Roberto Mancini had suddenly resigned as Italy’s national coach – shortly afterwards Luciano Spalletti was named as his successor. So everything is settled? Not at all! The federation and Mancini are currently dueling in a kind of mud-slinging match.
He “didn’t kill anyone”, “deserves respect” and a possibly lucrative offer from Saudi Arabia had “nothing to do with my resignation” anyway. With these statements, Roberto Mancini recently defended himself against criticism of his decision to resign as Italian national coach one year before the European Championship.
Mancini also stressed that for him, “the Italian national team has always had priority”. But why throw in the towel? Differences of opinion with federation president Gabriele Gravina are said to have been the decisive factor. Said Gravina is now hitting back – and thus ushering in the second round in this kind of mud-slinging.
Gravina “doesn’t want to add fuel to the fire, but … “
“I never talked him into the line-up or recommended him to nominate this or that player. Unlike other presidents, I have never been on the pitch. I don’t deserve these accusations,” the 69-year-old told Corriere della Sera.
Gravina did stress that he did not want to “add fuel to the fire and avoid further polemics” because “Roberto has always been a man of style”, but then clarified that the accusations had hit him. “They were very offensive accusations against my person. “
Mancini had complained that Gravine had interfered in the composition of the coaching staff. “I have never seen an association president change the staff of his head coach,” Mancini said. “For a year now he has wanted to do that. I made him understand that it was not possible. But then he took advantage of the expiry of some contracts.”
By name, this might have included ex-Wolfsburg and long-time Juve centre-back Andrea Barzagli. The 2006 World Cup winner had recently been promoted to assistant to Mancini, while the latter was given more powers – probably to compensate.
Gravina, for his part, now stresses that he never doubted Mancini. This, he says, is shown precisely by the fact that the coach had been given more power. “I gave him a contract until 2026. And made him coordinator of the U20s and U21s,” Gravina said. “So how can he say I didn’t have confidence in him? I really wonder why he said such things. Roberto knows very well that the opposite is the case. His reasoning is very weak.”
In general, the fault lies in Mancini’s behaviour. For his resignation was “a bolt from the blue”. “He never told me that he wanted to quit. I found out that he wanted to resign from his lawyer and his wife. I hold no grudge, but the timing of this divorce leaves me perplexed. After all that we have personally experienced together, I would have expected more from him. He should have looked me in the eye when he resigned. “
