Roberto Mancini has heaped praises on Federico Chiesa and Federico Bernardeschi following their performances in the 1-1 draw against Poland in the UEFA Nations League.
This was Roberto Mancini’s first competitive match as the manager of the Italian national team and he will have a number of problems to address before their game against Portugal on Monday.
Italy got behind as Jorginho failed to clear the ball properly and Robert Lewandowski fed a delightful through to Napoli midfielder Piotr Zielinski who didn’t make a mistake as Poland took the lead.
Italy reduced the deficit as Jorginho scored from the spot. Chiesa was involved as he was brought down by Jakub Blaszczykowski inside the box. Although the team is yet to settle down under Mancini the early signs looked promising.
Mancini said after the match, “We gave the ball away too often in the first half and must be more incisive in front of goal, but the lads did everything they were meant to.
“Jorginho was man-marked by Zielinski and when he managed to break away a little and find room, the whole team played better.
“Chiesa did well once he came on because he has characteristics that the others do not, such as that change of pace to turn the play around. He is young, but he will gradually improve.
“Bernardeschi did well, he is technically gifted and has it in him to provide goals and assists. He has enormous room for improvement and fell away as the game wore on, but that’s understandable.”
