Luciano Spalletti on Italy exit: “I had no intention of giving up” | OneFootball

Luciano Spalletti has left the Italy national team role and will manage his last game as boss tomorrow. But he has now revealed that he has been sacked and had no intention of leaving.

Reports have claimed that the veteran is resigning as manager but that has now been trashed by the manager, who has stated that it is FIGC who have sacked him and the decision was made after multiple meetings with Gabriele Gravina.

He stated, via TMW: “Last night I spent a good amount of time with the president and he told me that I will be relieved of my duties as coach of the national team. I was sorry, but given the relationship we have, I had no intention of giving up. Especially when things aren’t going well, I prefer to stay in my place and continue to do my job.”

“But then I’m fired and I have to take note of that. I have a very good relationship with Gravina and I have to take note of that. Some negative results have come out and it’s right that we all look for the best together. I will terminate my contract, tomorrow night I’ll be on the bench and I’ll collect until tomorrow night.”

He made it clear that he loves the Italy national team and wants to win the game against Moldova tomorrow night and wants to make sure that his replacement has an easier task.

“Even if I would have continued, I have to accept it. Winning and convincing tomorrow night will certainly be important to open the cycle for those who come after me. I love this shirt, the players I have coached, and tomorrow night I will ask them to demonstrate everything they have. I haven’t managed to make them be the best they are, I have I saw many players below par for their potential.”

He also revealed that he feels bad for not having taken to the levels that he expected them to be at and he is quite disappointed with him.

“I’m sorry for myself, accepting it I knew that there would be moments that were a bit difficult to go through, to enter into situations. Instead then I didn’t succeed, even the game on Friday… You were also kind in commenting on it, maybe I deserved even worse. I saw understanding towards me, availability and comprehension. I’m disappointed with what the results are that I achieved. I created problems for the movement with my results, I was convinced that I could have done differently but I didn’t succeed. I’m disappointed with myself.”

He was asked about what he could have done differently in his stint, the Italian said:

“I was convinced that we could reach the World Cup… And I remain convinced, this national team can get there. My world doesn’t collapse when certain games are lost, there are limits. However, the players are below par and by a lot because these are strong players. Brooding over the past is another waste of time, you always look forward. You can’t touch the past.”

Kaustubh Pandey I GIFN