Due to lack of material in certain places and the excess in other, i think the 3-5-2 would suit better:
Barza - Bonucci - Chiellini
Candreva - - De Rossi - Pirlo - Thiago Motta - - Insigne
El Shaarawy - Balotelli
The defense, apart for our three guy generally is kak, the worst defensive raw material the Azzurri have seen in the past three decades...
Apart from the fact that those three are the best material, a three man defense would avoid using player slots for kak players and take an optimal use of our trio, as they have been working together for years in a three man defense, know how to work together and cover each other. For the defense this is the most crucial factor.
The midfield have always provided the most options, mediocre players like Mantolino, Diamandi, should be avoided if possible.
The wings have been suffering from options for quite a long now, so i opted for two fresh players that are on form and can be a constant offensive threat from the flanks, troubling the opposition if not anything else.
And the midfield of those three experienced top material player can boss most of the opposition midfields out there, all three of them can cover, pass and create at a decent grade.
They can form a first line of defense and the basic axis of the formation.
The attack has two players that can both create and execute, the most danzerous player we can pit, even if they are isolated, they can both pose individual threats to any defense, if they gell, then we would have chances for great things!