Italy vs. Yugoslavia 10/12/02 Official Pre Post and During Game Thread(R)

For a webcast in Italian, go to www.radio.rai.it, and click on "Radio 1" on the right.

 

1-1 Final score.

Anyone watch the game willing to give an analysis?

 

del piero scored again?!?!?!? what the hell is happening to this guy recent years?

 

Trap decided to give Milan's 4-1-2-1-2 a try with only limited success. He lined up Zauri on the left, Panucci on the right and Nesta and Cannavaro in the center. Canna got a great ovation everytime he touched the ball, he is from Naples and started at Napoli I believe. In the midfield, Pirlo played in a deep role with Tommassi and Gatusso beside him. Doni was a trequarista with Del Piero and Inzaghi up front.

Overall a dissapointing game for Italy. You would think copying Milan's tactics would have brought success, but Trap put his own spin on the lineup. At Milan Pirlo is played deep, but he has Seedorf beside him. An offensive player. Gatusso or Ambrosini usually play on the other side, but that is balanced by Rivaldo coming into the midfield. Essentially Milan play 4 attacking midfielders and one striker. Trap had 2 attacking midfielders and 2 strikers and it didnt work. Tommassi is horrible, just horrid. I think I dislike him more than I dislike Gatusso because at least Gatusso kills himself running. Tommassi looks half assed in the tackle and half assed in passing. He's an ass basically.
Doni hurt his ankle early in the game but stayed on until half time when he was replaced by Montella (!). There was no creative spark. Pirlo needs players around him who can control the ball and pass it as well. Del Piero didn't come into the midfield to receive the ball and Inzaghi played on the edge of the defence as usual. No outlet.

On the goal: Nesta missed a tackle versus Mijatovic that fell favorably for him on the left side of the penalty area. He took on Buffon unmarked from a tight angle and lifted it over him into the far side netting. Bizarre goal. Kovacevic had a chance to double it when he turned Cannavaro inside out but Buffon blocked with his legs.

Trap: you got the right idea, but the wrong players. Get Fiore in there, for the love of GOD.

 

bad pitch conditions (it was soaked),confused play,little chemistry,the Pirlo-Doni experimented aborted (Trapattoni closed the match with Tommasi,Gattuso and Ambrosini on the pitch... HOOORAY! ),Nesta making the dumbest mistake (i HAD to switch to another channel for a few minutes thereafter )
good first half by Zauri (first time ever this apparently very ordinary player impresses me),Del Piero obviously in great form although tentative on the potato-field,Buffon decisive (for the good)
Fiore at least watched the game,i'm told...

bleah

 

When your best player - Nesta - makes a basic mistake, allowing that fiend Mijatovic of all people (still hated by me for scoring a cheap-ass goal in the CL final some years ago) in to score, well, it's not your day. Thought Buffon could've done better on that sharp angle, but he's hard to blame.

Pirlo did well distributing. Where was Inzaghi? I understand he has gone home to rest and will not play against Wales. He apparently shouldn't have played against Yugoslavia either. Is it true that Maccarone has been called to replace him?

I think Trap's biggest problem is he has built the team assuming a big strong forward like Vieri is going to be there to finish off half-chances. But the problem is there is nobody else who is quite like Vieri, so when he's not there... Inzaghi can finish chances - with decent service, but nobody out there was really able to provide that. The reason he's scoring with Milan is all the great service he's getting from Rui Costa, Seedorf, et al.

Anyway, drawing at home against the 2nd seed in the group is not the end of the world - as long as they make up for it with a win at Wales. Easier said than done. Trap's fate rests on the next result, I'm guessing.

 

I thought Zauri showed well in the first half and I like Pirlo a lot in that deep role....

The problems are with the Tomassi types who can't create anything and the second forward to play off Del Piero as long as Vieri is not there. Perhaps Maccarone gets a chance at Wales...

 

I actually like Tommasi. He's a really great guy, involved with lots of charities and good causes. He's the only Roma player I like. When they won the Scudetto, he was one of the main reasons. Just a dominant midfield force. There was a WC qualifier at Romania then, when he was the best player on the field, in my opinion.

But, just as with Di Biagio, who peaked right before WC 98, this type of player has a very short useful lifespan. Unless he's 100% fit and 100% committed to EVERY tackle and every play, he's not effective. And these things tend to decrease very quickly with age. I don't know how old Tommasi is, but he really brings nothing more than guts, and Gattuso already brings THAT to the table in abundance.

My heart sank the other day, when I think it was Del Piero set somebody up with a really nice left-footed chance outside of the box, and the announcer says "Tommasi ... sinistra!" Any guesses what happened next? Hint: Not a goal. At least Di Biagio can still score now and then.

 

Di Biagio was not available (flue symptoms)
Maccarone will sit on the bench against Wales,Montella takes precedence,only on seniority right i guess,since he's been in poor form lately

but why dwell on misery,it'll do no good anyway

 

tomassi: great player, getting older, slower, may be better as a bench player/veteran prescence for the giovani...

pirlo: a great chef in a tight kitchen,
trapatoni: give pirlo more space up front
fiore: never seen when hes been needed most, really thought he would have done well in that system w/ some new guys up front

gattuso: great heart, how is he a mid fielder beyond tackling, saw him mis handle the ball in the slot too many times, not a big fan of him as a starter.

montella: nuff skills, was out of place, why was a attacking midfielder taken out and replaced w/ more of a striker?

pannuchi: nice moves up the flank, got pushed around by bigger yugoslav forwards, dont see how he is a natural defender

hype for maccaroni in whales.

yugoslavia played well, much respect to them,
line ups need tweaking.