Yeah i would be surprised if this is not the starting pair come Euros provided they are healthy. The familiarity of the two is a plus even if they don't normally play in a back 4. Throw in Dimaro on the left side as well but you would have to worry about defense so at least one of the mids will be a defensive mid. This is where someone like Loca or even Verratti helps
Thoughts on Di Marco surpassing Hernandez as the best left back in Italy? Actually now the best in the world.
Hernandez is more athletic but there is a not a better crosser of the ball in the world than Dimarco. Maybe best left foot too...
That Roma-Fiorentina match was wild. Pellegrini back. Looks pretty good. Let's hope he can stay healthy and find his form in the next six months. Bonaventura is nice. If he had a few better quality players around him I think he'd dish out assists left and right. @AGomes' favorite Gianluca Mancini sent plenty of players crashing to the ground without getting thrown out. More of that controlled physicalty, please. Cristante looked like a true regista for the first 20 minutes. Great one-time passes in and around the box, one of which Dybala slickly sent right to Lukaku's head for Roma's only goal. Mourinho's mere presence is enough to bring out the feistiness in teams. Roma had two red cards, but Paredes probably deserved one, as well. And Fiorentina players were knocking guys down left and right for stretches. I recommend watching this one, if you missed it. Very entertaining, and some good performances from the Italians.
- Udogie bounces back from his mid-week horror show and scores his first goal in the PL. - Vicario and Callum Wilson of Newcastle exchanged pleasantries. Vicario pulled a shithousery moment in the dying Minutes of the match after making a Save. Didn't think Vicario had it in him to do what he did, lol. After the match, Wilson complained of lack of respect. Vicario responded through social media. Some say it is because Callum Wilson elbowed him earlier, but the consensus is that it's because last year Callum Wilson went on a podcast and trashed Richarlison. Good for Vicario for having his teammates back if that's indeed the reaaon.
Udogie earned a long-term contract with Tottenham. Good for him. I hope Spalletti finds a way to play Udogie that does not include sitting Dimarco. Somehow, both of those guys need to be on the field. Or, let one start and tell him to play as hard as humanly possibly, and then bring the other on in at 60' and tell him to play hard as humanly possible.
I seriously wonder about putting DiMarco as a left winger. It’s not like Berardi and Politano are world class. They’re both great players and should be with us, but I don’t think they deserve a starting position being locked up for them.
Under Spalletti -- 6 Matches Played 9 Bookings (9 Yellows, 0 Reds) Zaniolo 2. Acerbi, Bastoni, Buongiorno, Di Lorenzo, Dimarco, Scalvini, Tonali 1 each. How is it that the 7 players with single Yellows are either Defenders and in the case of Tonali, a DM. Understandable because it's easier to be Booked when Defending given the nature of the position. Then there is Zaniolo who is by and large an Attacking player and these players shouldn't be Booked as often. Yet, he has 2. He has it all to do to make the team as far as I see it.
March Window Still no opponents finalized. Other teams have announced Friendlies, FIGC still have not. Something tells me Serbia or another Balkan team.
If healthy, Chiesa is our left winger and our best player. Dimarco works well linking up with him too while playing LB. Berardi and Politano both play the right wing, hopefully Berardi starts and Politano backs him up (plz no Zaniolo). What do you think?
Perhaps. But Chiesa can easily play on both sides. He played on the right a lot in Euro 2020 because Insigne was our left winger. Why not Chiesa on the right and DiMarco on the left?
To your credit you've been consistent with your position of putting him in this role for a while. But considering he doesn't play this at Inter (as you know they play 3-5-2 as opposed to 4-3-3 with Italy) if he plays on the Left in a 4-3-3 is that Wingback system he plays in at Inter a like-for-like?
Not exactly. 3-5-2 is a completely different formation but I don’t see the harm in trying him there and see how he does. You know back during the 2022 World Cup, Croatia Coach Zlatko Dalic was talking about that a key to success with his team is having all his best players on the pitch at once, even if he has to modify their positions a bit. I really want to try a 3-5-2 for the nazionale but I’m not sure if Spalletti will do that or not. Although I have some hope because he did talk about being cautious in order to make the Euros and now he can start experimenting.
Ideally Inter are the ones that experiment this way. EDIT: or as Arrigo Sacchi used to say: the numbers (formation) are only for the journalists.
Complimenti al Milan per il passaggio del turno in Europa League! You got exactly what you deserved for having the most INTERnational squad from Serie A in the champions league.
3/4 Italian clubs advance. Neither topping the Group but not one finished last. Meanwhile 2/4 PL teams finished last, ManUtd especially had a horrible UCL. But 2 of their clubs topped their Group. Too bad Lazio couldn't have done better against Atleti to top the Group. I would have liked their chances against Copenhagen if Lazio got them.
I hate to say this, but I think Lazio is probably going out in the Round of 16. While I’m happy to see them advanced, I gotta be honest, they were a little lucky in some games with their late goals, and I’m unsure if they deserved it over Feyenoord. If Lazio’s luck continues, I think they might have a slight chance against Real Sociedad but they still wouldn’t be favorites. I’m not sure if they’d really be able to beat any of the other teams though. As for Inter, as long as they can avoid Real Madrid and Man City, I think they have a good chance. Even against Bayern. In fact they’re definitely capable of beating City and Real even on their day, but would be underdogs. As for Napoli, they need to avoid Bayern and Man City. Barcelona & Arsenal would probably be slight favorites against Napoli as well but I think Napoli can beat them on a good day. Napoli vs Dortmund I feel could be very interesting as they both play a very similar style of football!
Barca struggling this past month. If Royal Antwerp can score 3 against them, I like anybody's chances against them.
Actually I will take that back. Even if it goes against your Freedom of Speech, blah, blah, US Amendment, blah you wrote of recently. Juve were punished by UEFA for their Super League ambitions. As such our UCL spot was given to Milan. Our gift to you.
Doing well. He's on the Milan board exhanging Fazool recipes. You bored? Looking to have this thread closed again?