Why Matteo Darmian will be an important player for Italy at the Euros
Matteo Darmian’s career has seen a fair share of highs and lows but the Italian, now 34, prepares to play at the European Championships and prove himself at the biggest stage once again.
In a way, Darmian doesn’t even need to prove himself. He is now a two-time Serie A winner with Inter, a Champions League finalist, and a Coppa Italia winner. While his stint at Manchester United didn’t end well, he also won the Europa League, FA Cup, and the League Cup during his time at Old Trafford.
Despite silverware though, Darmian reputation always gets unfairly judged by the time in the red side of Manchester. To many, he is seen as the lesser known foreign import who couldn’t quite make an impact at United and by the end of it, his stint petered out. Even today, the narrative follows a negative trend and in some corners, even the impressive renaissance at Inter hasn’t managed to overwrite his time at United.
That negative judgement is far from the truth. Darmian had joined United in the summer of 2015 from Torino as an undervalued signing when he was 25. Known for his overlapping ability and tendency to be a very hard-working full-back, he had already made a mark for the Azzurri. In fact, he was Italy’s most impressive performer at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and attained global limelight before putting in solid performances for Il Toro too.
United’s dilapidated situation – structurally, plan-wise and tactically, had a role to play in how Darmian’s stint ended with nothing of prominence. But it is easy to forget his importance in the club’s march towards the Europa League title in 2016. With Luke Shaw out, Darmian deputised very usefully at left-back in the last few games of the campaign and also played reliably at right-back earlier in the season, also playing on the left in the final against Ajax.
He also started the FA Cup final a season before under Louis van Gaal and then also played in the League Cup semi-finals under José Mourinho, assisting once. United’s next silverware since then has come only in the 2022/23 season and Darmian was an important part of the side that won trophies before this period.
The versatility he showed during his time at United has now become Darmian’s trademark and, perhaps, it is a vital reason for why his career has witnessed a brilliant surge post turning 30.
Since joining from Parma, Darmian has been a regular presence for the Nerazzurri. For two different managers – Antonio Conte and Simone Inzaghi, he managed to become a reliable figure at the back. When he lost a yard of pace, Darmian has now started to slot in more often as a right centre-back while occasionally playing at wing-back. It is the sort of adaptation that few would’ve imagined when he first impressed at the 2014 World Cup.
More than that, the veteran has become a multi-faceted player at the back. He offers the ability to be a ball-carrying right sided defender who offers advantages on the ball, often acting as the extra-man in build-up. For a manager like Inzaghi, who likes his teams to play out from the back, features that Darmian provides are extremely vital, especially when one considers how Inter lost Milan Škriniar for free.
With a settled and stable setup, Darmian is seen as a leader who will always step up when needed in games – big or small. That is precisely why Italy boss Luciano Spalletti has a major asset in the right sided defender at the Euros.
Spalletti’s move to a back three doesn’t just help the likes of Alessandro Bastoni, Alessandro Buongiorno and Federico Dimarco but also helps Darmian. After all, he has become used to playing across the right side of the defence.
Italy do have options like Gianluca Mancini, Federico Gatti and the impressive Riccardo Calafiori at the back. Giovanni Di Lorenzo, whose Napoli future is in doubt, is also somewhat like Darmian as he too can play a variety of similar roles. But the ex-United man has something no other Azzurri defender offers. And that is experience.
Spalletti has not been blessed by the rip-roaring and experienced presences of Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci. That duo was vital in the Euros win in 2021 and if not for Chiellini, Italy may not have reached the final. And Bonucci scored in the final against England. During that tournament, Bastoni was only a bit-part member of the squad, Buongiorno was just a fresh face at Torino, Calafiori had only broken into the Roma first team as a teenager and Gatti wasn’t even playing in the Italian top-flight.
Di Lorenzo was part of the squad and an important one at it. But Darmian’s experience of the major tournaments and how they function goes back to 2014. Francesco Acerbi was initially part of the squad but later pulled out due to injury, leaving Darmian to be Italy’s most experienced player.
And during international competitions, as we have seen multitudes of times in the past, intangibles such as experience always matter. The most classic example of it are Bonucci and Chiellini themselves. Even if he may not play every game, Darmian will matter to Italy at the Euros and he knows how to win trophies.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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