Luciano Spalletti Shoulders Blame For Italy's Premature Euro 2024 Departure

Luciano Spalletti has accepted responsibility for Italy's Euro 2024 exit, attributing their poor performances partly to his limited preparation time. The defending champions were knocked out in the last 16 on Saturday, with Remo Freuler and Ruben Vargas scoring as Switzerland secured a deserved 2-0 win in Berlin.

Spalletti, who took over as Italy coach last September after Roberto Mancini left for the Saudi Arabia job, highlighted his late appointment during the post-match press conference. "I have to say this, even if it may seem like I'm looking for alibis. Before this competition the other coaches had 20 or 30 games," he said. "I had 10 and I already had a gun pointed at me, saying that I had to win."

This defeat marks Italy's first loss in a knockout game at the Euros since the 2012 final against Spain (90 minutes only), ending a streak of six unbeaten matches in such scenarios (three wins, three draws). The reigning champions have now been eliminated in the round of 16 at three consecutive editions of the tournament. Spain was ousted by Italy in 2016, and Portugal fell to Belgium at Euro 2020.

Spalletti also mentioned injuries affecting key players as a factor in their lacklustre performance. "Then we had several injured players that I was counting on, and today we saw that in terms of the intensity we were inferior," he added. "Switzerland qualified in a fair way."

When asked about his future as Italy coach following their worst Euros performance since the group-stage exit in 2004, Spalletti expressed no intention of stepping down but acknowledged changes are necessary. "It's a natural question, don't feel guilty for asking me," he responded. "It changes nothing for me in the sense that I take responsibility for what happened."

He continued by taking ownership of team selection and performance issues: "I picked the players. I am not happy with the performance we produced or the performance against Spain. I am partially happy with the other two matches we played."

Reflecting on his decisions, Spalletti noted adjustments made after previous games: "This time I rested them up and changed the team. After the previous game, I blamed it on myself, regardless of team selection, for not making too many changes."

The Italian coach's tenure began under challenging circumstances with high expectations despite limited preparation time and player injuries impacting their campaign.

The Azzurri's early exit from Euro 2024 highlights areas needing improvement as they look ahead to future competitions under Spalletti's leadership.