Italy vs Azerbaijan & Croatia thread: 2016 Euro Qualifiers

So here is Conte's squad:

Goalkeepers: Buffon (Juventus), Padelli (Torino), Sirigu (PSG)

Defenders: Astori (Fiorentina), Barzagli (Juventus), Bonucci (Juventus), Chiellini (Juventus), Darmian (Manchester United), De Sciglio (Milan), Florenzi (Roma), Ranocchia (Inter), Santon (Inter)

Midfielders: Bertolacci (Milan), Montolivo (Milan), Parolo (Lazio), Pirlo (New York City FC), Soriano (Sampdoria), Verratti (PSG)

Forwards: Candreva (Lazio), Eder (Sampdoria), El Shaarawy (Monaco), Giovinco (Toronto FC), Insigne (Napoli), Pellè (Southampton), Quagliarella (Torino), Zaza (Juventus)

Note: Marchisio is injured. Berardi was included officially but had to drop out because of injury. Hopefully he can be back for the friendlies we have in march to prepare for Euro 2016. Gabbiadini is missing, I don't know why, maybe he will replace Berardi though.

So how should we line up? For me since we can't play Berardi yet, this is my formation.

4-3-1-2:

-Giovinco-Quagliarella-
-Insigne-
-Montolivo-Pirlo-Verratti-
-Darmian-Chiellini-Bonucci-Florenzi-
-Buffon-​

 

OMG LOL, how did I miss that. Yup your right.

 

Please can a mod change Croatia to Norway in this title? It was my mistake.

 

Where is Verratti? Also Candreva has just come back from injury, and I feel bad to start him. We might be risking him. I am quite surprised Conte took him actually after he just recovered. Anyway Candreva is way off target too many times, so I am not really keen on starting him anyway when we have players that proved themselves more on finding the back of the net. Also Insigne's best position is a trequartista. Also Pelle hasn't proved much, and I think Quagliarella and Giovinco are a step above Pelle.

 

SES is rubbish and shouldn't even be there. He has pace but his finishing is unacceptable, and he cannot score a goal unless he is very close to the goal. Those situations happen quite rarely. We have much better players.

 

Normally I'd replace Candreva with Berardi, but he is injured for these games. Pelle has not been scoring enough for Italy really. He has scored only two against Malta (Not Germany, Not Spain, Not France) Malta. One of them was controversially with his hand as well. It doesn't impress me. We don't have to drop Pelle completely, but Giovinco and Quags have found the net more and probably more on target and more consistent. I know Pelle has been scoring goals for Southampton, but most of those are tap ins. Also I like to judge players on how they play for Italy more than their club, because thats what matters. Pelle when it comes to the Azzurri, I have been let down by him. Giovinco is a monster for Toronto and its true MLS is not a good league, but he does great assists and can take free kicks well.

Okay Montolivo > Verratti? Now thats just stupid. Verratti is our best midfielder, he has been doing great for PSG and is the only player who feels very comfortable on the ball with Italy, and knows what to do with it. Why not use both Montolivo and Verratti and skip Parolo. Parolo is inconsistent and isn't even that good honeslty. In the euros though I'd like a midfield of Marchisio and Verratti, and in DM either Pirlo or De Rossi, whoever seems to keep of with the game more.

When the actual tournament comes, this is how I would line up:

-Giovinco/Insigne-Gabbiadini/Quagliarella-Berardi-
-Marchisio-Pirlo/De Rossi-Verratti-
-Darmian-Chiellini-Bonucci-Florenzi-
-Buffon-​

 

Okay your referring to just the 2016 qualifiers. What about previously like World Cup 2010, 2012 euro qualifying, 2013 confederations cup, and 2014 world cup qualifying? Quagliarella has found the net a number of times. Giovinco hasn't found the net that many times but his assists are good and he has scored some amazing goals. Berardi hasn't played for us yet, but I saw him as a huge key player in the U-21 side.

Verratti out with flu? Where did you hear this? I couldn't find it anywhere. Or is this a joke?

 

Yeah well Quagliarella didn't get enough chances to prove himself recently, but he should of. He has been doing great. I am wondering why he didn't get more chances. Giovinco as well, he should have had more chances.

At Juventus 2012-13 Giovinco and Quagliarella showed that they work very well together. I think it will even be better with Insigne behind them. Much better than relying on Pelle as our only striker who kind of has a lack of NT experience. Pelle missed tons of chances. Two goals against Malta isn't enough for him, and none of those did he create himself.

Dude stop it with Verratti. He is our best midfielder.

 

-Insigne-Pelle-Candreva-
-Soriano-Pirlo-Verratti-
-Darmian-Chiellini-Bonucci-Florenzi-
-Buffon-​