Giampiero Ventura reckons that the tier-one competition in Italy this year kicked off a week or two later than it should ideally have.
As per Ventura, the main reason of the defeat at the hands of France in what was his debut game as the Italy coach earlier in the summer was that the players had not had too many top tier games under their belt ahead of that game.
If they had had played some more games, maybe two if not more, for their clubs by that time, they would have handled France better and would not have been beaten as comprehensively as they were.
In the words of Ventura, “The first interaction that I had with the team was a day before the France game, just a day before; I had no interaction before that and we were going to go into that game with not much exposure in the league either. So, you can understand.”
“The result was considered an embarrassment, but, you have to look at these factors also. Most of the leagues around the continent get underway on 13th and we generally get underway a week after that which I think should change and I have said that to the association.”
“If we can have a couple more matches for the players, I actually had got a bit carried away and had demanded three, but, then I was told that I needed a medical check-up. So, I settled for a couple, but, yeah a couple more definitely before we take on Spain.”
“The association obviously has its own problems as far as the early start of the league is concerned, but, still I believe it’s important and it is needed to be done for the good of the country.”