Luciano Spalletti’s final press conference as Italy manager was raw, candid and tinged with frustration. He insisted he could not remain silent for two more days after being dismissed. He refused to peddle falsehoods. And while his voice cracked with disappointment, the issues he alluded to ran deeper than one man’s misfortune. Spalletti’s exit is not the problem. It is the symptom of a national team in slow, steady decline.
At the heart of Italy’s crisis is a simple truth: the Azzurri no longer possess a functional footballing identity. From Euro 2024 to their stuttering 2025 World Cup qualifying campaign, Italy have looked chaotic, toothless and fractured. Spalletti’s tactics constantly shifted, often within matches, and never once settled into a rhythm. The team played without coherence. One week it was a back three. Next, a flat four. Roles changed. Players were confused. Results deteriorated.
Nowhere was this disarray more evident than in the final third. Italy, once a nation famed for producing streetwise, instinctive forwards, now look lost up front. Euro 2024 exposed that vacuum in brutal fashion. There was no Totti, no Vieri, no real No. 9. The few promising attackers at Spalletti’s disposal either lacked confidence, service, or both. The goals dried up. The risk-taking vanished. Matches were lost not by lapses in defence, but by an inability to threaten.
But the most damaging issue may not have come from tactics or selections. It came from within. Francesco Acerbi’s public refusal to wear the national shirt again under Spalletti was not just a player sulking. It was a symbolic rupture in team unity and discipline. When a senior international walks away citing a lack of respect, it signals deep dysfunction. It points to a culture where authority is contested, where mutual trust between coach and dressing room has evaporated.
Spalletti himself admitted mistakes. He conceded some of his choices failed. He even confessed to sleepless nights. But he never quit. “I did not resign,” he said. “You sacked me. I signed the release because money has never been a problem. The national team is not a club.” Those words matter. He wanted to stay. He believed he could still qualify for the World Cup. But the cracks, both in the system and the squad, had already widened beyond repair.
The Italian Football Federation now turns to Claudio Ranieri, a respected figure who commands loyalty and calm. But the problems he inherits cannot be solved with charisma or nostalgia. Italy must urgently build a new attacking generation. They must restore tactical consistency. And they must heal a fractured team culture where loyalty to the badge outweighs egos or grievances.
Spalletti is gone. The rot remains. Until Italy confronts the failings that stretch beyond the dugout, they risk drifting further from the elite stage they once dominated.
