Juventus’ 0-0 draw with AC Milan served as a platform for coach Luciano Spalletti to commend the performance of captain Manuel Locatelli.
Locatelli, fresh off signing a new contract with the club, shone on the pitch, demonstrating his vital role in the team’s tactics.
Spalletti reflected on his past decisions regarding the national team, stating: “I made mistakes with the national team, I made mistakes in everything, because what I thought was the easiest thing for me, doing my job, doing this job, is being able to be with the players, knowing how to behave in a dressing room, making the players love me, always having an open door, having this relationship, this empathy, where I think that through this quality you can play faster, higher-quality football, with more frequent passes, and so on.”
He admitted that one of his significant oversights was not including Locatelli in his squad, remarking: “I didn’t succeed, so among the mistakes I made, I certainly also made the mistake of not calling up Locatelli.“
Furthermore, Spalletti praised Locatelli’s versatility, explaining: “He’s a difficult player because he can do multiple things, he can come and sew up the attacking midfield, and when you then go and scold him, he starts behind the line and it becomes almost impossible to maintain his speed because he’s a strong player, he’s a modern player.”
