Italian NT 2002 one of best sides ever

Discussion in 'The Beautiful Game' started by burn357, Oct 14, 2003.

  1. cj herrera

    cj herrera New Member

    May 7, 1999
    Oakland, damn straig
    Before you get torched to a crisp from abroad, let me just say as a long time and passionate US supporter -- don't bogart that joint.

    First of all, with the Bobo - Inzaghi partnership working so well, I'd expect (hope?) to see Del Piero in the hole -- and I think he might crack the US midfield.

    In addition, as much as I love Beasley, he has a lot of his game left to develop. His speed and confidence are great, his finishing is improving, but his ball control is still shy of daily Serie A levels. I think he should head to Europe, but that's my opinion of his current status.

    Totti is a diving sack of unrealized potential, but Gattuso, Zambrotta are the sort of efficient hard working midfielders that most national sides would welcome.

    Reyna is Reyna and he's been our heart and soul, but he's losing a bit of a step and he never had one to lose in the first place. JOB proved he's world class and Donovan can be great, but he's probably going to be up top.
     
  2. dcunited4life

    dcunited4life New Member

    Oct 5, 2001
    Seoul
    Another sorry Italian fan who has to blame someone else for their pathetic performance. No wonder your team and country became such a joke around the world. How's Gaucci's experiment with a terrorist's son and women players in Serie A going?
     
  3. sendorange

    sendorange Member+

    Jun 7, 2003
    Bigsoccer.com
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    First of all mate Maldini is retired, and he certainly didn't look anything special in 2002. If anything he looked like an old nag so past his prime he was practically crying out for a mercy killing to put him out of his misery. Where's a farmer with a shotgun when you need one eh?

    Secondly Sol Campbell and Rio Ferdinand are a better combination than Nesta and Cannavaro. Those two Italians are talented, but nothing like how they're hyped. Add John Terry and Woodgate to the English list, certainly superior to the young Italian defenders Trap is trying to bring on. Trap knows he has a problem there.

    Italy's strikers also lack chemistry, to claim Inzaghi and Montella as World Class players is a joke. Inzaghi scores goals but only by goal hanging and getting caught offside very 30 seconds, which completely breaks his team's flow.

    Fact is mate, Italy are all spare parts and not as good as they should be. So take your wannabe Wop ass to the outhouse and give yourself a good flush.
     
  4. Spartak

    Spartak Member

    Nov 6, 1999
    Philly
    Club:
    AC Milan
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    LOL :D
    Have you ever seen any of these players play? It appears not.
     
  5. juventino3

    juventino3 Member

    Sep 13, 2000
    Alexandria, VA
    Shut the *#*#*#*# up you stupid dog eater. What the hell do you know about football? The only reason you even bagged a goal is because you were at home. You Koreans are known for buying refs. Look at Roy Jones in the Olympics for god's sake. The same thing happened in this past World Cup against Spain and Italy. The ref gave all of your little pathetic halfling compatriots the calls.
     
  6. cj herrera

    cj herrera New Member

    May 7, 1999
    Oakland, damn straig
    Macedonia agrees: Sol's their favorite England defender.

    Seriously, Campbell has been great, but he's also had some howlers. I used to think he was flawless -- now I'm not sure if he's not a walking nightmare waiting to happen.

    On Montella you'll get no argument, but it's all about Vieri. And he and Pippo are starting to click and work for each other. If that partnership continues to develop, then they could score boatloads.

    I'm a big fan of Michael Owen, but I'd take that pair of Owen-Rooney any day. Or Owen-Heskey. Or Owen-Beattie. Or Owen-Vassell. Or Owen-Owen.
     
  7. juventino3

    juventino3 Member

    Sep 13, 2000
    Alexandria, VA
    He is a stupid limey, so he does not know any better. Saying Campbell and Ferdinand are better than Nesta and Cannavaro is absolutely scandalous. If you really knew anything about Italy's young defenders, you would not even rate Terry and Woodgate. Inzaghi is a world class goal scorer. He does his job. We perfer that over forwards like Heskey who can't score. Perhaps if you watched some matches outside of the Premiership your knowledge would increase some more.
     
  8. dcunited4life

    dcunited4life New Member

    Oct 5, 2001
    Seoul
    Gee, you're pathetic. Resorting to name calling. Is that how you received your yellow card? I do know enough about football to know that your boys took a beating from ours and cried like the little bitches. Boo hoo.

    How ironic is that an Italian fan talking about buying refs? Did you read "Miracle at Castel di Sangro"? Match fixing goes on all the time in Italy. Your country invented cheating and scandals. Just because you practice it all the time doesn't mean others do.

    Just to add my two cents with all this England vs. Italy debate. England did make it to the quarters and lost against eventual champions. Italy couldn't even beat Mexico (whom Korea defeated last three times we played them) and resorted to flying elbow tactics and hollywood dive by Totti against Korea. If I was a betting man them I would put my money on England if they were to play against Italy
     
  9. juventino3

    juventino3 Member

    Sep 13, 2000
    Alexandria, VA
    You're Korean, so of course you are a betting man. You took a shot below the belt against my country and I took one against yours. Don't ever call a country a joke when you come from Korea. You are setting yourself up for a variety of responses. In reality I think Koreans are good people as many of my friends in the DC area are Korean American, but I do think you received favorable calls throughout the World Cup and I'm not the only one who says it. As far as Engalnd and Italy goes, we are comparing talent. England does not have as much talent as Italy, end of story.
     
  10. dcunited4life

    dcunited4life New Member

    Oct 5, 2001
    Seoul
    If you're Italian then you must be a pick-pocket. I just had to say it since we're trading jabs. With all the kidding aside I do love a lot about Italy but I can't stand your football and "I'm not the only one who says it". Too many 1-0 and 0-0 games.

    I'm not denying Italy had better talent then Korea but your negative approach to the game cost your boys Euro 2000 and WC 2002. Unless Italy breaks out of their defensive shell I believe Italy will always be bridemaids at the major tournaments.

    Korea did receive favorable calls against Spain but Italy? Come on. Totti should've been red carded when he blatantly elbowed Kim the first time and Tomassi's play was very close at best. Do you remember Totti's comment before the game? He stated Italy could score against Korea anytime they wanted to and when a reporter asked how many would it take to win the game and he replied only one. It was great to watch that diver eat his words. Don't blame the refs for your loss. Blame your negative coach, a striker who can't score from point blank range and a great defender who got out leaped.

    I really do believe that England DOES have a better team then Italy at the moment. Definitely better attacking talent.
     
  11. juventino3

    juventino3 Member

    Sep 13, 2000
    Alexandria, VA
    I am not happy with the way Italy is playing either. I think if we get a more modern coach things will change. We certainly have the talent to beat anybody. We did miss good scoring chances against South Korea, there is no doubt about that. I don't know how you can say England has better attacking talent than us. Owen, Scholes, and Rooney vs Totti, Del Piero, Inzaghi, Vieri, and Montella. Come on man! The only place they have more class than us is in the center of midfield where they can play Beckham and Gerrard together. I'm actually a big fan of Premiership football. I just get annoyed by some of these English twats who forget that till about nine years ago, they were still booming the ball down the field long ball style.
     
  12. Prenn

    Prenn Member

    Apr 14, 2000
    Ireland
    Club:
    Bolton Wanderers FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    ahh showing your vast football knowledge there......
     
  13. Harry Ottis Guff

    Harry Ottis Guff BigSoccer Yellow Card

    Oct 2, 2003
    Im gonna slap you!
    I agree Prenn, what a poor comment from juvento, maybe next time we should remember what it was like 9 years ago before we open our smart-arse mouth"s eh? Bollocks!
     
  14. Alphonse

    Alphonse New Member

    May 30, 2003
    La France
  15. cj herrera

    cj herrera New Member

    May 7, 1999
    Oakland, damn straig
    Belaboring the obvious, this should read:

     
  16. kotzunder

    kotzunder New Member

    Aug 21, 2003
    yeah but that is not more ridiculous than buy a korean player.

    u had ur moment of glory against italy. but thats just one game, a lucky shot. if u want to believe that korea is stronger than italy u can do it..

    anyway the history of sport is full of "weird decisions" in favour of koreans , but there aren't excuses, italy should have played in a different way.
    Italy should have won despite the ref, but could korea win without him?
     
  17. Sildegil

    Sildegil New Member

    May 15, 2002
    Italy was in 2002 and still are a very good team on paper.

    More than only paper, they have what most team miss: Perfect tactic knowledge.

    They have a very good defense, a good foward line but only an average midfield.

    Goalkeeper: Probably the best in world.

    Defense: Nesta, best central defender atm. Canavaro is very good, so is Maldini. Italy's right back is a prob tho. Add to this that Maldini offensive possibilities are seriously reduced because of his age.

    Midfield: Holding mid: Gattuso isnt exactly Vieira, Davids or Makelele, and there is not much depth at this position in Italy (in term of world class). And Italy, as 99% of other teams, need 2 holding midfield.
    Off Mid: They have the same prob here than France. Totti and Del pieiro positions (Pires/Zidane for France). They cant both play as a n°10 nor as a 9.5. Del Pieiro + Totti + 2 forwards ? this means either only 1 holding midfield which is certainly not in Italy mentality, or this means no winger. Well it is an issue.

    Forwards: Vieri + Inzaghi is a good pair. Not that's great tho. Both are very good but none are excellent. They are not Ronaldo, Henry, RVN, Raul, etc ...

    However, if u compare Italy's players with France's ones with honesty, you should come to the conclusion that France team is a much better side on paper than Italy.
     
  18. It's all about opinions and mine is that Nesta is overated. I see your a Milan fan, ur not biased are you?
     
  19. Buffon i agree he's a top keeper. However, Tomassi is a decent player, but in what ways are he and Gattuso better than Butt? Explain.
    Totti has done *#*#*#*# all outside of domestic football.
    Del Piero is the same - never cut it at international football considering how well he plays at club level. Vieri yeah he's class - when he's not injured. Montella is another one that has done well in Italy but when it comes to higher levels whats he done?
    Inzaghi is a good poacher. Just because Maldini's a legend in the game it doesn't mean he's STILL what he was (but i'd prefer him to Ashley Cole i admit). Cannavaro might be in the top 5 defenders but that really means nothing, who else is in the top 5 in your opinion? Would you have Rio?

    Italy do have a stronger squad on paper but that means nothing if they do *#*#*#*# all on the pitch - like at the World Cup.

    Don't let your false sense of dego pride keep you from reality.
     
  20. juventino3

    juventino3 Member

    Sep 13, 2000
    Alexandria, VA
    Very good analysis! We have always had issues with the "mezzapunta" position because that is where we always seem to have our best players. In the past we had the same problems deciding between guys like Baggio and Zola. Defensive midfield is a very important position for the Italian team and we have good options there with Gattuso, Tacchinardi, Albertini, Zanetti, and Tommasi, but no one anywhere near as good as Viera. To be honest, I do not think that Makelele is that much better than Gattuso. Gattuso is generally considered a class player. Christian Vieri is definitely a world class player. He may not be as good as Ronaldo, RVN, Raul, and Henry, but then again few are. Inzaghi, if nothing else, is most importantly a world class goal scorer. On paper, France is probably a bit stronger, but this team is still good enough to win any competition.
     
  21. Yeah and where did it get us? English teams had a terrible record in Europe before that didn't they? If you want to drop down to that pathetic level or argument then i'll just say Italian football is the most boring style i've seen in my life so don't criticise ours.
    You know i've seen a few times where you've had a pop at people questioning how much they know about football and then you come out with a comment like the above quote. It's a bit 'pot, kettle and black' really isn't it. Mind you, for a bloke who supports Juventus and has amassed the amazing feat of watching his team play a whopping 7 TIMES at the Delle Alpi i wouldn't expect much more.
     
  22. Yeah and where did it get us? English teams had a terrible record in Europe before that didn't they? If you want to drop down to that pathetic level or argument then i'll just say Italian football is the most boring style i've seen in my life so don't criticise ours.
    You know i've seen a few times where you've had a pop at people questioning how much they know about football and then you come out with a comment like the above quote. It's a bit 'pot, kettle and black' really isn't it. Mind you, for a bloke who supports Juventus and has amassed the amazing feat of watching his team play a whopping 7 TIMES at the Delle Alpi i wouldn't expect much more.
     
  23. juventino3

    juventino3 Member

    Sep 13, 2000
    Alexandria, VA
    I'm glad to see that I have your nuts in a ringer. If you continue to stalk me I might need to get a restraining order.
     
  24. burn357

    burn357 New Member

    Oct 13, 2003
    the mothership
    well to be honest the thread was the 2002 Italian NT had the POTENTIAL to be a very powerful squad, not the WAS. I think that if Trap had risked more offensively than Italy would have won the WC. They were the favourites by the way but they were stopped by poor tactics on the part of Trap. And i dont see why people say that italy has a weak midfield: totti, del piero , gattuso, doni, and tommasi are all world class and respected players. zidane and others may be better, but lets not exaggerate. Italy, Portugal, Brazil, Argentina, Spain England, holland, germany and france are all top teams and the difference in class between any of them is very small and i believe that any of these teams are capable of winnning any tournament. for Euro 2004, i expect a much stronger performance from Italy and i predict that in the Semi finals we will see Italy England, Portugal and Spain.
     
  25. Spartak

    Spartak Member

    Nov 6, 1999
    Philly
    Club:
    AC Milan
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Actually it has nothing to do with me being a Milan fan. If you asked me this 2 years ago I would have said the same thing when he played at Lazio. Why do you think Milan fans were so happy when Nesta signed? It was because we finally got a replacement for Baresi. And it sure paid off last year when Milan clearly had the best defense in the world. Nesta was the difference.
     

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