Dzeko and Spalletti, because the coach called him a “bottle of mineral water” – Corriere.it

Dzeko confirmed that he is a certainty: at 36 he still wants to continue working and doing well for Inter. Edin’s seventh center in the league punished Spalletti’s Napoli and relaunched the Nerazzurri in the Scudetto race and there is a good story between the two protagonists of the evening at San Siro, friends in the days of Roma, and linked by a strong professional complicity: the teacher and the pupil, at least that’s how both have always defined themselves, despite mutual barbs and even a few quarrels. You always act smart, Dzeko’s lip towards Spalletti, at the time, went viral. You are a divine footballer, this statement by Luciano was also a must on social media. Spalletti once called him a bottle of mineral water, he was joking but he took offense. Irony and friendship, the fact is that the centre-forward who stopped Napoli at the San Siro was a favorite son of the Tuscan coach. Suffice it to recall that only once in his entire career has Edin been one step away from 30 goals: he scored 29 in Rome in 2016-17, that of second place, when Big Luciano was on the bench.

Spalletti left at the end of that championship and since then Dzeko hasn’t even come close to 20. The diamond of Sarajevo when the Tuscan coach leaves the Giallorossi bench he said to his coach: Thank you mister. I’ve become a better player with you. The understanding was perfect and also the friendship between the two probably went beyond the pitch. To Spalletti, a man who always has many anecdotes to tell about the players he has coached, he shared joys but also quarrels with Dzeko.

The story of the bottle of mineral water went like this, according to Spalletti’s story: Dzeko is a special striker. He plays total football: he knows how to score goals, attack goal, keep the ball, be a playmaker. But his limit was to be satisfied and a small quarrel arose. I remember once when he scored two goals out of four chances and at the beginning of the week I went to tell him something to perfect it: I went to attack him a bit, Edin answered me very seriously because he was also someone who had a great character. But in some moments he was too satisfied. I told him: “Yesterday you looked like a two-litre bottle of mineral water in a match…”, I still remember it. De Rossi explained to him what I meant and he pointed his finger at me: “No, mister, I’m not like that”. So I stopped because he had a lot more muscles than me. Wednesday evening at San Siro, Dzeko flexed all his muscles with a perfect elevation and header. I was not satisfied, he made him understand. Luciano smiled at him at the end of the match: You remain magnificent, a lord. Hug.