Not really. Pirlo is not a DM and if you watch the matches, he really doesn't defend all that well. de Rossi is the only DM who plays that kind of true position for his club (Montolivo is a classic playmaker and Marchisio is an all around player who shuffles back and forth in the Juventus system). What they do rely on is a solid back line who can move quickly to defuse attacks. The fullbacks do move forward but rarely into the attacking 1/3 of the field. With the formation they use, Prandelli tries to overrun the opponents midfield and control the ball. Many of their attacks go up the middle which is unusual these days but when you have two great passing midfielders like Pirlo and Montolivo you can do this. I would look at the formation as a double playmaker formation with one (Pirlo) lying deep and the second (Montolivo) up front.
I found Italy's style to be absolutely refreshing in this tournament and full credit to Prandelli for that. And to think that he contemplated to pull out of this Euro if the Italian football association wanted to take a break from scandals! Kind of funny that most of the countries are not sticking to their traditional stereotyped styles - Germans are not mechanic, Holland are no longer beautiful losers, Spain aren't as attacking, Italy are not cynically defensive while France don't have fragile artists (as Simon Kuper puts it in Blizzard Issue Five). Think the only thing unchanged is England losing in QFs (in penalties)
Well, I parially disagree. Amongst De Rossi, Marchisio, Motta and Montolivo the total no. of players in midfield, in support Pirlo, who are defensively solid are 2 or 3. Marchisio and Montolivo making a lot of forward runs as well. Pirlo himself, being positioned right in front of defense, helps out by closing out passing lanes when Italy are off the ball. If I were to think of an equivalent using our players, I would play Sneijder in a deep playmaker role (like 2004) with any of De Jong, Clasie, Anita or Strootman in support. None of the starting Italian midfielders, barring only Giovinco who is rarely used, is a classic no. 10 or defensively weak, like VDV. You are right about the fullbacks being solid defensively. Also when they do run forward they are able to produce a decent cross or create something useful.
Prandelli has been quite creative in his lineups. Motta is a clear DM but has only been on as a substitute in the last two matches (though he started the first Spain match when they played a 3-5-2). My thinking is that with Montolivo in, its really a two play maker set as I noted with Montolivo advanced. At any rate, it's good to see how they are getting the work done. Only one real goal conceded (the penalty in the German match was really a weak call).
Agreed. Two actually (not counting the penalty). Croatia and Spain managed to score. It will be an interesting Final.
^right, forgot about the silly mistake by Chiellini at the end of the Croatia match. They should have had a clean sheet and victory that day.
In the end, Spain were the fresher team prior to the second injury forcing Italy to play with 10 men. Kudos to them for coming right out and playing attacking football, something they had not done until this match. I suspect that Italy's loss of two days rest prior to the Germany match finally caught up with them and it was curious that Prandelli sent in Motta for Montolivo as his third substitute. Maybe he felt that by containing Spain and catching a goal on a counter would have gotten them back in the game. Once the hamstring went, it was lights out for the Azzurri. Spain will need to replace several players prior to the WC in Brazil but there is enough depth in the squad to make them one of the favorites.
those were among the most useless subs I've ever seen. Change for the sake of changing something, and far too early. no one to blame but the coach for going down to ten men
Pique made a very dirty tackle. Even the biased commentator said that a yellow was a soft punishment.
Wow. Spain waiting for the final game to show up. Italy was tired and clueless (apart from sending the leftback into attack, but only after subbing the original one so no real game plan here), but Spain were simply overwhelming. Trough class. True class. Will the no-striker-system get many followers? At the national team level, perhaps yes. Van Persie, Ibra, Rooney, the no-real-number-nine strikers don't perform. Ronaldo, Robben, make them midfielders or bench the lot. Or, will perhaps the route-1 strategy blossom, with all teams trying to overcome Spain by simply denying there's a midfield? Bas Dost, muscle up!
Team GB will play a friendly against Brazil in a few minutes. Have a look at their logo. Spot the difference? Adidas is Team GB their sponsor so I wonder how Nike feels about it. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery?
Wow, Spain crash out of the Olympics. I watched the last 15 minutes of the match and Spain were playing quite nasty with lots of cheap fouls and then complaining to the match official. They didn't get a penalty call which was I think the correct call and Munain was lucky not to get a Red card for elbowing the official.
I don't really follow the football at the Olympics. My favourite team in London = Looks like the world has fallen in love with them (again) by all the media attention they're getting.
Nah there's more, but they aren't household names yet like Ellen and Naomi. Here's Amsterdam captain Sophie Polkamp.
Very entertaining Gold Medal final at Wembley. Mexico, despite some desperate defending in the last four minutes, is a well deserved champion. Pretty much bottled up the Brazil attackers for most of the game and took their chances to get the two goals and it could have been worse with some sloppy play by Thiago Silva of all people. Sometimes teamwork works better than multi-million € players.
And all the players that started for Mexico were Mexican league players. I've seen some of their club youth teams play in NL and at the WC they usually impress me also (often go out unlucky in 2nd round). Very nice to see them getting a gold medal cause they're a bit of a sleeping giant.
Mexico and Japan are rising. Both could be the first team to win a WC outside of Europe. USA has to work hard to catch up to them. I seriously would like Netherlands start to take the Olympics serious in regard of football. I mean it all starts with a proper coach. Cor Pot? Really, Cor Pot?
Yeah, even though the WC is obviously bigger in this sport, the Olympics are a great place to be and another chance to shine for your country besides the euro and WC. lol.. RKC just scored the equalizer. Nice work on the defense, PSV.
Marco Fabian is destined to be a star. Was also their best player imo in the Toulon tournament a few months ago. Mexico were the one team that Holland couldn't beat. Oranje had even beaten the hosts France for the 3rd place.
Hello, I'm wanting to buy a scarf for a friend. I'm getting confused with so many options for The Netherlands. I want to buy an orange scarf but there is some saying Dutch, or The Netherlands, HUP, etc....could someone tell me which would be an official scarf from The Netherlands so I can buy this gift? Thank you.