of all the “favourites” they’re the one that scares me the least. Doesn’t matter they have all those attackers they have… their mids will get played off the pitch by us (repeat of 2012 when we were unlucky to score but just ran show in the mid all game long vs them).
Praying for Denmark’s & Inter - Milan’s Christian Eriksen after having a cardiac arrest at the Euros! Forza Christen! Seems to be doing ok, considering -- doctor gave a thumbs up. But how horrifying. Hearing CPR was successful and Erikson is responsive. Prayers 🙏❣️ The next 24 hours will be critical for Eriksen, but a full recovery isn't out of the question. He can do this.#EURO2020 #Eriksen pic.twitter.com/fP03A41gRd— Lehan Fayaz (@lehanmadridismo) June 12, 2021
Is Denmark going to petition UEFA for another player to replace Eriksen or are the rosters set at 26 regardless?
don’t know to feel sorry for them or laugh at them for their ignorance. I refuse to put Pirlo Kakà and Gattuso in the same sentence as him.
Relax, they win their group. They then play one of France/Germany/Portugal and where does that leave England? Phillips was great today, but that Yorkshire Pirlo moniker always gets me.
About Italy's midfield: given Locatelli's performance, Verratti's place is far from secure. Personally I think that the only player we cannot do without is Barella, whose defensive skills are irreplaceable. That leaves us with three possible configurations: 1. Barella - Jorginho - Locatelli 2. Barella - Jorginho - Verratti 3. Barella - Locatelli - Verratti Any idea on why nobody is ever considering configuration 3 ?
I am curious where everyone would rate a healthy Sensi and a healthy Zaniolo vs Barella, Jorginho, Locatelli? I realize Zaniolo may never be 100% again, but just for sake of discussion, let's assume he comes back and looks like his old self before the injury.
Zaniolo is more of an attacking option than the other mids you mention. If he regains his fitness and form, he will push for a starting spot in the next World Cup.
The Yorkshire Pirlo is a joke though. Northern English lads are down to earth jokers. If he was from London they would probably be serious with that nickname.
Really good question. I originally would say keep Barella on the bench but you make a good point that I didn't think about. Verratti might be useful against the bigger teams. Or how about Option 3 but Verratti in the center and Locatelli on the right?
Largo ai giovani with the exception of Chiellini, Bonucci and Acerbi is starting to work pretty well for Mancini! Average age is 28 with those guys and 27 without.....
This Italy squad is not young. In fact, I expect more rejuvination of the squad between this summer and the WC in Qatar.
This squad isn't old either. Chiellini, Bonucci, Acerbi, Immobile and Insigne drive that age up. Lot's of younger players that can form a core for WC and next Euros too. It's really too bad Romagnoli lost his form this year because I was hoping to see him in a big tournament. Bastoni is young, but I need to see more of his as a pure central defender. If Zaniolo and Pellegrini weren't injured, they surely would have been on the team bringing down the age more. We will have to keep our eyes on guys like Rovella and Lovato. Personally, I'd like to see younger prima puntas and difensori centrali come through.
This Italy team is a lot younger than the one that was eliminated by Sweden in November 2017...... That team had an average age of 30 but its misleading as Buffon was about to turn 40 and Immobile 28 within 2 months , Darmian was turning 29 and Jorginho 27 two weeks after that match..... This will have driven the age up to 31 years of age....... That doesn't take into account that the WC will have been in 7 months time so therefore, those same older players will have been even older (age 31.5 on average) by the time the tournament began in June 2018. That is quite old in terms of national team players.... Italia (3-5-2): Buffon 39; Barzagli 36, Bonucci 30, Chiellini 33; Candreva 30, Florenzi 26, Jorginho 26, Parolo 32, Darmian 28; Immobile 27, Gabbiadini 27. All. Gian Piero Ventura. Thinking back, I don't recall too many newer, younger players emerging in the Winter-Spring of 2018 either.... Actually, by WC 2018, their ages will have been as follows: Buffon 40; Barzagli 37, Bonucci 31, Chiellini 33; Candreva 30, Florenzi 27, Jorginho 27, Parolo 32, Darmian 28; Immobile 27, Gabbiadini 27. All. Gian Piero Ventura.
Correction: by WC 2018, their ages will have been as follows: Buffon 40; Barzagli 37, Bonucci 31, Chiellini 33; Candreva 30, Florenzi 27, Jorginho 27, Parolo 32, Darmian 28; Immobile 28, Gabbiadini 27. All. Gian Piero Ventura.
Is Romagnoli really doing that badly for Milan? Just a couple of years back there was talk of him replacing Chiellini as a starting central defender.
On a side note, is there a team with a more boring style of play than Spain? I've only fallen asleep twice watching matches, and both games involved spain; the WC final against The Netherlands (fell asleep for half the game), and the recent match against Sweden (again, fell asleep from boredom for about half the match) Watching that team play is the equivalent of someone going on and on and on witha joke without a punchline anywhere in sight. On the other hand, glad to see Italy doing well at the Euros; really impressed with Berardi, Spinazzola, and Chiellini. Also, happy to see Ciro score in both games..
he was pretty awful all year. He got hurt last summer during the restart and has never come close to being the same player. *I don’t watch as much Milan as other posters so they may disagree.