Have u ever played soccer? When you’re on a run like that and there’s a clear shove like such.. what do you think is going to happen?
As far as a rebuild goes for Italy I think we are on the right track but there is still work to do.I may get criticized for this but This years U21 TOURNEY which Italy is hosting and at the same time Italy has had some very good success over the past 20 years or so . will probably be the most important in a very long time . Im not saying they have to win but a successful tournament will do wonders for confidence etc
As I posted on the youth team thread, I have a feeling some of the senior team players will play for the U21's & U23's.The 19 year olds, Moise Kean and Nicolò Zaniolo , 20 year old Gianluigi Donnarumma and 22 year old Nicolò Barella are all still eligible to play for the youth teams and I don't see any reason why they wouldn't be included in a non WC year. Italy's last qualifier this year is on June 11th and their U21's start on June 16th. If I was DiBiaggio, I'd pick them.
An U21 team of Donnarumma Calabria - Romagna - Bastoni - DiMarco Barella - Tonali - Mandragora Zaniolo Kean - Cutrone Can someone confirm if I listed any players that are not eligible? It's hard to imagine a team like this not going far
Thinking it over more, I'm not sure if DiBiaggio and Mancini will let them play in both the Euro Qualifiers and the U21's but I believe some will be picked for both. I can't imagine them leaving both Keane and Donnarumma off of the U21's...... . Here is the current list of the U21's...
my prediction is by next years Euro's we'll see Orsolini in the squad. He's been getting more and more time at Bologna recently and has looked pretty good..
I thought orsolini was going to be the real deal a few years ago, havent seen him much recently but it seems against top opposition his silky skills are nullified. How do you rate him in 2019?
There are no great Oriundo players, where 2,3 football federations would fight for the players. Usually, their birth countries don't invite them, so they hope to play for Italy. Best solution is to turn to the domestic league players, youth national teams. U21 team has players from Sampdoria, Napoli, Milan, Genoa, Parma, Udinese, Torino, Atalanta, Roma, Juventus. Interesting, no one from Inter, Lazio, Fiorentina on this list. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy_national_under-21_football_team U19 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy_national_under-19_football_team U17 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy_national_under-17_football_team
Italian players need to be on Italian top teams. We can’t have a bunch of players all over the place. Italy was at its best when players were at Juve,Milan, and inter with a few players from outside those few teams. Making players who are playing their career at smaller teams will not bring Italy success.
Italy is on intersection period. Several European countries started to accept players from migration communities in the last 20-30 years, mostly their previous colonies. That's how they are successful. I don't think that this can be the good idea in Italy. Club ambition dictates that they buy top footballers and invest expensive amounts for hiring them. Money which was given to Ronaldo, Juventus or FIGC could open several youth centres with academy status. Soon it will be normal to see billion USD teams which end among top 8 in the Champions League. But some day, this pyramid might collapse. Banks are not so patient. Greek, Turkish, Cypriot, Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian clubs collapsed because of irrational financial construction. This is visible among other clubs: Anderlecht, Grasshopper, Stuttgart, Schalke, HSV, Newcastle, Fulham, Southampton, Leeds, Aston Villa, QPR, Bolton, Celta Vigo, Villarreal, Malaga, Deportivo, Mallorca, Zaragoza, Monaco, Nantes, Bordeaux, Sochaux, Auxerre, Lens, Udinese, Parma, Palermo, Venezia, Anzhi. These clubs were once great.
Italy are doing fine in producing young talent these days. problem is Germany,France,England and Spain are still ahead of us.
They are taking descendants of different ethnic groups which joined since 60's, 70's. Germany wouldn't have Rudiger, Goretzka, Sane, Gnabry, Gundogan. France would only have Pavard and Thauvin. Spain uses domestic players in their clubs in much wider range, that's why they are great. They took Diego Costa from abroad.
I wouldn’t overate some of the other European giants at the moment. Besides France and Belgium none have been overtly impressive both on the field and on paper. I don’t think we are far behind England at all. Besides Kane they don’t have anything that we substainly lack. Zaniolo Kean Chiesa Barella etc are all unknown outside Italy. If you break through in England you’re a known quantity but time will tell if Foden has a better career than Tonali. We’ve been here before with the likes of Scholes being rated above Pirlo until the evidence was clear. Talent “on paper” isn’t everything in international football, especially the Euros. A strong group identity and players that fit can go further than a bunch of stars, as we’ve seen. We’ve rarely had the perfect 11 in the past if ever. Each national team is extremely fragile, including Brazil Germany France. We are growing and can give anyone trouble if Mancini does half the job Conte did. Germany and England are both overrated at the moment.
England are far overrated... especially Kane. He's good..but he's not a world class player. He can take his hat trick and penalties vs panama and stick that phony golden boot up his culo
Balgium and France are the most complete teams. The Netherlands is trying to return, they are not far from top. Spain is changing generation, but they always have great players. They can't resolve team spirit with Catalan, Basque, Galician players. Portugal can be complicated, but their defenders and attackers are often weaker. Central players can't resolve things alone. Two draws at home they have. England is solid, on individual quality of Sterling, Rashford, Trippier, Sancho, maybe Welbeck.
Kane is a world class player. Stop. I get the English get carried away at times, but let's be rational. Outside of Messi and Ronaldo, there isn't one out and out striker I would take over Kane. Let's also not over-hype our guys. Don't get me wrong, I am excited about some of the younger players coming through, but until they are making meaningful contributions at the top level with the best teams, we won't win anything. National teams that win have star-studded starting XIs where almost everyone plays at a top club. We're not there....yet.
Thats what bothers me these days about International Football is England, Germany, Belgium and especially France are all very multicultural, I would say a good half of the their squads don't even have origins from their countries, Italy and Spain are a last of a dying breed in Europe. Ya sure if we brought in massive amounts of African and Asian immigrants we would be just as good as France, but were not so I can take value that in the fact that if we win or lose its with our own kind. Not being racist but that's what international football should be, its changing now and its a shame.
If you had the choice to have Harry Kane or any of the guys I list below (excluding Messi and Ronaldo).. you are taking Harry Kane? Mbappe, Suarez, Aguero, Salah, Hazard, Neymar
As a number 9 I would go with Suarez and Aguero tbh. The others are more wingers than natural #9's. I'd also throw in Lewandowski before Kane