I think Lautaro and Hakan combined are kinda that in Serie A ... its more the reality of the modern game ... only Haaland Kane Mbappe are really capable of scoring in bunches most teams share the goals these days. It seems every striker purchased by a big team these days in all leagues is considered a flop more or less. Inter again have been the exception because Thuram Lautauro and now Bonny Pio share the goals so they all individually get praise where if they were alone they may get criticized the way other strikers like Seiko Gykores Zirkzee Hojlund Isaak etc etc do.
he did not share pessimism he shared optimism from the perspective of Northern Ireland .. that Northern Ireland will come in guns blazing and we will crack. That there are no "ifs" we are going home and any other thought is not in reality. Even the most bullish Northern Ireland fan would not think that was true. The opponents are all in this position because they also are struggling.
Northern Ireland seem to be opposite of what Italy are currently. Even before the Northern Ireland visitor posted here after the Playoff Draw, I read how they are toothless in Attack. His comments seem to only confirm that. Whereas their Defense is strong. Complete opposite of what Italy are. Hate to beat a dead horse. If they get their heads screwed on right they will do the job. But if they go out and wooo is me and start feeling sorry for themselves, they are ********ed. Part of that is lack of leadership. Tonali, Gigio, Bastoni at the correct age. Just get on with it. Check the excuses at the door and go out there and right a wrong. Forza Azzurri, cazzo.
Their defence is strong in the sense that they parked the bus against Slovakia Germany and then had Luxembourg .. it was a fairly weak group. Last March Sweden beat them 5-1 .. Obviously the key is to score early and force them to open up and attack.
Absolutely nothing is lost. Quite the opposite. Everything is in front of them. - Navigate the Playoff. Put your balls on the table and get it done. Spitting, scratching, diving, hair pulling, insulting an opponents dead mother, don't care!!!!! - Go the World Cup and go into a Group that is really a 3 team group as I don't see how Qatar does anything. Really will have a 75% of advancing into the KO Stages. Even the match that would normally be considered hostile against the Host team will not be. They really do have a chance to be in the KO stages if they get their shit together. All this from me who is normally very pessimistic by nature.
The days of countries being scared of Italy are long gone, trust me N. Ireland have much more confidence than we do, no one fears us anymore and it's pretty apparent why. This whole organization is in shambles, indestructible said it some time ago that us qualifying will just delay the inevitable. Dazn: "Palestra in nazionale? Lasciamalo tranquillo" Stupid dog shit mentality such as this is one of the many examples of why we'll continue to fail. I'm so used to failure at this point that I'm hoping we don't qualify just for a glimmering chance of Gravina getting fired/stepping down. We are so behind in Europe that it's simply comical at this stage. Trust me, I don't get off on clowning my country but let's be realistic with expectations and keep them low because that's the world we live in now.
I hear you it's really bad ..don't get me wrong ..it's just also the case that all the nations in the playoffs at least in our path are in a down period or are just not very good. there's no reason for them to be confident either. we will see what happens I can't see Gatusso solving the puzzle even if he did get through. But when speaking about the state we are in the disaster it is relative right our disasters the last 2 years would be miracle results for current Bosnia Wales and N.Ireland and that is who is in front of us. Still we are in such a shambles at the back that I wouldnt be shocked if we lost to N.Ireland at home and feel Wales/Bosnia is a crapshoot. We very well could be looking at 3 straight world cups missed in 4 months time. Feels 50/50 between the two games unfortunately.
Was communicating to a family member in Italy today (inter fan) and he said he never rated Di Lorenzo. He suggested they bring in Palestra. Meanwhile the powers at be get turned off at his age 20 even when he out performs the incumbent at RB. Also because one plays for Napoli the other for Cagliari.
ironically DiLorenzo has been good in this 343 at RWB/RM... DiLorenzo is too small to plat RCB and he's always been mentally fragile for Italy..even at Euro 2020 I always felt he was the weak link though he deserved the spot over Florenzi. We haven't been stable at RB for a very long time. It's tricky when Italian football does not really play a back 4 very much. It's really a failure of the federation to not appoint a manager that plays a back 3 after Mancini. Both Spalletti and Gatusso don't like it. Palestra should be able to slot right in at RWB for the national team. In the current situation it is hard.
At least Antoine Griezman had the decency to retire from international duty when Italy slapped France silly in the UNL. But Di Lorenzo has absolutely no shame he will continue to go out there and be the weak link. How does Bonucci who is an Assistant to Gattuso and a former Defender not say anything??? It's gonna take an injury or him to step aside for it to happen.
They dominated play the entire first half against Norway and were unable to do anything after the first goal. They basically gave up altogether the second half. That was not an impressive offensive display. You fail to address the bigger point that was raised: how can you say that attack is not an issue where Norway nearly doubled our tally in qualifying? I'm not going to argue that they are infallible defensively, but we have more talent in the defense than we do going forward, especially when you consider the goalkeeper.
Then Norway nearly doubled the other top 2 teams that were in Groups of 5 not just Italy. See statistics upthread. I'll tell you what's going to happen --> Italy will qualify to the World Cup and advance further than Norway. This is my plan for Friday June 12. Not subject to change. - Call in sick. Cough a few times on the phone call for credibility. - Head over to my parents and spend the morning with them and have lunch. - Park my car at my parents. - Walk over to the GO station. - 3PM start watch Italy at the World Cup. A Draw or Italy win. - Veal Parm sandwich in Liberty Village. - Head over to the dome to watch the Blue Jays play the Yankees and show them who runs the AL East. Be in before the anthems. Amen. Of course Italy should qualify which means they won't.
You just never know. It is eerie how many predictions The Simpsons have gotten correct. 🚨🎙️Novak Djokovic:"Portugal will win the 2026 World Cup. They will play against Mexico in the final and they will win." 🏆🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/1Zljj9tkQq— TCR. (@TeamCRonaldo) December 7, 2025
Watching the Jays kick the shit out of the Yanks in the ALDS live was a top sporting moment in my life. Vladdy grand slam, Trey debut, both of those games absolutely rocked. Getting to potentially be around both events (IF Italy qualifies) is going to be special stuff.
I'm convinced we go down in Wales. It hurts to say it. but Rodon, Neco Williams, Wilson, James, Johnson, Brooks all getting significant premier league playing time, and our track record of defending set pieces, and the weak fragile mental state going into Wales where the fans will tilt the atmosphere...it seems like a disaster. We do have a better midfield than Wales and better striker options. I'd argue we have the better GK but since moving to Man City Gigio looks more like he's about to cave in instead of stand tall when needed most. We shall see. The ingredients are not favorable in my opinion. if we get to the world cup then I will be relieved
Donnarumma has been very good for City ... most Man City fans have praised him and feel he is a big reason why they are higher in the table this season. You can't simply go by the game scores he has made fantastic saves and most of the goals he's given up were unavoidable. The Welsh keeper is a backup keeper for Leeds. We have like 10 keepers that are better than him. There is also no reason to be sure Wales will beat Bosnia. Belgium also put 8 goals past Wales in World Cup qualifying. They are not some kind of solid rock. Yes they are filled with professional players that are decent athletes and we are a shambles and it would be very hard to go to Wales if it comes to that. In our current state it is nearly impossible to even predict at this point.
Greater chance to go through if the center backs can contain Dzeko / Tabakovic / Demirovic Also, we should really beat Northern Ireland at home. I'm expecting we do enough to take care of business, similar to how we handled Israel.