Orsolini and Chiesa with the latest two goals. i think? lol cant remember us ever scoring 9 in my lifetime
Good to see a change in the attitude of prior Italy sides that would have stopped playing three goals up. Football has changed. About time we caught up.
Credit to Armenia for continuing to commit so many players forward (after the early goals) and for being prepared to play such a high line.
Italy 9-Armenia 1! LOL! Who says there is no scoring in soccer? I can't ever recall an Italian team, club or national team scoring this many goals.... Le pagelle di Italia-Armenia 9-1: Chiesa e Zaniolo straripanti ...
My point is wishing relegation to a team in a National Team thread in the National team forum is, let’s say, not too friendly. We start down that road, the posts will all be like that. Hey, you want to slam Udinese or Juve on your respective teams’ forums, have at it. Tad unfriendly in the Azzurri section is all that I’m saying
Never before have we won all our qualifying games for a major tournament! curious to see what was the closest or best record before that. Anyone know?
Who's on the bandwagon now? This team is loaded in the midfield. How many national teams can bring a Chiesa or Zaniolo off the bench? Their speed and skill is a killer for defenses. Immobile is perfect when a team has their D line playing up high. He kills on the counter (usually). That's why he's perfect to come on as a sub against tough teams when we are up a goal. Look, no one is crowing us Euro Champs yet. But, 10 wins in the group stage and +37 goals against. I've been watching Gli Azzurri since 1982...never seen anything like it. The foundation is built for Euro 2020 and WC 2022 for sure.
Wow. Just finished watching the game. I actually said it a few weeks ago.... Zaniolo and Chiesa should start on the wings. Their skill plus athleticism...breathtaking. Chiesa was a beast today, breaking ankles and terrorizing that Armenian defense all night. And yet Zaniolo matched him for co MOTM. 9 goals. This team is looking special and full of confidence. 10-0 in qualifying.....
I'm not convinced. Armenia opted for an open attacking style. To their credit they set out to be 0% tactical. Italy was always going to perform well esp. with Mancini's energetic attacking approach exploiting the abundant space. This was not even Italy's "best" 11. Italy's best team does not win 9-1 against Armenia in a "live" fixture where they're at least playing for a draw. Even at their lowest point Italy will produce enough quality players to produce a minimum level of proficiency, notwithstanding poor managers. But to beat quality teams and progress deep into tournaments you need either great players or an outstanding manager. I've not seen evidence of that. Hopefully a pleasant surprise will emerge next June.
I would definitely add Chiellini, but I have a feeling he won't be fit enough. He's been injury prone, and at his age I think he'll end up staying home this summer. I like Biraghi more than Emerson personally, but Italy have three decent LB's. Whichever two are most fit and in form should go. And no. I'll take Immobile off the bench over all four of those guys. Mancini is only taking two CF's (I think he rather bring 6 midfielders than just 5) and none of the guys you mention should make the squad over Immobile.
Didn't he already use his second and in some case third choice players? I think everyone wanted to show their worth and that they merited a callup. If they play poorly at that point, there is a good chance they won't make the final squad. What was he going to do, tell them not to play hard?
This is the first time Italy went undefeated in a qualifying phase of a Euro or WC tournament. To go 10 -0 -0 is pretty incredible. I guess being eliminated from the WC was a wakeup call....