Italy boss Luciano Spalletti explains the reasons behind the omissions of Lazio captain Mattia Zaccagni and his teammate Nicolo Rovella.
The Azzurri will resume their UEFA Nations League campaign with a contest against Belgium on Thursday. Although the clash will take place at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, the Biancocelesti won’t have a single representative on their own turf. That’s because neither Zaccagni nor Rovella received a call.
Zaccagni Asked to Stay Out
In his pre-match press conference (via La Lazio Siamo Noi), Spalletti insisted the 3-5-2 system hasn’t impeded the chances of the Lazio captain, but he was left out based on his own request.
We don’t sacrifice anyone in the sake of the 3-5-2 formation. We don’t want to prevent anyone from joining. Zaccagni asked to stay out because he has a problem to fix.
Spalletti Chose Others over Rovella
On the other hand, the former Napoli and Roma coach explained that he simply excluded the in-form Rovella because he chose another two young midfielders with almost similar characteristics, in a reference to Nicolo Fagioli and Samuele Ricci.
Concering Rovella, we have two other midfielders who are young like him and have proved themselves on the the pitch. We preferred these two. Had I called up Rovella, you would have asked me why I didn’t call up the other two who had also done well.
But they have the same qualities, they are young players with a big future and who still have much room for improvement. Rovella was in the preliminary list. I could have brought him over and repeat what I did on a previous occasion, when I had to keep some players out during training sessions.
