Without Ronaldo maybe. However, I expect Portugal to play a very similar style to Poland. Chiesa and Belotti/Immobile must start on Monday.
That fool is the product of Canadian sports media brainwashing. I guarantee you he hates himself. "Top 20 footballers in the world".
Are we talking about the same Balotelli who has never scored 20 goals in a single domestic season of football (as a CF). Imagine his numbers if he didn't take penalties. Balo has never been prolific in front of net, does not work hard, gets frustrated easily, and is far from top 20 in the world. While he undeniably has skill, he has never been able to put it all together for any long period of time in his career. The most talented players do it on a consistent basis. He'll be approaching 30 by the next major tournament....might be time to permanently move on. Chiesa has been playing well for more than one single game on the national team. He was the best player against France, where the French reporters were marveling at his pace and directness. This game against Poland isn't a lone example of his willingness and ability to take the game on and contribute solid minutes. Insigne needs to make way for Berna and Chiesa at this point. And if Mancini (and Allegri) try to put Berna in midfield, I would even start Chiesa and Berardi over Lorenzo. Long story short, Mancini decided to leave Calabria with the U21 team. The one glaring mistake in his squad selections (though Zaza over Cutrone is another). Injuries to De Sciglio and Conti continue to see Zappa get picked, I doubt we see him much longer when health isn't a factor at RW.
@La Magica is neither. Balotelli is talented but he is lazy & does not read the game well. It is what holds him back from making that next level.
I'd rather give Insigne and Berna another chance with an active no9 (instead of zombie Balotelli) And i'm still holding out hope that Mancini switches to a 4-3-1-2 but i can't remember if he ever used that system as a manager.
Should I wear some 3D glasses on Monday? Maybe I’ll see this Insigne creativeness on the NT. All I’ve seen so far is him trying to cut to his right foot and either give away or goal kick. Where’s the runs or taking guys on the dribble.
Italy is in rebuild mode now . We do not have a proper number 9 we are missing great striker. Our youth teams are producing decent enough talents but they seem to get lost while up in the senior squads . Be patient my friends
All the Chiesa hate . True he is not the next Baggio but he has been a improving player the last year or so
can you ********ing read? I said talent wise. Balo can score goals that Maybe 3-4 strikers in the world can score.
Dribbling is not creating. Creating means passing the ball to other players in good positions so they can score. Without quality creative players football teams are predictable and easy to defend against. Typical England sides are a perfect example of this. Insigne is our best creative option, he is not an out and out goal scorer like Chiesa and is therefore more versatile. And he did beat a player in the box in the second half with a slalom run before he was tackled by a second player. We need to persevere with him, unfortunately he gets no support from anyone in this shitty team.
How many more chances do we give Insigne? He's had countless chances and he always comes up small. No pun intended. I really wanted him to work out. He's got great feet and is a good assist man. But when teams pack in or have an organized D, he sucks and sucks badly. He needs lots of open space to thrive. One of the things that is not talked about with him is his speed. He's actually not that fast...at least not fast enough to break down organized Ds on the dribble. The starting front three should be Belotti, Chiesa, and Bernardeschi.
If it leads to a goal or an assist to a goal it certainly is. So he dribbled someone, that was creative, even though he lost the ball by holding on to it too long? The bottom line is that Chiesa was immediately more dangerous, his runs on and off the ball, did more than what Insigne did to that point. Insigne's problem is that he tries to do too much on the national team and even the Napoli fans on this board will tell you he does the same in club games. Moments of brilliance are not enough when you waste 8 of 10 opportunities. What he should do is go to MLS where he'll have all the space in the world and score his 15-20 goals per season so we can have more people crying that both he and Giovinco should be called to the national team.
Balotelli dropped for todays match http://www.espn.com/soccer/italy/st...pot-as-coach-roberto-mancini-defends-bad-game
Italy reportedly transform to a 4-4-2 with Simone Zaza and Ciro Immobile together. Finally I kept saying we need to play with 4-4-2. And it finally happens
Easy, Friendly banter amigo, Italians are ok in my book , just a little delusional right now in terms of what their talent level is and maybe guilty of living in the past a bit, BUT Portugal ain't ' what they think they are ' either, Never were. This should be a fun game to watch or a complete snore-fest.
It's should be a better midfield with Bonaventura and Cristante. I just don't get playing Zaza in either formation. Play Berna in a 4 3 3 or Belotti in a 4 4 2 instead. But I guess its possible that neither are fully fit due to the season being in its infancy. We will probably see both come off the bench with Insigne (though I hope Barella gets some minutes instead) at some point.