I'm such a loser.... My concept of thinking is always geared towards a 4-4-2 lineup.... Anyway, as long as the teams get enough practice pre-season, and have enough games under their legs to be prepared to face France, then I'm fairly confident about Donadoni's strategy. He seems to know what he's doing.
Please don't put me in the position of having to cheer on a team coached by Capello! Regardless, I really hope Donadoni doesn't try to institute a 3-man defense before the France game. With everyone just getting through pre-season & only one league game under their belts surely sticking with what they've practiced together throughout the past year on international weeks is a better idea than trying to institute something different.
Nesta is retired so forget about him. And Donadoni's time could be short if he does not qualify the team. If this scenario happens Capello will be the coach next year. After all that he has accomplished in his coaching career he should have been given the chance. His teams might not play a highly entertaining style but the bottom line is that they win. Nobody can dispute this.
Italy still has 15 points to be won in group play. Is Donadoni going to pick everyone in September after the first league match or two weeks before so they can prepare??? Sep 8/9, 2007 Italy – France Sep 11/12, 2007 Ukraine – Italy Oct 13/14, 2007 Italy – Georgia Nov 17/18, 2007 Scotland – Italy Nov 20/21, 2007 Italy – Faroe Islands
I would assume that at this point, bar any severe injury or an extreme drop in form, Donadoni will most likely stick to the team he's been fielding lately. So perhaps a squad composed of the following players: * 1 Gianluigi Buffon * 22 Massimo Oddo * 5 Fabio Cannavaro * 23 Marco Materazzi * 19 Gianluca Zambrotta * 21 Andrea Pirlo * 10 Daniele De Rossi * 20 Simone Perrotta * 27 Fabio Quagliarella * 9 Filippo Inzaghi * 15 Antonio Di Natale Perhaps with a change here or there, like Toni for Inzaghi or something to that effect. But I wouldn't expect any major changes in the line up. I think the line up we see against Hungary will most likely be the team fielded against France.
But will he be having a stage two weeks before to get them ready or will he just wait until the after the 1st Serie A match to get them together at Coverciano???
Please Toni for Inzaghi? Anyone for Inzaghi? Toni, obviously. Iaquinta? Why not? Quagliarella could switch off as a prima punta with Iaquinta on the wing. Why not cap Amauri and Taddei? That would be ever so much better with Amauri in the middle and Taddei on the right. I'd even prefer Rigano'. Too bad Di Michele is out. I just don't see Inzaghi as useful without an ariete and I don't see the 4-2-3-1 as useful unless a player who can hold up the ball through skill or size is used. An attacante di area just seems useless in that role. I don't really like Perrotta in the 10 spot without Totti as a prima punta - I'd prefer a pure tridente, like the Baggio/Vialli/Del Piero Juve tridente if Perrotta is to play. If Donadoni really thinks Inzaghi is so hot, he should use a 4-4-2. I don't know about midfield. Right now is not the time to experiment. Some combination of Camoranesi/De Rossi/Gatusso/Perrotta/Pirlo is still fine by me. Seems pretty obvious to state the obvious, of course.
Sure, if Pirlo happens to rip a free kick off the side of his head by mistake like he did in the CL final against Liverpool. I agree with Via Vetulonia. It's time to drop INzaghi and move on to center forwards that are more capable than him! LEts face it, this guy is a pure one dimensional player that absolutly depends on the guys behind him to provide him with the picture perfect pass or opportunity in order for him to score. The guy is small and weak, which means he can't overpower defenders like Toni or Iaquinta can. He can't dribble for his life, which is why whenever he happens to get the ball more than 15 yards away from the goal he usually just ends up losing it completely! Inzaghi is easily the most overrated player on this squad and if he's up against a defense that's even half competent (and no, the Faroe Islands defense does not fall under that category) he's absolutly useless! I personally would give Gila the start over him in a heart beat! In any case, I'm confident that Toni will be back and ready to go in time for that France qualifier, so hopefully we won't have to worry about Pippo being an issue.
LOL, if you guys don't think Inzaghi is quality, you haven't been paying attention for the last decade. The man's goal-scoring record with both club and country speaks for itself. No further comment needed.
And his supporting cast for last decade speaks even louder! To consider Inzaghi to be a "quality" player solely cause of his goal scoring record is only blinding yourself from reality. One only needs to actually WATCH Pippo in action to see that this guy is anything but quality. Other than his sub-par dribbling, lack of creativity, or any true natural ability for that matter, his constant propensity to go offside has also done nothing but frustrate Italian football fans over the years. As far as I'm concerned if I had to chose between this guy and a true natural talent that can actually bring some technical merit to the match, then I'd pick option B in a heart beat. This guy is 34 years old on top of that! Time to move forward!
I agree! The bottom line is he scores goals. He has scored 142 goals in the Serie A since 1994 and 25 for Italy since 1997. Regardless if you like his style of play or not, he scores and that is what matters most.
You brag about Totti's record, and you're expecting us to accept your reasoning on Inzaghi? No thanks.
I don't think Forzaabbruzzo would ever compare someone of Totti's talent to that of Inzaghi. That is his point. Totti has been incredible with a much less talented team than Inzaghi. who has played with teams loaded with supremely talented set up men. Inzaghi has always scored goals, but yes, all of those things said here about Pippo are true. He is offside a frustrating number of times per game. He cannot dribble very well and is not terribly fast or strong. He creates little on his own. He is also one of the most effective, opportunistic poachers I have ever seen. Still, it's time to move on from the one dimensional Inzaghi for all of the reasons stated by others in this thread.
Yes Gennaro I agree with you however, what are the other options? We have Gilardino who is out of form and benching it in favor of Pippo with Milan. Then Toni is often injured and is not going to be ready even though he will be at Bayern Munich. There is Vieri who still needs to come back but he is also 33 years old. Rossi is still young and green and is not ready for the national team & Iaquinta and Del Piero are both pretty inconsistent and Rigano' & Lucarelli even though they are good club goal scorers are no where near national team material. Who else is does Italy have left?
I'd still be willing to give Bianchi a try. What about Spinesi? Amauri? As was mentionned before Quagliarella can play quite well in the center forward position as well if need be. I think too many people are still underestimating the kind of depth and potential we really have up front in attack. Well, we have enough ensure that we don't have to depend on a hack like Inzaghi...
When the hell did I brag about Totti's record with the Azzurri? If anything I've only said how he has been an underachiever with the Azzurri, hence why I wasn't crushed about him announcing his retirement from the NT! But that's another topic for another thread. But just for the sake of argument, there is absolutly no comparison between the type of player that Totti is and the type of player that Inzaghi is. Totti is 3 years younger than Pippo, and has already managed to score more goals in Serie A than Pippo has, and what's more humorous about that is that Totti has been a playmaking attacking midfielder throughout the majority of his career, and not a goal scoring center forward! Totti is undoubtable one of the most talented players in the world in terms of natural ability and technical skill whereas Inzaghi is nothing more than a goal scoring POACHER! Just the fact that you even attempted to compare the two players to each other in order to discredit my opinion of Inzaghi is humorous in itself.
The main trouble however, is also that we are between seasons. This happens every year. I remember last summer (in these same threads) just after Italy won the World Cup, everyone was criticizing the vetearn azzurri and they were all on vacation since July 10th. I mean how will we really know who will emerge if there are no games to be played? Its pretty hard to evalute any player during the month of agosto! Ragazzi bisogna prima giocare!
A great point about the lack of games, caro Gabi! Let's just hope Toni is ready for France. But can we all be honest for a moment please? Italy has never relied on a single goal scoring striker type. OK, maybe Paolo Rossi in 1982. But otherwise, our goals have come from different players. Our goals in 2006 came from 10 different players, correct? So why not put Quagliarella or someone without a world of experience up front? Is it really such a risk on a team that does not rely on that position anyway? My point is that whoever it is, it won't be the deciding factor in Italy's results. A great keeper and stifling defense, a solid but creative midfield, and someone to pop one in once in awhile is our formula. And it works.
Yeah Schillaci in italia 90 & Altobelli in 1986 and that is about it. We've never really had a dominating withstanding forward from Cup to Cup. Vialli & Mancini could have been good one's but they never did well with the national team. I've never seen a forward last on the Italian national team as long as Inzaghi has lasted. Ten years is quite a long time for a forward.
yeah, but the thing is, if we want to pick a line-up for the france and ukraine ties, one does have to evaluate now, as there is only two weeks from the start of the season until the france game. so even though it's not ideal, that is all we have to go on is the past and then our predictions (one of the reasons i am sure donadoni wanted an extra week, not just to help with match fitness, but one extra week to determine who is coming out of the gates on fine form and who isn't), but we all know how that proposal went over with lega calcio .
Coupet is out until December. This might harm France's chances somewhat, I guess slight advantage for us going in for the Sept. match.
Because he had a great supporting cast at Atalanta when he was capocanonniere, right? C'mon, you can't solely attribute "supporting cast" to a player who is prolific as he is. I think you're missing the point. Inzaghi is a striker. Particularly in Italy where roles on a club are well-defined, his job is to score. He does that as well as anyone else in the world. It doesn't matter that he doesn't excel in other technical areas so long as he keeps putting the ball in the back of net. Quite frankly Inzaghi has done enough to prove his worth as a footballer with the most notable latest achievemnt being his two goals to give Milan another Champions League trophy. The one point you do make regards his age. However, he has still proven serviceable at the highest level to this day. Until he shows otherwise he must still be considered for the NT.
You people who rubbish Inzaghi have not got a clue about football!! You deserve to have your right to speak taken away from you. Pippo Inzaghi is one of the best strikers there has ever been - that is a fact!! Yes he has no tecnique, skill, strength, link-up play e.t.c BUT what he does have without a shadow of a doubt is the greatest positional awareness, movement, striker intelligence and anticipation in the history of the game. This is all that matters! Inzaghi has the best movement in the history of the game. His markers cannot handle his movement - that is why he scores so many goals. He gambles and has the positional awareness to find space for himself in the area and be in the right place at the right time. The ability to lose your marker is what being a penalty box striker is all about. That is why Inzaghi is the best penalty box striker there has ever been. You name a striker in the history of the game with better movement, positional awareness and anticipation than Inzaghi!! Come on you idiots!! Instead of coming up with more crap - you name me a striker. I guarantee you will not find one! The only ones that come anywhere close are Gerd Muller, Jurgen Klinsmann and Paolo Rossi but still nowhere near Pippo. It winds me right up when people say Inzaghi is crap - they have not got a clue. Look at his goalscoring record - almost 150 Serie A goals in 12 seasons - 3 of which were almost totally ended by injury. Look at his international record 25 goals in 54 games - thats 1 goal in 2 games - the same as del piero having played 30 games less and 5th in the all time list of the Azzurri - yet you still say he is crap! You idiots say it is down to supporting cast - only an idiot could come up with a statement like that! Although paradoxically the truth is that if Inzaghi has intelligent players around him as soon as he makes his run they will be intelligent enough to see the run and put him through. The reason Inzaghi is offside alot is because he is always on the move - he is always making forward runs on the backs of defenders and often his brain is too fast for those in his team and often the linesmen too. The amount of times Inzaghi has wrongly been given offside is amazing - just look at World Cup 2002 for an example. Only last week Pele said this about Inzaghi "I don’t know if Milan really need a striker. They have Inzaghi, who is incredible! I thought it would be fantastic if I could bring Pippo to Santos. With him at the centre of the attack, we’d win five titles on the trot. “There are no defenders able to mark him, not just in Brazil, as he always seems to score. Think about it and let me know!” Inzaghi is a legend and all those that cant see it should shut up and pick another sport to rant rubbish about!!!