Listening to Radio Radio and they are going off and saying Gattuso is not really at fault The problem remains with the Italian football system and after 2006, Italy has suffered a great deal in development. They are saying even if Italy qualifies for the World Cup, they could very well be embarrassed because they look very weak at every position. They said that changing the coach won't resolve the problem but it needs to start with the club and at the top with Gravina.
Would be curious to know the TV Viewership in Italy of Italy vs Norway. Jannik Sinner vs Carlos Alcaraz at the ATP Finals this past weekend got 7M Viewers.
I wanted us to adopt Norway's weird ass formation so it would be with a 4 man backline. Kean and Retegui must start up top with one winger who has to be Chiesa. Then we can play our 3 man midfield.
Yes Israel meltdown was worse but the Germany meltdown was even worse than that this was the third major defensive meltdown where we capital G gifted 3 or more goals to our opponent in quick order. Our midfield played better than theirs. The problem is not Locatelli and Barella unless we want to pick them out when defending as a team. It is the defence/over all team defence compactness and focus. But again most of these players defend pretty well at a high level for their clubs so it's not really a pure talent issue. It is psychological and a lack of chemistry/balance. They don't trust each other.
Yeah if we wanted to be safe and set up a back 4 that could build chemistry when defending I would probably go with the following. Udogie--Calafiori---Scalvini---Kayode Back 5 I would go with DiMarco---Calafiori---Buongiorno---Scalvini---Kayode
For sure there has been systemic rot since 2006 and that 2006 squad was really the result of and fruit of our under 21 squads from the 90s... when you look at the players that were a bit younger on that squad and the 2008 squad we already saw a massive drop off...Zacardo Iaquinta Gilardino Perotta etc ... then 2008-2012 the Montolivo Marchisio Nocerino generation ...our under 21 teams in the 2010s got a bit better and 2021 was the result of combining the Imobile Insigne Verratti Jorginho Cheilini Bonucci class with Chiesa Barella Donnarumma but it's all been patch work since the 90s.
I just read that Mancini was grabbing Haaland's ass. No joke. That's what Erling says. He says it woke him up and motivated him to score. LMAO. We have gone from Scirea, Gentile, Maldini, Nesta and Cannavaro....to ass grabbers. Get the fck out of here!
Italia has become a bunch of tatted up video game playing social media zombies. Fckin entitled pussies everywhere. Where are the players with balls and attitude (aside from maybe in the rough sections of Napoli and Roma)?
I just read that Mancini was grabbing Haaland's ass. No joke. That's what Erling says. He says it woke him up and motivated him to score. LMAO. We have gone from Scirea, Gentile, Baresi, Maldini, Nesta and Cannavaro....to ass grabbers. Get the fck out of here!
to be fair Gentile was all over Maradona in 82 grabbing him so much that to Gentile someone in a bar became an adjective in England and in part this is the problem for decades FIFA and UEFA increased fouls and red cards to create more goals mainly after Italia 90 was seen as not an entertaining world cup and that style of defending was reffed out of the game. Italy simply did not adapt. We still have bruisers but they are not allowed to do what they once did. Of course we also had elegant defenders like Baresi and Costacurta but we were able to use slower grittier defenders too now these players are exposed as clunky. The only nations producing elite defenders are France and Brazil where they are so big fast and strong they can make up for the fact that refs call everything now. Del Piero explains it here well. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Fslo_3S3reI
I read this too but this has been going on for years. The defenders do it to get into the strkers heads. Pippo Inzaghi once as getting grabbed in his front and it got him mad and wanted to be subbed out....LOL
Keep in mind those calling for Scalvini, he's only started 4 Matches this season. Plus 10 Minutes in the UCL against PSG where Atalanta took 4 goals. We all want grinta but reject Gatti and Gianluca Mancini. It's the attitude. Until that improves.
Gattuso is not going to fool anybody for being a genius or anything -- and I think we know what he meant with a lot of his comments about qualification -- but goodness those have aged like milk. You threw gasoline on the fire, which this group did not need considering how fragile they are. It is one thing if we beat Norway 2-0 yesterday and we go to the playoff. Losing 7-1 in the home-away fixtures head to head makes you look like an absolute clown. Should have just kept his mouth shut.
but that's the issue the Gatti Mancini types can't do what even Chielini and Bonnucci got away with let alone our defenders from the 80s and 90s... so they are exposed one on one... I think someone like Romagnoli would have been a top level defender in the 90s but at Milan when in Europe he was exposed as simply being too slow so someone like Tomori and Kalulu were preferred even though theyre not very good. We have begun producing these elegant ball playing centre backs because that's what the modern game asks for to some extent but we also need to produce some rocks like Saliba Gabriel Ruben Dias Upamencano Militao etc ... this is another root issue because you can no longer have defenders that are physically a 7/10 but smart enough to make it work. You now need defenders that are either elegant or 9/10 10/10 physically as far as speed and strength.
Ok, could this be an inkling of a start of looking in the mirror? Or, is this talk that has happened before but never leads to action. I really hope this is the former, because their assessment is true.
I totally agree with this. Want to man up? Drop the tats, clowns. Wear battle scars instead. EDIT: Then again they were twice torched by a Norwegian man who chooses to wear pink hair and then paint his hair like a leopard. So, what do I know.
Diego. Maradona: "Pietro Vierchowod had muscles on his eyelashes." Truth be told he was another hardman the little that I saw of him. Beh. Maybe it's me a lifetime of watching hockey but that shit usually stayed on the ice. Why is Haaland crying to the media?
I can't remember Gentile grabbing ass, but if he did, he would back that up. He'd beat you down physically until you were rattled. Mancini is a pansy compared to that. He's about as intimidating as a stuffed animal.
I want to dispel the notion that this is a scheme issue. The poor defending yesterday was mostly a player issue. On Norway's first goal, Politano actually has help from Frattesi back to the inside. You just CANNOT get beat to your outside and he did. Poor fundamentals. Besides this comedy, we have a corner in the 72', where NO ONE COVERS Nusa. He's left wide open by 10 yards to take a cross and almost score. I believe that was Politano's man. (Politano was HORRIFIC in this game.) On Norway's second goal, we have a double team on Norway's left back. Politano and Frattesi are there again....they get faked out of their jock straps which is ridiculous because it's 2 defenders on 1 player. Then Nusa is left WIDE OPEN in the box by Di Lorenzo who then attacks him and gets faked out. Then NO ONE covers Erling Haaland on the far post. On Norway's third goal, you have Bastoni with this typical fck up. But, instead of either challenging the guy intercepting the ball HARD or dropping back. He does neither and is caught in no man's land. On Norway's fourth goal, you got a sense of how bad Mancini is in space. Terrible marking but that is not new to him. Go back and watch the Euros. Players are getting beaten in 1 x 1 situations. If they can't do the job, get them the hell out.
You are correct. But you underestimate the psychological importance in football. Inter for example had the best defence in the UCL. They bottled it in the final, but YOU DO not reach two UCL finals as a fluke. They legit had a beast of a team and defense. But even if we use a strong Inter core, it falls apart in Italy, because there is an imbalance in this squad. It is so terribly imbalanced that I have never ever seen anything quite like it, and there is a serious mentality issue. As soon as things go bad, we start conceding very quickly one after the other. It is the mentality and balance that is the problem. It's not that Bastoni is bad, it's that without someone like Acerbi by his side he will struggle. The BBC worked because it was like a well oiled machine where each individual players strengths complimented one another and their weakness were too covered. This is not the case in this team. It is such a mess, that we need to ride out the storm and hope we can get more players healthy to fix this imbalance. Once that is fixed, then only then can the mentality and confidence improve. This is why I say, we must start building for 2030. Because as it stands, this WILL not cut it short of a miracle. The only hope is if we can get Scalvini, Kean, Chiesa, Calafiori, Kayode in somehow and all healthy. Combined with Tonali, Ricci and Donnaruma. Then I would say we stand a decent chance of doing much better.