There were some interesting and risky tactics by Spalletti to play with a back 5 in the defensive phase with El Shaarway dropping to LWB, and transiting to some kind of 2-3-5 in possession with Udogie stepping in the midfield, and Frattesi stepping into the forward line, and Di Lorenzo constantly overlapping on the right. It worked decently in the first half, but was ultimately this was way too unbalanced as every goal was conceded from too few players in defensive zones during transitions. I preferred last weeks tactics where Darmian stayed back so that we always had 3 defenders while Dimarco had freedom to push up the left flank and Raspadori/Kean could drift into the middle.

Ultimately this team is built to play in a traditional back three system, so if Spalletti is going to insist on a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 he needs to pick a first XI and keep the team and tactics as consistent as possible. Pressing is the most important feature in Spalletti’s teams and it’s not going to be easy for these players to pick up the right patterns when they only train together ever few months, so he needs to make things as simple as possible for them. You could see today they were confused about who needs to step where.

Considering all of our defenders play in back 3 systems at club level, we need to be more defensively stable and conservative if we’re going to use a back 4 against top teams. If we play with Dimarco as LB, the RB needs to stay in defensive positions to support the CBs (Bastoni/Acerbi/Scalvini/Mancini/Gatti who are always used to having a 3rd player), like Darmian did to great effect against Malta. Di Lorenzo was a great defensive RB in previous seasons, but he’s gotten a taste for goals and assists and is way too eager to join the attack, leaving use hugely unbalanced in defensive transitions.

Overall the game today wasn’t as bad as the scoreline and comments make it seem. There were some good moments and some bad luck (Udogie almost scoring to make it 2-1; Phillips not getting the second yellow he deserved) against some of the most in form players in the world, but Spalletti has a huge job on his hands if he expects to turn this team into anything like what his Napoli was.