Spalletti: ‘Italy coach can have no alibis, I did not make the difference’

Luciano Spalletti admits he ‘did not make the difference’ as Italy coach and recognises he should’ve picked fresher players after a ‘struggle’ to beat Moldova 2-0 ended his reign.

He already knew that this would be his final game in charge of the Nazionale, having been fired in the wake of Friday’s 3-0 defeat to Norway.

The coach had asked his players to let him bow out with a victory and they did that, seeing off Moldova in Reggio Emilia, albeit with more difficulty than anyone wanted.

Giacomo Raspadori scored just before half-time and Andrea Cambiaso added another for the 2-0 result, but Moldova had a few chances too.

Spalletti’s Italy tenure is over

“It’s true, we struggled tonight too. However, there are too many components behind this. And we confirmed what we’d seen before,” Spalletti told RAI Sport.

“I maintained this group, but I found them really fatigued at this stage of the season. Perhaps seeking someone in better physical shape might’ve helped, but the fact we have 25 players all a bit like this means the campaign really took it out on everyone.

“One of the biggest problems was playing the very first game, the most difficult of the group in Oslo, right at the end of the season. It’s bad luck with the draw.

“This will be a very different team in much better shape come September, so the timing didn’t help us.”

Do the players also not have to take on some share of the responsibility when performances like the one in Norway were so poor?

“When someone is the coach of the Nazionale, he cannot have alibis, because he chooses the players. If he sees the players are exhausted, he should seek someone else,” added Spalletti.

“I chose these players because I thought they could give us a response. We saw the pressure and physicality weighing on them after the Norway game, so that added to it.”

Now there will be a different coach on the Italy bench when they play the next World Cup qualifiers in September, as Spalletti bows out after under two years.

“We certainly are not leaving my successor a sense of enthusiasm, despite the positive response from the fans. The coach has to make the difference, the players have to make the difference, and unfortunately I did not make the difference,” he smiled sadly.