Italy without Acerbi: how Spalletti’s starting 11 changes. The two hypotheses

Italy without Acerbi, how Luciano Spalletti’s national team changes

Francesco Acerbi had to succumb to groin pain. The Inter defender will undergo surgery on Monday to definitively resolve a problem he had lived with during the season and will have to give up the European Championships where he would have been the protagonist with the Italian national team shirt. A problem for Luciano Spalletti who loses a starter from his defense. Juventus player Federico Gatti has been pre-alerted, but already among the 29 players called up, there is no shortage of alternatives for the Azzurri defence. However, the module on which the national coach will aim is to be understood.

So how will Italy change without Acerbi? Two hypotheses on the pitch: 4-3-3 or 3-5-2?

Italy without Acerbi: 4-3-3

The first hypothesis of the Italian national team involves a 4-man defencewith By Lorenzo and Dimarco full backs (Darmian, Bellanova and Cambiaso behind them) and in the middle the duo composed of Good morning and Bastoni (and alternatives are luxury: Mancini, Scalvini and Calafiori) to protect the goalkeeper (Donnarumma) and with a 3-man midfield made up of Stretcher and Pellegrini mezzali e Jorginho director (Critante and Frattesi on the bench ready to seize the opportunity). In front of? The trident Scamacca (Retegui his deputy), Chiesa and Raspadori (but watch out for El Shaarawy).

Italy without Acerbi: 3-5-2

The second hypothesis leads to Italy with a 3-man defense, which follows the lines of the championship of a championship dominated by Inter and the experiments already seen in March in the friendlies with Venezuela and Ecuador. In this case, Darmian-Good morning-Wands the wall in front of Donnarumma. Midfield 5: By Lorenzo-Dimarco from full-backs (in the 4-man formation) to even more full-back men (Bellanova-Cambiaso alternatives) with Barella-Jorginho-Pellegrini and a two-man attack Scamacca-Chiesa (Raspadori in this formation would perhaps be a little more likely to start from the bench compared to the 4-3-3).

Italy, Spalletti: ‘Fagioli is a technical choice, he deserves compensation’

“When we are in the national team we think differently, we are always convinced that we can feel good because we can go fishing in many elements, in many players. If we immediately ask ourselves what we lack, we start badly, we have everything we need to do well. Beans is first and foremost a technical choice, then for the rest they are two slightly different stories compared to Paolo Rossi. Fagioli has that quality, that flair. He lacks the body, the physical clash, but I called him to have more things available that make you manage the game, the attempt to find more things to have the ball for us. Then the field will evaluate whether we made the right choice or the wrong one.” The coach of the Italian national team, Luciano Spalletti, said this: in the press conference at the start of the rally in Coverciano ahead of the 2024 European Championship in Germany, regarding the call-up of Juventus midfielder Nicolò Fagioli, after having served a disqualification for the betting case.

“I spoke to him on the day of the Italian Cup final in Rome, I was lucky that Juventus was there so I could talk to him and he made an excellent impression on me. I think she also deserves a little understanding, she didn’t bet on her things but because she was in the throes of a moment of difficulty and couldn’t manage to defend herself from this temptation. It was purely a technical choice”, added the coach.