For me country > club. I don't really care that much about club football. Clubs should be made to contribute more to NT, every team has to have x% of their squad be Italian and x/11 have to be Italian every game. I dont have specific number but logically it makes sense that it would be an effective solution. A lot of Italian prospects sitting on the bench while we give match experience to Costa Ricans and Uruguayans so they can give us grief in the world cup every 4 years.
I saw reduce the # of foreigners allowed in the league. It's a shame to see us help develop careers for South Americans when our own young talent rides the bench of lower leagues. I don't like reducing the # of teams either because it gives younger players a crack at the big league.
De Rossi has called out Balotelli, saying 'we don't need no Panini stickers. We need real men on this team'. After not showing Prandelli respect on his way out, deciding to sit on the bus by himself while everyone was in the locker room... Unbelievable. See ya Mario!! Not going to miss you.
First off, how about a god damn apology to panini stickers! What the hell did they do wrong? They're just trying to make a nice collection of stickers that both, young and old fans can collect. They are affordable and fun and even though I do not collect them, they do not deserve harsh and cruel words of Daniele De Rossi, who happens to play for Roma, which makes him the biggest sack of monkey shit ******** ass
IMHO Balotelli sucked in the last two games because the tactics were all wrong. There was no one playing close to him and he was isolated. Look how he and Candreva supporting him up top did against England. Prandelli just got too cute the past two games. Also the Manaus factor must be taken into account, the teams that played there absolutely shat the bed in their next game. Furthermore I thought DiRossi was putrid and what the hell is Motta doing on any Italian team? thats a disgrace. I think there's plenty for Italians to be excited about didn't your u-21 team get to the finals last yr vs Spain? Why didn't Insigne come in? Too many old warhorses played badly and of course it's easy to capitalize on the bad performance by Balo and make him the vocal point but that would be incorrect again in my opinion. Someone on another board mentioned that 2018 is your yr as you guys always win in 12 yr cycles. Respect.
Also I thought the fullbacks were up and down this tournament, good against England, non descript against Costa Rica.
Really need to construct a new defense, from goal-keeper to center-backs. Prandelli was never clear on the unit he wanted, and his Italy were always just a little bit shaky and error-prone.
I've always wondered why this never actually happened. The man clearly has an eye for talent. He just needs a good defense coach under him so that we could produce competent defenders.
Agree 100%. This is why the English never win. Their league only cares about winning and fame. They buy the best players and ignore their youth academies. They don't care about developing young English talent. They just care about short-term success. Why is Spain so successful? The best teams in their league care about youth academies. Barcelona and Madrid keep training and developing young Spanish players. The cycle is going to continue as well. Most of the best players in La Liga are Spanish. The Italian and Portuguese leagues have the same problem that the English league does. They care too much about winning and not enough about developing their youth. Pretty much the entire German team is made up of players from Bayern and Dortmund.
Sorry... You are right, this isn't helping. It's just that sometimes when I think of the lost opportunities of the past, I get a tear in my eye. Or two.. Or three...
To me this isn't rebuilding all this is is cleaning up. We do have to fix the defense up a bit but as far as midfield and attack go we have great young talent would have never been giving a chance if Balotelli remained the focal point. Ciro is only going to get better playing in Germany now. Insengne and Veratti are only going to grow more. I also loved what I seen from Candreva who I thought was the best player out there in that England match and why he didn't feature in this last match is beyond me. Rossi may have this next Euro left in him and that's it, Shame such a talent was never fully used. Berardi I hope is not wasted and is brought up to Juventus quick. I like what I seen from him so far and just hope Juve don't waste him like they did Giovinco.
i hope so… nowadays big teams won't give too many chances for young players especially strikers. i believe if juve gave the time to giovinco like parma did, he might deserve better today
Its true I think most fans put more importance into the clubs than in the national team. Its kind of difficult to concentrate on a team that plays 5-8 game a year with a constant revolving roster. Maybe the FIGC has to start rethinking its priorities? Not really sure what exactly has to be done but either way, just like always, I have a feeling most fans will not care much about the national team when the club season begins.
To begin with, we need to learn to forget Mario Balotelli. All the talks of him being the golden boy, bla bla...means nothing now. He just talks the talk. I could care less even if he sulks and threatens to switch his allegiance to the Ghanaian FA (I know this sound silly), I'm sorry boyo, your mind ********ed, off you go. But, to end Pirlo's and potentially Gigi's glittering international career so early and as disgraceful like this, is beyond forgiveness. And I hope whoever takes over the helm as coach, must have the guts to drop him....brace ourselves, these dark days await us!
De Rossi is the last player that should call out balotelli. I guess he's forgotten about his red card elbow from 2006.
Unless FIFA comes up with another set of rules, I believe its too late for him to switch to Ghana because he has appeared in a Euro and a WC finals not to mention the qualifiers. As far as Balo being the Golden Boy, he is ok but he is in no way a savior but he is not the only problem. Italy needs help in every area and most of all at the forward. Its simple really and the bottom line remains, you don't score and you don't win.
Calling out Balotelli had little to do with on field performance and more to do with attitude - not showing Prandelli the proper respect is a big no-go. Also, if we're referencing on-field, how about being a suck, not tracking back to help, not running, needing the ball directly onto his foot, etc.. Time to move on from 'Super' Mario...
Its funny though that the gap between the older players Buffon , Pirlo, Totti, Toni and Di Natale and younger lesser names Sirigu, Immobile, Cerci and Veratti is pretty huge. I like the younger players but know its time to start anew but I don't think they can equal on any level not even presently what the old guys have accomplished. Maybe this tournamnet will help them for future ones. Let's hope for the best. Its time to change the guard anyway.
Not to get carried away in some sort of generational rant... But the gap is mostly in character. We have never won anything simply because of skills and tactics, but because of grit, heart and mental strength. Actually, in my opinion, our most talented generation is the one that didn't become world champion 1990-1994-1998-2002 (not criticizing their character, simply saying that talent alone is not enough) So... Hopefully they will grow up to be men.
For the love of god I hope Berardi stays at Sassuolo for another year (which he probably will). I could see him going to Juventus next year and barely playing in typical Italian fashion.
One other thing that I hope the new FIGC can improve is leveling the playing field when it comes to refereeing. In order to foster player development at the international level. Letting players get away with murder at home, makes them lesser players when they play with the Azzurri jersey on and face referees that have no fear of sidetracking their career because they upset some powerful owner. If Italia-CostaRica was Juventus-Sassuolo or Milan-Catania... Most likely the outcome would have been 2-0... Goal not seen and flag down on a couple of close offsides
There's a few reasons for this. One is the simple and obvious fact that Italian clubs have no faith in the youth. This is more of an issue now then it was 10-15 years ago. Too much foreign talent hogging up space and forcing talented younger players (Verratti, Donati, Caldirola, Immobile) to play abroad. Also, you referenced a couple 'younger' players that shouldn't be referenced. I think if we're referencing Buffon, then Scuffett is the logical heir and he's quite talented with good character. If talking about Pirlo, then Verratti is the correct choice and may be an even better option moving forward (I will miss Pirlo in blue, not only for his talent, but his character). Toni and Di Natale? I present to you Berardi, Gabbiadini, Insigne, and Immobile. Any of those four could rise above the aforementioned veterans. Totti? Now that is a question mark and an area for concern. We don't have a prospect of his caliber but Totti always reminded me of Balotelli, in terms of attitude. Great individual player - but always had this arrogant air about him. I'm a huge fan of his and always was, but we won a World Cup with him basically playing on one leg. In essence, I don't think he was as critical to the Azzurri as some made him seem.
Its too early for this thread. The next conversation about the NT relative to a major tournament (the EURO's) is a long, long, looooong way off. I'm not telling you guys what to do obviously but I strongly recommend you take a break from the game and just not think about the NT for a while (for your own sanity).