I wasn't happy about the lack of Italians in the starting lineups of the Coppa Italia. BUT, at least Bologna tries with Orsolini, Fabbian, and guys like Cambiaghi, Casale, Pogeba, etc. Milan is a black hole for Italian players. I'll be curious what their new "Italian" movement will look like because right now they are a joke.
Milan needs their own Bastoni/Acerbi they haven't had a good Italian centre back since Nesta more or less. Romagnoli was good for a bit for them. He's actually been ok with Lazio but he's a little slow for Europe. Obviously losing Donnaruma and Tonali was a shame. They do have a batch of youth prospects obviously Camarda and then Zeroli Liberali and some others but we will see what happens there. Ricci is the biggest italian name linked with them. If City buy Riejnders I could see that happen this summer. I was always a Milan over Inter fan but I can't support this current squad. Hopefully things change this summer.
I just don't get the over-investment in US players in Serie A. Pulisic is good (best of all them) but even he isn't going to carry a team to new heights. Milan and Juve I personally believe bought US players just for jersey sales and some TV coverage in the USA. Otherwise, it doesn't make sense. Cardinale knows nothing about calcio. The fact that he turned over management of that club to Zlatan is a joke.
Any thoughts on rumours of strefezza been called up by spalletti. Anyone really worried like me about how we stop sorloth and halland. Who would people play in defence. What squad would people select for the games. I think you can watch italy matches on via play international on your phones as they show all the European qualifiers.
Im not too worried. I think Norway have been able to beat up and put goals past small teams but when they face a side of decent quality they struggle to defend and keep possession. Simply you stop them by keeping the ball and putting it in their net. You try and beat them 3-1 something like that. Austria recently beat them 5-1. Of course we have struggled with set pieces so dont give up cheap fouls and hopefully in training Spalletti can figure out what was going wrong as it seemed mostly an issue of communication as the personal defend set pieces fine for their clubs.
If we don't get set pieces figured out, we are going nowhere. Norway will kill us on those. Spaletti better have that organized in 3 weeks. I agree with Toronto that you beat Norway by winning the midfield and taking it to them. If we mess around playing defensively and inviting pressure, they could get cheap goals. My biggest concern is if Inter wins the CL, we may have a hangover from those players.
for sure there is the potential for a perfect storm disaster of Calafiori Buongiorno Bastoni Di Marco Cambiaso Acerbi Barella all being unfit come the Norway match. It's not the ideal time to have what may be one of only two qualifiers that even matter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=9dmUsf6WDHE Leeds are promoted ... will Gnonto get a transfer away from them? He seems to have had a decent season with 9 goals and 6 assists. I would love to see him play in Serie A but unless there is a free transfer i don't see any clubs taking a chance on him.
Grifo probably the only player here not on their national team. https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/1kovzr4/bundesliga_top_assist_providers_202425/
Yes, I posted this a few weeks ago. While the rest of them are Internationals, Grifo is not. What does this say? That he isn't that good and his goal contributions are misleading or is Lucio so ********ing blind about the football being played outside the peninsula? Give me Palladino any day over him. If Spalletti has something else in mind like Orsolini then this is fine. But if he trots out Daniel Maldini again then I legitimately fear for the NT. Sadly, today Freiburg could not get a Result and missed out on next years UCL. A real pity. It will be Europa League for them.
Some good performances today, Retegui 1 goal and 1 assist, I'll admit I wasn't very impressed by him when he made it to Serie A but he's adjusted well. Pinamonti with 10 golas this season, Maldini started off really slow but finally got his goal. Maldini needs more playing time, he's been way out of it since he recovered but then again he doesn't get a lot of time on the field. Palestra also had a good game, hope to see more of this kid.
Ah jeez. Not this again. Good stuff. Bring up the exact same topic as this time last year ahead of th Euro's.
Retegui scored a beauty off the post but the Genoa players were protesting that a player was down. The injury too place during the run of play so I don't see why they should have stopped play. I mean the player was down behind the run od play while they were running towards the goal.
Milan Futuro was relegated to Serie D. They lost the playout to Spal. This is how stupid Cardinale and Zlatan are. They called up Camarda to the senior side too many times (without ever really playing him other than a few garbage minutes). But, because they called him up so much, he was not eligible to play in the playout!! Gerry should sell the team and go back to high finance. What a joke.
Gerry has no idea who baresi is, you think he knows camarda?? Guido cunttt. I wish don Silvio was still alive
Adorante sent Juve Stabia into the playoff semis with his goal vs. Palermo. There are a couple teams in Serie A interested in the player
Maldini ate a spectacular goal early on, but redeemed himself with that stunner. IMO Maldini is going to be a regular with Italy in a couple of years but he isn’t ready for it now.
Maldini is a baller and an athlete ironically I bet Gasperini could have turned him into a world class fullback/wingback. I think he has quality there are just others ahead of him in his position and it's not like he is 19 or something.
I wouldn't call Maldini a baller, Antonio Cassano or Baldanzi he is not, but I've noticed ever since he took the job Spalletti has mentioned a few times how football is becoming more physical and Italy have no choice but to go along. Even if I disagree because it's not like the current European Champions are full of units. At 6'2", while it's not outrageously tall for a kid born in the 2000's given humans are growing taller with each passing decade, for a footballer this would fit Spalletti prototype. I recall that segment in the UNL against Germany where Maldini bodied a few players. Hope he proves me wrong but his statistics this season don't have me believe he has earned a spot. Especially given Daniel Maldini doesn't even have an extraordinary career with the Under setup. Handful of Caps at numerous levels but has he ever been good enough to feature at a tournament? Compare him with other Attacking Mids or Second Strikers on top NT's and it's my opinion that Italy are inferior in this area. I have no issue if he is given the start against Moldova but Norway will require the best possible 11.
Antonio Cassano, was an outcast while he was playing but today by comparison, he would be considered Italy's great #10. Maldini is a token pick and the only reason he is being selected is because of his dad and grandfather. He is an ok club player but not ready for the national team.
I have no clue why D. Maldini isn't playing at fullback. I agree he's a FANTASTIC athlete, but he's not Totti. I don't know why he's playing attacking mid.