9/7: Azerbaijan vs. Italy [R]

1-0, own goal by azarbaijan

2-0, del Piero goal 64th

 

Crap game for Italy. The lucky (no other word for it) own-goal changed the game in their favor, but up till then, the Azerbaijanis played them equal. The second goal was a beaut of a free kick from ADP. But no hint of imagination on how to score from the run of play. Against Azerbaijan! Congrats to the Azerbaijani people, who filled the stadium and put on a nice spectacle. Great field, too.

 

nice job, italy. Pirlo was subbed in. Was that his first cap?

 

Cannot agree with you more. I've said it before and I'll say it again - Italy has no midfield creativity. Italy will continue to play dull unimaginative soccer as long as Gattuso and Tomassi are on the field together. The tactics of the 21st century have passed the Italians by.

 

passed Italy by? Don't forget, they still, won, and in the 21st century, in EURO 2000, they got to the final. i think it's just a stupid coach.

 

True enough but the Federation is protecting Trappatoni after a dismal World Cup.

 

Anyone know where I could find these goals (or highlights) online?

tks

 

I only got to watch the first half, and from what I saw, changes need to be made. Trap, has to go. To see Italy struggle against Azerbaijan just isn't right, Italy should have had a field day with them. What will Italy do when they face some real competition?

 

Player ratings from RAISport

http://www.raisport.rai.it/raiSportSezioneIndex/0,5785,_75_67_2012,00.html

Azerbaigian (4-5-1): Kramarenko 5.5, Agayev 5, Karimov 5.5, Ahmadov 4.5, K.Guliyev 5.5, S.Aliyev 6.5 (43' st Nabiyev sv), E.Guliyev 5, Sadigov 5.5, M.Gourbanov 5 (23' st Musayev sv), Imamaliev 5.5, G.Gourbanov 5.5 (45' st Ismaylov sv). (12 Hasanzade, 9 Yadullayev, 10 Vasilyev, 11 Niftalyev).
All Sadygov 5.5

Italia (4-3-1-2): Buffon 6, Panucci 6, Nesta 6, Cannavaro 6, Coco 5.5, Gattuso 6, Di Biagio 6 (12' st Ambrosini 6), Tommasi 7, Del Piero 7, Inzaghi 6 (33' st Pirlo sv), Vieri 5 (12' st Montella 6) (12 Toldo, 13 Iuliano, 14 Oddo, 15 Zauri).
All. Trapattoni. 6

Arbitro: Vassaras (Gre) 6
Reti: 32' pt aut. Ahmadov; 20' st Del Piero
Angoli: 8-4 per l'Italia
Recupero: 1' e 3'
Ammoniti: E.Guliyev, K.Guliyev e Cannavaro per gioco falloso.
Spettatori: 37 mila.

 

Azerbaijan isn't a good team. Jugding by their qualifying results for Euro 2K and WC 2002, though, they're much tougher when playing on their home turf (for example, Azerbaijan tied Portugal 1-1 in their home Euro qualifier, after having lost 7-0 when they played them in Portugal earlier that year). If Italy struggles in its home games, that'll be a cause for concern - but, unless you're playing Liechtenstein or San Marino, away qualifiers are almost always a little tricky.

 

Agreed that Italy needs to work on the midfield. And the defense. Defense is shaky right now because they do not have Maldini anymore. This was only their second game playing without him and they looked nervous to me, resorting frequently to booting the ball upfield in desperate clearances. Nesta and Cannavaro are still two of the best, but it will take some time before they get comfortable. The midfield was a disaster. Very few good services to Del P and Pippo. Was Vieri even there? He looked very ineffective. But the key problem was how the Azerbaijanis managed to run through the Azzurri mid like a knife through hot butter. More than once I saw a white shirted player make an unchecked run from the defensive end to the Italian box. Where was the marking and the midfielders playing defense? There were too many balls and opposing players getting through the midfield and penetrating the italian defense. If Azerbaijan had anyone who could put a shot on frame, Italy might well have been toast.

 

I didn't see the game, but I don't think the issue is so much that tactics have passed Italy by - if stifling defense, good goalkeeping and a 1-0 win were somehow obsolete, you wouldn't have seen the undermanned Germans in the World Cup final. The problems have more to do with the players - it's fine to rely on defense when you've got the best back line in the world, but now that Maldini has gone downhill and retired, they're down to two world class defenders - and if Cannavaro or Nesta get injured, that'll be big trouble. And as far as defensive midfield play goes, Gattuso and Ambrosini aren't exactly Davids, Vieira or Keane.

This is all pretty old news, though - the lack of midfield creativity goes back to '99, and it was clear at Euro 2K that there was a big drop off in talent from Maldini to whoever the fourth defender was. So, it's up to Trap to compensate for that, either by changing the way Italy play or bringing in new or different players. So far it hasn't really happened.