There is heavy debate right now as to who would be most suited to backup Buffon at this year's Euro as his #2. With Peruzzi retired, Amelia not living up to expectations, and Curci still being very raw and inexperienced, it is safe to say that a safe choice for a potential #2 is seriously lacking at the moment. Also, keep in mind that if by some stroke of bad luck Buffon isn't able to compete in the tournament, this back up will have to take over as the temporary #1. Other considerations are Abbiati, Sereni, Flavio Roma, and Morgan De Sanctis. With this being said, who would you choose to be Buffon's probably first backup and why?
The main contenders seem to be- Amelia, De Sanctis, Curci, Sereni, and Toldo having an outside chance. Amelia was coached by Donadoni at Livorno, but he is too inconsistent. Curci didn't move on loan anywhere in January and that hurts his chances. Sereni has been very solid for Torino this season. De Sanctis is now starting at Sevilla since Palop is injured. Toldo is only a last resort. Abbiati was in the running but Donadoni tried to contact him and he didn't respond, which is because Abbiati thinks he is better than Amelia and doesn't want to go as a third keeper.
I'd personally prefer to go with Toldo over any of the other names mentioned. Amelia has been ridiculously disappointing and has not done anything even remotely good enough to convince me that he has enough quality to back up Buffon, or potentially start if Buffon happens to be hurt. A loan definitely would've helped out Curci's chances significantly because he does indeed have the talent to be a world class keeper. But unfortunately Roma didn't take the opportunity to loan him out and allow him to grow, which is only delaying his development. Sereni has been playing extremely well this season, but does he have what it takes to play such a vital role as a potential #1 keeper? I'm somewhat skeptical about that. Thus, I personally think that TOldo would be the optimal choice at this point. Granted, his playing time with Inter over the past couple of years has been limited. But I see him as being another PEruzzi in terms of him bringing a huge amount of experience and having produced great results at the highest levels. Remember that it was just 7 1/2 years ago that this guy carried us all the way to the Euro cup finals. Now he may now have the athleticism now that he had then, but I'm sure his reflexes and intelligence are still just as strong as ever.
It will be 8 years this summer, that is a very long time. His fitness levels aren't the same, his reflexes aren't, and his confidence levels aren't either. Experience and a veteran presence is important, but you cant overlook talent and with limited roster space and injury issues, you cant mess around with Toldo and the "experience" factor. Talent, talent, talent and the "what have you done for me lately" factor will prevail, Sereni #2, and De Sanctis or Abbiati for #3 if he chooses to accept it. We've had this going in the other thread glad you started its own so we can just focus on the keepers without mixing up Fabio Grosso vs Australia nonsense.
Its funny.. Lazio had Peruzzi and Sereni at one point. and now we are in a goalie crisis. Sereni couldnt crack the Lazio 2nd choice goalkeeper spot with Balotta in 2nd all the time and now Sereni is having this one season wonder and opinions are being shared that he has it in him right now to be a back up for the euros. So to sum it all up, Sereni is the only regular season keeper whos doing well while Abbiati doesnt respond to Donadoni, DeScantis just started now to be a regular, Amelia too incosistant for a Euro Cup tourny, Curci has limited experience, Toldo gets no time. So, do we really have a second keeper that can stay consistant for a possible 6 games in the summer? well.. no not exactly. Good thread, but we NEED Buffon
Perhaps we can erase Frey's appearance for the french, find some Italian ancestry for him, and coax him to play for the Azzurri? No?
I wouldnt classify it as a 1 season wonder, he has alway been talented. At Lazio he was blocked by Peruzzi and wanted playing time and had various issues with management and what not, totally misused at Lazio and rotted for a while. He had asked to be sold or loaned yet was never granted the chance, until last year, so thats why now he has the chance to show what he can do.
I vote for amelia. I am not his biggest fan, but he has been pretty good this year i feel given that sorry excuse for a defense in front of him. not that he will go, but does anyone know how pelizzoli has played in russia this season? just curious
We'll see if Amelia is up for the task tomorrow. I think he's sucked this year and Sereni would be a better choice. Toldo wouldn't be bad either but he's not playing regularly. Fontana wouldn't be a bad consideration either, he can really pull some saves out of his ass when needed.
Donadoni basically closed the door on Sereni's chances today. He said, "Sereni is playing well, if I call him up than I have to call others who are doing well like Iezzo".
wow, thats terrible in many ways, for his confidence and the team. Im really getting frustrated with donadoni. Question for you Cassano, I know Viviano wasn't called into duty at all today, but what did you think about Consigli? In my eyes Viviano is a few steps above Consigli.
So basically what he's saying is that instead of calling up the in-form goalkeepers that are doing well he'd rather call up 1 overrated, sub-par keeper (Amelia), and one heavily inexperienced 22 year old (Curci). Ya...makes perfect sense to me
I'm still on the fence with Consigli. When you first look at him, he's not the usual size of a goalkeeper, he's pretty thin but not that tall either, so he has the build of a field player. Second, he loses concentration way too much. I've watched pretty much all the U21 games he's played in and sometimes he can make some really silly mistakes. Remember when the Faroe Islands scored on him from midfield? But then other times he looks like he is really skilled and can make some amazing acrobatic saves. Once he improves his concentration he can become a lot better, but Viviano is much better at the moment.
so, amelia showed he deserved the back up role. he is a good, though not great keeper imo. glad he played well today.
not sure if that is sarcasm or what? but in all seriousness Cudicini is a fine goalkeeper and should move on from Chelsea so that he can start once again (Cech is THE MOST OVERRATED goalkeeper in the world). Amelia showed a lot today, and proved he can come through big time. Its nice to see he can put his poor club form behind him and be solid for the Azzurri. Despite being lousy for the most part at Livorno this year, he made some fine saves today and seemed very confident and aware of the surroundings.
Ya, I think Amelia really increased his stock with today's performance. Those two big saves on both of Ronaldo's free kicks were particularly impressive. I think Amelia's credibility as a potential star keeper has taken a beating over the past year mainly because he has a sub-par defense playing in front of him at Livorno. With a squad like that you could even but the great Buffon in goal and he wouldn't look all that promising. But today against a strong team he put on a fine performance and I think it's safe to say that for the time being his #2 spot is well deserved. Guess we can once again give credit where credit is due to Donadoni for his player selection. Today he was right on the money with both Palladino and Amelia.
I'm going to stick with Italy goalkeepers as much I can, but as for the Cech comment.. open your eyes man. Premier League is the hardest league in the world to actually not be scored against, and Cech has made records being there. Longest time without conceding a goal (longer than Buffon's record as well), he stops some of the best free kicks Buffon can only hope to, and also has the record for more clean sheets in a season (and how many has Buffon kept in one season?) among many others As for Cudicini, I was being serious. He is still a good keeper and if he could play for the NT he would prove that. Although he doesn't want to, so that's a shame.
So is the crisis over? I can't believe the comments made about Amelia considering that he is on a crappy team. The problem is that Inter, Milan and Roma (if I recall, where Amelia came from) insist on going with foreign keepers, so many of you give him less value for playing at Livorno. But if he was playing for a big club, the tune would be different altogether.
That's not it. He has a good game every other game. He's not stellar but he's good enough for number 2, and on the same level as Sereni.
Livorno's fortunes would be a lot worse without Amelia. There is no question that he belongs with gli Azzurri. He is not Buffon but then, no one is.