Italy vs Liechtenstein (Away), and Friendly vs Germany (Home)

Lol this

This
guy kills me hahaha I
Must admit you're pretty funny. Anyways Ventura would really be showing Zaza some serious special threatmeant if he even gives him anymore playing time. Then again Ventura is the same man that said " we need to help Zaza by giving him call up's because that's not the real player" that's the most idiotic thing I've ever heard from a coach. Even Zaza said he wasn't expecting a call up in his interview yesterday. The guy was actually shocked he got a call up lol..Yes you've been garbage all season and you're not currently playing, but we need to help you by giving call up's ? What a slap in the face of every Italian playing football in a the top league in Europe. Also a slap in the face of seba. He's basically saying even a player that's not playing is more deserving than seba.. I'm pretty sure seba and pirlo were talking about that when they both looked upset while having a convo after the NYCFC/TFC game. I think a lot of Italian players trying to get into the national team want Ventura gone secretly. Nobody will come out and say it to the media because they don't want to get black balled, but a lot of Italian forwards probably thinking this old head is out of his mind and might be in early stages of dementia. Ventura is putting himself in a position where he can't make any mistake. The moment we stubble is the moment people and the Italian media will start questioning WTF is he really doing. . He's lucky we've been playing against mostly scrub teams that our U20 team could beat.

 

What does it matter what other Italian Forwards think? The two starters are the most deserving anyway, and they keep showing up internationally. Belotti and Immobile have been the most in-form strikers and they have scored 6 goals in the last two qualifiers. When was the last time two Azzurri center forwards did that? Everyone else is just hoping for a spot on the bench at this point. Zaza is not going to be a major player from this point forward. Ventura will also use a 3 4 3 and 4 3 3 at times as well. So if one guy is hurt, the other can play alone up top with wingers. The feelings of a third or fourth choice striker like Giovinco is irrelevant.

 

Pretty easy to solve. Whenever you stubble, you grab a shaving razor and problem solved.......OK, done with the comedy routine.

Under Ventura, the team has had some moments of brilliance but mostly played pretty mediocre; luckily enough against average/below average opposition (maybe excluding Spain). Hoping this is just hiccups from having to adapt to, yet, another new regime.

 

immobile ? Come on bro. Has immobile ever scored a goal for us against real teams. All these goals are against scrub team. Send me a message of when immobile scores a goal against a team that's not ranked close to canada. This is the same guy that went 2 year in a azzurri jersey with a goal. What has he done for us at any tournament ? As much as I dislike pelle he was more consistent than immobile, Zaza and eder. Like I've said name one team immobile scored against that wasn't a scrub team filled with lower league stiffs ? We're rating players for only showing up against teams like Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Malta ect now ? Liechtenstein has a player from league 1 in England for god sake smh did you not watch the game ? Liechtenstein was horrible! That's what make Zaza even more garbage. He couldn't even compete with these dust bunnies. At least immobile is scoring against scrubs.

 

@mikeyjames If Immobile and Belottti look good vs Germany, will you ease up on the negativity? This is now a team featuring many youngsters. Time to be happy.

 

You can only beat the teams in front of you. Immobile has scored 4 goals in qualifying. And has 9 goals in 11 games in Serie A. I don't care what he did two years ago. What matters is that he's performing now. And he's got great chemistry with Belotti, while having experience with Ventura. Remember it was Ventura who coached him to 22 goals, and now 4 internationally. Those two years playing in Germany and Spain does not reflect what Immobile can do in Serie A, with a coach who has confidence in him. He has shown that in the right situation, he can be a major protagonist for both club and country. He's the second choice striker for Italy, and completely deserves it.

 

I rate Belotti. Him and berardi are the future up front. immobile is last opinion striker on a good Azzurri team at best. When you need a late sub to run at defenders then he can be an option. Like I've said what did he do at the euro's ? Nothing! What has he done against any decent team ? Nothing! He went 2 years!! 2 years without a goal for Italy and his goal before that came against a scrub team. His last couple goals came against who ? SCRUB TEAMS! i will not rate this guy until he scores a goal or 2 against a team thats not ranked around the 100 mark. Sure he scores in Serie A, but international football is a different beast and he has yet to prove he can score against good defence. Look at the number of caps he has. When you're going into a major tournament with strikers like eder, immobile and Zaza as your scoring opinion then you better have some damn good defence to sneak by with 1 goal games. Are people forgetting pelle saved us when these guys never showed up ? Eder had one goal and has been ghost ever since. These guys are all getting call ups to do the same thing and thats just run around without scoring. Why are we pretending like this is not an issue. Just wait until we start playing against good teams and not these lower league stiffs. These guys have a terrible goal scoring record against good teams. I state nothing but facts and that's why some people on here hate on me. Pelle was the only one that was consistant. I'm i lying ?

 

Berardi is not a center forward. He's a RW who can possibly play as SS. He's not in direct competition with Immobile, but Candreva for a starting spot on the squad when he gets healthy.

And your facts are skewered based on personal bias when it comes to Immobile. A coach picks players who are in form now or in the very recent past. And only Belotti has played better than Immobile when it comes to Italian forwards in 2016. Plus, Immobile is a player who has been cultivated by Ventura and understands his tactics.

 

like I've said time after time show me what immobile has ever done at a major tournament in a italy jersey ? Show where he has ever scored a goal against a team that wasn't a scrub team ? Unless you can prove me wrong with this answers then I rest my case. Like I've said he went 2 years without scoring for italy and his goals have all came against some players that are hardly pro's. That's just cold hard facts! You cab say I'm hating, but has he ever scored against a good team while playing for italy ? No. Like I've said until this guy proves he can score against a team that's not filled with scrubs then I can't rate him as top striker for us. How can I rate a player that has never produced when the chips are down. Club production and international production are 2 different things. There has been many players that banging in goal for their club them and sh*t the bed for their country. Club production only gets you a call but can you produce for your country. what I've seen from immobile is that he can not produce when big lights are on. He's banging goals against lower league players and if that impresses you then that should let you know where we're at with strikers on this team. If a player than proved he can only score against goals in a italy jersey while playing against Malta, Luxembourg, Estonia, Lichtenstein, Faroe Islands ect impresses you then I don't know what to say.

 

Look, I don't think Immobile is Van Basten by any means, but it is hard to ignore what he is doing right now with Lazio and Italy. Fact of the matter is that we would be in massive jeopardy of missing the WC if he didn't bail us out against Macedonia on the road. Vital WCQ goals even if it was against a shitty team.

The combo of Belotti and Immobile are tough for teams provided we are giving them service. They are both big, very strong, and fast as hell for their size. They are also very good finishers. I do rate Belotti as the better player. He has Vieri written all over him. But, that doesn't mean Ciro can't be important either.

We all want Berardi on the team, but right now he's been in the hot tub for 2 months and God knows when he'll be back.

 

Its good to see someone here with a different opinion. When we all agree its dull and no-one learns anything.

You should really make use of paragraphs though because when you shit out these long neverending paragraphs reading them makes my eyes bleed.

Who would you pair up-front with Belotti if Zaza is not available?

 

lol I'm usually writing this sh*t on from my phone and this site is always lagging on my phone. Really and truly I don't even take the time even use punctuation half the time much less paragraphs. Anyways Ventura should have taken the time to have a look at a bunch of other options up front. He already knows what he's getting from players like Zaza and eder which is basically nothing other than running around like chickens. The thing I don't like with Ventura is that it seems like he's already made up his mind without even taking the time to have a look at other opinions. He's riding with players like Zaza and eder come hell or high water without even looking at the fact they've been playing like sh*t! I would given those spots to Seba and balotelli simply because they DESERVE IT. People can keep saying seba is playing the in MLS, but key word is "playing" Zaza is not even playing. So when you see the fact that Zaza can't even simply control the ball against these scrubs it's because the guy is not even currently playing. Hint the reason why his touch on the ball have been so sh*t. So if you think a player just sitting on the bench and drinking water is more deserving than someone that's basically playing week in week out and producing then I don't know what to say. Also the US have been doing better than a lot these big European country's at international tournaments and where are a lot of their players playing ? IN THE MLS! Also Didn't we lose to a couple years ago ? Didn't we lose to a Costa Rican team that featured MLS players at the World Cup in 2014 ? Isn't teams like Mexico beating big European teams at tournaments with a couple MLS talent ? The whole he's playing in MLS B.S is mostly a ego thing. The whole "where to good to use MLS talent" as if we're loaded with top messi and Ronaldo type strikers. when brazil and Spain are talking about kaka and villa and we're going with Zaza simply because his name is attached to EPL club while riding the bench. Then That just shows the ego we have. Is the MLS a top league ? No, but players playing there haven proven they can compete at big tournaments Smh... Also like people on twitter we're saying. Ventura will wait to see if things get shakey when we start facing better competition and he'll bring in a player like balotelli into the team to shoulder the blame if it falls apart. I would not have completely black balled pelle either. Look I'm not a big fan of pelle, but unlike players like Zaza , eder and immobile. The man has show up in friendly's, qualifications, big tournaments and scored goals. I would have dropped him for a couple games, but I would not have gone to the media and say he's finished like Ventura basically did. Ventura has a big ego and it will cost him his job. Remember who said it .

 

Exactly. Also, if MLS were this easy cakewalk Serie C or D level league, then all the superstars that come over would be tearing it up on a weekley basis. Some have done very well while many others have struggled to do anything. Jermaine Defoe lasted 7-8 months and Steven Gerrard has scored 5 goals in 34 games and two were in the same game when he first arrived. Drogba was benched in the last month of the season. The great Youri Djorkaeff, Lothar Matthäus, Beckham , Kaka and even Pirlo have had troubles in that league. This isn't a good sign for supposed superstars earning millions of dollars. Why is that the level of of the league is always the fault of the other players? Shouldn't superstars excel and make everyone better? If that is the case, why don't they? It can't always be that everyone else is crap and they are great. I don't see how anyone who knows can't see or admit that.

 

The guy is killing it this season in training and during games and this man picked Eder and Zaza hahaha wow!! belotti and Balotelli up top, bring back pelle, give seba a chance on the bench and drop the dead weight . This fool also left out Berardi lol I'm done with Ventura and many of you will join me once we start going up against real teams

 

Belotti and balotelli are rolling right now. This is probably the best chance to have a big 1-2 punch up front for the Azzurri. Seba is doing good in MLS and could be a massive plus coming off the bench. the ego of these old heads will always stop us from having nice things. Ventura like's the spot light on himself. He's always running to the media with se idiotic comment that makes no sense. Seriously I wanna see what a front line of belotti and balotelli looks like, and the Germany game would have been the best chance to test that out smh. Instead I have watch Zaza struggle to controll a simple pass.

 

Balotelli with Belotti would definitely be intriguing to watch. How come you don't have an avatar?

 

Belotti and Balotelli cannot play together. Too much of a tongue twister.

 

I agree with you that Balotelli and Giovinco should be on the squad over Eder and Zaza. I've never been a big fan of the latter two anyway. And I'm not against Pelle either as the fifth striker if other forwards like Gabbs and Pavoletti don't step up. Where I disagree with you is that Balotelli deserves to start over Immobile. Ciro is having a better season right now in a tougher league. He's also already played with Belotti and been coached by Ventura. That type of chemistry is crucial when national teams can't get together for long periods of time. That combo has already shown the ability to score 6 goals in two fixtures. Say what you want about the level of competition, but Italy has been struggling to score against minnows for a long time as well (and like I keep saying, when was the last time two Italian strikers scored 6 goals in 2 games?). We've had trouble getting more than 2 goals against teams like Malta and Faroe Islands for a while now. No point in fixing what isn't broke. The Belotti/Immobile pairing is working, and they deserve to start up top for the foreseeable future.

 

Belotti and Toni are two different players, Belotti would be closer to Gilardino style or even Vieri

 

Against Lichtenstein:

belotti scores assist romagnoli
candreva scores assist de sciglio
belotti scores assist bonaventura

3 Milan players with assists in that game. Milan is slowly taking over the Azzurri. Love it. And hope Donnarumma starts against Germany tomorrow

 

Sure, Milan players can compete against the likes of Liechtenstein.

 

6 goals against Macedonia and Lichtenstein tho.... lets be honest here....

I see what your saying about the formation, but still... we are very wet behind the ears up front... lets see them score against a real team in a game that matters before we can feel more optimistic.

Also... I agree with you on Zaza, he is on this team to help instill a work ethic in the new faces and to also be used sparingly on a need basis.

I still think Gio deserved a call up to see what he is capable of in the friendly

 

Berardi has been hurt all year and Mario is going to need like a year of good production on the field and more importantly good behaviour on and off the field, they are basically social engineering him to be a national team player by keeping him off the team.

He QUIT on the team both on the field and in half time in Brazil at the World Cup, he had the option to go back on the field for the 2nd half despite playing lazy, diving, and pouting on the field... but he threw a tantrum in the locker room and got benched. Prandelli was going to give him a second chance but he threw it away.

The veterans did not like that and as a result of that behavior, he has been rightfully excluded.

I hope to see him back, he is who you want taking penalties and can be very decisive on the pitch but he suffers from mental lapses that hurt his play and add negative tension on pitch destroying chemistry.

 

Aside from disagreeing over who and who should not be here, the good news is that we will get to see a lot of new faces tomorrow which is pretty exciting, we also get to see them play against a good team even if it's their B/C team so if any one produces on the field, that will do well for seeing them included in future games.

I dont understand the upset at lack of preparation time, it's just a friendly, it means nothing and it gives u a free game to use the new guys who can make a argument for playing time... these players and the team as a collective whole are going to be thinking about their current form from domestic leagues games and preparation for the next real opponent, not that they are coming off a loss in a friendly or even a win in a friendly.

I get you want to prepare and the politics of wanting to win as many games as possible, but this mentality is regressive to me and today's football seems to reward foreward thinking rather then backwards.