Yes, the team looked tired today. A lot of ball chasing and sloppy giveaway passes. Props to Spain for the masterclass in possession - they truly dominated the midfield today and made Italy look average at best. Props to Italy for enduring the constant pressure and endless possession from Spain and managing to defend with their life and come out on top. Chiesa once again with an incredible goal, he’s turning out to be one of the better players for Italy this tournament. Let’s hope our boys can recharge their batteries and take some lessons from this game - one more game to go…
Really happy for all of us who struggled through the 2018 WC qualifying campaign. That team was so miserable to watch. I remember France just toying with Italy before the 2018 World Cup too. Mancini has done a magnificent job in bringing back the pride of the Azzurri.
The great part about this team is that someone always steps up. We were not at our best today and yet we still pulled it out. Why? Because guys stepped up. Insigne and Barella were outstanding last game...well not so much this game. No worries, Chiesa and Di Lorenzo pick it up. Immobile sucked? No worries Belotti came in and scored a massive penalty. Interesting that Berardi did not take a penalty. I've been one of Bernardeschi's biggest critics but he clearly had the balls to take one. Kudos to him for that. This team's greatest strength is to pick each other up. Just one more game of doing that and the Cup is coming back to Rome!
Interestingly , after Italy was eliminated from the 2018 World Cup and Ventura was replaced by Roberto Mancini, I actually thought they would come back strong at the Euro. Not qualifying for the WC was a disaster but you always knew Italy would bounce back. The 2010 WC tournament was a bad one because Lippi hung on to many older players. They made the final in 2012 under Prandelli then the 2014 team was also kind of weird. I don't think that Italy adjusted to the humidity in Brazil. Even mighty Brazil , the home team failed miserably in that final. Anyway, with the right coaching and combinations of players, Italy is usually very strong in tournament play.
This is first class sonning here: imagine being on a dance floor near chiellini when mr brightside comes on pic.twitter.com/g4HWnPJUjy— Jonno Turner (@jonnot) July 6, 2021
What a game. I almost had a heart attack. And after Locatelli missed his penalty, I lost hope for a bit. I think Spain was the one team that could really make us suffer based on the fact that they would definitely try to win the battle for possession. I think that both England and Denmark will try to high press us, but neither of them have the technical players in midfield to dominate possession. I think the final, regardless of the opponent, will look similar to our quarter final match against Belgium. Our midfield will force our opponent to settle for the counter. That doesn't mean we can't lose, but the game will look different. I think Belotti has to start. Mancini has to bench Immobile for this game. And if Belotti doesn't play well, I would go with Berardi or Berna as a false nine replacement. I don't have a problem playing Emerson again on the left. I think he will do better when we gain more possession. And one last thing...Luis Enrique completely outwitted Mancini with the false nine. Our midfield was outnumbered and overrun. I was surprised that one of Locatelli or Pessina didn't come in after 45.
Emotional game for me. Was trying to figure out why exactly and it was a combination of the exhaustion of the game and just a culmination of feelings of the past year or so - the lockdowns, so many passing away in Italy, some personal struggles, some personal triumphs. The fact this tournament got delayed a year after us failing to qualify in 18 was another factor. My soul is connected to this team, since I was young. Sounds silly, but it's true and life is too short not to appreciate what awakens your soul. We beat Spain at their very best. We survived 120 minutes. And we are through. Some could say Mancini should have adjusted earlier. But don't forget that we were 10 minutes away from winning in 90. Barella for Locatelli would have likely prevented the equalizer, but I digress. No point looking back at that. Emerson was OK. We miss Spinazzola...but he did OK. The questions will start to be asked tomorrow, depending on our opponent. Does Emerson stay in place? Does Ciro have his ass glued to the bench (yes)? Any changes to the 11 or formation? Forza Azzurri. Thank you for the emozioni.
Stamos...no doubt. I feel the same way. When Chiesa scored the house rattled...when Jorginho scored, it almost came down. My 3 boys were going nuts too. It's exhilarating and draining at the same time. I still can't sleep. I think we can all appreciate what Mancini has done. His one achilles heel has always been his stubbornness. He sticks to his plan or idea no matter what. It's also his great strength. His belief that the Azzurri can impose their will on anyone is the reason so many on the team have bought into it all.
Similar reactions and emotions here, 'Uaglio. Mancini is incredibly stubborn. I think we all, deep down, know he is sticking with the same lineup/formation/tactics in the Final. Hard to really fault him. He's designed this team in his vision and has earned the right to see it through. He's loyal to his players and to that vision. I want to give a special shoutout to Chiellini, as others have alluded to above. He's the heart of this team and his spirit was paramount in putting the younger guys at ease. We have Bastoni waiting on the wings but come Sunday, let's hope Giorgio is the one who raises the cup. Forza Azzurri
Congratulations on reaching the final. Considering where the team was under Ventura and then di Baggio, Mancini has really managed to turn things around. It's good see his Sampdoria pals Vialli and Lombardo in the mix too. Talk about old times. But Mancini is not without his faults. I've seen him do some great things, getting some calls right like having Pessina get on the end of the set-piece that led to the goal against Wales, but tonight he almost made a catastrophic error. He had planned to sub Berardi for Chiesa, but Chiesa scored just before the sub was to take place. Mancini then switched Immobile off instead. Later Berardi found himself in a very similar position as Chiesa to kill the game, but he took a bad shot that was easily saved. Spain went the other way and equalized through Morata right after Berardi's big chance. Berardi is a hard working player, but he's nowhere as talented as Chiesa. That Mancini favored Berardi at the start of these finals was always a delusion. This lack of conviction in Chiesa isn't just limited to him. Given the quality of Italy's midfield, there was no reason Italy could not have seen more of the ball. That comes down to Mancini not pushing players forward to support the men on the ball, playing more afraid than Italy needed to be. Overall he has done a great job, but Mancini would do better to believe in the talents of his players.
But the question is: was he really going to sub Berardi for Chiesa? Even I (and I am no genius) realised that at that point of the game we needed people who could improve our possession: Mancini has been a great CT. I find it hard to believe he would make such a mistake. I do think though that playing Toloi on the right and moving Di Lorenzo on the left is not as good as having Di Lo pushing on the right and Bastoni stay low on the left. I really don't get Mancini's fascination with Toloi.
Enrique didn't play us "in good faith". He didn't bother setting up Spain to win but instead approached the game so Italy would struggle. 800+ passes by Spain that ultimately lead to 5 shots on Italy's goal which was one more SOG than Italy's 4. It's utter nonsense. If Spain play a striker and actually attack Italy head-on then it's probably them in the final. I've never seen so much useless passing in such an important game - it was ridiculous.
I was actually thinking the opposite. Italy were demonstrating that they weren't able to match in that area (possession football v spain) and so should have switched to plan B and playing on the counter. He should have swapped out Belotti for Immobile ( strong enough to bring down and control the long ball from deep) and Locatelli for Verratti (less of a possession player but more of a goal threat). It's all academic now as they say but maybe Mancini needs to think about having a plan B. I realise it's a bit early to be thinking about Qatar but opposition teams will go to school on Italy and Mancini will need to be flexible if he wants continued long-term success. Anyway a problem for another day, Italy should control the midfield in the final right?
England or Denmark will be a much better suit for Ciro. I can see him doing well. He has been annoying in the past few games with decision making and touch but he has never stopped working. That was enough to force the goal yesterday and create the space. Italy wont have the same technical issues against either of the remaining opponents though. Turn up and see the job through. This team has the mentality of champs.
Enrique knew they were no match v Italy going toe to toe from the kick off 3v3. It would have been a very different game, similar to Belgium and italy dominating. So he sacrificed the attack to include Olmo and create an overload 4 v 3. Hoping to break the Itakian defence with one of them following Olmo. Lack of pace to cover the extra space would have been the exposure for the remaining defender holding his position. Enrique's gamble was trying to win it from possession and the attacks coming from midfield. Italy didnt fall for the trap and held it well. The game was symmetry tactically. When italy scored, they switched to false 9 and spain went with a trad 9. I think Mancini mistake was not keeping with a 9 and bringing on belotti here. Barella looked leggy from the 60 min as well and should have been rested. Still, job down. Now it would be hilarious to see England tank today but even sweeter to beat them so they can cry more about Italian football.
I see a lot of commentators not really understanding what happened in the game yesterday. They are saying that Spain was the more technical midfield and controlled possession. That's actually not exactly what happened. It wasn't Xavi and Iniesta out there. Spain essentially played with a SIX man midfield. Enrique sacrificed players in the box in order to flood the midfield. We, on the other hand, had three players in the midfield with Chiesa and Insigne having to track back...but even then we were outnumbered. Di Lorenzo doesn't get forward much by nature and Emerson didn't much either yesterday. The net result? The midfield was clogged, we were outnumbered, heavily pressured on the ball with little space and no outlets. That led to a lot of turnovers. It worked out for us in the end, but was it the best tactic? I don't think so. We played a 4-3-3 vs. a 4-6. You will give up possession in that case. I think Mancini should have added a midfielder as early as the first half...but no later than the beginning part of the 2nd half. He didn't sub on Pessina and Locatelli until late in the game. He's a little too late in his subs IMO at times. So, does this game mean we all of sudden have a poor midfield that can't control the ball or the game? Not at all. It was a tactical gamble by Enrique that won him a ton of possession...but in the end as Canzano noted...they didn't get a ton of great looks. In fact, we had a lot of chances to put it away.