Luciano Spalletti was one of the coaches to speak at Coverciano today ahead of the Panchina d’Oro ceremony and spoke on the advancements in coaching since he began in 1995.
“I think we have made some important steps forward in the way of coaching. When I started out as a coach you did not pass the ball back to the goalkeeper, nowadays the two central defenders are the real directors of the team.”
Spalletti then spoke on the difference between his Inter and Barcelona, who they have played twice in the Champions League group stage.
“It is not easy because when you ask the players to always be careful about some things, they lose a little creativity in their play. I said that when we faced Barcelona, they [Barcelona] only need to turn it on for a few minutes to get what they need but if we were to do it we would lose because Barcelona are quicker than us. We can’t just do one phase or the other, we have to do both, we have to relax ourselves and always enter the field with maximum concentration.
“For me it was very difficult. I think that winning the ball in their half gives you a huge advantage but we did not succeed because they are so good at managing possession. We had to risk a lot both in the first leg and in the second leg by pressing them.”