Spalletti vows to stay on as Italy coach
Luciano Spalletti has said Italian fans have not seen the best he can offer yet after it was confirmed he would remain as Azzurri coach.
The former Napoli boss promised that he will continue to freshen up Italy's squad, adding he has not been given the answers he wanted from the selection he made for Euro 2024.
Italy put in a poor display as it lost 2-0 to Switzerland on Sunday, with the holder crashing out of the tournament having managed just one win from four games.
FIGC president Gabriele Gravina reiterated the organisation's backing of Spalletti, who replaced Roberto Mancini last year.
"We have nothing to hide, but we must continue to take responsibility," Gravina said. "There was a long chat with the coach yesterday and I think that it is unthinkable to solve the problems by abandoning a multi-year project after eight to nine months.
"Central to our project is a coach who has been here for nine to 10 months, who has not always had all the players available."
Spalletti's task will be to guide Italy to the 2026 World Cup, with the Azzurri having failed to qualify for the last two editions of that competition.
But the 65 year-old wants to do that by "rejuvenating" Italy's squad.
The Azzurri had the fifth-youngest squad at Euro 2024, with an average age of 26 years and 348 days when the tournament began.
"Yesterday's match took us back down to zero and we'll start again from there," Spalletti said. "I will rejuvenate this squad and try to create a group.
"I wasn't given the answers I was looking for regarding leadership. The future will be younger with new energy and strength.
"You haven't seen [the best of me] over these 10 months.
"I was told that I raised the intensity in training too much, that I told fairytales to motivate the players, but that's my life. You always need examples to follow otherwise there is no path to follow.
"I came in when there was an immediate urgency for results and given what was required, we were looking good up to a certain point. We were unable to grow in this mini-journey we took yesterday, we took a significant step backwards and that cannot be accepted. But we will start again from there. I know what to do and I will put it into practice."
