Azzurri Thread (84 Viewers)

[JCK]

This thread has been too salty lately.

 

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[Badass J Elkann]

Putting insigne in midfield... what a clueless idiot

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It's not Ventura's fault. He's soing exactly as is expected from a village Serie B/C level manager. The idiots who appointed him should be shot on the spot.

It is Ventura fault for not understanding the strengths of his players at his disposal

 

[MrMonkey]

It makes me sick to imagine a world cup without Italy

Me too!

Maybe a different coach gets more out of this squad but present Italy as a whole lacks the athletic players that the top countries in the world possess. Belotti and Ciro can score but don't scare anyone like other countries' strikers. A defense of 3 with a combined age of 99 ain't cutting it.

Verratti created nothing tonight and honestly thought De Rossi's time playing for Italy should have ended after Euro 2016. Parolo and Candreva are 30+ too. i guess these oldies but goodies are the best Italy has at the moment and if so than don't see Italy being a contender in Euro or WC play getting better any time soon. Out with the old and in with youth. This all being said still will be cheering them on to get to Russia even if little to no chance of winning it.

 

[Boksic]

Managers make International football a lot more difficult than it should be. Pick the guys who are on form, Insigne and Jorginho should be starting especially given the alternatives. He should be going with a front of Insigne - Immobile - El Shaarawy.

 

[DAiDEViL]

Nobody can defend Ventura now
Following the defeat in Sweden with an inexplicable team selection, Giampiero Ventura has no more Italy advocates, writes Susy Campanale.

Is there anyone left willing to defend Giampiero Ventura? We tried, we really did, but his decisions both before and during the defeat to Sweden just proved he has reached the end of the road and his advocates the end of their tethers.

You can complain that Italy no longer have the quality in the squad they once did, that Andrea Belotti and Ciro Immobile were not fully fit on the night, that the BBC defence is ageing and Gigi Buffon was unlucky to see the goal deflected in off Daniele De Rossi. All that doesn’t explain the idiotic choices and infuriating post-match comments from the Coach.

Ventura finally shelved his controversial 4-2-4 formation and embraced the old guard – literally, as seven of the starting XI were over the age of 30. It was the same 3-5-2 that Antonio Conte had used to good effect at Euro 2016, but with none of the players remotely suited to it.

It was a bad sign when Stephan El Shaarawy was cut from the 23-man squad, sent to the stands when he was one of the form players in Serie A and fresh from a Champions League demolition of Chelsea in the Roma jersey. Even worse when Lorenzo Insigne was left on the bench to rot with his Napoli teammate Jorginho.

This group of players is so perfectly-suited to the 4-3-3 system, it feels like some cruel joke that Ventura is using every other approach in the book first. Napoli and Roma both use it, and they are playing the best football in Italy right now, with some of the most impressive results too.

It felt for all the world as if Ventura was trying to give the critics what they wanted, but in a purposefully wrong-headed way, to shut them up in future. They pined for the Conte era? Here was a 3-5-2 system. They wanted Insigne to play? Here he was, flung on for the final 15 minutes as a central midfielder. It’s the equivalent of when a teenager doesn’t want to do the chores, so conspires to do them so badly out of sheer spite that in the end the parent won’t ask again.

I can think of no other possible reason for Insigne to be introduced as a central midfielder, especially with Jorginho sitting on the bench. The Napoli winger’s shrug of incredulity and resignation to his teammates when explaining his new position said it all.

It might now be a blessing in disguise that Verratti is suspended for the second leg. The Paris Saint-Germain midfielder has talent, but at the age of 25 hasn’t fixed any of the massive flaws he’s carried around since the start of his career. When he was one booking away from suspension for the second leg, it was utterly inevitable he would lunge into a stupid tackle and receive a yellow card. In fact, that’s what you can expect from him in almost every match. It’s the Verratti guarantee.

Of course, Ventura won’t choose Jorginho in his place, because that would make too much sense. He won’t move to 4-3-3, he won’t use Insigne in his proper role, he won’t bow to popular opinion. His comments in Solna were all about bad luck, the lenient referee and a good overall performance. His refusal or downright inability to see the glaring issues facing the Azzurri make his position untenable.

This is why, even if Italy do somehow scrape into the World Cup in 2018, Ventura has got to go.

Savage

 

[Juliano13]

Honestly would he be good enough to coach Lokomotiv Plovdiv?

That's about his level, but their current manager is probably better.

 

[Badass J Elkann]

I can't think of a more retarded manager than ventura, even roy hodgson and every other shitty manager i can think of is better

 

[Hust]

I can't think of a more retarded manager than ventura, even roy hodgson and every other shitty manager i can think of is better

https://www.football-italia.net/112648/insigne-midfield-confused-italy

 

[Badass J Elkann]

https://www.football-italia.net/112648/insigne-midfield-confused-italy

admittedly when insigne came on i too thought they were reverting back to a 4-2-4, but the fact they didnt and actually swapped verratti for insigne like for like just screams incompetence! worse more jorginho was left on the bench and his introduction would have made far more sense, this has to be way more criminal than the time de ceglie came on for Del Piero when we were still chasing the match

 

[Salvo]

Jesus Christ, how does one make such stupid decisions?

 

[Ocelot]

He's just taking the piss now

 

[Gep]

Azzurri

And there was me getting completely gatted in a bar in London without a care in the world for this game. Only to overhear a conversation on the underground with two fellas that Italy had just lost 1-0. You gotta laugh.

 

[IliveForJuve]

As disgusting as it’ll be if he misses out, at least he has a WC win to his name. The CL though...

Lol, why do you care about the players' feelings? Fag.

#doublestandards

 

[X Æ A-12]

Yea are you calling Buffon a snowflake for caring about missing out on his last world cup? @Hustini

 

[lgorTudor]

Lol, why do you care about the players' feelings? Fag.

#doublestandards

We care about true Juventus legends, unlike Pirlo or Zidane

 

[Hust]

Yea are you calling Buffon a snowflake for caring about missing out on his last world cup? @Hustini

Benched players hurt feelings are the issue at hand.

Poor guys

 

[juve123]

With retirement of Buffon barzagli and other players Italian national team future does not look too good

 

[X Æ A-12]

Benched players hurt feelings are the issue at hand.

Poor guys

You don't care about Buffon's feelings? He is a juve legend ffs

 

[JuveJay]

Thelin doesn't just play in Belgium. He plays for a shit Belgian team.

Looking at the players of the two teams, there can be no excuses for Italy.

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Well yeah I should have expanded because the top couple of Belgian teams are not bad.

 

[Fr3sh]

It makes me sick to imagine a world cup without Italy

Italy and England's early exit in the last WC made me jizz my pants. Italy not making it would give me a full body orgasm.
On the bright side no humiliation for Gigi.