Italy's upcoming friendlies: Saudi Arabia, France, and Netherlands

Yeah both of them will be out for an extended period of time.

 

I have not given up on him quite yet either, but he sounds like he could be another Balotelli.

 

I believe that was Pellegrini

 

Yes, Balotelli passed to Pellegrini then Criscito.



One of those plays that he probably would have held onto and tried himself in the past. There were quite a few that he would have been selfish with in the past in the video above. Hopefully thats a sign of things to come from him.

 

Berardi is complicated. He's injured a lot and he does have the temper issues. I don't think anyone can deny his talent. He's also got all of the physical tools. It just seems like he can't put it all together consistently. You see flashes of brilliance from him and then he disappears for 2 games.

He didn't deserve the callup IMO. SES did. That said, he's still only 23...hard to believe right? Roma seem very interested and I know some EPL clubs are as well. Maybe a change of scenery will do him some good.

 

Yeah, you're right. All our guys are brilliant, world class players. Despite the fact that none of the guys you mention have ever proven anything, no reason to believe we shouldn't be front runners for the Euros.

 

I'm also hoping Belotti isn't a one hit wonder either, i'm glad he scored the other day and in his defense he's had some injury issues. Berardi needs to get his crap together and he's not NT material yet, SES and Cutrone deserve a spot more than him.

 

Projected starting 11 for France. 4-5-1?

Lloris

Pavard, Kimpembe, Hernandez, Mendy

Pogba, Dembele, Matuidi, Kante, Lemar

Griezman


I don't see Italy winning.

 

That's why we play the matches

 

I don't see Italy losing either.

If we match the talent man per man from that lineup I bet we are on par with France.

This is where coaching makes a difference.

 

If they actually lineup like that, we might be able to win. That is not actually France's strongest team, especially in defense. I do believe we have the superior coach, so it is really down to tactics, who has the better day, and who wants this more.

 

There was an interesting article today in GDS on who will be Italy's regista of the future. If we don't play with a trequartista behind the strikers then the theory is that we have to have a regista (deep playmaker in front of the defense) ala Pirlo.

They talk about Jorginho but the knock on him is that he doesn't have the vision and passing (good short area passer and dribbler only). I tend to agree with that assessment. Then you have Verratti. They say he is better to the left of a regista playing less centrally (like he does at PSG). I tend to agree with that as well since he has yet to prove he can be as varied in distributing the ball forward as Pirlo.

Then they talk of Cristante. He's a heck of a midfielder. He's an all around great player. Reminds me of De Rossi but he's not the distributor Pirlo was.

Finally they talk of Mandragora. Ironically, he probably has the most Pirlo-like quality with his left foot. He can really make some incisive passes to every area of the field. But, he's still very raw.

Bottom line...we have a lot of contenders but we have to figure out this role sooner rather than later.

 

Expecting another Pirlo is setting the bar extremely high. I'm happy with Cristante, as you say he plays like De Rossi, and if Jorginho goes to Man. City he could become a superstar playing and training with all that talent around him.

 

ya Pirlo is pretty special. we'll never have a player like him. maybe I'm wrong tho.

 

Well at least not for a while. I am sure we'll see another Pirlo eventually, but players of that type appear from time to time. Maybe in another 8-10 years.

 

Looking back at that 2006 squad, if the phenomenal player is born once every 20 years, we only have to wait 8 more years!

Buffon, Peruzzi

Grosso, Zambrotta , Nesta , Matrix, Cannavaro, DeRossi

Gattuso, Pirlo, Totti, DelPiero,

Inzaghi, Iaquinta , Toni , Gilardino,

 

Berardi just needs to leave Sassuolo already. Once he goes to Napoli or Roma, or Inter etc...we can then get a clearer assessment of what his career will look like in his prime years. A team like Sassuolo rarely see the ball most games, and without EDF its a graveyard for Italian players over 22 who have ability. He might end up like Zaza and show nothing, but I don't want him to never challenge himself like Di Natale. Other than Allegri at Juve, those three teams mentioned above plus Milan and Lazio will generally play Italians who do well.

Nah, you just whine about how everyone sucks. You never have anything positive to contribute. Are you even Italian lol? You resemble a sad sack limey more. No one thinks that Italy are front runners, and perhaps none of these guys will become WC, but Italy have a long history of being winners and producing talent...law of averages says they will rise again in the near future. And I think some of these young guys selected by Mancini will do just that.

 

Iaquinta and Gilardino were never phenomenal players. Neither was Grosso. What they did do (especially Grosso) is elevate their game internationally. With the right coach, some of these young players can do the same.

 

Maybe not but in comparison, all of them were better than today’s superstars.

 

Iaquinta, Gilardino, and Inzaghi were not technically phenomenal player. They performed really well in 2006 World Cup under great coaching, but they were not legends like the rest. Grosso wasn't that special either. I doubt Grosso was that much better than Florenzi is now.

Another player (he wasn't that phenomenal either) that I really liked was Marco Materazzi. OMG he was one of my favorite defenders. His passion and skill was amazing, even though he was not technically up there with players like Nesta, Cannavaro, etc.

 

Iaquinta and Gilardino better than today's superstars? Stop messing with us Falvo

 

Portugal are in the world cup.
Portugal qualified directly in top spot after losing their first game to Switzerland.
Portugal are European champions.
Cristiano Ronaldo is an absolute legend and one of the greatest players of all time. He is the reigning 3 time Champions League winner and has won 5 of all up.

 

We got eliminated by a second tier team to get to the world cup.

 

Where are Greece and Algeria at this point in time?

Not at the world cup.

 

What matters is Saudi Arabia is a team who has one second round appearance at the world cup. Ever.

1998
2002
2006

appearances since then and crashed out first round getting smacked in all of them. Saudi Arabia are nobodies. In fact they haven't won a single game since then and have lost 7 from 9 conceding 26 goals in the process. That's an average of pretty much 3 goals a game.


I rest my case.