The only noteworthy thing I can remember Matteo Politano do in Azzurro is score a game winner at the death in a Friendly against the USA. With Sassuolo likely dropping, do wonder if some team in A picks up Pinamonti.
I'd take a chance and bring Raimondo from Ternana, is he really any worse than Retegui or Garbo Scammaca? Or Pinamonti.
As for penalty takers, I’d say Frattesi or Bonaventura could likely do well. Maybe Scamacca or DiMarco as well.
Wtf are you talking about? None of these guys are regular PK takers at club level. Jorginho (an unpopular choice for good reason), Chiesa, Pellegrini, Politano, Raspadori, and/or Barella would all step up before these guys.
I’m confused on the high expectations in this thread regarding Frattesi. Good player, but thinking Spalletti can just plug him in anywhere and he is going to perform and/or contribute at the level everyone here is projecting seems a little bit absurd. Has anyone watched Chiesa struggle in Allegri’s system? You can’t just move players around and expect them to perform at the level they might in their natural position. This isn’t PlayStation.
Not sure if you are referring to my message. But take Lecce vs Inter from the end of February. A rare start for Frattesi. His position? Right side mezzala. Next to him was Wingback Denzel Dumfries (i used Cambiaso in my message).
Inter vs Atalanta. Plays Left side mezzala coming in for Henrikh Mkhitarian at the hour mark (im not looking up how to spell it). Next to him was Dimarco who was playing his normal LWB role. Only issue that differs from his position is my second suggestion is having him as right sided Forward. Dunno. Just am not convinced on Politano and Orsolini so I concede maybe that's a stretch.
Frattesi is a mezzala—left, right; doesn’t matter. He is a box-to-box midfielder. No disagreement there. I just don’t understand the camaraderie on this thread with putting this guy in an attacking position. He gets goals and is effective getting forward as a mezzala due to his characteristics. Those same characteristics don’t automatically translate to goals or success simply because you’ve placed him in a position further up the pitch.
He is generally an attacking midfielder though. In a 3-4-2-1. That would be placing him as an attacking midfielder behind a striker. Also in general, I feel like midfielders are the number one position that you can get away with moving to slightly different positions and they’d still do well. I wouldn’t do that with defenders or attackers, but midfielders are made to have multiple qualities, and I feel they’re players that you can tinker with a little bit, and still take advantage of their qualities. I’ve never actually heard of midfielders struggling due to being placed out of position, but I have heard of that happening with wingers, strikers, and defenders.
It might not be much of a difference than a 3-4-2-1, but we might be running a 3-5-2 with Chiesa partnering one of the CFs at top. Barella will definitely start and Spalleti will have to pick 2 between Pellegrini, Frattesi, Jack, Locatelli, and Jorgingo. That is going to be tough. In regards to our penalty kick taker, the more I think about it, the more I bet it will be Jorginho if he is playing. He is the only one with lots of experience there, the other was Berardi. Hopefully we get a penalty try to see in these next games. What about direct free kicks? Raspadori has scored a few. Berardi Who else is good at them?
If we do a 3-5-2, I’d like to see Jorginho as our DM / holding mid. I really don’t like Locatelli in that position and feel he’s better as a box-to-box CM. Such a shame Tonali is suspended because he’d be our best regista in the middle.
Opposite for me. Prefer Locatelli as the #6, not the #8. Again, Cristante's name is being left off. Say what you all will about him, but Mancio, Spalletti, Mourinho, DDR all start him without hesitation. After that latest PK miss against North Macedonia, even he said the next day he didn't want to take them anymore. When including the Shootout versus England, it's 4 in a row. I can't see how he takes it again. Orsolini and Pellegrini take FK's. Depending who's On, Pellegrini 1st, Orsolini 2nd, Raspadori 3rd. These 3 aren't Zola, Pirlo, or Baggio but these days with FK goals way down, don't have to be.
It seems everyone has forgotten about Gnonto! He can play every position in attack if needed! It’s obvious that playing as a striker is not ideal but he can contribute out wide, left and right, and behind the striker! Don’t forget his age too! He is only 20 and he already has some caps with the national team! I would like to give him a chance!
He could be great for us in the future, but I don’t think he’s quite ready yet. Concerned about his football IQ and decision making right now.
Unfortunately, Gnonto and Raspadori have been reduced to winger positions, per the guidelines and tactics of modern football. Both are naturally seconda puntas. At youth level, Gnonto always found the net as a forward, but because the two forward set-up has largely been done away with, he has suffered. If Italy were to employ a 3-5-2, I think we would see different levels of play from both Gnonto and Raspadori.
Scamacca with a beautiful strike with his left foot and 2 other crossbars against the best team in Portugal. If he could play consistently like that, he should start.
Scamacca has a lot of potential but the just needs a find his rythemn and consistency. I also feel he can be a bit lazy sometimes. If he can just fix that, I’d love to have him as our number one striker!
As I’ve stated in prior posts, Scamacca lacks desire. If you watched the game today, you saw there was a moment in the first half, where Ruggeri perfectly headed the ball back across goal—the right thing to do. The defender beat Scamacca to the spot. A hungry striker, even with far less skill (think of an Inzaghi), puts those types of easy opportunities away based on sheer desire.
Scamacca is so frustrating, when he's on it he's really on it but when he wakes up on the wrong side of the bed he's useless.
Must have watched it on DAZN English-language because that's exactly what the commentator said. Scamacca waiting for the ball to arrive and it's clear that Sporting's Coates is charging it down. Given his injury history maybe he wanted to avoid contact but most likely because he just switched off yet again. Scamacca would have got to it first, clearly. This is where Gasperini and Staff come in. The 2nd post was by Lookman, but when it was still 0-0 Franco Israel made a Save at full stretch on a Scamacca header. Thought he took his goal real well. 3 players around him and he had the ball on his stronger Right foot but showed the composure to bring it back to his Left foot to avoid the Sporting players. Potentially he is the best we have but he switches off. When he decides to tee one up from outside the box, it's a thing of beauty. Then of course yesterday in Munich, Ciro Immobile's miss when it was still 0-0. Zaccagni floated a nice cross and would have landed to Immobile's foot if not for a faint touch by De Ligt. Still could have tried with his foot, instead misses with a header with most of the net available for him. Would be wise to avoid at all costs.