Azzurri Thread (85 Viewers)

[Salvatore]

England will make the Quarters, possibly Semis. Hopefully those cunts don't go beyond that. As always, I am hoping and wishing for English and German capitulation. Italy suck, so I don't expect them to do much, but I'd love a France vs Belgium final.

Really?

There is no indication Hodgson is competent enough to take England further than the first half decent team they face.

 

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[Osman]

Alli will start, most likely Dier as well. Rooney in some playmaker role, either Wilshere or Milner as the other CM (maybe the latter when Alli starts, for balance).

Nice if he starts Alli, that kid is so good. Will he play CM? He is essentially an AM. Dier is class but assumed Milner or Henderson would start.

 

[Bianconero81]

Really?

There is no indication Hodgson is competent enough to take England further than the first half decent team they face.

I hope you are right. It's just that outside of Spain, France, and Germany (possibly Belgium), all the other teams look meh.

 

[s4tch]

alli's great, but i haven't seen rooney playing good for ages. will he really get an automatic starting place?

 

[JuveJay]

Nice if he starts Alli, that kid is so good. Will he play CM? He is essentially an AM. Dier is class but assumed Milner or Henderson would start.

I think you'll see Alli off the strikers, Rooney in a deeper role, and then Dier and someone else providing a bit of stability.

 

[zizinho]

Italy won't even get past the group stage

Thats impossible. 3 teams (most likely) qualify and they have Ireland

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Really?

There is no indication Hodgson is competent enough to take England further than the first half decent team they face.

Which is Italy/Portugal in QF most likely. They have an easy group and easy opponent in R.16

 

[lgorTudor]

I can't see Berardi

 

[Osman]

I think you'll see Alli off the strikers, Rooney in a deeper role, and then Dier and someone else providing a bit of stability.

Thats so odd, the part of playing Rooney so deep, wonder how much stability that team will have.

 

[Seven]

Thats so odd, the part of playing Rooney so deep, wonder how much stability that team will have.

What do you mean? Man Utd have been wildly successful employing this strategy.

 

[arc]

Will be lucky to even get one point from group stage

Motta #10

 

[il brutto]

i don't really follow England, who's gonna play CM? Henderson and Barkley? the players available are far from impressive.

Dier
Wilshere Rooney
Alli
Vardy Kane​

 

[Osman]

Sterling benched?

 

[pavelnel]

OMG! This is the most uninspiring Italy squad I've ever seen. Aside from Juve's defence the others are simply not good enough and this is almost the best that Italy can offer at the moment..I hope they will surprise me big time somehow but this is a distant possibility.

 

[Trequartista]

Only positives going forward are Insigne, El Shawarma and Bernardeschi.

However, Conte will bench them for the likes of Eder and Giaccherini.

 

[Ocelot]

A NT coach can do very very little when it comes to the development of players though.

 

[Völler]

A NT coach can do very very little when it comes to the development of players though.

 

[AOD4]

i dig sturaro's attitude, he can be useful on big occasions, but imho jorginho is twice the player. i'd include sturaro in the squad on the expense of $#@!ing immobile, but not instead of jorginho, who had a terrific season, unlike good old pals motta and de rossi.

To be fair , sturaro and jorginho wasn't really competing for a spot against each other. Jorginho was competing with De Rossi and Motta, and Sturaro was brought in for a difference characteristic in the midfield. Not for his passing abilities.
Conte wants a different option under different circumstances. He is there as a different option, if he suddenly needs to hold a lead or put in some steel in the middle he will bring in Stu.

And the comments that Italy is weak, it is still better than many other teams and should have no excuse to not qualify from the group at least.

 

[MikeM]

Conte's best chance is to go pure counter attack. The attackers can't do anything in possession. Whereas Insigne, El Sha, Florenzi, Zaza are much better on the counter.

The midfield is really light without Verratti and Marchisio.

Best bet is probably:

Buffon
Barzagli-Bonucci-Chiellini
De Sciglio-Candreva-De Rossi-Florenzi-Darmian
Insigne-El Shaarawy​

 

[DIECI]

can someone tell me why he didn't take Berardi?

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Conte's best chance is to go pure counter attack. The attackers can't do anything in possession. Whereas Insigne, El Sha, Florenzi, Zaza are much better on the counter.

The midfield is really light without Verratti and Marchisio.

Best bet is probably:

Buffon
Barzagli-Bonucci-Chiellini
De Sciglio-Candreva-De Rossi-Florenzi-Darmian
Insigne-El Shaarawy​

He will probably go with the lineup he did vs Scotland, Eder and Pelle up front. with Insigne on the bench.

 

[Osman]

Take out DE Sciglio and insert Florenzi right (or Candreva) and Parolo CM and it's more likely.

That attack won't happen, not sure they can function together but it would be interesting.