New Italy head coach Luciano Spalletti has encouraged his players to "find improvements" after being held to a "messy" 1-1 draw by North Macedonia in Euro 2024 qualifying on Saturday.
Spalletti experienced his first game in the Azzurri dugout after replacing Roberto Mancini last month, and he appeared to be on course to secure a slender debut victory courtesy of a header two minutes after the break from new captain Ciro Immobile.
However, North Macedonia – who stunned Italy with a 1-0 win in a World Cup playoff semi-final last year – valiantly restored parity nine minutes from time courtesy of a beautiful free kick from Enis Bardhi, and the two nations eventually settled for a point each.
Reigning champions Italy have picked up just four points from their opening three Group C games in Euro 2024 qualifying and find themselves three points behind Ukraine in second place, while group leaders England are nine points ahead of the Azzurri, albeit having played two games more.
Italy have the chance to climb up to second place in Group C when they play host to Ukraine next Tuesday, and Spalletti is keen to see a response from his players despite acknowledging their "decent" performance in Skopje.
Speaking to RAI Sport and Sky Sport Italia, as quoted by Football Italia, Spalletti said: "The suffering was when the game got messy and we were not ready to recreate the defensive solidity, so the clearances were often recaptured by their midfielders.
WHAT A MOMENT! 😱😱
— Viaplay Sports UK (@ViaplaySportsUK) September 9, 2023
An absolutely beautiful free kick from Enis Bardhi levels it up between North Macedonia and Italy 🎯#EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/sNQv3NDjrW
"However, the team played a decent game that we can work on. We didn't allow them much and we lacked the patience to make the right passes, when we had the time and space to do so.
"The only element we have is to study this game and try to find improvements, to work on the concepts that did not work well enough, and rewatching the video will be just as valuable as a training session.
"We could've done better with quality, as they were defending with five, so we could've split them easier. That was also inevitable with the state of the pitch, as it is not possible to pass with quality on that turf."
Spalletti, who won the Serie A title with Napoli last season, has revealed that he will "have to change a few players" for the clash with Ukraine at San Siro, suggesting that the condition of the pitch at the Tose Proeski Arena in Skopje was not ideal.
"We will also have to change a few players for the next game, because the pitch took its toll on them, said Spalletti. "I also had to take off some of the players who were on yellow cards and hoped to add more firepower with [Giacomo] Raspadori. Unfortunately they scored the equaliser so late in the day, we didn't have much time to react."
Italy enter next Tuesday's fixture having endured a disappointing run of form on home soil over the last few years, winning just four of their last 11 home internationals since September 2021.
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