Mancini steers hybrid Azzurri into fast lane
HYBRID vehicles are very much in vogue, and Roberto Mancini’s Italian take on that idea is busy motoring towards Euros glory.
He has married Italy’s traditional defensive solidity, with fresh attacking verve.
The result is a team excelling at both ends.
The Italians are now on an 11-game winning run, during which they have scored 32 goals – and conceded none. And next up are Austria in the last 16.
Mancini, below, has also equalled legendary double World Cupwinning coachVittorio Pozzo’s record run of 30 matches unbeaten, set in the 1930s.
Former Manchester City boss Mancini liked to play attacking football during his successful reign at the Etihad – though his Italy are more like Liverpool.
Like Jurgen Klopp, he plays 4-3-3 and the full-backs get forward like wingers.
His two centrehalves, usually the vastly-experienced Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini, anchor the defence and Jorginho provides a protective screen.
The other five outfield players attack – this is a side playing with a freedom not normally associated with the Azzurri.
Mancini has blended together a potent mix of young and old players too – with no high-maintenance egos. Federico Chiesa – man of the match in the 1-0 victory overWales on Sunday – claims the players fully buy into Mancini’s ‘the team is the star’ philosophy.
Juventus forward Chiesa said: “There’s a lot of electricity in the air, the atmosphere among the players is great.
“The manager is responsible for that and he has instilled enthusiasm in the group over the last couple of years.We are very close-knit.
“The manager considers all the guys in the squad as starters – he doesn’t look at anyone differently.We don’t have 11 starters, we have 26 starters.
“Everybody is working together to achieve the goal and the goal is big.”
Chiesa is bullish about Italy’s chances of adding to their only Euros success in 1968, when they hosted the tournament.
He added: “We are here to win the tournament.As a team everyone is right to dream about winning.
“To get to the final, we will have to play against the strongest teams. I think we can win against them, I think we can win against anyone.
“We have a great style of play, so we should not be afraid of these teams.
“We are playing well, scoring goals and not conceding goals, so we should be confident.”