Beppe Dossena, born in 1958, a former midfielder for Torino, Sampdoria and Italy who later worked as a coach, director and pundit, spoke to Tuttosport about Italy's 2-0 home defeat by Belgium in the match that marked Roberto Mancini's return to the bench, with Dossena a former team-mate of his at Sampdoria.
"Concerned after what you saw in Belgium v Italy? Very. Beyond the match itself, the fact is that we are not stopping a trend that we have been carrying with us for far too long now."
"Mancini admitted the first half was very negative, but he defended the performance in the second? The point is: what reassurance can an assessment like that give us? A coach must always say certain things and defend the work of his players, so I understand him, even if times have changed since we played. But at the same time I hope he was ruthless in the dressing room afterwards. Ruthless. Because he was absolutely right to say that on TV, but I believe he then felt the same as the rest of us."
