Italy escape after serving up tactical lesson and a reminder - to Euro 2024 hopefuls and themselves
The IndependentSign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for free Sign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter Sign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Instead, Luciano Spalletti ensured the Azzurri were the first of the big guns to attempt to show their tactical proficiency in more than one distinct shape, altering their set-up from a back four and wide forwards in the opening two fixtures to line up 3-5-2 against Croatia in their decisive Group B encounter. Against Spain in particular, their wide players had failed to have any kind of impact and Federico Chiesa was one of those to pay the price, making way as Spalletti’s alterations saw a roving two-man strikeforce come into play, Gianluca Scamacca also pulled into bench duty, key man from the qualifying campaign Giacomo Raspadori replacing him and Matteo Darmian starting as a third central defender. And, for a period after the substitutions and system switch after Croatia’s go-ahead strike from Luka Modric - mere minutes after the same icon had seen a penalty saved - Italy were back in domination mode, the fast-moving, quick-thinking offensive play we saw in the opening minutes of their tournament. Italy’s attempt to find a second shape serves as a reminder and a warning for Euro 2024’s other big guns: even if matters are not perfect right now, change isn’t necessarily the answer.
History of this topic
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