Italy's upcoming friendlies: Saudi Arabia, France, and Netherlands

Who knows what he would have done under Mancini? another clueless idiot. Look at what he did do in all his games for us. Look it up. You're seriously blaming the Prandelli, Conte who was supreme for us at the euros and the other muppet in charge for Immobile's failure?


HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA

 

Immobile did alright under Conte. Most of the time, he was a second striker supporting someone else. He rarely played under Prandelli, and even when he did, he was behind Balotelli.

Believe it or not, Immobile might have been one of our best players in the Ventura era. He was our group's top scorer in World Cup qualification. Above Diego Costa, Morata, and David Silva.

He does well for Lazio, so yeah we really do not know how he will fare in Mancini's system. We'll have to wait and see.

 

Man, imagine everyone talked like you instead. Then the team would surely transform into this pretend juggernaut that you also claim never existed. Is watching Italy play good for your mental state? I'd say probably not.

 

You guys don't stink at all, you have a really good side thats very young right now, completely the same as Holland. Our entire defense is like the equivalent of around 20 years old or so, around the same as Italy

 

so is Balotelli back for good with the NT?

Does he really think he could be named captain?

 

He'll wear the captain's armband in any game where he is the most capped player on the pitch, just like Insigne did today until Bonucci came in.

 

Not the most promising results these past 3 games but it's definitely great seeing all these youngsters getting some play time and everyone got a pretty good idea on who can do what. Mancini is just purely experimenting at the moment, i wish he picked a more serious squad for the France game but whatever. Gotta start somewhere, get some chemistry established and just do some fine tuning and we'll be alright.

 

The future of the NT seems to be in a weird place.

There is a new generation of talented and confident defenders via Romagnoli, Rugani, and Caldara, Giorgio will probaly retire after the Euros so one spot will be up for grabs... Leo is hit or miss and his Milan form does not yield results that would have you starting for the NT.

Crisicito is a solid defender, but offers little outside of that... Zappacosta is not good and MDS, Darmian, Conti have not played enough to earn it... even then, it leaves a lot to be desired.

Mario could be a lockdown starter, but in his first chance back with the team, he seemed content to apply no pressure defensively and just wait for passes to come to him, he did play fantastic first touch passes in a creative manner however... he needs to have a fire lit under him for him to find his old form.

Zaza,Belotti, and Ciro all have great potential, but they are inconsistant and we need someone reliably consistant.

Chiesa is an amazingly dynamic weapon and he should be a constant starter, hes going to be elite once he blossoms, his work ethic is a foundation for the attack and build up play that is matched by no one else.

Verdi and Insigne are talented players, but they are often one dimension in their play and they have trouble maintaining ball control when attacking. Insigne can not shoot at all, but he can play some clean dangerous passes on occasion.

 

Perin is a lockdown number one starter and I hope Mancini does not let the Donnarumma hype machine cost Perin his deserved starting role.

Perin is vocal, he is assertive, and he will get off his line and go up to make challenges for 50/50 balls outside of the pk box... he puts the situation first and his body second... Gigi does none of these things.

Jorginho is our best midfielder, he moves around, he is a reliable ball distributor, he will contribute on defense, he will maintain ball control and that gives time for other guys to get wide or make runs cutting in... and he will play them a accurate controllable ball.

But this team has no dynamic play making midfielder, none of the midfielders can play creative passes, they all lack finesses on their crosses or chips to their team mates, and none of them can thread a ball in between defenders. There is no player who looks even close to an early Totti or a late Pirlo.... and thats a big problem... without that, its going to be do or die based on defenders performances and a lackluster attacks ability to net goals.

 

In the spirit of the now departed (and reincarnated under a new username) IAF, I will give you guys the formation/starting lineup I think Italy should go forward with (when no injuries are present)...and yes, like Mancini, I believe in the 4 3 3....

-----------Belotti------------
Chiesa-------------Bernardeschi
Cristante-Jorginho-Verratti
Spinazzola-Romagnoli-Caldara-Florenzi
-------------Perin--------------

Three primary bench players....Balotelli, Insigne, Pellegrini.

I hope your smiling wherever you are IAF....

 

I LIKE IT!!!!!! This is great. Although as I said over and over again, I would rather have a healthy Marchisio over Jorginho. I hope Chiellini will come back, but Romagnoli and Caldara are very solid and will be fine! I am curious to see how Cutrone does as well, but as of now your lineup is great!

 

Le pagelle di Italia-Olanda 1-1: Cristante incolore, Chiesa ...

 

That Matthijs kid you guys have is DE LeGIT. Sounds like Juve are knocking on the door for him.

 

In a 4-3-3, I would still prefer Balotelli in the center until Belotti starts scoring consistently again. Having Belotti's energy and work ethic available from the bench is also a positive.

I am agreed with others who want to start Chiesa. He just seems more dynamic than any of the other wingers we have, even if Insigne is the more proven player. I would try Chiesa with one of Insigne or Bernardeschi as Chiesa is adept at playing either flank.

The LB is an issue. Spinazzola always seemed more comfortable as a winger to me. We will see how he does if given the role. Hopefully he develops at Juve this season.

 

Yeah, Serie A will be a perfect fit for him.
Barca are also said to be interested

 

I personally hate the 4-3-3. Always have. It leaves your midfielders exposed numerically and unless you have iron lungs Gattuso out there it is hard to hold the midfield.

It also exhausts the front 3 as they have to back track and do even more work to help the midfield out. Strikers that get into scoring positions on tired legs always will tend to finish poorly. It's just a fact of nature.

I think this team would do a lot better with a 3-5-2 or a 4-4-2

 

you like it because your old profile did these all the time... you're not fooling anybody

 

LOL it's all doom and gloom with you hey?

i know your type... always talk bad/down on your team so that you minimize the hurt during the down times.. keep hedging your bet on italia... i'll guarantee this team will be a contender by the euros... we're not that far out... we have good young CB's... good young options on the wing in attack

 

As of right now, I would agree that Balotelli probably deserves to start over Belotti (who's form is still suspect). But I think in six months/year Belotti will put his current problems/injuries behind him and become first choice. It helps that he is also only 24, and will be in his prime for Italy's next two tournaments. Balo and Immobile will be hitting 30 by the Euro's. Unfortunately, other than a too young (and green) Cutrone, we have no one else we can really count on. The next best option, Zaza, is not good enough.

No way to 3 5 2. Our most creative players are wingers. Is it possible to make Berna an attacking midfielder? Or Chiesa and Insigne SS? Possibly, but unless Mancini tries it soon, or those players get slotted in those roles domestically, 4 3 3 is the most sensible formation. Saying that, I don't want to see 3 4 3...not with our midfield.

 

Basically we currently don't have a formation that fits our squad. That is a bad problem to have.

 

We get too caught up in the formations. A manager simply needs to employ the formation that makes the best use of the players he has at his disposal. One can't take issue with the 4-3-3 where we've seen Barcelona basically demolish everyone with it. At the same token, we've seen Conte have success with a 3-man backline.

Frankly, I think a 4-2-4 that allows Balotelli and Belotti to start flanked by two of Insigne, Chiesa or Bernardeschi, puts our best eleven on the pitch. My concern would be whether the wingers and Belotti would do enough work defensively so we're not exposed.

 

and who would be the two guys left stranded in the middle in your dream formation?

 

I would think Verratti paired with the best destroyer/ball-winning midfielder we have. If too offensive a formation, perhaps Jorginho paired with said defensive-minded midfielder. Again, though, this only works if the wingers understand and execute their defensive responsibilities and Belotti trails back (which he would definitely do given his work rate).

 

i like an offensive approach... i just worry we don't have two beasts that can handle that work load in the middle. Jorginho (and to a lesser extent Verratti) would get overrun in that formation. You generally need to have two box to box mids with decent distribution who can get the ball up quick on the counter in a 4-2-4.

one advantage is that our FB's dont need to worry about attacking.. which they can't do now anyways

 

That's a valid criticism, but it can work if players understand their respective roles and you have enough quality. I worry about the former more than the latter.

Take, for instance, Real Madrid. They often line up with a hybrid 4-4-2/4-2-4 where it is not uncommon to see Modric flanked by Kroos. You then have guys like Isco and Bale on the wings supporting CR7 and Benzema in attack. That's a very attacking formation and clearly it has worked.

Their success, in large part, is due to the quality they are able to field which we clearly don't have. However they have shown that this type of formation can work.

Against a lesser side, I would be interested to see Verratti and Jorginho as the holding players; Bernardeschi and Chiesa, the wingers; and Balotelli and Belotti, the strikers.