I was thinking that during the match, man I wanted Scamacca to succeed badly bc he is our one striker who could literally pull a goal from anywhere. His work rate sucks tho. Speaking of work rate, Pio works even harder off the ball than Retegol and then there's Kean, he is the best of the bunch! We have no slouches up top and I love it.
🏴 Wales choosing to play 🏴 England in a friendly may have costed 🏴 Wales a place in Pot 1 in WC playoffs. https://t.co/KT5rw9hBSN— Football Meets Data (@fmeetsdata) October 14, 2025 Wales fans must be pissed at this.
In June, Away to Norway, didn't need to beat them. As TC succinctly wrote a couple of times, treat it as a 2 Legged Tie, set up properly and earn a Draw. Then go all out for the Win next month. 4/6 Points would have done the job as it turned out.
Yes, but he is definitely a lot more physical than Retegui is. Retegui presses like a sonbitch and snaps at heels but Pio will lean into a Defender. Then there is Scamacca who is the anti-press. Ponderous at times. Either waiting for service so he can have a crack at goal or wondering what his next tat will be.
yes exactly he would essentially take Raspadori's spot as the second striker off the bench to inject life into a game. the other option is if we are chasing he comes on for Cambiaso at RWB and it becomes more of a 442/433. We will see how things develop both 352 and 433 are options for us and it's a good problem to have for once with many offensive options.
Yeah if it's a back 4 I would like to see Scalvini at RB and then he just tucks in as a RCB so the LB can push forward. This is essentially what Mancini did when attacking. If we want to be solid those 4 defenders are the way to go. You can always bring Di Marco on for a spark. -----------------------Kean-----Retegui-----Chiesa -----------------------Tonali-------------------Barella ----Calafiori----------------------Locatelli --------------------Bastoni------Buongiorno-----Scalvini
14% I used AI and it was determined that the statistical probability that Estonia earns a Draw or greater next month against Norway is 14%.
Estonia was the team that actually lose to Norway by only one goal margin (0-1). But as things and form stand, a huge miracle is needed so Norway slips up. We need luck. Something to go in our favour. An early red card for them, a penalty to concede. Unfortunately playoffs is the reality.
Of Note: the Norway v Estonia match will be concluded over a half hour before Moldova vs Italy Kicks Off. So if Norway gain their 3 Points, and thereby qualify, the Azzurri will have nothing to play for given they would be stuck in 2nd. But they must think bigger picture and would be wise to go win it regardless to ensure a favorable Ranking ahead of the Draw (see @Azzurrifan87's Pots).
Norway's run of form is bizarre. It's almost a statistical anomaly. I'd really like to beat their asses in Italy even if it won't matter. Gattuso needs to set the team up properly though. We can't be allowing gaping holes in counterattacks or turning the ball over whenever there is a high press. He needs to deal with that.
genuinely makes no sense it seems like teams are laying down for them. if we look at the other groups they are the best team in qualifying by some margin and they are in one of the tougher groups. this has also made it hard to judge Italy as we are looking how they beat Israel 5-0 and thinking we should have done the same when Israel has gotten good results against top nations the last two years and are not a minnow. It's just bad luck. Norway has been growing for a few years but they never played well for whatever reason and now they look like prime Belgium during their golden generation or even better because of the Haaland factor.
Yeah, even their worst performance that we bring up, and I admit I cling on to, was a measily 0-1 against Estonia. Haaland the scorer. Oscar Bobb, Sorloth, Odegaard, all excellent, but it really is Haaland ensuring maximum points, where in normal cycles they drop Points, and making sure they win the Tie Breaker by running up the score. Now get to the World Cup and I guarantee you Italy advances further than Norway.
So, I answer this but just as factually as I can. We are not guaranteed Pot 1. And I answer this way because the Pot 1 through Pot 3 is purely based on Fifa rankings. So big picture, the FIFA rankings could be whatever they are. To be even more by the book, no one is guaranteed Pot 1 Is it probably we are Pot 1? extremely high, as we are as of the September rankings the highest ranked second place team. The highest ranked Pot 2 team as of all facts right now are Czech Republic at 39th. So that should paint the picture. But I just hesitate to say guarantee because at there are still two more iterations of the Fifa rankings not yet released. October 22nd, in which I will update the factual pots with those rankings. And then we have the November fifa ranking release which ultimately decides the fate of Pot 1 through 3. The fate of Pot 4 is purely tied to teams placed lower than 3rd and their nations league achievement from 2024-25. TL;DR - it's not guaranteed, but my answer almost too factual. We can safely say it is unlikely we will be out of Pot 1.
🚨🇦🇷 Matias Soulé: “Italian Federation approached me twice, I thank them but I want to play for Argentina”.“I keep working and fighting to be part of Argentina squad”. pic.twitter.com/8Kd7G0vVmh— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 15, 2025 Time to let the ship finally sail and move on here. I am not sure how it is going to play out for him in terms of being a contributor to Argentina, but all the best.
It was much ado about nothing. This is the Agents doing not the player. An obvious non-Italian. Passport merchant we see far too often. Part of a bigger issue. Italy should not be taken advantage of. EDITED
Back to Gattuso's in-game management. Probably could have taken Retegui out sooner and brought on Cambiaghi or Piccoli on sooner. The Result likely not in doubt. The sooner integrated the better, IMO.
It’s crazy how Norway wiped their ass with Israel with so little trouble. While they made us suffer for it. At times yesterday I felt like I was watching an Italy that was still being coached by Spalletti. A 3-5-2 formation but one that doesn’t know why it exists other than its convenience to the personnel. It’s the same old shit we’ve been seeing for years. Possession, cutesey passes, failed attempts coupled with opponent counter attacks that rip through our midfield like butter. Every time they turn over it feels like they’re going to score. Even a shit team like Israel can give us problems. Gattuso had the right instinct to switch to a back 3, but he’s not a back three guy. Exactly like Spalletti. Honestly I don’t know what I’d do at this point. I really don’t like this generation. I would save very few of our guys. I find the exercise of trying to find the right formation with the right 11 such a tedious task because you can find imbalances everywhere. At this point I just want to qualify. I will take getting humiliated at the World Cup over not qualifying. I’m starting to already look past this cycle
Of course, I would love for you to qualify and be in the World Cup final with Argentina - as I always have loved your team for 40 plus years and hopefully always will. I do think, however, that you have a greater chance to win the 2030 World Cup than the 26 one. Of course, predicting the future is such a futile exercise because only God knows. But I have high hopes for Camarda especially, and am hoping one of Pafundi, Liberali, Sia - those types of fantasy players - at least one of them to pan out and be absolutely a world class player. Ekhator, Fini, Koleosho - there’s a lot of talent there. Camarda should be a future Ballon D’Or winner. From the current generation, absolutely love Chiesa - and liking Kean and Pio a lot. Best of luck.
the problem with the 352 is that there is too much space left behind. it only really works with a Conte like manager at the highest level because you have to either be super offensive like Gasperini or park the bus with 5. Gatusso like Spalletti wants the team to attack even if he is more vertical and we have to much flair to really park the bus it's not our strong suit based on these players. Inzaghi found a unique solution but even he was exposed over time at the back because it takes a tremendous amount of energy to shift from a back 5 to a front 4 and he always had two of three Centre Backs that could stay back as well as a deep lying midfielder. a 442 or 443 makes the most sense depending on if we have Chiesa and other wingers in form. You can play Kean Retegui Chiesa together as a front 3 you just would need to drop Di Marco and play a proper back 4. The other option is a 442 where you have Di Marco as a LM Barella as a RAM and Tonali Locatelli in the centre of the park with Retegui and Kean up top. This is the 2006 formation where Di Marco plays the Camronesi role but on the left and Barella plays the Perotta role but on the right. -----------------------------Kean-------Retegui------Chiesa ------------------------- ---Tonali---------------------Barella --------------------------------------------Locatelli -----------------Calafiori-------Bastoni------Scalvini----Spinazzola -------------------------------- ---Kean-------Retegui------ ---------------------------Di Marco-----------------------Barella ----------------------------------------Tonali---Locatelli -----------------Calafiori-------Bastoni------Scalvini----Spinazzola
You all will think I'm crazy, but I think a big factor in Israel playing us tougher than Norway had to do with Gattuso's big mouth on the Gaza stuff. The Italians have been very harsh on Israel and if you know anything about Israeli culture, you know they will fight to the death for their honor. They were going 110% last night and pressing the fck out of us. They did not do that with Norway. That said...Norway's results are odd. They are very much an anomaly. I don't know if teams are laying down for them or what, but you can't score that many goals unless teams are playing STUPID football. In other words, you could easily bunker and allow less goals, but teams continue to attack them and give up tons of space on their D for the Norwegian attackers to punish them. It's almost like the other teams in our group want to purposely lose badly. Just dumb, dumb, dumb.
Professor, I'm not as down on this cycle as you are. I think there is still a lot of talent on Gli Azzurri. I think the problem is a CT who is confused. He doesn't have clear ideas and the team feels that. He needs to inject more bite on the D side and more pace in the midfield/winger slots for things to work. I'll give Gattuso credit for the 2 punte solution and the tons of goals he's scored with that. But, he has to organize the midfield and defense better.