Bonucci: Nothing has changed!

By Football Italia staff

Leonardo Bonucci claims ‘nothing has changed’ since Italy’s failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.

Roberto Mancini has replaced Giampaolo Ventura as Italy’s CT, yet the FIGC remains without a permanent President and has been run by a commissionership since February.

“I like winning, but losing gives me sour grapes. I’ve felt good since re-joining Juve, but more substance is needed here,” Bonucci said at a Press conference for Sunday’s Nations League clash with Poland.

“I think it was important for Ventura to find a job where he could show his worth. He raised me and I can only thank him. There was a blame game after the Sweden tie, but both him and the players were at fault.

“When he said that he wasn’t the CT after the Spain game, that’s what he thought but we were always at his disposal.

“Knowing we need to win gives more value to the game on Sunday, one that is difficult but one we must win. Relegation would lead to many things being affected.

“Federico [Bernardeschi] has grown impressively over the last year and continues to do so.

“He has plenty of room for improvement and has impressed me. I left him when he was still a boy and found him again as a man.

“Zielinski? We have to improve technically compared to our first game against them. We gave the chance to break, so we must be wary of that.

“Lewandowski, Piatek and Milik can also make the difference. Szczesny and I have laughed and joked together in recent days, but now we’ll be opponents and it’d be nice to make fun of him by scoring against him!

“Italian football in crisis? I said it a few days ago, it was year zero 12 months ago and nothing has changed since then. In fact, maybe things have worsened.

“Perhaps with a new President will we see an improvement. All of Italian football deserves it.

“I’d ask the world of Italian football to adopt strict rules: it’s October 12 and my Viterbese haven’t played a match yet…”

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