Guys who can cross the ball would help, too. Zambrotta and Criscito were horrid. Oh look... He can lose his marker! Too bad Italy doesn't have a Papa Waigo. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEeuy-cj-Kk"]YouTube- Tottenham Hotspur Vs Fiorentina 0-1 Goal By Gilardino Friendly Match 2010‎[/ame]
between him and Amauri I dont know whos better, I think Amauri has better control but honestly I would rather go with a tri attack of Balo/Cassano/G.Rossi.... You have all 3 that could create and feed off eachother!
Balotelli and Cassano will have to do that with Amauri/Gila in the middle, they could both cross with the best of them . But they're already up front, we don't have anyone coming from the back that could cross well that I could think of.
Since his move to Milan...pretty much. I remember with Parma this guy used to score some absolutely freakish goals with his feet with as many as 2-3 guys around him! He was the kind of guy that could do something with very little room inside the penalty area. Not sure what happened...
It's obvious what happened. You stopped paying attention. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-bEq5s6bTE"]YouTube- Alberto Gilardino-Idolo di Firenze‎[/ame]
Ummm, hello? Didn't we manage just 2 points in a group that was made up of New Zealand, Paraguay, and Slovakia? I hardly doubt it can get much worse than that! Once again, I'm not expecting perfection from this side from the get-go. A lot of these players are gonna be rusty, out of shape, and for the most part will likely need at least 1-2 months of training and playing at the club level to get into peak shape again. It's been like that for as long as I can remember, and I expect it to be much of the same this time aruond as well. Even if we walk away with 4 pts, we'll still be in great shape, considering the fact that we'll only get stronger and better going forward in the qualification round.
^^^ Hahha this is true. Gli azzurri in the late summer/early fall are usually pretty rusty and lethargic looking.
Exactly. Him and Adriano at Parma were out of this world. Both moved to bigger clubs and it's sorta been neither here nor there. Nice header by Gila though.
I don't necessarily agree with the comparison mate. Vieri was one of the top 3 forwards in the world during late 90's and early 2000's. He had practically everything needed for power forward in his locker.
Vieri scored just as many with his feet. One trick pony? Not sure how you've come to that conclusion since Vieri wasn't much of a dribbler and rarely used any "tricks".
For Spain he's simply not WC. He does fine in a direct side like Liverpool but with a patient side like Spain since he's not particularly good technically and Spain's midfield won't play long passes behind the opposition defence for him to run onto.
IMO Gilardino is a limited striker who only thrives in the right environment. For me his demise in Milan was the combination of several factors such as the difference between style of play, higher level of competition(within the squad and in Ch. League) and subsequent role in that squad. In a team like Fiorentina where he gets constant supply from good wingers such as Vargas/Marchionni he would look top class. In contrast with Milan or Azzurri where intelligent movement and clinical finishing is as necessary as poaching, he becomes virtually invisible.
This squad is by no means an indication of the regulars that Prandelli will call during qualification. He wanted to call up some players who he doesn't know too well (like Amauri and Balotelli) and see what they can offer. He even left out some of his favourites like Gila and Marchionni.
The combination of forwards (i.e. Gila + Yak) was not good. It would have been much better with a creative second striker playing next to one of them. I don't want to see Cassano dropping too deep, he's quite a big goal threat and can play those killer final passes which we have been lacking.
Creativity doesn't need to come from one source. We had creativity coming from the midfield (through Pirlo) for the last 4 years but it wasn't enough. There was no one to create in the final third. We can have creativity from the midfield and forwards like we did in 2006 with Pirlo and Totti respectively (i.e. a regista and trequartista). We could do something similar this time around with Montolivo and Cassano.
One trick pony is american slang for someone who is good at only doing one thing - not a literal meaning of trick. That said, at the end of his career with gli azzurri, and before Vieri professed his desire to go back to Oz and play cricket, he was most dominant in the air using his head instead of scoring the ball at his feet. Not knocking the guy - I always liked him.
Even using your definition, calling him a one trick pony is still way off. Vieri's aerial ability might have been his best attribute, but it doesn't mean he was only good at heading.
Zaccardo is a World Champ , Maldini never won anything as an Azzurro.=> Maldini >>> Zaccardo. No offence intended.
bro i expected better from u...that not the way to judge a player look up vieri's greatest goals on youtube or something and rethink ur post then TRY to find gilardino's greatest and compare...that is if he has any...gila could never be like vieri vieri was the ultimate forward, he CREATED chances out of nothing...go see how many goals italy scored to some hail mary long balls that vieri caught and scored on....gila could NEVER do that!
Vieri was the model of what a pure striker should be. Wait for the ball and score on your few chances (which he did). Gilardino had great aspirations as an under 21 and I personally thought we had a superstar on our hand. He never panned out the way we thought he would. In their "hayday" I would take Vieri over Gila...hands down
Toni is probably the best striker after Vieri. He had an incredible performance 2006 followed by a great performance during his tenure at Bayern in 2007