Italy playd a fantastic tournament untill today, i think it went wrong for a few reasons
4-4-2 and 3-5-2 are very good as two standard formations
3-5-2 is good against for example spain, you take away their space on the midfield, and keep the playfield wide when i possession. i personally think they did awesome in the groupgame, and spain had absolutely no idea how to get past it. having one of the 3 defenders with excellent passing is also a big plus
4-4-2 is good against any formation that uses forwards, and doesnt play excellent on a to small space, basically any team that isnt spain. especially germany's 4-2-3-1 was excellently disposed off, as the backs track the wide attacking midfielders and the centrebacks mark the striker, keeping a diamond to mess up the opponents passing routes. such excellent game
however, against spain, there isnt a striker, so with a 4-4-2 they just pass the ball all the way towards your 16meter zone because you are completely outnumbered, and since they dont really use a wide formation, the fullbacks are not used that often. furthermore when playing a regista, he is locked bewteen 6 midfielders, so hard to reach.
Italy should have used the 3-5-2 again
buffon in goal
bonucci barzagli and de rossi in defence. de rossi might seem a bad choise, but pirlo is getting marked in 6 players, so he can build up from the back
pepe, nocerino,pirlo,marchisio and balzaretti in the midfield. nocerino and marchisio would protect pirlo and kill the spanish passing game, whilst balzaretti and pepe are the best remaining defensive wingers, who could lock up silva and iniesta in defence, and crush forward in possession
balotelli and cassano in the attack. they are the best two we got, and with all dat workrate in the midfield, and the wide play they'd getting a lot of space. they had bad games in the 4-4-2 in the final because they werent supported, and how does one reach them by air when u got excellent spanish centrebacks in the air and positionning ?
sorry prandelli, but you should have sticked back 3-5-2