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Emanuele Tramacere
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How Mancini’s Italy play: “Two strikers or 4-3-3, playing well and enjoying ourselves”

Italy
Italy vs Belgium
Belgium
UEFA Nations League A
Turkiye vs Italy
Turkiye
Italy vs Turkiye
France vs Italy
France

4-3-3 or 4-3-1-2? Who plays on the left? Without wingers, so many doubts up front.

The new Italy under Roberto Mancini officially began today with his first press conference at Coverciano, kicking off the national team's work ahead of the four Nations League matches against Belgium, France and Turkey.

Mancini's first round of call-ups has brought in plenty of new faces while keeping faith with several familiar ones. The head coach set out what his creed is and will be, and how he will try to pass it on to the team. He has also already offered some technical and tactical clues. How will Italy play in their next outings? Let's try to explain it.


  • "Good football and having fun"

    "If I had called up older players there would have been criticism... I called up young players because it is right to get to know them directly in order to have a strong team in the future. Football evolves, and often you have to change in order to reach certain objectives. We will try to do something good and positive; it will take time, but we will put everything into it."

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  • Many formations, but a back four

    The idea is clear and the aim is attractive football, but how do they get there tactically? Mancini left the debate over the system open, but made it clear that the starting point will be a back four, something many of the players will have to adapt to:

    "System? Aside from a few injured players, we'll see. We're open to any tactical setup: we can play with two strikers, with a 4-3-3, but also in other ways. The players are capable of doing many things even if at their clubs they play in a different way. We'll start training and then we'll see over the next few days."

  • The likely

    Mancini has always prioritised a 4-3-3, but with so many centre-forwards available, the two-striker option can't be ignored.


    Looking at the call-ups, and above all the absentees who could have had a major impact on the head coach's choices, with Dimarco chief among them, his ideal starting XI looks like a fluid 4-3-3 that can shift into a 4-3-1-2 when needed.


    In goal is captain Donnarumma. Mancini and Bastoni would start in central defence, with Calafiori at left-back in the Arsenal mould and Kayode on the right, while waiting for Palestra in the future. In midfield, Barella and Tonali could line up alongside Alessandro Romano in the holding role from the outset, although Frattesi as the runner with Tonali as the deep-lying playmaker also remains an option.

    Up front, Kean and Pio Esposito will start, with the Como striker expected to drift left and one of Daniel Maldini and Samuele Inacio in the attacking midfield role with licence to pull wide to the right.


    Italy (4-3-3/4-3-1-2): Donnarumma, Kayode, Mancini, Bastoni, Calafiori; Barella, Romano, Tonali; Maldini, Pio Esposito, Kean.

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