Azzurri Thread (94 Viewers)

[Gigiventus]

Yea, there are some spots for NL but its too convoluted to know at the moment. We have to win against Israel and win every game by as many goals as possible, that's the target.

This lineup worked perfectly for Estonia and it's right for Moldova too. I'm curious if Gattuso will keep against Israel or if he will think it's too attacking.

Kean-Retegui wamorking so well was the best thing about the lineup. Maybe a 4312 against norway.

 

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[Alen]

Do Italy have a pathway through their NL performance if they actually manage to fuck up and come third in the group? Lol

I think no. I don't know if I understand it well, but the group winners in NL have an advantage for the qualifiers, so teams like North Macedonia, Northern Ireland, Moldova and even San Marino are ahead of Italy in the pecking order.
It's top 2 or nothing for the Italians. If they lose to Israel on Monday, it's 99 percent game over. Good for them that the match will be played in Hungary, so Israel is losing home advantage.

 

[Bianconero_Aus]

I think no. I don't know if I understand it well, but the group winners in NL have an advantage for the qualifiers, so teams like North Macedonia, Northern Ireland, Moldova and even San Marino are ahead of Italy in the pecking order.
It's top 2 or nothing for the Italians. If they lose to Israel on Monday, it's 99 percent game over. Good for them that the match will be played in Hungary, so Israel is losing home advantage.

Just saw this post on X

https://x.com/fmeetsdata/status/1964233850764071102?s=46&t=3d4cEioiUii9AC3sdqFApQ

 

[Siamak]

Could have been 8-0 really. Complete one way traffic but bit slow to get going and all they could do was defend.

The lack of real quality up front is an obvious problem but it's never been easier to qualify for a WC so no excuses. The next game is obviously massive.

To be honest, I didn't expect this result, the Azzurri got the best result from this match because they need a goal average after losing to Norway. What I've always liked about Gattuso is his fighting spirit, which he has instilled in the team marvelously(based what I saw this match). Technically, given Gattuso's lack of experience, we still can't clearly comment on how much the team has improved, because Estonia is not a strong team and lower-ranked teams in Europe. Nevertheless, last night Italy played much better than they did under Spalletti.

 

[JuveJay]

To be honest, I didn't expect this result, the Azzurri got the best result from this match because they need a goal average after losing to Norway. What I've always liked about Gattuso is his fighting spirit, which he has instilled in the team marvelously(based what I saw this match). Technically, given Gattuso's lack of experience, we still can't clearly comment on how much the team has improved, because Estonia is not a strong team and lower-ranked teams in Europe. Nevertheless, last night Italy played much better than they did under Spalletti.

I don't think you necessarily need a great coach for a national team. It's a different thing than being a club coach. You need a guy that the players buy into mentally. Spalletti obviously wasn't the guy, he can't inspire anyone. Gattuso will probably fall short at some point tactically but he might turn out to be a decent choice if he can bring together a group of players.

Italy meed a guy who can raise the level of the players he has. The team isn't young but it's not super experienced either, most of the players are 25-28 kind of age. Other countries like France or England or Germany often have lots of very good players but choose a pretty average coach (for club level) and their job is different, it's more a task of controlling a group of egos and keeping players happy whilst making key decisions to go far. Italy's players need to go back to that 2012 humility and realise that yeah, they have a few top players, but mostly they need to work very hard to get where they need to be.

 

[Siamak]

I don't think you necessarily need a great coach for a national team. It's a different thing than being a club coach. You need a guy that the players buy into mentally. Spalletti obviously wasn't the guy, he can't inspire anyone. Gattuso will probably fall short at some point tactically but he might turn out to be a decent choice if he can bring together a group of players.

Italy meed a guy who can raise the level of the players he has. The team isn't young but it's not super experienced either, most of the players are 25-28 kind of age. Other countries like France or England or Germany often have lots of very good players but choose a pretty average coach (for club level) and their job is different, it's more a task of controlling a group of egos and keeping players happy whilst making key decisions to go far. Italy's players need to go back to that 2012 humility and realise that yeah, they have a few top players, but mostly they need to work very hard to get where they need to be.

FIGC took a huge risk by appointing Gattuso , I think there was no better option and they settled for an Italian option. But really, even a well-known coach wouldn't have done better with this generation of Italian players. Italy is literally dead to produce real talent.

 

[Alen]

Just saw this post on X

https://x.com/fmeetsdata/status/1964233850764071102?s=46&t=3d4cEioiUii9AC3sdqFApQ

1% chance is about right. There are more than one scenarios for Italy to make the knockouts via NL (each less likely than the other - for example... San Marino to finish top 2 in their group), but the most likely one is Northern Ireland, Sweden, Romania and Czech Republic to finish top 2 in their groups. Possible for some of them, but less likely for Northern Ireland.

Imo, Italy will have to play the knockouts. They won't win their group (Norway will). They'll finish 2nd, and that will mean two knockout matches en route to the WC. The first one will be a home match against one of North Macedonia (LOL), Northern Ireland, Moldova or San Marino, but the second one can be an away match against a trickier team (Sweden, Turkey, Hungary etc).

Btw, never in history has a WC winning team missed three consecutive tournaments. Italy has a chance to do that.

 

[JuveJay]

FIGC took a huge risk by appointing Gattuso , I think there was no better option and they settled for an Italian option. But really, even a well-known coach wouldn't have done better with this generation of Italian players. Italy is literally dead to produce real talent.

In attacking areas for sure, and depth of players. It's never been worse. Ironically, you might end up with overseas teams developing future Italy players, which started some years ago. Leoni, Coppola and Savona following on from Calafiori and Udogie.

They still have players good enough to qualify for a WC - Donnarumma, Bastoni, Calafiori, Cambiaso, Tonali, Barella are the core. There will be teams with worse players who make the WC, I'll guarantee it.

But Norway who are in their group have great attacking players, and that will probably be the difference.