Luciano Spalletti Departs, Claims Italy Not in a Strong Position for His Successor

Luciano Spalletti helmed the Italian national team for the last time on Monday, and although his squad managed to secure a victory, the dismissed manager acknowledged that he is leaving the team in a less-than-ideal state for his successor, admitting he fell short in enhancing their performance.

Spalletti paid the price for a humiliating 3-0 defeat in Norway last Friday, which significantly hampered Italy’s World Cup qualifying efforts from the outset. An unconvincing 2-0 win at home against Moldova was certainly not the farewell he had envisioned.

“I am disheartened by the outcome,” Spalletti remarked during his final media conference.

“I am unable to hand over a strong national team to my successor because we didn’t deliver our best performance tonight either. I was given the chance to do this job; I gave it my all, made my fair share of mistakes, and even experimented at times.

“I strive to learn from every experience; I don’t assume I’m the smartest in the room. I wasn’t able to extract the best from these players, and I recognise that.”

Spalletti revealed his departure just before the Moldova match, concluding a tenure that lasted less than two years and was marred by a disappointing Euro 2024 campaign. Although stepping down was never on his mind, he admitted that he has not been able to turn things around.

“Taking on the role of national team coach requires you to seek solutions. You can’t simply rely on a lack of players as an excuse,” Spalletti stated.

“I didn’t perform well, and in some respects, it’s just that I go home. However, I didn’t resign because I believe I can achieve better results. But if I’m told that my time is up, then I’ll accept the resolution of my contract.”

“I’m leaving the national team in the same condition as I found it—unchanged.”

Italy has yet to announce his successor, with Claudio Ranieri reportedly the frontrunner for the role. When asked if he had any words of wisdom for the next coach, Spalletti responded:

“When I first arrived, I tried to invigorate things, but perhaps the outcomes were even worse than before,” he reflected.

“You can only truly assess whether you made the right decisions with hindsight; I put in significant effort and explored various approaches.

“I wish the best for the federation and for the new coach who will take over.”