A sentence dropped in the postgame made noise. And perhaps, said between the lines, it already indicated the direction. Time for one last game, then a decisive confrontation. From there on, anything can happen. Even something that already seemed to have faded
Spalletti, addio Italia: c’è già la sua prossima squadra (AnsaFoto) – serieanews.com
Let’s play the next one and then I will talk to Gravina. A seemingly neutral phrase, but one that sounds like a dismissal. And indeed that is how more than a few in the Federation took it. The Oslo defeat was not just a defeat. It almost seemed like the surrender of a project, and perhaps also of a man who, after reaching the highest point of his career, found himself trapped in a context that did not resemble him.
The 3-0 loss to Norway is not even the main problem. The real problem is that there was never a moment during that match when Italy seemed to be able to react. Not a surge of pride, not a hint of reaction. The exact opposite of what Spalletti has always built into his teams. And that is perhaps part of the reason why, proclamations aside, he is seriously beginning to question whether it makes sense to stay.
There are those in FIGC who still support it, but they are fewer and fewer. The three-man defense seemed to have put things in order, had given some signs in terms of world qualification, but then Oslo came along. And it’s as if everything collapsed again. The possibility of skipping the third consecutive World Cup is real, concrete. And no, it is not just a technical problem. It is a historical risk.
Spalletti, this he knows. And perhaps because of that he feels the best thing to do, for everyone, is to sit down and talk about it. With Gravina. After the next game. Maybe even before that.
Spalletti alla Juventus: che scenario clamoroso con Conte al Napoli
But in the meantime, the future is moving. Under the radar, but it moves. Because Luciano Spalletti, despite everything, is not one to sit still for long. After a lifetime of chasing a Scudetto that seemed more and more a mirage, he won it with Napoli and got everything he deserved. At 65. Late, but early enough that he has not yet lost the will to amaze.
Spalletti alla Juventus: che scenario clamoroso con Conte al Napoli (AnsaFoto) – serieanews.com
And in fact there is already a team thinking about it. In fact, they are reconsidering. Because Spalletti had already been a concrete idea when he left Naples. We are talking about Juventus. Which at the time had Giuntoli just arrived and no real chance of snatching him from the FIGC. Now, however, times have changed.
Tudor is in the saddle, but no one has really promised him anything. He will coach at the Club World Cup, sure. But after that? No one knows. Juve is an open building site, and every building site, sooner or later, calls for an architect with strong ideas. Spalletti, today, is probably the most influential name free or releasable. And with Giuntoli relations are excellent, famously.
It would be surreal, but also very Italian soccer: Spalletti with the Napoli tattoo on the Bianconeri bench, and Conte – a true Juventus fan – on the Napoli bench. But this is soccer. And it is not the first time it has taken the strangest paths to get to the right places.
Of course, it remains to be seen how Napoli fans would take it. But with Conte there, the matter is already closed. There is no room for other feelings. Nor for looking back.
This article Spalletti to Juventus, is it really possible? Yes, but imagine this scenario appeared in its original version first on SerieANews.
