of the starters are already playing it at club level, otherwise it just takes too long to build chemistry. He should have recognized this after the Spain game, where they couldn't even string 3 passes together the entire second half, and it was even more obvious in the first half against the Swiss, who completely dominated midfield. Even if he switched to a 352 at halftime there, it may have given them enough time to turn it around. A national team coach has to be able to adapt to the players he has and set up a formation that best suits them (like Conte did in 2016), not force a style on them that they're not used to and uncomfortable with. Even with Scamacca, all his success at Atalanta was because he had a 2nd striker to play off of, but instead Spalletti wanted to turn him into Osimhen. He got his tactics all wrong and he needs to be canned for this. He's a good club coach, where you're able to interact with the players everyday for 9 months, but a national team coach has limited time with the players, and simple tactics work best here.

[@boostav]

Correct, the problem was even thinking of signing Spalletti who is a 433 absolutist when the players Italy have need to play a 352. Criminal to buy out Spalletti when Conte was available and willing to take on the job.

[@vinces5761]

No excuses. He has to go.

[@lukevella388]

I wouldn't have played him but you can't present yourself as an expert of Italian football and not realise that El Shaarawy was a regular started for Roma in the past seasons...and say that Darmian is a CB. 😶

[@zwet4269]

He started 19 games in Serie A only last season, that isn't a regular. Unused sub 5 times

[@lukevella388]

@@zwet4269 and according to you it's right that an expert pundit thought he had retired

[@zwet4269]

@@lukevella388 it was a joke clearly, he wasn't serious

[@riccardo5281]

Darmian is a right back but for Inter played a lot as a cb in a three men defence. You cannot play him as a left back and expect something from him, it's just ludicrous, it's just not his role and he was totally useless there. Meantime, you had Cambiaso and Bellanova who are young, fast, quality players and you chose to play Di Lorenzo who's been a disaster all year and every single game. Spalletti's decision making was atrocious

[@boostav]

He's right, El Shaarawy is washed and you can't play Darmian as a LB, that's beyond silly.

[@PaulRichardson4678]

Sounds like Spalleti and Southgate are getting together and sharing ideas on how to troll their fans.

[@clarencegaultieri8293]

England has been awful for the players they have

[@imawormbeforeiamman6052]

​@@clarencegaultieri8293at least they still in the cup.

[@mrdave4714]

The problem is within Italian soccer. The talented players they have are young and not ready yet. The Under 17 team just won the European Championship...its going to be sometime before Italy will be back to being a soccer super power again. Mancini knew there was trouble ahead, he jumped ship at the right time.

[@minchutong9296]

i kinda agree and disagree. the pool of talent is there. what i see is the italian football federation simply doesn't want to nurture and cultivate the pool of players that had. Young talents are the fundamentals of a national team, they simply have to play more in Serie A, once the positive competition in Serie A increases, then you will have better players to play overall. Why is El Sharaawy, a simply washed player being selected to this national team still baffled me to this date.

[@fabianpatrizio2865]

@@minchutong9296 I could say the same for Scamacca, Jorginho........why no Politano? (fast, skilful, played at Napoli etc etc...)

[@roccociccone597]

@@minchutong9296 the problem isn't youth development the problem is applying our youth to professional football within the Serie A. We have people like Camarda and Pafundi, two young very talented players who can't play in Serie A even if they should. Yamal has more experience in La Liga at 17 than some 20 year old Italian players. Yet clubs prefer buying foreigners and not use their own talent they grew in their youth sector. Milan should not be allowed to play in the Serie A with how many foreigners are in that team. It's hardly an Italian football team anymore.

[@TheFabrizioNYC]

Spalletti and Gravina OUT NOW!!!

[@ronbonora7872]

I agree!

[@pucchiaccha9321]

Oh ok

[@giovanniroma2964]

Not an expert, fagioli doesn’t play for months because of his suspension, comes back for a month, doesn’t start for juventus because locatelli starts, then starts in a knockout game.??

[@monte5293]

I'm not sure Fagioli was Italy's main problem. It's the kid's first international game and he certainly was not Italy's worst player. Where was Barella, Di Lorenzo, Chiesa, Cristante, Scamacca, El Sharaawy...?

[@fabriziocamisani5477]

​@@monte5293he shouldn't have been there period. The guy hasn't played in 10 months, it's not even in the starting 11 in Juventus and he is NoW, no national team material. Besides, Spalletti has a problem with playstations but reward somebody like Fagioli by calling him? Don't get me wrong, he made a mistake, he paid, I wish him the best but calling him was a bit too much.

[@monte5293]

@@fabriziocamisani5477 I understand what you're saying, but the problem is that there simply aren't too many alternatives in midfield. We don't need another Cristante, Locatelli or Fratesi. Italy needs technical players who can play vertical passes and provide some creativity. Spalleti took a gamble, but the cupboard is bare and Jorghino already slows the play down too much and plays sideways. Of all of Spalletti's failings in these Euros, I don't think this was that serious given what he had in the middle. Also don't forget, Barella and Cristante did little to help Fagioli - both of them experienced, yet had a terrible game.

[@mas3ymd]

I’m amazed that this is even a question.

[@clarencegaultieri8293]

He had many young players he could Have brought and had a couple he left on bench . How do you play a guy el sheraway who was maybe ok in 2012. Worse display ever . Dispicable

[@razbigranicu]

2010 was worse, c'mon. 2014 they didn't get out of the group as well , 2008 was pretty miserable too.

[@ashleythomas4112]

2008 was easily better than this. Better players in 2008 without a doubt and then only lost on penalties to an amazing Spain team, this was one of the worst Italian performances ever vs a good Switzerland team. 2010 was worse though.

[@donatoiacovino6968]

The opening game of 2008 v Holland was an embarrassment, but at least they beat France and hung tough vs Spain.

[@Luso00_]

Euro 2004 they crashed out of the group stage as well.

[@Luso00_]

​@ashleythomas4112 Italy went to penalties vs Spain in 2008. It's no where near their worst tournament.

[@razbigranicu]

@@Luso00_ that was down to infamous draw between sweden and denmark, to be fair.

[@alessandropinto_xsan]

It doesn't matter who played or could have played. They would have been bad anyway. Italy played with worst teams and did well in the past . See Conte " s Italy in 2016. Spalletti has been a failure.

[@frankbregulla564]

Did you film this with a potato ?

[@mervyncharter]

I grew up admiring Italian teams featuring great players like Causio, Bettega, Rossi, Tardelli, Cabrini, Scirea, Altobelli, and more recently Baggio, Del Piero, Buffon, Pirlo. Their problem is the same as Scotland. A sad dearth of talent.

[@roccocignelli1316]

Ancelotti or Capello, plus try bringing back the players that helped win a tournament previously or at most fared well

[@josephtomaselli9181]

No! I was a bit disappointed by his appointment honestly. More blame goes to the laziness and carelessness of the players themselves at that tournament. The lack of energy, focus, and enthusiasm was evident to me from the first match vs Albania. Spalletti didn’t have a good system figured out and his squad played poorly. Some of his squad selections and substitute choices were also questionable. The only hope for Italy to qualify and put in a respectable result in the tournament is for more of the promising youngsters available to be integrated and grow into important roles . Can’t rely on low energy older players like Jorginho and DiLorenzo who already won a major trophy and lack hunger.

[@thefourthchairman4151]

Agree... Yes, the players haven't been world class but neither they were in euro 2020 The last time italy played that bad was in euro 2004, especially when against denmark, I was really disgusted by their performance back then

[@brainfried1]

i like spaghetti

[@humptydumpty20]

Montella has been in charge of Turkey for just 9 games and 12 games and he got his changes and tactics right to bring Turkey to a Q Final. What excuses Spalletti has?

[@OvieSnips8]

Spalletti is a clown. But the bigger issue is there isn't enough Italians/Younger Italians getting starting minutes in Serie A. There are too many old heads running the federation. Spain is a nice example of what teams should be doing. Yamal fits right in.

[@donatoiacovino6968]

Agreed; Camarda needs to play for AC Milan this upcoming season

[@clarencegaultieri8293]

Italians never take chances . You won euro under 19 and 17 and don’t bring any of those ? Meanwhile Spain no issues with young players

[@LorolinAstori]

This was the first time I saw an Italian national team that did not resemble anything about Italian culture or football. If they had changed their jerseys I would never have recognized the players as Italian. That is just plain horrible Disclaimer: I’ve been watching the Italian national team since 1994

[@calciofan828]

I agree. They were unrecognizable.

[@Magellanbleu]

Spalletti is a genious. Past the first round, with these terrible players, is a great accomplishment.

[@giacomolicata1930]

No forwardthinking, no attacking flare no pressuring the opposition to many backward or side passes. How can you be taking a corner and two passes later our goalkeeper has the ball you cannot blame the players They are only doing what the manager tells them too much ticky-tacky at the back and give the ball away too cheaply Poor team selections and formations manager has to go build for the World Cup

[@chrisgalea681]

Unfortunately the team is not good enough let's be honest. The big clubs are buying foreign players as they are cheaper and experienced. Mid table serie a clubs are over pricing inexperienced players resulting in the top clubs to choose foreign players. Which leaves Italian players without proper experience in Europe.

[@Michael-cb5nm]

Gab looks to have had his fill of Spaghetti….

[@SLSAMG]

Unfounded claims and ad-hominem attacks is all that happens in these comments. That is not insightful or engaging discussion. Time to disable the comments feature, ESPN... It's toxic.... social media was a mistake.

[@johndonofrio9293]

I think Elsha was better than every other winger other than chiesa i cant even remebrr who was on that side

[@PincoPallino-zh8wm]

While I fully blame the coach, I have to say that the players didn't do anything either. Individually they sucked. With the exception of a couple of good moments, none of the players tried to turns thing around, and I say TRYING, not even asking for succeeding. Most of the time they were just sitting duck.

[@roccociccone597]

YES him and the entire board of the FIGC need to go home and be ashamed of their performance since 2018. Since Gravina is in we've missed 2 consecutive world cups, made a laughing stock of our national team and our players keep getting worse every year without signs of it getting better.

[@quilmes99]

Never been a fan of Douglas Spaletti

[@InesElm-dj9tn]

SPAGHETTI WAS HORRIBLE 😂😂😂😂😂

[@tonyruggiero1]

Italy have not be good since 2006 World Cup 😢

[@AurelAvramescu]

WC 2014 they didn’t pass the group stage.

[@Luso00_]

2004 Euros and 2010 World Cup they crashed out of the group stage.

[@cantrait7311]

No yak at was the worst italy team I have ever seen

[@ligeiasinistra879]

Italia, go back to your roots: bring il Cholo Simeone.

[@u2myworld]

El Shaaraway was one of the only players who was pushing deep and causing issues to Switzerland.

[@noke258]

No they should hire spaghetti 😮

[@rheinhardtgrafvonthiesenha8185]

Man that Jules guy is so down with the kids. Put some lines in those eyebrows mate you might not have enough hair left in your head to do it.

[@HussainHayki]

Bring in allegri or atleast pioli or sarri

[@monte5293]

No Allegri would set back this team 20 years with his defensive and lately, non-winning football. Sarri always loses the changeroom and Pioli is not that great. I would have liked a young manager like De Zerbi or Palladino. Someone with fresh ideas who can look at rebuilding this team.

[@misterlexx2721]

Conte again

[@HussainHayki]

@@monte5293 allegri is a serial winner and pragmatic, good fit for Italy

[@monte5293]

@@HussainHayki A serial winner only when he has superstars in his teams. His last 3 years were a disaster. This Italy needs something else, not a lazy catenaccio merchant.

[@HussainHayki]

@@monte5293 what about his domination from 2014-2018? He did underperform these past 3 years but Juventus don’t have a good team

[@imawormbeforeiamman6052]

I think so. 2016 italy had a good run and good performance. 2021 were amazing. 2024... Spalletti is a fraud. Not becuz his tactics but the decision making in the starting line up. DiLorenzo is a fraud. Got owned by Spain and Croatia and then Swiss. A lazy player. Why did Spalletti choose Cristante over Jorginho? It drives me nuts.

[@anthonyuccello8450]

Fagoli were in fault of the two goals

[@ClaudioBarone-u1g]

Have to change the Federation

[@InesElm-dj9tn]

Yes he was a wonderful coach 😂😂😂😂😂

[@frankspadafora3419]

Spalletti is a third division coach at best. He should do the dignified thing and resign NOW!!

[@FuturestraderALGO]

One hit wonder with no clue 🕵️‍♀️

[@anthonyuccello8450]

Its bad becsue they play like england

[@dosdont]

EASILY the worst Italian team I've ever seen since the late 70's. Even the last Euro was a bad team when *they won against worse teams* but this Italy team was unrecognizable. It looked like a practice scrimmage. Midfield had no imagination and strikers were barely moving. They don't have any *real* strikers that would be starting on a top team and it showed. As far as Spalletti, he should be gone, yes, the team would suck with any coach but he didn't try anything each game showed nothing and he changed nothing when he saw nothing. He needs to go.

[@donatoiacovino6968]

The late 70s teams for Italy were great; the '78 WC team was better than the '82 team

[@Luso00_]

That 2020 squad wasn't the best team on paper, but they were organized. That midfield was great.

[@imawormbeforeiamman6052]

He only changed the starting line up. Thats all. He put a good Jorginho on the bench and started Cristante.... Thats sum it all

[@boostav]

Nope, totally wrong. The players aren't great but with a coach like Simone Inzaghi they'd win it, also Conte did far better with worse players in 2016.

[@dosdont]

@@boostav Grow up, "totally" wrong about my opinion. 🙄

[@iainmore3961]

They need Black Irish Passport holders like Ingerland.

[@CrociatoAzzurro]

No thanks.

[@iainmore3961]

@@CrociatoAzzurro Why not? You would be doing what England and Real Madrid does.

[@CrociatoAzzurro]

@@iainmore3961 Are you black? Are you aware that the 2 players that have dominated the game the last 20 years, Messi and Ronaldo, are not black?

[@CrociatoAzzurro]

@@iainmore3961 Are you black? (Just a question)

[@iainmore3961]

@@CrociatoAzzurro Nope, White

[@atokgrunge1991]

Spegetti?

[@FAMA-18]

Spalletti..via = out.

[@andreamerlin6035]

Really really the worst, zombies walking on the field, Spalletti home. He will be insulted everywere he goes

[@salrandazzo5757]

Team.italy.r.no.more

[@vati90]

Sí

[@plainbagel9192]

People say Italy had a bad team in 2020, if that is so , then why are we not talking about reforming the development program...Spalleti is only a symptom of a bigger problem.

[@carlobeny7400]

ITALY HAD A GOOD SIDE IN EURO 2020, AS WE WERE 30 ODD GAMES UNBEATEN BEFORE EURO 2020, SO I WAS CONFIDENT WE WOULD DO WELL, AND WE DID AS WE WON IT. ITALY OF EURO 2024 WAS A BAD SIDE WHO DID NOT PLAY WELL IN THE 4 GAMES WE PLAYED, AND DESERVED TO GO HOME AND LOSING 2 -0 TO SWITZERLAND AND OUR KEEPER KEPT THE SCORLINE DOWN AGAIN, AS HE DID AGAINST SPAIN, LOSING ONLY 1-0 IN THAT GROUP GAME.

[@plainbagel9192]

@carlobeny7400 Macini had a good system but I think the general comments had to do with the names on the starting 11

[@Luso00_]

They didn't have a bad team. It was just weird how they didn't qualify for the World Cup 8 months after.

[@wemadeitpodcast]

Italy doesnt have a good team and on the low they didnt have a good team at the 2020 one and they some how managed to win it.

[@Carminesson]

No “bad” team has ever won the euros. What’s written on paper is irrelevant when you step on the pitch

[@wemadeitpodcast]

@@Carminesson agreed

[@dosdont]

@@Carminesson Wrong, Italy were terrible in 2020, it's just everyone else they played was a little worse, and you don't have to look any further than Greece to shoot down your argument, easily the worst team ever to win any top Championship.

[@donatoiacovino6968]

@dosdont Huh? The 2020 Italian team holds the international record for longest unbeaten streak

[@DonGivani]

Stay of the weed bro, after the first game, I knew Italy would reach at least the semi final. I did discuss with friends Italy could win the chip and do they did