Just goes to show how good Gasperini is. What he did with Atalanta is nothing short of a miracle. Now they are dreadful since he went to Roma and Roma is doing incredible.
It is a small coach mentality. He is too defensive. He should acknowledge that we are Italy and we should have done better.
i think the most shocking part of today was that anybody actually thought we were going to beat Moldova by a bunch of goals. Having just seen Norway all but qualify minutes before taking the pitch, knowing this is a meaning less game. Knowing that Scamacca was starting with Capitano Cristante. I'd say 2-0 is just about right.
Gattuso showed by starting all backup players except for Tonali that he didn't give a shit about the goal differential. He literally said he thought they could've lost before the game. Pathetic. Mancini shits over Spalletti and Gattuso.
In Football or anything you do in life that matters much to you. You give your absolute best. You need to believe in your chances no matter how small and I saw none of that here. If these lads can not inspire themselves, then how can they hope to inspire others and achieve greatness? The difference is that Norway went all out for goals and we did not. Because they believed in themselves. Now, I am not saying it would happen, I am just saying that the mentality should be there and we should have gone all out.
I said yesterday our U19s just beat their squad 8-0 and so our national team should aspire to do something similar, but our coach simply didn't give a shit and I don't want that as our coach. And this is coming from someone who said after we lost to Norway 3-0 we won't catch up on goal differential to Norway ever.
Sure but that is very idealistic. I've seen many cycles of national team games. I'm just saying that whenever we have a meaningless game, Italia tend to ******** around. Gattuso seems to have taken a diff route. Since there are no more friendlies cause of the stupid f***king nations league (aka the Portuguese participation trophy) he saw this as an opportunity to get some players in and work on the D / structure. With a 99.99999% of going to the playoffs no matter what the result was today, I tend to agree with him that it was more important to get looks at a few other guys and prepare for the playoff rather than go all out attack and have no shape / structure to build on that you want to use in the playoff you are going to go to anyways.
the game didnt matter and the formation and selection was made to prevent injuries and suspension. Gatusso remains undefeated untied. We need to find something quickly but the 11 for the playoffs should be strong. I think a 442/424 is just not ideal and only really works with Kean and Retegui as far as finding goals. We need a 352 or 433 and thats kinda it. Which ever gives us the best 11 and most balance is what you use for the playoff.
DiMarco is also becoming a player that gets an assist per 90 his left foot is just incredible. He could be someone that cracks open a tight playoff game. Its hard to predict what the backline will be but I wont be surprised if he makes his mark. My main fear is that too many players will injured by that point in time otherwise I think we will be ok. It just sucks to have to wait all that time and live with the mystery of who will be available and in form but we truly need to exercise those demons it seems.
I've come to realize that not having a solid formation while being bad is not the main issue, the issue is which players are starting and where they are being played. We are literally playing players that do not deserve to be on this team and also other players out of position, and our coaches just don't see it. We are screwed with Gattuso like we were screwed with Spalletti going into the Euros. We need a better coach.
Who can Italy draw in the semis and finals of qualifying? Getting across the line for this World Cup is essential.
For sure. We need a brave coach with his own ideas like Conte in 2016 where he did not use a player like Insigne because he did not fit his ideas. If we try to make an all star 11 we will continue to be un balanced and we are not even talented enough to get by like this against weaker opposition. On paper the best players we have available are actually pretty strong like our best 11 could be a team that goes to a CL final without exaggeration but it dosent seem to fit and many mediocre players are left over from Spalletti and Gatusso is not brave or estute enough to make radical changes. Gatusso was brought in to simplify Spallettis over complicated system for players that could not handle it when not playing day to day and with no real consistent Regista. Spalletti both had over complicated tactics and poor selection based on favouritism and a bit of fear. Gatusso has done well considering but we need a real project. Unfortunately we are still in the domino effect of Mancini resiging because of Saudi money mid qualification. Spalletti might have done well if he didnt come in mid cycle with presssure to qualify with a few games and the same can be said for Gatusso. Its been a hell of a 5 years since Euro 2020/21.
As of right now, we will first play one of these teams at home: Sweden, North Macedonia, Northern Ireland, or Romania. It we win, we could either play home or away one of these teams: Scotland, Hungary, Czech, Albania, Poland, Bosnia, Slovakia, or Kosovo. Turkey, Ukraine, and Wales could also be in the playoffs but we wouldn't play them as long as they are in Pot 1.
^^^ Nobody thought Italy would beat Moldova by a bunch of goals. 2-0 in June just like today. At most it would have been by 4 or 5 goals. But some believe the only reason why Italy are going to a Playoff is because Italy were playing in the Nations League while Norway started their Qualifiers earlier.
Yes dont want to play Scotland .. Sweden have been a mess but they have some talented players otherwise the draw should be favourable.
I think Gatusso’s comments are more to defend the group from critique going into the playoff. He changed the entire 11 and still won this is true and they are only going to the playoff because Spalletti could not get a draw with Norway and because you have to be perfect in Euro qualifiers. Portugal lost 2-0 to Ireland and still sit 1st. We have been unlucky that Norway went insane here. Gatusso is right that what they are doing in an anomaly and we have to break this little bubble and not pile on added pressure for no reason. Any sense of doom now is unhelpful. We are not in the playoff again because we’ve beeb poor and look like we don’t deserve to go through. Only reason to think this is if you havent looked at other teams qualifying.
as it stands Pot 1 Italy (9) Turkey (26) Poland (33) Hungary (37) Pot 2 Scotland (38) Czech Republic (44) Slovakoia (46) Albania (61) Pot 3 North Macedonia (65) Iceland (74) Bosnia & Herzegovina (75) Kosovo (84) Pot 4 Wales Romania Sweden Northern Ireland Pot 4 actually seems stronger than pot 3 would be ironic if we have to play Sweden and Macedonia.
I made this post in another thread just now, but it is relevant here too. To me, this is not opinion, it's my very apparent observation: Italia is lacking a fantasy withdrawn midfielder / forward that can play behind the attackers and just ahead of the midfield. Without this, we won't have any edge in any match that we play. Everything is just too flat and tactical to do anything special and differentiate ourselves. In an age where most teams play robotic, over tactical formations, this would give us a true competitive edge. Instead, Italia has decided to follow suit and just play the very same tactical formations as others with no edge added, to the point where those creative players just don't exist anymore. And it makes us grossly average and nothing any team should fear, including Moldova.
I don't buy the Gattuso woe is me there is nothing I can do about avoiding the playoffs stuff. Reason? It's on his players he inherited, and his players had literally one job this entire qualifying campaign. DO NOT LOSE TO NORWAY IN NORWAY. The players were complete a$$hats for not understanding this. He's gone on the defensive, appearing to defend his players. we don't need that. well, I don't need that as an interested fan. I need to know you are improving the mental capacity and understanding of the tasks at hand. it would be much better for him to say something like: "from my observation, the success of the entire qualifying campaign really needed to start with just one point in Norway. I don't need to go into the reasons, but the group did lose sight of that. We are all working hard to improve how we approach every game, including this one tonight where had much possession of the ball, squandered chances, but we resolved and found two goals to win"
Look, 3 World Cup qualifiers in a row and we came in 2nd place in the group stages, we just have to accept that is who we are now. Which means we could go through these playoffs rounds again in 2030 and 2034. I've come to accept it even though it is such a bummer, let's just hope they finally turn it around this time.
2018: Dropped to 2nd Pot in Qualifiers and got Spain. 1-1 in Torino and then ate 3 goals at the Bernabeu. Why? Because the braintrust at the FIGC didn’t take the formula seriously. They seriously needed to employ a mathematician for these things. It was during the Conte era. Gab Marcotti (could be a lurker on here for all we know) tells the story of a mathematician from Romania contacted Gab and told him playing a particular match (I think it was that Friendly in Reykjavik, Islanda, that ended 1-1). Gab goes on to say he contacted the appropriate people at the FIGC about it and they were not concerned. Italy LOST points by not winning that useless match and so fell to Pot 2. Indeed if memory serves they would have been better to not play it at all. Remember Iceland were pretty good then. They won a knockout game at Euro'16 and even qualified to the 2018 World Cup. 2022: Back to Pot 1 but fish out the best Pot 2 team possible, Switzerland. A couple of missed PK's by Jorginho later and a few other mistakes discussed at length here and there we are. *2026: Fair to say this particular Norway is the best Pot 2 team, no? Best CF in the world and a real fine supporting cast. Add to that Spalletti with a bad approach to the first match, lost the dressing room, and makes nonsensical analogies like having 2 women. One at home and a young one at the countryside. Come on, no need for this talk. What red blooded male doesn't think it but not out loud. ******** Norway. Good for them. Wrote it before. Get Italy to the North American WC and the Azzurri will outperform them. I stand by this statement.