Giuseppe Rossi hails Spalletti, weighs in on Bastoni-Kalulu episode: “I hate this stuff” | OneFootball

Retired Italian striker Giuseppe Rossi reveals himself as a fan of Luciano Spalletti, whom he tips to succeed at Juventus.

The Bianconeri appointed the 66-year-old as a replacement for Igor Tudor when they decided to wield the axe on the Croatian’s tenure last October.

This decision largely paid dividends, as the team’s results and performances noticeably improved under Spalletti’s watch, especially between December and January.

Giuseppe Rossi backs Luciano Spalletti to succeed at Juventus

Unfortunately for Spalletti, a super-packed February schedule took its toll on his thin squad, as Juventus were eliminated from the Champions League and the Coppa Italia, while dropping behind Roma and Como in the race for fourth place in the Serie A table.

Nevertheless, Giuseppe Rossi believes Juventus could be on the right track despite their recent struggles.

“They started off great, they had a great beginning of this year,” noted the Manchester United academy product in his interview with The Italian Football Podcast.

“These last months, the results have been difficult. In the last game against Roma, you saw a good reaction, coming back to 3-3.

“Games like this always give you the kind of belief that youre better than what our league position says. That’s what I hope for them.”

The former Villarreal and Fiorentina striker believes the Bianconeri should tie down Spalletti, who is the perfect man for the job, but urges the club to add a few more experienced players to their ranks.

“I’m a big fan of Spalletti. I love the way that he manages a team. They have the right manager. He came in mid-season, so things are a bit different to what he is used to. Let’s see if he’s able to get them to finish the right way

“I think they have the right players; they have the right core players. Can they go out there and have the right mix between veterans and young players? I think they are very heavy on the young side.

“Maybe if they can get a good core of veterans that understand the Juve way of doing stuff, they will be sound going into next season.”

Rossi faults VAR rules for failing to overturn Pierre Kalulu’s red card

During the same interview with the Italian Football Podcast, Rossi was asked to comment on the Derby d’Italia debacle between Alessandro Bastoni and Pierre Kalulu.

The Inter defender deceived the referee by taking a fall, which resulted in a second yellow card for the Juventus man.

This episode caused a major outcry in Italian football, especially since the VAR wasn’t able to intervene due to the current regulations.

Nevertheless, Rossi doesn’t condemn Bastoni’s act, although he insists he’s not a fan of this sort of gamesmanship.

“Listen, on the field, you do anything to win. And if Bastoni thought that was the thing to do, then for him it was the thing to do

“It worked. They were able to have one guy more [on the pitch]. And ultimately win the game. Can you fault him? No. Do I like it? No, I hate that type of stuff. But can you fault him? No, you can’t fault him. Unfortunately, it’s all part of the game

“What I do, fault, what I don’t understand is the VAR. These are the things that VAR should look at  and say, ‘no, it’s not a red card, it’s a yellow card for Bastoni for diving’.

“What the hell is the VAR for? It doesn’t make any sense. I don’t fault Bastoni, but I don’t like it. I fault the VAR and I fault whatever these damn rules regarding the VAR.

“And all this, saying that he should not go to the national team, is BS. Everybody does something that’s on the limits of the rules in order to gain an advantage. If that’s the case him not going on the national team, then we have no national team.”