Given some confidence in his role in the setup, I could see the little Orso chip in with a couple of goal contributions at the EURO this summer.
Scalvini will miss at least one month! He will surely be back before Euros! Not the best timing for injuries though! I have a feeling that Calafiori can still make the squad!
Could you make another Chiesa has been terrible posts right before the Euros start please? Thank you.
- Scalvini to ManU rumor back on. I really hope not. Not this version of them. - If Frimpong leaves the soon-to-be German Champions, Bayer Leverkusen, Raoul Bellanova is supposedly the target for replacement. Wouldn't mind some players in the Bundesliga besides Grifo.
Not me, I dont think Grifo is getting a look bc he is playing over there, the one thing I cant stand about a lot of coaches.
This team has absolutely no shot of doing anything at the Euros unless Chiesa plays and he plays well. We absolutely would not have won the last Euros without him for the same reason. We have no other world class level attacking talent. While his form has been suspect, so has everyone else at Juve's. He didn't forget how to play. His only real (and legitimate) issue is injuries.
Chiesa is our star and all our other wings dont come closer. However, we are elite in goalie, defense, and midfield.
If we play any other formation besides a 4-3-3 as done in 2021, will be difficult to do a side-by-side comparison. Chiesa/Berardi were a good platoon on the right side. Nobody expected Chiesa to to have a great tournament. For the time being, likely will be a downgrade this EC with Zaniolo & Orsolini. Left side, Chiesa likely here unlike 2021. Insigne wasn't anything special in the Final but he sent us on our way in the QF and also iced the opening match. Pessina scored twice. So for 2024, are Chiesa and Zaccagni (likely) gonna score 4? CF. Immobile netted in 2021, Belotti played spot Minutes and Raspadori didn’t play at all. Our CF's currently are potentially better. CB's. Gonna be a hard ask for the CB's in 2024 to do what Bonucci and Chiellini/Acerbi/Toloi did. Gigio was Tournament MVP so he will have to be tournament MVP this time around as well to say we've upgraded.
I agree the midfield and goalkeeper are formidable, but I don't think Italy is going to be able to shut any good team down with their current defense. Not because the talent isn't there, but it's a revolving door, and there's not a lot of chemistry. I expect we'll see some spotty CB play, whether we want to or not. I don't know if the forwards will outperform the guys from 2021. I would say Italy's biggest offensive threat came from Spinazzola. When he went down, they couldn't drum up much of anything (granted, in the 2.5 hardest games that followed), and so Chiesa's individual tenacity bailed them out of some otherwise ineffective frontline work. I'm not to sophisticated, but whatever the formation is come Euros, it better put Pellegrini in a position to make plays. He's been fantastic. We don't need some asinine Luis Enrique-type thing where Pedri is recycling the ball while a bunch of guys shit the bed up front. Pellegrini needs to be in positions--set pieces and in live play--to make decisive plays. Not toiling in the midfield where other guys can do that job.
Spalletti will prolly run the Inter defense (Bastoni Acerbi Darmian) in defense, so chemisty will be great. Dimarco needs to play like Spinna. No Insigne but red hot Pellegrini in an advanced position is the way to go. CF is only question mark, however Retegui has started his Azzurri career brillantly so we should let him continue up top.
Spinna was a monster at the Euros. Insigne benefitted massively from his presence, and after Spinna was injured Insigne was way less effective. DiMarco is a great talent, but a very different player than Spinna; both can do things the other can't. Overall, I'd take a prime Spinna over a prime DiMarco, but I appreciate both of their skill sets
I think I would amend that statement to the effect that Chiesa can be the star if he's on top form as we've seen in the past. I'm not sure we can say we're elite defensively or in midfield where we did have some real struggles in qualifying. I think at their best, Donnarumma, Bastoni, Dimarco, Barella and Chiesa are world class level players. The other guys we have in defense and midfield are solid to very good. The issue has always been that we don't have any convincing attackers on this level, outside Chiesa when fit. We've seen how that has cost us, just missing out on a World Cup because we didn't have guys that could score goals despite dominating games.
Has anyone been watching Chiesa? He hasn't lost a step. He still has that same blazing acceleration and skill and it scares the sh*t out of defenders. It opens up space for everyone. Why does he play better for our Azzurri than Juve? Simple. Allegri. Allegri spends his whole time screaming at Chiesa to track back (which he does). But this wastes Chiesa's talent. First it means he's not as forward as he could be. Second, it means he's going to be more winded and not as fresh in attack. It's flat out STUPID to use a weapon like this. I think we'll see the real Chiesa at Euro 2024.
i love Spina... however.. i'll take a prime Di Marco over him especially with the current make up of the rest of the team. Di Marco has as many goals this year as Spina does in his whole Serie A career, is one of the top assist men in Serie A... and gives us what we don't have much elsewhere on the roster (other than Orso)... deadball ability with his left foot.
The Chiesa who always shows up for the national team, but hey keep hating on him, you are the only one.