Inside Italy’s broken Euro 2024 dressing room, from moaning about training to anger at call-up for ‘snitch’
ITALY suffered from a broken dressing room during Euro 2024, according to reports.
The defending champions were dumped out by Switzerland in the last 16 on Saturday.
Manager Luciano Spalletti made multiple excuses for their exit after the defeat.
Meanwhile, his future has been clarified, with his contract running until after the 2026 World Cup.
The news may come as a blow to several Italy stars, though, amid reports of unhappiness within their camp in Iserlohn.
According to La Repubblica, part of the squad felt distanced from Spalletti and his ideas during the tournament.
Several players are said to have been left confused by his tactics and training methods, leading to a lack of commitment during sessions.
The report adds that multiple small groups formed within the dressing room, with Spalletti lacking a leader to bring the squad together.
Other players accused Spalletti of a lack of preparation and claimed there was no intensity in his style of play.
It came after they were left shocked by a series of tactical alterations to the team just two hours before their final group match against Croatia.
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Spalletti’s late decision is understood to have left some players feeling excluded from the side.
Meanwhile, several members of the team were privately unhappy with the inclusion of Nicolo Fagioli.
The Juventus midfielder was allegedly seen as a “snitch” after exposing Sandro Tonali’s involvement in a betting scandal.
Fagioli was handed a seven-month ban in October for breaching betting rules before returning in May.
However, Tonali was banned for 10 months by the Italian FA, causing the Newcastle star to miss Euro 2024.
Spalletti named Fagioli in his squad following his return to action, with the 23-year-old playing nine minutes off the bench against Croatia before starting the Switzerland defeat.
Italy began their campaign with a 2-1 victory over Albania, but were then beaten by Spain.
Mattia Zaccagni’s 98th minute equaliser against Croatia sealed progression as group runners-up at the expense of their opponents.
Goals from Remo Freuler and Ruben Vargas sealed a comfortable victory for Switzerland in the round of 16, though.
Spalletti has been in charge since September, winning seven of his 14 matches as manager.
He will now turn his attention to the Nations League before Italy bid to end their World Cup exile.
The Azzurri have failed to qualify for either of the last two tournaments, their longest ever absence from the World Cup.