Azzurri Thread (56 Viewers)
- Thread starter Marceℓℓo
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Don't write us off just like that. It will be an easy win for Bosnia 
Some what understand where you are coming from about your doubts, however we still have a pretty decent chance of winning it, as it stands.. Italy are in the Top 5 contenteders for winning the tournament, but surely the Top 3: Germany, Spain and Netherlands stand out the most. Though, this Euro tournament for us will be more of a experiemental stage for us, for the up coming World Cup. Surely the objective is to win, but it's more about making an impression, going far and standing out to prove how far this squad has been rebuilt since the arrival of Prandelli. Just last week, Ranocchia said they want to win it, so we shall wait and see.
But what have we achieved to prove that Italy is on the right track and that there is a good chance of us winning the Euro Cup. First off what I admire is that we broke records in this qualifying campaign. First one being that this is the earliest qualification we've ever obtained historically in the Qualfiers for the Euro's and second that we also went through this tournament without conceding a goal for 715 minutes which broke the record since the 1998 Euro cup. Tobad though as the goal Serbia did score was offside and off a deflection giving no chance for Buffon. Also, not to mention that Italy have the best defensive records out of all groups, giving us the right indication that we are both strong up front and in the back even though there are still improvement needed in all areas. I would also say the friendlies we had with Spain and Germany, we managed to beat the World Champions and we went undefeated to Germany in which to this date, Germany have still not defeated us for 16 years. Now, friendlies are never to be shown as a proven factor however the Germany game does justify it as important, seeing that Germany and Italy took the game seriously as a typical Italy v. Germany derby. They went out with all their starters with the intention of winning, and we went out there to keep our undefeated streak vs. them. And so... I would consider that a proven factor as the same importance will apply in the world cup. Lastly would be our last game with Serbia, sure we didn't win, but usually, historically speaking... Italy when qualfy don't take games to seriously as they just relax when playing... We went there without any gains, while Serbia were there playing for the win with all costs, as we were away in a hostile stadium, with a nation that has lots of great players, and we walked out there undefeated. To be honest, we could of also won that game, if Rossi and Montolivo didn't miss their chances and dominated with 62% of possesion. That being said, not only didn't we lose, but we managed to keep our style of play intact which proves to us that this squad is able to play under pressure.
Speaking of style of play, the Euro's will prove to us if the 4-3-1-2 formation is the right system to go in with, it proved to be right with qualfiers, with Germany and Spain in Friendlies and now the ultimate test should prevail. Now of course, it has been working great in all games, as we usually dominated 55% + of possesion however, we've still had problems, in which was never concluding. Most of the time, we keep passing and passing the ball, but we never manage to find much space to create oppurtunities in which means we lack at getting chances, we must improve on that in our up coming fixtures. Just like in the Ireland game, we dominated possesion, but in regards of making chances it just stunk.
As for us on paper, I would say that this squad is much better than what we had both in 2008 and 2010. Not to mention we do have one of the best atleast out of the top 5 in the upcoming Euro's. Rossi just last season having 32 goals in 50 some what apperances is a great stat to compare without other strikers, like France with Benzema. Going forward you got Pazzini/Matri who are two great Prima Punta's, Matri having 20 goals last season in Serie A and Pazzini scoring about 11 goals in his arrival mid way the season with Inter. Then of course Cassano, having 8 assists mid way with Milan(being overwieght I might add) and 4 goals and then you got Giovinco, Balotelli... the list of depth goes on and on. Midfield, All CM's, no wingers as they are not needed. We got lots of Quality, Pirlo being World Class, De Rossi being one of the best CDM's in the world... Marchisio who is growing and has the potential to be greater than he is, then the likes of Montolivo and Aquilani who are qualifty players and we can go on and on. Defense is solid(fullbacks lack), but the stat of having the best defensive record should prove something on paper of course.
Well, I wouldn't say Balotelli is going to be a very important player, hopefully he will be, but it will be more Rossi and Cassano and mostly Cassano. Balotelli has not played much with us due to injuries, suspensions and lack of time with Man City, he's still young and has a whole year to prove himself with the luck of Tevez not playing anymore, it's time for Balotelli to shine and with his personality changing, it's the great way in doing it. Giovinco as well leading Serie A with 6 goals, he will have this year to prove his worth even more than last year.
But what have we achieved to prove that Italy is on the right track and that there is a good chance of us winning the Euro Cup. First off what I admire is that we broke records in this qualifying campaign. First one being that this is the earliest qualification we've ever obtained historically in the Qualfiers for the Euro's and second that we also went through this tournament without conceding a goal for 715 minutes which broke the record since the 1998 Euro cup. Tobad though as the goal Serbia did score was offside and off a deflection giving no chance for Buffon. Also, not to mention that Italy have the best defensive records out of all groups, giving us the right indication that we are both strong up front and in the back even though there are still improvement needed in all areas. I would also say the friendlies we had with Spain and Germany, we managed to beat the World Champions and we went undefeated to Germany in which to this date, Germany have still not defeated us for 16 years. Now, friendlies are never to be shown as a proven factor however the Germany game does justify it as important, seeing that Germany and Italy took the game seriously as a typical Italy v. Germany derby. They went out with all their starters with the intention of winning, and we went out there to keep our undefeated streak vs. them. And so... I would consider that a proven factor as the same importance will apply in the world cup. Lastly would be our last game with Serbia, sure we didn't win, but usually, historically speaking... Italy when qualfy don't take games to seriously as they just relax when playing... We went there without any gains, while Serbia were there playing for the win with all costs, as we were away in a hostile stadium, with a nation that has lots of great players, and we walked out there undefeated. To be honest, we could of also won that game, if Rossi and Montolivo didn't miss their chances and dominated with 62% of possesion. That being said, not only didn't we lose, but we managed to keep our style of play intact which proves to us that this squad is able to play under pressure.
Speaking of style of play, the Euro's will prove to us if the 4-3-1-2 formation is the right system to go in with, it proved to be right with qualfiers, with Germany and Spain in Friendlies and now the ultimate test should prevail. Now of course, it has been working great in all games, as we usually dominated 55% + of possesion however, we've still had problems, in which was never concluding. Most of the time, we keep passing and passing the ball, but we never manage to find much space to create oppurtunities in which means we lack at getting chances, we must improve on that in our up coming fixtures. Just like in the Ireland game, we dominated possesion, but in regards of making chances it just stunk.
As for us on paper, I would say that this squad is much better than what we had both in 2008 and 2010. Not to mention we do have one of the best atleast out of the top 5 in the upcoming Euro's. Rossi just last season having 32 goals in 50 some what apperances is a great stat to compare without other strikers, like France with Benzema. Going forward you got Pazzini/Matri who are two great Prima Punta's, Matri having 20 goals last season in Serie A and Pazzini scoring about 11 goals in his arrival mid way the season with Inter. Then of course Cassano, having 8 assists mid way with Milan(being overwieght I might add) and 4 goals and then you got Giovinco, Balotelli... the list of depth goes on and on. Midfield, All CM's, no wingers as they are not needed. We got lots of Quality, Pirlo being World Class, De Rossi being one of the best CDM's in the world... Marchisio who is growing and has the potential to be greater than he is, then the likes of Montolivo and Aquilani who are qualifty players and we can go on and on. Defense is solid(fullbacks lack), but the stat of having the best defensive record should prove something on paper of course.
Well, I wouldn't say Balotelli is going to be a very important player, hopefully he will be, but it will be more Rossi and Cassano and mostly Cassano. Balotelli has not played much with us due to injuries, suspensions and lack of time with Man City, he's still young and has a whole year to prove himself with the luck of Tevez not playing anymore, it's time for Balotelli to shine and with his personality changing, it's the great way in doing it. Giovinco as well leading Serie A with 6 goals, he will have this year to prove his worth even more than last year.
Correct, and Cassano however is not guranteed as both Rossi and Osvaldo may take his place, most probably Osvaldo if not, late on during the game, he should come on.
Pirlo might be playing again, but to be honest, I would try either Aquilani and/or Montolivo in the Regista position and give Pirlo some rest. If anything put Giovinco in the TQ position over Aquilani.
Nocerino should be taken Marchisio's place, however watch La Domenica Sportiva yesterday... they said Marchisio might be playing again against Northern Ireland.
Pirlo might be playing again, but to be honest, I would try either Aquilani and/or Montolivo in the Regista position and give Pirlo some rest. If anything put Giovinco in the TQ position over Aquilani.
Nocerino should be taken Marchisio's place, however watch La Domenica Sportiva yesterday... they said Marchisio might be playing again against Northern Ireland.
) manOf course it does, as there are no Prima Punta's in which Italy always relied on in the past, that being the likes of Luca Toni and so on. Yes there is Pazzini, Matri,(Balotelli...), but his call up to strikers rely mostly on Seconda Punta's for a reason. Let's not forget Salvatore that Prandelli made a promise in which meant a new system of play, that being this, no more counter attacking, no more defending, a new attacking philosphy in which inherites ball possesion however being diverse from Barcelona. His system is based on two reference points, being two support strikers rather than CF's some what like Barca rely on.
Combinations:
Cassano - Rossi
Cassano - Balotelli
Cassano - Giovinco
Giovinco - Rossi
Giovinco - Balotelli
Rossi - Balotelli
That's just with those two reference points mentioned above. Now if we add Pazzini to the picture, the same would apply.
Nonetheless, these duo's are very strong with or without a Prima Punta.
Combinations:
Cassano - Rossi
Cassano - Balotelli
Cassano - Giovinco
Giovinco - Rossi
Giovinco - Balotelli
Rossi - Balotelli
That's just with those two reference points mentioned above. Now if we add Pazzini to the picture, the same would apply.
Nonetheless, these duo's are very strong with or without a Prima Punta.
I don't really mean Prima Punta, either. I don't see Giovinco as an ideal replacement (Seba being a more creative type of forward) for Rossi, who I think suits the ideas that Prandelli has. For club level Rossi does well to be a constant threat with his dribbling and intelligent runs, and he has a good understanding with Cassano to do that for Italy.
I'd have probably gone for Giovinco-Balotelli to give those players a chance to start.
I'd have probably gone for Giovinco-Balotelli to give those players a chance to start.
Oh yes without a doubt and agreed. Sorry for the misunderstanding, but the idea and concept of the Prima Punta is still revelant as it does play part to the descion making in attack.
That being said, I agree with that partnership with Balotelli, but against Serbia we were expecting Cassano who is also creative like Giovinco of course to pair up with Balotelli, though due to his injuries Prandelli relied on Rossi instead. Tomorow, it will be Cassano and Giovinco, so I'm curious to see how that will work out between the two of them.
However, Balotelli I would love to see with Pazzini. Instead of the old 'Small players', we can have both Pazzini and Balotelli who are tall, one fast, strong and has great technical attributes, the other have fantastic finishing and is great at finding open space. Just like against Slovenia for example, except we shifted in a 4-3-3, I would have either, Giovinco who is familair known to play also on the wings, or Rossi or Cassano who can play as wide forwards.
Also, maybe Giovinco experimented as a trequartista would be great... tobad as he is also required to track back and defend and due to his height, it would not work out to good for him.
That being said, I agree with that partnership with Balotelli, but against Serbia we were expecting Cassano who is also creative like Giovinco of course to pair up with Balotelli, though due to his injuries Prandelli relied on Rossi instead. Tomorow, it will be Cassano and Giovinco, so I'm curious to see how that will work out between the two of them.
However, Balotelli I would love to see with Pazzini. Instead of the old 'Small players', we can have both Pazzini and Balotelli who are tall, one fast, strong and has great technical attributes, the other have fantastic finishing and is great at finding open space. Just like against Slovenia for example, except we shifted in a 4-3-3, I would have either, Giovinco who is familair known to play also on the wings, or Rossi or Cassano who can play as wide forwards.
Also, maybe Giovinco experimented as a trequartista would be great... tobad as he is also required to track back and defend and due to his height, it would not work out to good for him.
Giovinco set for Italy shirt
Sebastian Giovinco looks set to start alongside Antonio Cassano in Italy’s final Euro 2012 qualifier against Northern Ireland.
With qualification already secured before this month’s last two games, boss Cesare Prandelli will experiment on Tuesday by handing the in-form Parma player a place in the XI.
Giovinco, who is Serie A’s top scorer so far this season with five goals, was tested alongside the Milan man in the Azzurri’s final Coverciano training session on Monday.
Giovinco won’t be the only change to the side that drew 1-1 with Serbia on Friday, as there are alterations in defence too.
Fiorentina’s Mattia Cassani and Palermo’s Federico Balzaretti should be brought into the side, with Giorgio Chiellini being moved back into the centre of the rearguard.
In midfield, Alberto Aquilani could begin behind the front two with Riccardo Montolivo coming in for Claudio Marchisio in a deeper midfield role.
Italy possible: Buffon; Cassani, Barzagli, Chiellini, Balzaretti; De Rossi, Pirlo, Montolivo; Aquilani, Cassano, Giovinco
http://football-italia.net/oct10q.html
Sebastian Giovinco looks set to start alongside Antonio Cassano in Italy’s final Euro 2012 qualifier against Northern Ireland.
With qualification already secured before this month’s last two games, boss Cesare Prandelli will experiment on Tuesday by handing the in-form Parma player a place in the XI.
Giovinco, who is Serie A’s top scorer so far this season with five goals, was tested alongside the Milan man in the Azzurri’s final Coverciano training session on Monday.
Giovinco won’t be the only change to the side that drew 1-1 with Serbia on Friday, as there are alterations in defence too.
Fiorentina’s Mattia Cassani and Palermo’s Federico Balzaretti should be brought into the side, with Giorgio Chiellini being moved back into the centre of the rearguard.
In midfield, Alberto Aquilani could begin behind the front two with Riccardo Montolivo coming in for Claudio Marchisio in a deeper midfield role.
Italy possible: Buffon; Cassani, Barzagli, Chiellini, Balzaretti; De Rossi, Pirlo, Montolivo; Aquilani, Cassano, Giovinco
http://football-italia.net/oct10q.html
