Luciano Spalletti didn’t hide his frustration after Juventus fell to a shock defeat against Como at the Allianz Stadium. Speaking to Mediaset after the match, the Bianconeri coach dissected the loss with his usual candour, addressing both technical errors and the psychological burden weighing on his side.
“I can explain it from a technical point of view,” Spalletti began. “You make a mistake with the first pass and you concede a goal, because that’s how it goes. Then we get a chance to equalise and we’re not good enough to take it, either technically or in the way we develop the play.”
The manager admitted the mental side of the game was far more complex.
“Mentally, it’s a bit more complicated because you slip into this subconscious sense of difficulty and you don’t know how to react,” he said. “You probably feel this pressure — partly because you create it for yourself, partly because of the environment. That’s the story. You have to deal with intelligent people, not just good lads — people who can assess the moment and become aware. We need to work on it, both in terms of personality and conviction. It’s always up to them to pull themselves out of this situation. No one else can do anything about it.”
Focus on Personality and Belief
When asked about the team’s character, Spalletti was clear that everything stems from self-awareness and confidence.
“It starts from the awareness of having ability and potential,” he explained. “If you’re not convinced of that, you make decisions but you don’t follow them through — you’re not truly convinced. We’ll work in this direction. You can’t play matches like we did four games ago with the same players and then suddenly drop off. Not having Kalulu is fundamental, and even today two or three players were missing who could’ve made a difference. Of course, you have to be mentally organised — know how to make decisions and go hard in that direction.”
Looking Ahead: Galatasaray and Roma
Juventus now face crucial fixtures against Galatasaray and Roma — and Spalletti knows the challenges don’t stop there.
“But that’s how it works,” he said. “In our league, we entered this tunnel because of certain episodes that happened to us, and we’ve spent more energy as a result. After Galatasaray, we were back on the pitch 72 hours later — actually even sooner with the time difference. But that’s modern football. You have to be clever enough to control your mind within the timings you’ve got. It’s always up to you to get out of that ‘backs to the wall’ position. If you think someone else will do it for you, you’ll just crash into the wall.”
