Pre-match: EURO 2012: Italy - Ireland (June 18,2012) [R]

Discussion in 'Italy: National Teams' started by Luca03, Jun 15, 2012.

  1. el napulitan

    el napulitan Member+

    Sep 28, 2008
    < @sals mom crew >
    Club:
    SSC Napoli
    just got back from watching the game at my bros, its amazing how in the 3 games nearly everyone has slated cassano, balotelli and di natale, but not one mention of pirlo's absolutely scandelous perfomance, most of his passes were aimed at no one, time and again he ignored di natale's runs (dont give me crap about he cant control it, thats just BS), he switched of as soon as the game kicked off, 3 times ireland ahd a run on goal thanks to pirlo sleeping or not trying to keep hold of th eball at all costs, it was atrociuos, it was his fault for letting ccroatia get the cross in gainst us too and not maggio's like everyone says, (ok just noticed AmericanKaka, mention how poor he was)

    the amount of times me and my bro were shouting at prlo to pass it to di natale who was on the line of the irish defence and pirlo looked then decided to do nothing was shocking, di natale had a good game,

    glad we are through but that performance lacked character especially in the 2nd half, there was a lack of composure throughout the game,

    the irish comm on bbc (cant recall his name) was so annoyingly biased, there really needs to be a no comms choice, balzaretti was good tonight,

    im glad he did, no one was taking responsibilty, again me and my bro were shouting for him to shoot even from there, he was unlucky he slipped, we should have tested given much more,

    i think it was aimed at prandelli, the boy is simply an idiot if it was, wtf has he got to say to prandelli? a manager like lippi or capello would have kicked his arse back to england a long time ago

    i dont think it was silly, the fact that there was so much talk about it made it a lot less likely, if the score was still 0-0 on the 85th minute both teams risked going out by going for that winner, they could have both conspired to get a core draw at the point, it happens often, and the spanish are no different, they just sweep it under the carpet, just go check how villareal were relegated,

    it could be because its a slo mo whilst the giff has been sped up!?
    do you mean in a tournement? cassano was 21 iirc when he scored in euro2004, is balo 22 yet?
     
    elvesuvio repped this.
  2. falvo

    falvo Member+

    Mar 27, 2005
    San Jose & Florence
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    Not sure who holds the record for the youngest but I know Giuseppe Meazza scored two goals on the 9th of February of 1930 against Switzerland in a 4-2 win at the age of 19. Three months later he scored a hat trick in 5-0 win over Hungary winning the Coppa Internazionale but Meazza tuned 20 in August of 1930. Don't know about Euro & WC Cups...
     
  3. AmericanKaka

    AmericanKaka Member+

    Dec 30, 2006
    Well, Pirlo himself admitted it was one of the worst matches he ever played for Italy.
    My recollection is that other poor ones were also when he and De Rossi were in midfield together.
    One of the two always has to suck in that set-up, today De Rossi was good and Pirlo sucked.
    It doesn't help Marchisio to play in that formation either.

    That more than anything is why we'll see the 3-5-2 again in the knockouts, I bet.

    But you're kidding yourself about Maggio. He was at fault, on that cross and several others, and he played bad that match.
    Still, I want to see him back. His ability to pin back an opponent on the wing will be very valuable. Having him and Balzaretti for the outlets is going to force fullbacks to stay very honest.
     
  4. el napulitan

    el napulitan Member+

    Sep 28, 2008
    < @sals mom crew >
    Club:
    SSC Napoli
    it was the worst i have ever seen pirlo, i agree that he an de rossi never works well, as for maggio having fualt on that cross you are totally wrong unless you think maggio can be in two places at once? maggio apprached the guy with the ball, as he did this there was an overlapping runner who was running into the space, maggio tracked his run and he did this as he saw pirlo running towards him but pirlo absolved himself of any responsibilty to win the ball back, maggio cannot mark 2 players at once, that cross was all on pirlo,

    check it out, pirlo is close enough to put pressure on the cross but simply decides its not his job, there are too many people on this site who just blame certain players because its the fashion even when the pictures clearly say otherwise
     
    elvesuvio repped this.
  5. AmericanKaka

    AmericanKaka Member+

    Dec 30, 2006
    I see your argument there, but Maggio is neither tracking nor pressing at the critical moment.

    In any case, his wing defending was bad, that was not the only free cross let in from his side.

    Worse though was how useless he was at getting a good ball into the box! Doesn't do much good to beat your man into the corner over and over if you don't deliver a good ball! For contrast, look how excellent Balz was in the 18 against Ireland, he picked out dangerous passes often.

    But again, I like Maggio, I know he's excellent, and Italy needs him. Hopefully he turns it up a notch.
     
  6. jpick

    jpick Member

    Jul 5, 2006
    jacksonville, FL
    Club:
    AC Milan
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    Pirlo was excellent the first 2 matches, he had a very poor second half today, but blaming the Croatia goal on him, that's just ludicrous. Anyways, glad to be through
     
  7. Sempre

    Sempre ****************** Member+

    Mar 4, 2005
    NYC
    Club:
    AS Roma
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    I'm mesmerized by that video. It's not so much the goal--it's the fact that Balotelli had the nerve to even try doing that in the first place. How many players could pull that off in a crunch match in a major tournament? Balotelli doesn't always score, but when he does it's often spectacular.
     
  8. AmericanKaka

    AmericanKaka Member+

    Dec 30, 2006
    He's the Most Interesting Soccer Player in the World.
     
    NickyViola and ArtemioD repped this.
  9. mikeyjames

    mikeyjames Member

    Jun 20, 2009
    I've been seeing more and more people with his jersey. I just saw a hispanic guy with a mario
    Jersey.
     
  10. Il Ciuccio

    Il Ciuccio Member+

    Feb 17, 2010
    Club:
    SSC Napoli
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    My point is they had him and tossed him away.
     
  11. Falc

    Falc Member+

    Jul 29, 2006
    Club:
    Juventus FC
    When it works, it looks spectacular. When it does not, it looks stupid.

    Of the three matches, this was our worst performance. Yet, we win 2-nil. Di Natale does not fit. He is a runner, not the type of player for a possession game. He needs to play with four midfielders behind of which two are wingers. We had four central midfielders of which one was playing a trequartista but is a defensive midfielder. The pieces of the puzzle were not from the same box. Marchisio, Pirlo and De Rossi in a 3-5-2 would be a good fit. Not in a 4-3-1-2.
     
  12. falvo

    falvo Member+

    Mar 27, 2005
    San Jose & Florence
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
  13. gumbacicc

    gumbacicc Member+

    Dec 7, 2004
    USA
    Some thoughts.

    First, massive relief to go through. In typical fashion, we make our lives extremely difficult. It starts by giving up leads to Spain and Croatia, respectively. Then, we go out and play relatively conservatively against a technically-inferior Ireland side. Ireland could have gotten something out of this game-extremely frustrating, but we are Italy.

    I blame the lackluster performance primarily on Prandelli. He made very questionable decisions. There was no reason to switch from the 3-5-2. We had played with that formation over two matches. Also, T. Motta, is not a trequartista. He didn't play poorly, but he was clearly being used out of his role. And Diamanti? C'mon.

    Also, I hate Roma as much as the next Juve fan, but it must be said that this is the best I've ever seen De Rossi play for the national side. I thought he was huge over the three matches, and without him, we may not have qualified.

    It was also great to see Barzagli back and on the same exceptional form that he was with Juve all season. My hope is that Chiellini, just took a slight knock, and he's okay for the quarterfinal.

    Yes, Pirlo was uncharacteristically poor today, but without Pirlo, we don't qualify. I think that if Prandelli switches back to the 3-5-2, that's the best way to make use of Pirlo and De Rossi, respectively.

    In attack, if Cassano had to go off due to a lack of fitness, I get it; otherwise, it makes no sense. The game where he finally comes through, you take him off?

    Credit to Balotelli for coming on and doing more than Di Natale did in 80 minutes. For me, the best starting tandem is Mario and Cassano. Bring Di Natale off the bench, and leave Diamanti there. Hopefully, that's the goal that Balo needed to get him confident. He can truly be the difference-maker going forward.

    Now that we're in the knockout rounds, I feel a great deal more confident. Frankly, we should take care of anyone in Group D. I'm not afraid of Germany-just as we suck in the group stage, we always beat Germany when it counts. Setting aside history, we can beat Germany, and Spain, the other favorites. I'm not saying we'll definitely win, but we have a nice shot-and we're always best flying under the radar. I suspect we'll do well.

    Last, credit to Spain for getting the job done. This ain't Sweden or Denmark we're talking about here.
     
  14. Il Ciuccio

    Il Ciuccio Member+

    Feb 17, 2010
    Club:
    SSC Napoli
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    Id rather have Diamanti come on than Montolivo... Giach is okay only because of his dumb luck...
     
  15. gumbacicc

    gumbacicc Member+

    Dec 7, 2004
    USA
    Please, no more Giak. Balza is so much more useful.
     
  16. falvo

    falvo Member+

    Mar 27, 2005
    San Jose & Florence
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    Guess contrary to popular belief, Di Natale was voted man of the match...


    Le pagelle di Italia-Irlanda

    Cassano e Balotelli in gol, assist di Pirlo e Diamanti, ma i migliori azzurri sono Di Natale e Marchisio. Nell'Irlanda Andrews è protagonista in negativo e anche le scelte di Trapattoni faranno discutere
    [​IMG]
    • ITALIA
    Gigi Buffon 6: Respinge due punizioni di Andrews (la seconda per la verità non benissimo), gli unici tiri in porta dell'Irlanda del Trap.
    Ignazio Abate 5,5: Nella prima mezz'ora soffre in maniera non indifferente gli scatti di McGeady e di conseguenza sin impaurisce un po' smettendo di attaccare gli spazi.
    Andrea Barzagli 6,5: Rientro più che positivo. Prova concreta e solida.
    Giorgio Chiellini 6,5: Bene per 57 minuti, poi l'infortunio alla coscia sinistra che rischia di mettere fine al suo Europeo. (Dal 57' Leonardo Bonucci 6: Non è Chiellini e si vede, ma non demerita).
    Federico Balzaretti 6,5: Inizia un po' impaurito, ma poi cresce alla grande e tra il 30' e il 60' fa quello che vuole sulla fascia sinistra, propiziando diverse occasioni azzurre. Alla fine si mette giustamente sulla difensiva.
    Claudio Marchisio 7: Quantità e qualità. L'unico centrocampista italiano moderno nel vero senso della parola e di conseguenza l'unico che riesce a giocare le due fasi con la necessaria efficacia.
    Andrea Pirlo 6,5: Sbaglia più del solito, è vero, e la sua prova sarebbe a stento sufficiente, ma il calcio d'angolo da cui nasce l'1-0 vale oro. Sempre decisivo.
    Daniele De Rossi 6: Riportato a centrocampo, si mette a far legna come di consueto; peccato non riesca a inserirsi più spesso
    Thiago Motta 5: Prova a compensare con la tecnica le sue deficienze in fatto di dinamismo e rapidità. Non ci riesce.
    Antonio Cassano 6,5: Evanescente in avvio, stanco nella ripresa, ma gli bastano 5 minuti per decidere la partita ed è questo che conta. (Dal 63' Alessandro Diamanti 6,5: Conquista due punizioni preziose al limite e fa respirare la squadra; ciliegina sulla torta l'angolo per il 2-0 di Balotelli).
    Antonio Di Natale 7: Il migliore là davanti anche se non segna. Ha la rapidità che serve per giocare in verticale nello spazio e costruire così le occasioni in velocità: sfiora il gol personale in diverse occasioni, l'avrebbe meritato. (Dal 75' Mario Balotelli 6,5: Entra in campo troppo nervoso e per poco non si fa cacciare subito per una gomitata mancata, ma poi fa vedere anche l'altra faccia della medaglia segnando un gol fantastico in girata al 90'. Balotelli è così, impossibile cambiarlo).
    All. Cesare Prandelli 6,5: Passa alla difesa a quattro e la squadra paga probabilmente questo cambiamento in avvio, ma una volta sistemata gira decisamente meglio rispetto alle prime due uscire. In attesa di qualche giocata corale più interessante ci accontentiamo dei calci piazzati.

    http://it.eurosport.yahoo.com/notiz...Rwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdAMEcHQDc2VjdGlvbnM-;_ylv=3
    [​IMG]
     
  17. Il Ciuccio

    Il Ciuccio Member+

    Feb 17, 2010
    Club:
    SSC Napoli
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    as a sub for a midfielder not for Balza.
     
  18. gumbacicc

    gumbacicc Member+

    Dec 7, 2004
    USA
    We are more effective even in a 3-5-2 with Balzaretti on the left side of MF in lieu of Giak.
     
  19. AmericanKaka

    AmericanKaka Member+

    Dec 30, 2006
    Those are the stupidest ratings I've ever seen.
    They are worse than Goal.com ratings.
    Give me a break.
    Diamanti was merely mediocre, yet he did more than Montolivo has done in his entire national team career. At least he looked like he had a pulse.
     
    elvesuvio repped this.
  20. AmericanKaka

    AmericanKaka Member+

    Dec 30, 2006
    ANd is that photo Di Natale suckerpunching Cassano in the kidney, kung fu style?!?
     
  21. falvo

    falvo Member+

    Mar 27, 2005
    San Jose & Florence
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    Here are other ratings.....
    http://www.calcioblog.it/post/25067/euro-2012-italia-irlanda-2-0-le-pagelle
    ITALIA-IRLANDA 2-0 (primo tempo 1-0)
    MARCATORI: Cassano al 35’ p.t.; Balotelli al 45’ s.t.
    ITALIA (4-3-1-2): Buffon 6.5; Abate 6, Barzagli 6.5, Chiellini 6.5 (dal 12’ s.t. Bonucci 6), Balzaretti 5.5; Marchisio 5, Pirlo 4.5, De Rossi 6; Thiago Motta 5; Di Natale 6 (dal 29’ s.t. Balotelli 6.5), Cassano 5.5 (dal 17’ s.t. Diamanti 7). (De Sanctis, Sirigu, Ogbonna, Maggio, Giaccherini, Nocerino, Montolivo, Borini, Giovinco). All. Prandelli 5.
    NOTE: spettatori. Espulsi Andrews al 43’ s.t. per doppia ammonizione. Ammoniti Balzaretti, O’Shea, De Rossi, Buffon, St Ledger. Recupero: 0’ p.t., 3’ s.t.


    http://www.tuttonapoli.net/?action=read&idnotizia=101060
    Italia-Irlanda, le pagelle: Balzaretti il migliore, bene Abate e Barzagli. Che gol di SuperMario!

    18.06.2012 22:50 di Redazione Tutto Napoli.net articolo letto 3692 volte

    [​IMG]
    Buffon 6. Si limita agli interventi di ordinaria amministrazione.
    Abate 6,5. Buona predisposizione in fase offensiva, in difesa è attento.
    Barzagli 6,5. Fa sentire la sua presenza in fase arretrata. C'è.
    Chiellini 6. Sempre attento dietro, riesce a contenere le azioni offensive. Le prende e le da. Poi lascia il posto a Bonucci (6).
    Balzaretti 7. Il migliore in campo. Attento in difesa, sempre pericoloso avanti.
    De Rossi 6. Prova positiva anche per lui, che fa sentire la sua presenza a centrocampo.
    Pirlo 6. Meno 'illuminante' del solito, ma è in partita.
    Marchisio 6,5. Prova di contenimento da incorniciare. Prezioso anche in fase di manovra.
    Thiago Motta 5,5. Non riesce ad incidere (Diamanti 6).
    Cassano 6. Un gol e poi... il nulla.
    Di Natale 6,5. Sfiora il gol ed è spesso una spina nel fianco della difesa irlandese. (Balotelli 7).
     
  22. Forzaabruzzo

    Forzaabruzzo Member+

    Apr 19, 2006
    Balzaretti is the 2012 version of Grosso, but FASTER. What a huge statement match for him. Was also pleased with how Abate looked. Didn't do much in terms of runs, but was pretty solid defensively in my opinion. Both full backs ran their asses off, plain and simple.

    Also, I'm still not sold at all on Motta. Don't really see what he brings to the fold. Doesn't look comfortable as a treq either, at least not with the Azzurri. If we still with the 4-3-1-2, then Diamanti should get the start as the treq, at least because of that awesome hair!

    I'm also not happy at all with the Cassano/Di Natale partnership. I just don't think they mesh well together at all. Start Balo next game with Cass. Balo looked a lot more comfortable and confident when he came on. You could tell he was determined to get the job done. What a class goal, and was a threat every time he got the ball in the penalty area.

    As for the formation, I don't think we've looked particularly impressive with either the 3-5-2, or the 4-3-1-2. I'm not a big fan of the 3-5-2, but I don't think the 4-3-1-2 works all that well for us when we don't have a true treq. Diamanti, Motta, and Montolivo are no Totti (for example). I also think the 3-5-2 could look considerably more effective with Balzaretti and Abate on the wings as opposed to Giacch and Maggio.

    Finally, it really sucks to see Chiellini get hurt. Aside from that blunder against Croatia he's had a fine Euro thus far. Gonna have to rely on Bonucci to fill the void. Now's your time to shine, kid!
     
  23. Forzaabruzzo

    Forzaabruzzo Member+

    Apr 19, 2006
    Not sure about you guys, but I think it's time we give Nocerino a start.
     
  24. AmericanKaka

    AmericanKaka Member+

    Dec 30, 2006
    When I see a low rating for Balzaretti in this match, I'm like... what? I mean, seriously, other than the yellow card play, did he do a single thing wrong all match?
    I mean, soccer is one of the most subjective things in the world, but seriously, I wonder sometimes what the hell people are seeing...
     
    phat and sempreITALIA repped this.
  25. AmericanKaka

    AmericanKaka Member+

    Dec 30, 2006
    I don't know if Abate has EVER played as a 3-5-2 wingback. He started his career as an out and out winger, and was moved to conventional rightback, which took Milan like three years of work with him to accomplish. His defense has grown by leaps and bounds but his offense has really withered, it's a shame since he was explosive for the Italy youth teams with all his pace. I would only play him over Maggio in that formation in an ultra-defensive situation, like up two goals.

    Nocerino over Motta, yes. It seems unlikely, but one thing Prandelli seems very willing to do is change things up, so you never know.
     

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