Italy head coach Roberto Mancini said “there’s too much anxiety around at the moment” before Monday’s home Nations League game against Türkiye.
Mancini, who replaced Gennaro Gattuso in July after Italy had failed to qualify for a third successive World Cup, lost the opening game of his second spell in charge just over a week ago when they lost 2-1 to Belgium in Rome.
Italy were booed off by home fans at half time and at the final whistle of that match, but they won 4-1 in Türkiye in their next match and held France to a 1-1 draw in Paris on Friday.
Mancini told a news conference: “There’s too much anxiety around at the moment, but we have to stay calm.
“We simply need time to work and to develop. If we can play well and win, then things will change.”
Italy have won one, drawn one and lost one since Mancini returned as head coach and sit third in their group behind leaders France and Belgium.
“We mustn’t get too excited by a victory, nor too depressed by a defeat,” Mancini said. “The important thing is that against Türkiye we played good football.
“I want to say it wasn’t all bad with Belgium either, the second half showed some interesting moments.”
Mancini will go head-to-head with former Sampdoria teammate Vincenzo Montella, who is coming under increasing pressure from the Turkish media to step down from his role as head coach.
Türkiye have slipped to three successive Nations League defeats — they also lost 1-0 to France and 3-0 in Belgium on Friday — and sit bottom of the group.
But Mancini defended his countryman, adding: “Montella has done, and continues to do, an excellent job. Türkiye are an excellent side with a wealth of talented players.”
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After Türkiye’s latest defeat in Liege on Friday, Montella told reporters: “I do not want to pay too much attention to the current criticism.
“With these players we went to the World Cup again after 24 years and were promoted to League A [in the Nations League.]”
More changes to Italy’s starting lineup can be expected, with Mancini stressing that handing chances to younger squad members over the course of the four Nations League fixtures was crucial to the national side’s long-term development.
