Antonio Conte was the leading member of the panel on the topic: “Relationship between clubs and national team – how to improve it?” The meeting was held today at the Lega Serie A headquarters in Milan. Antonio Conte spoke for one and a half hours to 16 Serie A coaches (all present apart from Rudi Garcia from Roma, Rafa Benitez from Napoli, Zdenek Zeman from Cagliari, Maurizio Sarri from Empoli and Roberto Mancini from Inter Milan, who was replaced by assistant manager Giulio Nuciari), FIGC President Carlo Tavecchio, Italy general manager Gabriele Oriali, Lega Serie A President Maurizio Beretta, and Lega Serie A general manager Marco Brunelli. Conte assessed his first four months as Italy coach and gave his opinion on how the clubs and the Italy national team should work in a close relationship.
Conte also spoke during a press conference after the event: “We want to have a more direct and ongoing relationship with all clubs and coaches. All the managers were willing to cooperate and share their experiences and I have listened to what they had to say. It’s been very constructive.” Conte expressed concern about the Azzurri players who are not regular starters at their respective clubs: “I have asked everybody to consider this situation. The players have to help too: If they only play 20 minutes, they should stay on the pitch after the game is over and train some more.”
Antonio Conte is willing to spend more time with his Azzurri players by introducing one specific training camp to prepare for UEFA Euro 2016. “I hope we will have this opportunity. 9th, 10th and 11th February could be a good period for a training camp; we will assess the situation.”
“It has been a sincere discussion,” said FIGC President Carlo Tavecchio. “There has been a bigger openness for cooperation between Serie A and FIGC. We should intensify our relationship: It is fundamental that the Italy head coach and all Serie A managers meet up regularly to discuss important topics.”