Drastic decision by the coach of the Italian national team: players will not be able to use the PlayStation in concentration

The narrow defeat against Macedonia in March 2022 still hurts Italy. That result condemned the last European champion to watch the World Cup in Qatar on television. But, with the arrival of Luciano Spalletti In mid-2023 the mentality has changed on the national team bench. This is how the coach himself explained it.

Through an extensive interview with La Gazzetta Dello Sport, the coach warned that he is not “satisfied” with what he sees today. “I need to build a strong team, I’m not satisfied with anything. I want to win the European Championship and then I want to win the World Cup. Then we can start immediately, but the speeches I give to the team are the ones that all Italians expect: We will go to Germany to win, not to participate. Our history requires it“he began to say.

This year the European Championships 2024 will be held in Germany and Italy is the reigning champion. Luciano Spalletti’s team will share group C with Albania, Spain and Croatia. The tournament will be played from 14 June to 14 July and the Azzurra will debut on 15 June against the Albanians in Dortmund.

The former Napoli, Inter and Roma player – among others – explained that, to achieve the goal he has in mind, the first step will be to change the team’s habits. “From now on they leave their PlayStations at home and don’t bring them anymore”the coach asked.

The response continued: “I’ll make up a little game for you to think about to distract you at night. They come to visit me and I give them homework to do in the evening if the day’s homework isn’t enough.. Because in the national team we stay the course, we concentrate, we don’t waste time. I repeat the All Blacks slogan: ‘There are no dicks here'”.

The question they asked Spalletti after his stance on PlayStation

“Do players have to leave anything else at home besides the PlayStation? Are cell phones allowed in the locker room?”they consulted the coach, who was firm in his position of preventing video games in the concentrations.

“I have to put up with cell phones, but they can’t be left on the massage table or during treatments. I talked about video games because there were things I didn’t like. I want to relive the meetings and retreats of the past: ancient customs and atmospheres. Simple things and healthy. And Buffon will help me with this. If modernity is playing PlayStation until 4 in the morning when there’s a game the next day, then modernity is no good“held.

Therefore, after clarifying his position and accusing some players of their attitudes, the coach issued a strong statement: “The national team comes to win the European Championships, not to win Call of Duty”.