Spalletti: ‘Acerbi has to explain disrespect, Mancini must’ve been hacked’ | OneFootball

Luciano Spalletti admits Italy feel both ‘tension’ and intrigue for the World Cup qualifier against Norway, but hits back at Francesco Acerbi and jokes Roberto Mancini must’ve been ‘hacked.’

Their Group I fixtures begin on Friday in Oslo against Norway, then hosting Moldova in Reggio Emilia on Monday evening.

“We are happy to be playing a game of this level,” Spalletti told Sky Sport Italia.

“We feel mid-way between the tension and the importance of the match, but also the attraction of something unique that we are challenging for.”

Injury crisis for Italy

Italy tactical training – Football Italia exclusive

The coach is dealing with an injury crisis, which just seems to be getting worse by the day, as Fiorentina striker Moise Kean is the latest casualty.

“We did have a few more players in those roles and I wasn’t sure who to leave out, but now I can at least include everyone and not have to leave them in the stands, because we’ve only got 21 and no more than 16 can actually play.

“At times, the best players are used in the final minutes, because that’s when the games are decided. We are in the condition to have both first choice and reserves ready to play a great game,” assured Spalletti.

There were reports after the training sessions at Coverciano that Italy would adapt their tactics to a 3-4-2-1 formation with Sandro Tonali or Davide Frattesi in a more advanced role supporting the striker.

“In order to keep the ball and control the game, we need the quality of midfielders, they are the ones who get most touches. Throughout the Nations League, we saw good responses from that approach, so we’ll try to repeat something that we know well.

“There is the creativity and quality to make something good. This is the match that can take us to the World Cup, so we’ll play with all the quality that we have.”

Spalletti hits back at Acerbi claims

epa11651139 Italy’s head coach Luciano Spalletti attends a press conference at Olimpico stadium in Rome, Italy, 09 October 2024. Italy face Belgium in a UEFA Nations League soccer match on 10 October 2024 in Rome. EPA-EFE/ETTORE FERRARI

The biggest injury crisis is in defence, where players like Alessandro Buongiorno, Matteo Gabbia and Riccardo Calafiori were all forced to withdraw.

While Giovanni Di Lorenzo and Alessandro Bastoni are practically guaranteed in the back three, who else will be marking Erling Haaland?

“I already made my choice, we’ve got alternatives like Diego Coppola and Daniele Rugani. I found Rugani to have exceptional focus and had already tracked him during the season. Francesco Farioli told me great things about him at Ajax and confessed he couldn’t wait to get back into the Nazionale.”

FLORENCE, ITALY – OCTOBER 15: Serie A defender Francesco Acerbi of Italy looks on during a training session at Centro Tecnico Federale di Coverciano on October 15, 2023 in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images)

The same cannot be said of Acerbi, as the Inter centre-back sensationally turned down the call-up, insisting he felt disrespected by Spalletti.

“One day, Acerbi will explain to me where it is that I showed him disrespect. And I will tell him what I think about respect for what he did to me and above all to the Italy squad,” responded the coach.

There was also controversy when former Italy coach Roberto Mancini seemingly put a ‘like’ on social media to the Acerbi message about this decision.

“Either someone stole his phone or is going around putting likes on things to make him look bad,” joked Spalletti.

“Nowadays phones are always getting hacked, so I couldn’t possibly think otherwise…”