https://streamja.com/6Vob?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app Barella goal https://streamja.com/ZR2g?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app Insigne goal https://streamja.com/JlvQ?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app Bonucci goal https://streamable.com/uu5lo?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app Barella smashing the ball into the ball boy
What did he do? What did Jorginho do? If passing the ball to each other is success, yeah, they were wonderful. Contrast that to the dribbling & useful passes created by Belotti, Barella & Chiesa. It was their play that made the difference.
Grande Italia. Si, l'avversario era un po modesto ma non e' mai facile giocare in Grecia. I greci, comunque, l'ho visti meno grintosi del solito. I disagreed with playing Insigne but he had a good game because Belotti created space for him and really played well with the team. It would have been nice if he was fed more balls, but the team played really well (especially in the first half). Greece didn't offer much up today and our midfield was never pressured. That team is going through a very tough time right now. 3 games in and Mancini has the right idea for the most part. He wants to control the midfield with skill, get overlapping runs from his fullbacks and get his wingers to penetrate the box. I don't think it's a coincidence the team looks much better without Immobile wasting time up front. FORZA ITALIA!
Really nice to see gli azzurri cruise to three points on the road. Emerson was great and a problem for Greece from the start. With Bosnia losing to Finland today the group is essentially Italys already if they can avoid a loss at home on Tuesday. Feels pretty damn good.
I would rate barella and belotti and even Emerson as having a greater impact on game than Verratti.. but u can’t deny he kept the play ticking.. some nice dribbles, excellent composure.. did HIS job today well. I’m a big Chiesa fan.. think he wasn’t as sharp as last few times we saw him on nazionale.
Also the way the midfield as a whole were able to press and cause issues and retain the ball. Excellent. However.. it is Greece and we’ll see how they can fare vs a better team.
all the goals were created on the left hand side by the combination of Emerson and Insigne. Chiesa and Florenzi in a game that Italy dominated were virtually anonymous
this side is all about the 3 forwards and full-backs. V and J roles are essentially just to move the ball along.
What a great score by the Azzurri. I was working today, does anyone know where I can watch the full game online??
woot woottttt muahz! I love you Italy national team. 3 games and 3 won. Still top of the group. Yah!! Keep up the good work guys. And did I mention I hate the France? Loathe them. I was sooooooooooo happy to see them lost 2-0 to Turkey. Made my day, bahaaaa Francie.
Hi! Sir Mean Machine, thank you for the National team thread. You ready for Sarri coming to Juventus? hehe And to Gila11, I found this links in Reddit under footballhighlights sub, it 720p quality, you can watch it online or you can download. Italy vs Greece, qualify match day 3 First half: https://openload.co/f/_UdHptjpUJI/ITAVSGER1STHALF.mp4 Second half: https://openload.co/f/76XHZUtCi6E/ITAVSGER2ndHALF.mp4
Chiesa made two killer passes. One to Barella and one to Insigne. At least one should of been a goal. Certainly not his best game for the national team, but I thought he did better than Florenzi who was truly anonymous. I've said it before, I don't think Florenzi is that great a player. I would even start De Sciglio over him to be honest. Hopefully Calabria gets called up once the under 21 tournament is over. I thought the best players on the night were Belotti, Emerson, Insigne, and most of all Barella. Jorginho made one horrible turnover that almost resulted in a goal. Bonucci did as well. I chalk it up to the team falling asleep once they went up 3-0 and not giving 100% anymore. I though Verratti and Jorginho did okay overall. But I'm starting to think that Barella is the real star in that midfield. He seems like the perfect player for someone like Conte. At only 22, his ceiling is very high.
It just goes to show what happens when you bring a genuine playmaker into the side. Insigne for Bernadeschi on that left hand side was a key move and departure from how Italy has set out in recent fixtures, seems to have been done on the sly as well with press not reporting it as far as I can tell. If you are going to field 2 out and out wingers (Berna/Chiesa) a centre forward (Belotti) a running b/w the lines player (Barella) and two grifters (Jorginho and Verratti) you're not necessarily going to create a lot of chances. Against a top 50 side you are going to need to sacrifice at least one of the above for a playmaker. Insigne is currently Italy's best pm and it turned out to be the right move. It's also why I like Politano. He can beat players in wide positions as well as anyone in an Italy jersey, he is also an excellent crosser. So while he may not be as likely to directly score goals as some of the other wingers he will arguably make the team around him stronger. Against a top 10 team Italy will need to field at least another playmaker. Good sides will shut down 1. In WC2006 we relied on Totti/Pirlo, both and not just one or the other. Preferably a midfielder, because a winger is more or less isolated on one side of the ground as we saw to an extent with Chiesa not getting good service. Whereas a solid regista can spray passes to all parts of the field.
Seems Mancini has Italy's defense back to full strength! Le pagelle di Grecia-Italia 0-3: Verratti incanta, Barella si ripete ...
Chiesa and Berna have yet to play as the two wingers behind a CF. I don't think we've seen that yet for the national team. Usually when they have both featured, its been with Insigne in a false 9 formation (and they have all played well). If Insigne has been a doubt for starting 11 lineups in the media, its because he's had a bunch of mediocre performances when playing behind a proper CF. Insigne is talented, but its not like he's always bringing his A game with the national team. And in terms of the midfield, while this may be an unpopular opinion, I do think that Verratti and Jorginho are probably going to be usurped as starters for the Azzurri at some point. In fact, I think Mancini (and the federation) are bidding their time for when Zaniolo and Tonali are ready to step in and form a midfield three with Barella. I think thats the midfield that most are waiting to see...probably won't happen until WC 2022 though.
What Verratti & Jorginho give you is possession but most of it are useless passes. Big deal being made of the stats that Italy had 6 trillion passes completed but 5 of them were between those two, usually 5-yards apart, back & forth. Everyone once in a while, they tried to lob something over. Bonucci & Chiellini were more effective pushing the ball forward. Chiesa did not see much of the ball but when he did, he made things happen. Barella showed a good mix of dribbling & passing, his play putting us into an offensive position. Same for Belotti, who had some good runs. Insigne was a mixed bag. Despite his abilities, he tends to play it safe and backwards. Chiesa sprung his loose and when he actually attacked the goal, caused problems.
And neither are pure wingers, Bernardeschi can play right behind the striker too and often moves between those roles.