Italy escape after serving up tactical lesson and a reminder - to Euro 2024 hopefuls and themselves

And so Italy became the first team to go where no other nation among the favourites at Euro 2024 have bothered, or dared, or thought worthwhile, so far.

No, not to go all-out-attack and wipe the floor with an opponent - Germany did that on the opening night. Not to drop a big name, either, or to leave out a leading goalscorer.

Instead, Luciano Spalletti ensured the Azzurri were the first of the big guns to attempt to show their tactical proficiency in more than one distinct shape, altering their set-up from a back four and wide forwards in the opening two fixtures to line up 3-5-2 against Croatia in their decisive Group B encounter.

Against Spain in particular, their wide players had failed to have any kind of impact and Federico Chiesa was one of those to pay the price, making way as Spalletti’s alterations saw a roving two-man strikeforce come into play, Gianluca Scamacca also pulled into bench duty, key man from the qualifying campaign Giacomo Raspadori replacing him and Matteo Darmian starting as a third central defender.

It lasted an hour, before panic mode set in.

There were of couse positives and negatives on show but Italy were unable to find headway in the game and quickly panicked after conceding, reverting to type when Croatia took the lead with a 4-2-3-1.

On the one hand, Italy certainly looked tough to break down in long spells, they had some nice early combination play between the forwards and, when getting forward, the wing-backs were quick to get deliveries in from wide. But it didn’t last and, once Croatia had a foothold in the game, those same wing-backs were unable to break out of a back five shape at all, leaving the Azzurri with no out-ball and the front two increasingly isolated.

And, for a period after the substitutions and system switch after Croatia’s go-ahead strike from Luka Modric - mere minutes after the same icon had seen a penalty saved - Italy were back in domination mode, the fast-moving, quick-thinking offensive play we saw in the opening minutes of their tournament.

Again, on that occasion, their fantastic attacking play came after they went behind, that time to Albania.

Then, they fashioned a comeback. This time, they had no answer to Dominik Livakovic in goal, to the massed ranks of red-and-white in front of him, to their own inability to find a finishing touch, a decisive pass - until, of course, they did, very nearly eight minutes into stoppage time.

Mattia Zaccagni produced a bending, swerving finish at the end of a magnificent, marauding run from Riccardo Calafiori and Italy, from being on the brink, are through.

Croatia instead go home, barring a miracle.

Italy’s attempt to find a second shape serves as a reminder and a warning for Euro 2024’s other big guns: even if matters are not perfect right now, change isn’t necessarily the answer.

Not that any game in isolation should ever be held up as tactical proof of anything, but as plenty of coaches and players have alluded to even in the past week: there’s not a lot of time to get to grips with even a single preferred gameplan and team-wide approach, let alone two.

It will no doubt be important, for Italy and others, to have a Plan B for in-game switches at the very least as they progress through the tournament.

But this match and their struggles will give Spalletti pause for thought over when its used next time, and perhaps other managers - and pundits, and fanbases - might do well to follow suit.