++ [ originally posted by denco ] ++
I guess this debate will never die, its a pity that Baggio does not officially retire from the Nt so that this can be put to bed.
I am just curious about the ppl who want him back in the Nt, will you also want him to be in Juve's first team as well, if the answer is yes then fine, if its no then its sheer hypocrisy , as you feel he is not good enuff for ur club but he is good enuff for the Nt
He was voted footballer of the year 10 YEARS ago and George Weah who was voted afterwards has retired so has Stoichkov
Why dont you urge Trap to recall Zola and Signori as well as they are having good seasons as well
Its not as if Italy's prob;lem is in attack, its in the midfield and if Baggio could play well there, then I will be all for him being recalled and I totally blame the media for not having a go at Trap with his choice of mfders instead of going on about the unnecessary
Actually Trap is doing Baggio a favour as I would not want him to end up like Mattheus who became an embarassment in the end anwith fans with thier short memories, theyll probably not remeber his heroics in 94
Anyways I have seen Baggio many times this season and I am totally convinced he cannot cope with International football and besides he does not need it at all
Can u actually see Baggio playing with the likes of Tomassi, Di Biagio, Gatusso etc in midfield
About baggio- i dont think he deserves a spot on the NT. I think he just needs to be called up ONCE, hoping to lay his ghost to permanently.
He needs to be given a chance to prove himself. A just proposal and one that will appease the fans hopefully. Im not a die-hard fan one way or the other. I just want to see this issue laid to rest and not brought up again.
IMHO Italys problem is in the mentality in general. I honestly love defensive football and all that but we are not flexible and adaptive.
We need a certain degree of adaptability to do big where it matters most. Not only do u see this is the NT's play u also see it in the type of young players that make it big and the skillset they have.
Its their position, talent and style of play that reveals the way in which they have been trained. Its evidence of the kind of thinking that has pervaded the whole of italian football in general.
Even in the clubs, the only club whos tactics i can admire as being original are chievo and we've seen the results of their style of play havent we?
Compare the tactics used in the Eredivisie and Serie A. Then compare the type of players being raised thru the ranks.
You just gotta see a correlation in these factors.
At the moment if u take a look at the Dutch you will see that they can start a play from any friggin area of the pitch they damn well choose- the wings, defensive midfield, central mid, the middle of defence- hell the keeper could start an attack!(Yeah u may ask me why the Dutch are playing so poorly but the problem there lies not in the talent)
Why?
Because they have the available talent, reason being their players are trained with a mentality like that. Is it any wonder you see them out-classing in nearly every major league in the europe at a point in time?
its pretty evident that the mentality is what shapes the football. Its evident in both cases presented here.