This German team is very young and the core of it was formed by the Under 21 team that won last year. I get really angry watching this game. Why? Because our Under 21 totally dominated that core group of players last summer. We were horribly unlucky to lose to Germany in that Under 21 semifinal. While Germany promoted and pushed its young players like Ozil, Khedira, Boateng, and Neuer, our youngsters rotted in Serie A. Motta, Andreolli, Candreva, Cigarini, Abate, Cerci, Balotelli, Giovinco all played those German players off the pitch..yet it's Germany in the quarters here.
Yep, pretty sad. But watching that German team gives me hope for the future. I could definately see our Euro 2012 qualifying team built similarly. That Italy U-21 team should have won that tournament, didn't Marchisio and Cigarini also miss that game due to suspensions? Two of our better players during that tournament.
It's not just their attitude toward youngsters, but also their view on foreign born players that is making the difference for them right now.
Germany hasn't won anything yet, hold your horses. But you're right, a younger Italian team with flare would have done MUCH better.
I remember that game well. We were brighter, faster and created more chances. They were very "industrial", and managed to get the goal and eventual win. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBJ1Kte41sc"]YouTube- u21 italy v germany[/ame]
I remember that game well, I remember being so excited at the possibility of some of those players being called for South Africa. Its just a tragedy what Lippi and the whole federation have turned our Azzurr in into! All they had to do is grab the core of that Azzurrini team, add Quags, Pirlo, Chiellini, De Rossi and maybe Cassano to add some experience to the youth and we would have a great exciting team that like Germany could compete with anyone and be fun to watch! Hopefully this happens in the coming months!
Brilliant point. That's all I could think of watching Germany's excellent performance against England. Ok, in all fairness some of those players haven't matured yet, but how many of them have truly been given the opportunity?
a telling example of opportunity... Champions League final, Inters starting 11 vs Bayerns starting 11. Bayern with countless German nationals while Inter had NO Italians!
Our Under 21's haven't developed as quickly as the German ones? I wonder why? Our stupid idiot clubs don't give them a chance. As soon as they have one bad game, they get yanked and put on the bench. It's a joke. Our club managers have no patience at all. Everything in our campionato is about squeezing every little point they can get every weekend. It took a foreign coach Mourinho to give Balotelli and Santon a chance. It took Leonardo at Milan to INSIST they bring in Abate, and that was a big success. Sometimes it is our own ITALIAN club managers who are to blame. They simply don't give youth a chance. Let's take Giovinco for example. Juve struggled a lot to get some offense with those bidoni Diego and Melo in the middle. Why not bring in Giovinco? Then when Candreva arrived, everytime he went in the game, he'd make things happen. Yet, Zac never fully trusted him or started him on a regular basis. Italian managers I believe get overly caught up in tactics and the importance of experience. They are far too conservative in rolling the dice with younger players. Perhaps this World Cup failure will finally change that mentality.
This thread should be renamed .... Look at Bayern Munich's Example 7 Bastian SCHWEINSTEIGER 01/08/1984 MF Bayern Munich 11 Miroslav KLOSE 09/06/1978 FW Bayern Munich 13 Thomas MUELLER 13/09/1989 MF Bayern Munich [*]14 Holger BADSTUBER 13/03/1989 DF Bayern Munich 16 Philipp LAHM 11/11/1983 DF Bayern Munich 22 Hans Joerg BUTT 28/05/1974 GK Bayern Munich 23 Mario GOMEZ 10/07/1985 FW Bayern Muni There are 7 players from the CL finalist, the two in red are the youngsters. The other young players are as follows 8 Mesut OEZIL 15/10/1988 MF Werder Bremen (3rd place) 21 Marko MARIN 13/03/1989 MF Werder Bremen 18 Toni KROOS 04/01/1990 MF Bayer Leverkusen (4th place) 5 Serdar TASCI 24/04/1987 DF VfB Stuttgart (6th place) 6 Sami KHEDIRA 04/04/1987 MF VfB Stuttgart 20 Jerome BOATENG 03/09/1988 DF Hamburger SV (7th place) So of the 8 youngsters on the German side, they play with the top 7 sides, including the league champion.
Now take a look at our roster ..... Internazionale Milano (1st place) No One AS Roma (2nd) DE ROSSI 24/07/1983 AC Milan (3rd) GATTUSO 09/01/1978 ZAMBROTTA 19/02/1977 PIRLO 19/05/1979 Sampdoria (4th) PALOMBO 25/09/1981 PAZZINI 02/08/1984 Palermo (5th) No One Napoli (6th) MAGGIO 11/02/1982 DE SANCTIS 26/03/1977 QUAGLIARELLA 31/01/1983 Juventus (7th) BUFFON 28/01/1978 CHIELLINI 14/08/1984 CANNAVARO 13/09/1973 IAQUINTA 21/11/1979 MARCHISIO 19/01/1986 CAMORANESI 04/10/1976 Genoa (9th) CRISCITO 30/12/1986 BOCCHETTI 30/11/1986 Bari (10) BONUCCI 01/05/1987 Fiorentina (11) GILARDINO 05/07/1982 MONTOLIVO 18/01/1985 Cagliari (14) MARCHETTI 07/02/1983 Udinese (15) PEPE 30/08/1983 DI NATALE 13/10/1977 The players in red are the young ones who were participating in their first senior tournament. Germany has 8, we had 5. The problem is that the top clubs are not providing just young players but few players at all.
lets see, Motta, Anderolli, Cerci, Giovinco all rotted on the bench last season. Balotelli played for Inter and if he actually had a brain he could have been a regular starter for them, Abate starts on Milan, Candreva got good playing time at Juve. Sucks I know I ********ing can't stand it why players like Zarate who flopped last season gets chance after chance to start while if he was Italian well then forget it he would be benched or loaned to a Serie B club. I am actually glad English clubs poached Italian players, they actually have more of a chance playing regular football abroad at a young age. “If I was foreign, I’d play more often.” Sebastian Giovinco http://www.juvefc.com/archive/0272gio.html
Yeah Giovinco and his 1.5 million dollar transfer fee plus two bums from Bari. He's the answer. http://www.football-italia.net/jun27r.html
If he goes to Bari, he will never be NT material. Playing for salvezza is not going to cut it for gli Azzurri. Probably just Italian rag rumors although I wish his agent would keep his trap shut. He is not doing his client any favors.
If he plays well, he can always get a transfer somewhere else. What's important is that he plays with frequency. The fact that Marotta is selling him (and for peanuts) shows that Juve have no faith in this kid. I can't imagine Del Neri playing him either
I think we sell him to whoever but its a little depressing that two years ago he could have been sold for much more than that. Probaby a better idea to see if he can finally cut it then to just give him away for basically nothing.
Falc makes a good point. It's not about raw talent but nurturing that talent. These guys need a lot of playing time at a high level and in very competitive, high-stakes situation. Look at Montolivo--at 25, he finally got experience in the Champions League and it showed at the World Cup. Germany right now are definitely better at giving their young players a chance. In Italy the FIGC has a strained relationship with Serie A, and the Serie A coaches care only about where they end in the standings, not about developing talent. This is one of the things that has to change in Italy if we are to be as competitive as were.
I'd take Pedro Kamata over Pepe. Both are pretty useless, but at least Kamata has speed and might be able to bundle one past the defender and goalie. And he ain't valued at 12 million. Funny what being an "Italian International" can do to your worth these days. But good luck with that I'd welcome the Atomic Ant, kid's got skills. Got a feeling it ain't going to happen, Football Italia's track record and all.
I hope he is transferred to Bari. As long as this kid gets playing time, people will notice him. I don't buy the notion that just because he plays for them he wouldn't be national team material.
If Cagni would have played Giovinco more, he would have saved them from the drop that year. The main thing with him is that coaches don't trust his size. But he had some magic moments with Empoli. Hopefully he's hungry [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw_e74iG9Hg"]YouTube- Empoli Palermo 3-1 (2-1 Giovinco) 30/9/2007 Serie A[/ame]
I can give a good example where playing time alone is not enough and it does not even involve an Italian national. Hamsik plays plenty for Napoli and he is even a protagonist for them. But he was not a factor for Slovakia. Nothing like his play with Napoli. And the problem for Italy and Italian players is that too often, clubs play the season with no ambition. Can't compete on two fronts. Let's make sure we get 40 points for the season to assure salvezza. When Italy was on top of its game, it's clubs was competing for all 3 European titles. Who was the last side to really go for the UEFA Cup? Mid-level teams do not even try to make a run for the Coppa Italia. Playing time at Bari will not make Giovinco foureclasse.