MANCINI SURPRISED BY ITALY, NOTES THAT PELLEGRINI ‘NOT A 10 LIKE TOTTI’ | SPORTSON
MANCINI SURPRISED BY ITALY, NOTES That PELLEGRINI ‘NOT A 10 LIKE TOTTI’ | Sportson

Roberto
Mancini admits he ‘did not expect’ Italy to be doing so well after the massive
Nations League revamp, while he defines Lorenzo Pellegrini’s particular set of
skills. ‘He’s not a 10 like Francesco Totti.’
The
Azzurri remain top of the Nations League group with five points, ahead of
Hungary on four, Germany three and England just two after this 0-0 draw in
Wolverhampton.
Mancini su Pellegrini: "Non è Totti o Giannini ma può diventare un giocatore strepitoso" https://t.co/JiodtvmZYG
— TUTTOmercatoWEB (@TuttoMercatoWeb) June 11, 2022
Whoever finishes bottom of the group at the conclusion of this
stage will be relegated into Nations League B, whereas the leaders go into the
Final Four tournament.
When going into the competition, Mancini repeatedly warned he
would take risks with new faces and that could well mean losing a few games for
the long-term project, but instead they’ve seemed more solid than the group of
veterans who won EURO 2020.
“I’ll be honest, I did not expect this, I thought it’d be
worse,” confessed Mancini in his press conference.
“We still have a lot to work on, there’s a long road ahead full
of dangers. We certainly need to score more goals and if Davide Frattesi had
scored in the opening five minutes, it would’ve been a different game. He’ll
get it next time.
“I didn’t expect us to do so well in these three weeks together.
It’s important that we haven’t changed our style of football, even when the
personnel did.”
Italy have one more Nations League match to play before the season comes to a close, visiting Germany on Tuesday evening, but Sandro Tonali is suspended and Alessandro Florenzi sent home.
Get Premier Sports to watch Germany vs. Italy in the Nations League.
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Federico Gatti was given his Italy debut and played the full 90
minutes, despite the fact he’s never even played in Serie A before.
The
Frosinone defender was purchased by Juventus in January and left in Serie B for the rest
of the season on loan.
“If I play Gatti, it’s because I think he can become an
excellent defender for the future. The same goes for Sandro Tonali, he is 22
years old, but one of the best midfielders in Italy.”
Pellegrini
featured in all three Nations League matches so far, so Mancini reserved some
very special praise for the versatile Roma captain. Have Italy found their Number 10?
“Pellegrini has his own style of football, he’s not a 10 like
Giuseppe Giannini, nor a 10 like Francesco Totti. I think he can become much
better with time, because he is so good at both attacking and defending. At
times he loses balls he shouldn’t, but if he improves that and a couple of
other things, he can become simply extraordinary.”
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