Saturday evening, several players gathered around the television in the dining area after dinner rather than any formal meeting, following the live score from Bari.
Italy were already ahead of Malta by the second half, the game never seriously in question.
Bonaventura opened it, Berardi added two either side of the break, Frattesi finished it off late — Italy winning 4-0, moving to ten points level with Ukraine, still three behind England going into Wembley.
Nobody in the room acted surprised Italy had won comfortably.
What held their attention was how Italy moved once the ball reached the wide areas.
Demien watched the midfield react the instant possession shifted right, Barella and Frattesi both adjusting their positioning before the ball had even traveled.
"Frattesi keeps starting deep and finishing his runs inside the box," Rice said, half to himself. "That's not a coincidence, that's a pattern."
