Sandro Tonali has urged patience with Italy’s new-look squad after their disappointing defeat to Belgium, insisting the team’s qualities will emerge with time.
Italy were beaten by Belgium in Roberto Mancini’s first game back in charge, leaving the midfielder acknowledging the frustration among the players and supporters.
Tonali admitted there was little to defend about the performance and accepted that Italy deserved to lose.
“A lot of people were left disappointed,” Tonali told reporters. “We have to be honest and talk about what this defeat brought, from the whistles of the fans to the sad faces in the dressing room. The game was not a positive one and we deserved to lose.”
However, the midfielder believes the defeat needs to be viewed in the context of a squad still in its early stages of development. Mancini handed first call-ups to nine players in his 34-man squad, while the Italy XI that started against Belgium had an average age of just 23.
“The important thing now is to react, and we can do that within a few days,” Tonali said. “The group is very healthy, with a lot of young players. Having everything immediately is difficult, we don’t have the star player.”
Sandro Tonali has acknowledged the scale of the disappointment after Italy’s defeat to Belgium, but asked for patience for a new group:
“I think a lot of people were left disappointed. But you have to accept it, because the game was not a positive one and we deserved to lose pic.twitter.com/EfyrhId51B
— Football Italia (@footballitalia) September 27, 2026
Rather than relying on one standout figure, Tonali believes Italy will need time to develop as a collective. Time is there; we have to spend time together, work and enjoy ourselves together. We are healthy, strong men. With time our qualities will come out.”
Italy will have an immediate opportunity to respond when they travel to face Turkiye on Monday. Tonali also rejected comparisons between Italy’s situation and Tottenham’s difficult start to the Premier League season, despite being involved in both. Tottenham have collected just two points from their opening five league games and suffered a 3-2 defeat to Aston Villa last weekend.
“Football is very strange. In ten days everything can change from negative to positive,” he said.
Tonali believes Tottenham’s results have not fully reflected their performances, while Italy’s situation is different because Mancini is still putting together a largely unfamiliar group.“ Here with the national team it is different: it is a very new and young group, a group that has never played together. We just have to take our time.”
For Italy, the trip to Turkiye therefore provides an early test of whether the squad can respond to the disappointment in Rome and begin building the understanding Tonali believes will be crucial for the future.
