Well, I know we were posting some of the updates in the youngster thread, but i figured it deserved a thread all its own. forza azzurrini
Gazzetta is reporting a 4-3-3: Consigli; Motta, Andreolli, Santacroce, Criscito; Dessena, Bolzoni, De Ceglie; Lanzafame, Balotelli, Giovinco
http://www.justin.tv/widgets/jtv_player.r3e909b04e5ea385fb0f532a9b60e12fd897ce406.swf?channel=krivit1 Stream.
post off giovinco freekick, but offsides...ref missed a foul on germany in a dangerous position at the other end
nice play by criscito to ride a challenge, and sends in a dangerous low cross that is put on target by lanzafame but saved. italy has had an edge in these first 13 or so minutes, but still tight 17' italy wins two corners in a row, but the second one is way overhit by giovinco 18' balotelli gets a yellow out of the blue...probably did a cheapshot off the ball... andreolli--santacroce makes me feel much safer than some of the more recent incarnations of the defensive central pairing
lol, I was just about to say bolzoni is trying to do a poor-man pirlo impersonation out there with his 60 yard balls...to be fair to the kid, he is very young, so I will cut him some slack
Yeah, he's only 19 I think. He's a pretty damn good 'terrier' at the moment, but his decision making is lacking (to be expected).
whoo...big deflection almost went in for germany, hit crossbar. that would have been poor luck if that had went in germany coming into the match more
OK, I'm here now The midfield sucks balls. Santacroce and Andreolli are a very solid pair... Also, it's painfully obvious how much more technically skilled our guys are.
yeah and let's remember Bolzoni is a Primavera player, he doesn't really have professional experience like everyone else.
Stupid Inter... Not a great game, tbh. I really like how organized we have been defensively, but we desperately need someone with some ideas. Also, I'm beginning to question Giovinco's judgment. He holds on to the ball way too long sometimes and seems afraid to take a shot at goal.
the boys have lost the plot here the last quarter hour. not making good decisions...trying to dribble by double teams or making passes where you have to thread through 5 pairs of legs, just giving the ball away carelessly.
yeah, defense is solid, kroos and ozil are good players and other than that one deflected shot, we pretty much kept them bottled up, that is an accomplishment. as for giovinco, that is the main knock on him, is he has great skills but as of now his footballing brain is lacking. to be fair, though, this match he has tried to play some 1-2s with other players, and usually they aren't reading him correctly, so for this match at least, chemistry might be as big a factor as any perceived egoismo
The Olympics was a very good example of that. For whatever reason, I just don't think Giovinco will ever live up to his talent. ' I hope I'm wrong. EDIT: Thank god, Candreva's coming on. I really liked him at Toulon and during qualifying.
Well, that's it, IMO. Does anybody on the field actually look like they're going to score anytime soon?
pushing forward a lot now. if we don't equalize soon, we will concede a second, the defense is really being left out to dry on the counters lol, cerci got raped and no call. oh well santacroce is having a good match
Whenever he plays do not expect to win the game. This is the conclusion I have come to watching him these past few months. He needs to learn how to play Team ball and this is part of the reason he rides the bench for us. That and Del Piero.
The second outcome is more likely. We desperately, desperately need a new formation and it makes me sad that we'll have to lose another European championship before Casiraghi gets fired.