Vincenzo Montella tried to steady things after Türkiye lost 1-3 to Italy in the Nations League on 2026-10-05. It was Türkiye's fourth defeat in a row, and the run is the first of that length since 1988. Even with the noise around him, Montella's line was still about growth rather than collapse.
Montella's response
"Even if the result does not meet our expectations, we will use these experiences to continue developing ourselves," Montella told SPORT1 in comments translated from German. He added that there is "definitely a future that we can look forward to hopefully" and said the team still feels "the support and affection" around it.
That is the position he has chosen to hold after a bad run. Yunus Akgün was more direct, saying, "We are really very disappointed. We have let our country down in this phase, and we are fully aware of that."
The criticism around the team
The Turkish press has been far less patient. SPORT1 reported the reaction from Hürriyet as, "You can lose a match, but you need an identity and a clearly defined style of play." The same coverage also described the team as "very unorganized," and the Bologna crowd was heard chanting, "Montella, step down!"
That criticism comes on top of the result sequence itself. Türkiye have taken 0 points from 3 Nations League matches, and the defeats in the run came against France, Italy and Belgium.
Montella has already faced scrutiny after Türkiye's early World Cup exit in the summer, so this was never going to pass quietly. Still, the coach is pushing the same message after Italy vs Türkiye, the players are talking about repair, and the next response will matter more than the argument.
Written by Sam Whitfield with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 2 outlets. How we work →
