I still don't like many of his midfield/forward choices. Like I told Stamos, nothing has changed. I just find it silly to continue attacking Conte when he's clearly gotten results at this tournament. At some point, one must tip his hat to what he's done. Saying that, our offense is still substandard. Wouldn't it be nice to have Jorginho and Berardi right now, instead of having to rely on Sturaro? I think so. And this team is doing it mostly on defense. BBC, Buffon, De Rossi, and Parolo are the main components of this run IMO. When all is said and done, we have scored just 5 goals in 4 games (two late in stoppage time when the other team is pushing up). We also have not fallen behind yet to witness a desperate offense forced to attack. Hopefully it never happens with our stellar defense. Eder and Pelle have both squandered multiple chances to score as well.
What has Berardi proven to establish that we would have been better off with him than any one of the other attackers? Insigne has proven more in his career than Berardi has and we are getting results largely without Insigne's involvement. There are no world-beater forwards that Conte left home. Sturaro and Jorginho have different qualities. While I definitely would have preferred Jorginho to Motta, you can certainly understand why Conte elected to bring Sturaro given the type of game he wants to play. As you conceded, Conte has earned the benefit of the doubt. While we agree that the defensive sector of the team has been the main component to its success, you would be remiss to not recognize the contribution that the rest of the team is making. There is a reason that Eder is preferred to a more talented player in Insigne; and that another flair player in Bernardeschi has barely gotten a sniff. You can't entirely fault the attack where they we managed five goals in essentially three games that mattered. Four of those goals were scored against top-tier competition in Belgium and Spain. I am hardly convinced that the team would have gotten better results had other players that were excluded played.
B3r4rdi would have been nice to have as right sided forward option just about now. Candreva being out and all...
Berardi plays a more advanced position. I'm not sure how much he trails back, as would be required in Conte's 3-5-2.
Too bad he had to sit out of this tournament as we finally would have seen what he is made of. Might work out long term though. Ventura will give him more room to express his skills than he ever would have been allowed under Conte. Ventura will start a new cycle in these next qualifiers.
"Jussa pura ball ona net uaglio!!!" That was the instruction to Ed and then Jack and George got there first. I cheered
I seriously rewinded and watched the bitch slap he gave Pedro (I think it was him) a dozen times. It never got old and made me laugh everytime. Pedro was coming at him though, and you never come at Chago! Never!
I don't know but Verratti and Marchisio would have been included if healthy. Motta might have been the odd man out. Maybe Sturaro too.
Marchisio for sure. Motta is severely underrated in this team as evidenced by the stress caused by DDR's injury and his suspension. Verratti brings nothing to this team. He has to prove himself in WC qualifiers b4 he deserves a place in the first XI.
The stress was caused because Motta was the only back up to De Rossi. Verratti does need to prove himself. Conte was going to use this tournament to do so. It should have been during the qualifiers but that never happened. Moot point since he finished the season on the surgery table. But Conte was relying on Verratti and De Rossi might not have been a sure thing.
As a mezzala Verratti no longer fills that DDR role at PSG. He doesn't have the defensive nous, passing vision etc. Motta is preferred to him in that role at club level. Verratti still has plenty to prove in the Azzurri shirt, I'm surprised you've changed your tune.
I have not changed anything. All I stated was this tournament was a chance for Verratti to prove himself. Furthermore, my opinion above is not my opinion of how to place the players. It is my opinion of what Conte was likely to do if he had both midfielders healthy. I have always recognized Verratti's skills. My problem with him was that he did not expand his game. He needs to be more of an offensive threat and he needs to see more of the pitch instead of a narrow view.