Azzurri Thread (38 Viewers)
- Thread starter Marceℓℓo
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I don’t think Italians are that delusional.
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This is the Gazzetta article.
The article and everyone in the comments and talking about the penalty.
https://www.gazzetta.it/Calcio/Nazi...far-festa-basta-lo-0-0-contro-l-ucraina.shtml
- - - Updated - - -
This is the Gazzetta article.
The article and everyone in the comments and talking about the penalty.
https://www.gazzetta.it/Calcio/Nazi...far-festa-basta-lo-0-0-contro-l-ucraina.shtml
I think part of it is football becoming a lot more global, more footballers in elite leagues for the little nations and less local players playing in top flight for the big5. so Italy are no longer head and shoulders above most teams in Europe and can't afford off days.
f.e. in Serie A in 2003/04 according to fbref 65% of the players were Italian and they played 67% of all the minutes in Serie A. 20 years later in 2023/24 Italians make up 39% of the players and cover 36% of the minutes played. interestingly in Spain the minutes played by locals % is still quite high at 57%, Germany is also better than Italy at 47%, but Ligue 1 and EPL are also heavily based on foreigners like Serie A.
if you combine it with how Serie A has proportionally less money and is no longer a TOP1 or TOP2 league in Europe, the equation becomes quite brutal for the Azzurri - you have a smaller pool to pick from who are playing at a worse level + now there're a lot more smaller countries where half of the starting lineup are from Serie A and they play at the same level as your players like Romania, Albania, etc.
f.e. in Serie A in 2003/04 according to fbref 65% of the players were Italian and they played 67% of all the minutes in Serie A. 20 years later in 2023/24 Italians make up 39% of the players and cover 36% of the minutes played. interestingly in Spain the minutes played by locals % is still quite high at 57%, Germany is also better than Italy at 47%, but Ligue 1 and EPL are also heavily based on foreigners like Serie A.
if you combine it with how Serie A has proportionally less money and is no longer a TOP1 or TOP2 league in Europe, the equation becomes quite brutal for the Azzurri - you have a smaller pool to pick from who are playing at a worse level + now there're a lot more smaller countries where half of the starting lineup are from Serie A and they play at the same level as your players like Romania, Albania, etc.
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Yeah I'm being harsh and spoiled but that's the way it feels overall over various tournaments and qualifications. The Euros win was great and the build up to that over a year or so with Mancini's work, but it also feels like that was the culmination of great work and a final flourish for a few key players, one of those against-the-odds tournament wins that was deserved but built on the team ethos and character.
Having said that, re the teams who failed to qualify, it wouldn't surprise me if they had qualified to see those then go on and build and make a semis or so, and this could even happen with this relatively mediocre team. I don't back against Italy in a tournament.
Having said that, re the teams who failed to qualify, it wouldn't surprise me if they had qualified to see those then go on and build and make a semis or so, and this could even happen with this relatively mediocre team. I don't back against Italy in a tournament.
I definitely agree with you there. Somehow it feels like ages since Italy have had a great squad. But in reality they played really good football just two years ago and actually won a majour tournament while doing so. Belgium was consistently good for a decade, but in my opinion they had just one good major tournament in 2018. I'd definitely trade the years of good football for a tournament win.
In the long run of course it's about building great teams again and again and Italy have not been doing that for quite a while now.
In the long run of course it's about building great teams again and again and Italy have not been doing that for quite a while now.
