The new, modern Italy
With Mancini’s Italy, you could argue that his appointment has prompted not so much a change of tactics, as a change of mentality. Successful and traditional Italian “defence first” methods have given way to a more modern approach, even if his team concedes few goals.
Mancini’s Italy are not afraid to take the game to their opponents, to rely on the lightweight talent of Italo-Brazilian Jorginho, Marco Verratti and Nicolo Barella in midfield, as well as Federico Chiesa and Lorenzo Insigne in attack.
In theory, his side lines up in a 4-3-3, a formation that can become 4-1-4-1 if and when Jorginho (or Manuel Locatelli) sits deep in defence and when wide men Chiesa and Insigne drop back to leave Ciro Immobile (or Andrea Belotti) up front as the central target man.
By orthodox Italy standards, this team defends high up the field, ready to take an obvious risk, whilst the full-backs move forward into wide attacking roles. For many modern teams, this is normal enough but, for Italy, the requisite high work rate seems almost revolutionary.
In the qualifiers it worked wonders, but will it hold up against tougher opposition?