Disagree. Dolla and barella are italys only worldclass players. Dolla also has a very powerful manly voice. Can't say that about cristina.
I really dislike how the english fans use world class to mean anyone that is somewhat technical or has a few good seasons because for me world class means you can get into a world 23 in your position with some reasonable wiggle room for debate in terms of form or players that don't have much between them in some positions. With that said yes Donnarumma and Barella are the clear ones in this category and maybe the only ones. In 2021 Verratti and even Jorginho in a way was at that level which was remarkable. Jorginho was the catalyst for Chelsea even as most gave credit to Kane just as he is the catalyst for Arsenal as most people give credit to Rice. I think a case can be made that Bastoni is one of the 2 best left sided centre backs in the world right now and I think a case can be made that Di Marco is one of the 2 best left sided wingbacks in the world right now. For me Spain only have one world class player right now in Rodri and England only have two in Bellingham and Kane. But I know people like to argue that very good even great players are all World Class. Foden is not as good as Mbbape or Vini Jr he's not even as good as Writz. There are not many consistently great RW in the world right now so Saka ranks high almost by default but the gap between say Salah and him is quite large and Im not a fan of Saka I think his stats are deceiving.
I could not understand why he was waiting so long to make the substitutions when we were clearly exhausted. I think we expended a lot of energy getting those 2 goals and the subsequent momentum to try and kill it. We usually like to grow into the game but the howler forced us to run through the gears perhaps. Ironically that howler might have won us the game as a cautious passive Italy may have produced a 0-0 1-1.
As an outsider the only players that impressed me on your team today were Barrella and Chiesa. While the rest of the midfielders and attackers are not bad players, those two are certainly a level above. Looking forward to the game against Spain, will be quite telling about the quality of both teams
I'm just glad we got these crucial 3 points, excited to see the Spain match. Random, it was different watching the game home in Italy, outside of a plaza because it was really hard to concentrate on the game but it was a cool atmosphere. Barella man of the match for sure, Scamacca was quiet but his passing vision is exceptional for a striker.
For a team thats still in its experimental stage it was a decent game and should have been put to bed in the first half. Albania love to play on the counter and after toping the group to get here, they are no mugs. As I mentioned before, Scamacca is the guy the team needs to catch fire in this tournament because he will bring the others along with him. Its been a long time since Italy had a number 9 of his overall quality. At 25, his time is starting now to enter himself as a WC striker. He has the lot. If he can play loose, he can be the ultimate difference maker against the bigger sides. Tough games to come but for my money, Spalletti is the best tactician in the tournament and that can inspire the group with his attention to details.
Not sure what game you were watching but Scamacca created multiple high chance goal scoring opportunities and Pellegrini's control on the ball, assist (and nearly another one to Scamacca) as the number 10 were plus performances. Throw in Jorgi's dominance in the center of the park and all that was lacking were a 3, or 4-1 scoreline. As usual the rest of the world loves to underrate Italy's players...even watching the ESPN FC review of the game where the commentators argued over whether Italy was a 'darkhorse' contender in these Euros, they could not help themselves mentioning that Italy missed the last 2 world cups. That really has hurt us in the minds of the general public but the truth of that has far less to do with Italy and more to do with the fact that a top 10 rated , defending Euro champ has to run the gauntlet of a World Cup qualifying Euro group in addition to just some awful bad luck (2 Jorgi missed penalties, the completely lopsided N Macedonia game). You can't tell me that even a fading Mancini National team wouldn't have been a top 10 team in the last world cup and likely makes it out of a group stage
okay with it because he should have given a yellow when the guy grabbed Chiesa by the boot to stop him just outside of the box and didn’t
It works in our favour. Anyone speaking English lives in a EPL bubble no matter what nation they are supporting. Thus our Portuguese friend here likely believes his portuguese players that have not won much in their career are EPL proven or that the young Benfica players EPL teams want to spend a lot of money on have been touched with approval of the market. This is why Portugal and England are favourites with France when Germany and Spain are better than both of them. Most Germans and Spanish players don't play in the EPL. This is also why England believes they are on the level with France because almost none of the French team plays in the EPL. Italian players like German and Spanish have no desire to force transfers to England so it's like they don't exist. It's not to say Italy is stacked with top class talent but to say the difference outside the top players is not significant and we can let the pitch do the talking. We also talk down our players collectively as a nation in media at the local level it's almost collective reverse psychology and it always puts us in a favourable position to surprise. Example imagine the hype on Insigne is he were Portuguese or English. Instead all you heard about were his flaws. It is this mentality that brings trophies and the insecure puffing of the chest that England and Portugal do that bring collapse. It's basically bait and everyone outside Italy takes it then last minute we say to the players see what they re saying about you? go out and prove them wrong. Where England and Portugal go in with everyone speaking of them as favourites and last minute all the flaws are spoken off in a panic to only add pressure when they were ignored for a year.
I liked Italy's comeback Albania has ten players on their roster in Italy , one in Germany , Spain and England. UEFA Euro 2024 squads - No one is from their domestic league so they deserve some credit as well for going up early on.
This right here. I get his POV in taking 1 game at a time but if you want to play all 7 matches, there is a way to bring in subs and still keep shape. There is no way in hell he can possibly believe he can run his first choice 11 for 80 Minutes and go the distance. When those matches come fast and furious, little time to recover. With 5 Subs allowed and 12 players on the bench available, so much can be done. If he has this in mind, then it's imperative to beat Spain, secure advancement, and like 2021 put out a largely 2nd Choice 11 for the 3rd match to rest the starters. EDIT: if the 3rd goal was scored he makes them earlier, I'm sure of it.
??? The ball that was slightly deflected off Gigio and should have been a CK is not reviewable by VAR. Just like the ankle grab on Chiea by the Albanian LB also not reviewable. There is a defined list of what is reviewable by VAR. (only coming back to this because I may have gotten my info correct on the sequence we were discussing. I think now in your OP you were referring to the deflection off Gigio when I thought it was a different segment. Apology for that)
I liked a lot of what I saw and think we can build some momentum. But, I'd like to see 3 players step up even more: I want to see more from Dimarco. He's just been a little too sloppy lately. The bad back passes in the friendly and then that throw-in to the middle of the box. Just a lack of focus. He needs to be sharper. He also didn't attack the left side yesterday like I thought he should have. If it's a one-on-one, he should be taking his man on almost every time. If defenses have to worry about him on the left and Chiesa on the right...that opens up a TON of space. I also need to see more from Jorginho. He was just a split second too late on some of his passes. Everything was short too. I'm not sure I recall him playing a ball over the top or wide to the wing. Need more pace from him and incisiveness. Finally, Pellegrini really has to step up. I know he did some good things yesterday. But he's going to have A LOT of scoring opportunities with people double-teaming Scamacca. He's got to finish better.
Riccardo Calafiori won 100% of his tackles, won the most aerial duels (3) & made the most interceptions (3) for Italy against Albania.
He's a fantastic player. Glad we aren't waiting til he's 25 to roll him out there. He's got to learn how to play in these big moments. He has all the tools. Spain will have studied him. They know he likes to get forward and pass. My guess is that Spain will press the midfield hard hoping that he will turn over the ball. They will be very aggressive in the midfield. So how to beat that? Play the ball over the top and out wide. Hopefully Spaletti is working on that today.
You sounding insecure, my post was not trying to say you guys suck, Infact I thought it was an impressive performance. I have you guys as the 5th favorites to win the tournament after Germany, France, Spain and Portugal. Regarding my post, I meant that those two were the only impressive players. By impressive I mean they are world class and could start in most clubs/countries. Can’t say the same about guys like scammaca and fratessi , who in all honesty are nothing special. Let’s not overrate a performance against Albania though , like I said in the original post, the game against Spain will be a much more clear indicator of the quality of both teams and I am very much looking forward to it
By that logic, there are only 22 impressive players int he world...kind of like @TorontoCalabria says, world class means you can fit in the World 22...there's quite a bit of gap between world class and a league of plumbers and electricians honeymooning on Sundays right? I would never say Scamacca and Frattesi are world class and I've already listed Frattesi's flaws which make him an ideal super sub who i have little problem if he starts due to his superior work rate. Scamacca isn't perfect either and tends to disappear at times as well as fails to keep his emotions in check but when he's on your going to be hard pressed to find many 25 and under strikers in the world who can compete with his set of skills at 6'5. That's why so many of us are excited about him going forward. Of course it was Albania...but it was the first game and Italy dominated the play. You think you're going to hear the same criticism of the England game i just watched? Lol...they squeaked out against Serbia and were very lucky to not draw. Serbia dominated them in the second half and England created noting other than the Bellingham chance (now that is a true World Class player) off a deflected cross. In all fairness though Serbia is better than Albania
Is there any mods that can auto ban all the Portuguese from our forums please? You guys aren't relevant to us. We don't care and never will care about you. Take your backhanded "compliments" and Obleeka aka Mr Z and go find the greek and danish forums at the table your country belongs.
Donnarumma, Bastoni, DiMarco (despite his stupid error on the throw in), Barella and Chiesa are all world class players. If you watch them often enough I don't see how one can disagree. That's not to say Italy are a great team, but it goes to show how little people know about this side. Scamacca has much to prove, but the fact that you are that dismissive of him shows that you didn't pay any attention at all to what Atalanta did this year, particularly en route to a Europa League championship. Not sure why all these Portuguese supporters want to come on this thread and shit on our side and then talk about our insecurities. Portugal's footballing history is completely irrelevant when compared to ours. It seems like you and some of these other posters may have the insecurities.
ok there mr trump. Would you like to build a wall too? The poster I responded to seems cool and gave me a good response back. You on the other hand just sound like a toddler who needs a safe space Show me where I shit on your side. I even said you are the 5th favorites to win (even above England), which is a massive compliment. This part of your post I quoted was quite pathetic though, what does Portugals football history have anything to do with my freedom to comment on a public forum? Anyways il have you know that I actually identify as a Brazilian Madridista, so your footballing hisotry is irrelevant to my 5 world cups and 15 champions league wins
Failing to acknowledge more than two world class players on this side? Dismissing a guy like Scamacca who had a great season for anyone that actually paid attention? I just assumed you were another Portuguese supporter here to troll, which based on the above and the location and team that YOU list was a reasonable assumption; but if that's not your intent, you have my apology. I don't see how you can deny your support for the Portuguese NT when it's on your own avatar lol, but so be it. I guess if I picked and choose my sides based on who won the most World Cups and Champions Leagues, I would also look down upon other sides.
Chiesa is world class at his best but he has had a very inconsistent season. Probably a mixture of injuries and Allegri.
Scamacca is not world class. We all agree. He'd have to have at least a full season or two at very high levels. Physically he's world class but mentally he's been weak. That said, you can tell teams are scared to death of him. He's 6'5 with skill, strength, and a deadly outside shot. It forces CBs to have to double him and get out of position to cover him. That is invaluable to a team.