Italy coach Spalletti slept in Napoli office: ‘It would have been easier to stay’

During his interview with Il Corriere dello Sport, Italy coach Luciano Spalletti said it would have been ‘easier’ to remain at Napoli and revealed he slept in his office at the Castel Volturno training ground in his second season at the club.

Spalletti spoke, among other things, about his experience at Napoli during an interview with Il Corriere dello Sport on Tuesday. The Certaldo-born tactician left the Stadio Maradona last summer after leading the Partenopei to win their first Serie A title in 33 years.

A few months later, he was appointed by Italy’s national team, but he denied that the FIGC had called him before Roberto Mancini’s resignation.

“It would have been easier and more natural to continue working with a group that we had taken to the top,” he said.

“Enjoy the happiness of the moment, the happiness the people of Naples felt. But I chose sadness.

“I am lucky because I’ve always worked with what I deserved. Of course, luck is crucial too. Sometimes the result depends on the qualities, not only technical, of a single footballer. In Naples, we took what we had built and deserved,” he continued.

“I am not clinical. To coach means to love a footballer, defend him, and add something. There are shy footballers who can’t entirely fulfil their potential, so I step in with the work. There were a couple like this at Napoli.

“In my first season at the club, I lived in a hotel. Amazing. They brought me breakfast in the room. Then I placed the bed in my office so I would not lose a second, even the smallest detail. I avoided 30 minutes of driving from Naples to Castel Volturno.

“I’ve always decided for myself. After the first season, my staff members said: ‘Why are we staying here? They’ve sold everybody.’ The likes of Mertens, Koulibaly, Ghoulam, Ospina, Insigne and Fabian Ruiz had gone. A lot of quality. I wanted to feel the Napoli coach and you truly coach a team when you do something important. I met De Laurentiis and the first thing he said was: ‘We are already settled and we must always be in the Champions League.’ Clear and direct. So I started with the target of obtaining that thing [the Serie A title]. It happened and I could have stayed longer.”

The journalist tried to imagine a conversation between the CT and Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis.

“I have two ears and a mouth. I can listen and talk at the right time,” argued Spalletti.

“De Laurentiis is a great communicator, but it always depends on the De Laurentiis you have in front of you. There are at least four or five. AI could try to invent more.”

Does he agree with those who say football is a simple thing?

“Sometimes, football looks like those who make it more complicated. You, journalists, have some responsibilities, too,” Spalletti replied.

“The build-up, for example, works if it’s related to the dressing room and the opponents’ characteristics.

“I want to be practical. I don’t know only one way to live. I am open to learning more realities and ways of thinking. I’ve always considered Marcello Lippi a source of inspiration. I’ve followed him with attention and analyzed his behaviour. I wanted to meet him so he could explain the Azzurri world to me in depth. At the same time, I look to Sacchi as a role model. I’d love to learn from both.”

Spalletti said Napoli would have deserved to win against Roma on Sunday but was full of praise for the Giallorossi coach, Daniele De Rossi.

“I think I know him really well, and I think that Daniele’s biggest merit at Roma comes from the fact that he didn’t want to take advantage of the immense love that fans feel for him,” he said.

“He understood it could have been a trap, so he put that aside to invest in the work on the pitch. He knows that ideas can lead to a joyful stadium only through weekly training sessions. I don’t know if Daniele has something of me, but sometimes he reminds me of Mazzone. When he gets made, he has an attitude that belongs to the great Carletto.”