Italy internationals Stock Watch Thread

Balotelli is in danger of not making the team and wont be picked for the USA game.

 

and you say this why?

 

Because of what Prandelli said yesterday and he'll probably say more today.

 

Now lets be clear I'm just the messenger and didnt say I agree with it. In fact I totally disagree with it because Balotelli is by far Italy's best player but I understand Prandelli's decision based on his code of ethics. And he does make a point about reactionary fouls and losing control at the wrong time. Balotelli has done this before in an U-21 game against Sweden and no doubt the racists will be out in full force at the tournament. Prandelli is right to have concerns but it'd be shame for the fans of this team to be deprived of the show he'll put on.

 

i didnt even know he spoke about this... you have a link?

i was thinking it was he wanted to try some different players...

 

http://www.gazzetta.it/Nazionale/25...isobalotelli-troppo-agitato-81442974484.shtml

 

Is Prandelli right or is this situation similar to the "Cassano-Lippi affair"?
If Balotelli doesn't act better he'll watch Euros on TV....

 

If Balotelli isn't at the Euro's Italy misewell not even show up. He's our only gamebreaker with Cassano injured, and Rossi still recovering.

 

I think the main problem in all this is media attention because if we just went by play who the hell has been better than him? We're talking about a top 5 player here who is champion and I can count on one hand how many of those Italy have on this team.

 

There is talk in the news that prandelli will call: Buffon, De Sanctis, Sirigu, Ogbonna, Barzagli, Chiellini, Bonucci, Maggio, Cassani, Abate, Criscito, Balzaretti, Pirlo, De Rossi, Marchisio, Thiago Motta, Montolivo, Pepe, Nocerino, Pazzini, Osvaldo, Giovinco, Matri, and Di Natale

I for one am tired of players who under perform like bonucci, osvaldo and especially pazzini recieve call ups. Prandelli talks of meritocracy but yet calls up players like pazzini who has struggled to score this year, and is no longer a starter. Pazzini and Osvaldo are more or less the same type of player, so why not drop one and give borini or destro a call up for this friendly? We will not win the euro's with target men, we need forwards who can play with the ball at their feet.

Bonucci out ->Astori in
Pirlo out (needs a rest, he plays in every friendly and juve game. What happends if he gets injured? when are we going to try a plan B.)--> cigarini in?
Pazzini out -> borini/destro in
Osvaldo out -> El Shaarawy in
Cassani out -> Santon in (even though he was called to the U21 squad)

 

why does he call Banucci he plays in a back 3 Cannavaro is better then him and Astori.

 

PRandelli is smarter than that. Regardless of Balotelli's character flaws, he has EARNED the right to be on the Euro squad. He's been playing at world class level all season long, and Prandelli himself knows full well that Balo will play a pivotal role in our Euro success. I think he's also learned from Lippi's mistakes regarding stubborness and foolish pride.

 

now that i see borini get called up to national team, i think of federico macheda. What happened to this kid? him and borini are about same age and borini was in chelsea, macheda in man u.....borini got loaned to swansea in 2nd division and helped them come up to premier league, then roma bought him but then he got lucky with injuries he got playing time and started scoring....
macheda on the other hand started great with man u. scored some good goals but then didnt get playing time due to how many good players man u. have...then he got loaned to sampdoria which was on their way down the drain...so the kid didnt get to shine...then went back to man u. played some friendlies, still scored goals but again too many players there for him to get a chance....now i think he's loaned to QPR which he has rarely played. Sad to see 2 years go by and he hasnt capitalized on his great start....might have been bad luck but i hope he can bounce back cuz him and borini can be the future of the NT.

 

I've never really been impressed by Macheda, and I don't think he has a future with the NT tbh.

We have superior, young options on the rise already. Destro, Paloschi, El Shaarway, Borini, Marilungo, Immobile, Insigne, Balotelli... just to name a few. The new generation of attacking players Italy is producing at the moment is looking to be quite fantastic if they live up to their potential.

 

Lorenzo Insigne will be another great star.

 

read the link I posted in the U21 Italy-France thread...he has been accused of homophobia by the FA....

 

Not to sound cynical, but I don't place too much hope in our youngsters anymore until they actually show us some true quality at the top flight level (Balotelli, Borini, and to an extent Paloschi and Marilungo). I always used to get caught up in the hype surrounding some of our U-21 players, only for them to fade into obscurity shortly thereafter. I still remember Andrea Russotto (ring a bell?) being tipped as the next big thing for Italian football during his first season with Treviso. Haven't heard ANYTHING about him over the last few years...

Now I'm not saying that guys like El Shaarway or Immobile for example will end up experiencing the same fate. I'd just rather see what they can do in top flight football before placing too much stock in them.

 

Yeah, that's a good point. I'm a little wary about placing hope in our youth.

If someone tallied this up statistically, on how many U21 NT players who have made it to the NT team in the last decade, I'd say Italy would be at the bottom out of all the major European countries.

 

thats cuz everyone is all about WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY attitude. You're always looking at the last few months and whos the hottest. People are quick to forget a player if they get sidelined for few months or they happen to have 2 bad games. This is not how football used to be.

 

We just had the Wallstreet Crash of 1929!

 

Any update on how Giuseppe Rossi is recuperating? Kqql?

Heard that he is back in training already.