++ [ originally posted by Shadowfax ] ++
Time after time we see italian national sides that on paper are equal to or better than every other team, yet they fail to perform... Why?
I'll tell you... No Balls... Its as simple as that
All your managers are scared to use your strongpoints, they all want that 1-0 win
Time after time you show you have a great back line and probably the best attacking line in world football, but no one has the balls to use it
Jus look at trap... fvck me... The Eunach of all Eunachs
You wanna win the world cup?
again Ill tell you how... 2 words...
Serse Cosmi
Its a bit of a rant and prob doesnt make sense , but there you go!
Someone will have to tell me how to quote different bits from different messages because I still don't know how to do that
Anyway, I find you a bit harsh on Italy. For a team "without balls", I'd say it did quite alright by playing 5 WC and 2 Euro finals, winning 3 and 1 respectively, with two of those finals reached in the last decade. If I stand correct, only France has a better recent record than us in Europe, and nations like Spain or England go further than us in major tournaments only once every twenty years or so.
And despite what Denco says, I believe it also takes some courage to face 11 dutchmen in an all-orange Rotterdam Kuip in a Euro semi and with one man expelled after 30 minutes.
True, the Italian Federation often picks coaches that can be labelled "defensive" in principle. But the most recent experience with an "offensive" coach was a mixed blessing : Sacchi's Italy hardly played Total Football, and had it not been for the Divine Ponytail in 94 we would have packed our luggage after the game with Nigeria already. On the other hand, Enzo Bearzot, who was an alleged heir of Valcareggi's catenaccio, brought us the Cup home in a tournament that saw us beat the favourites Brazil 3-2, Argentina 2-1 and West Germany 3-1 in the final, after some fine attacking displays. And that same Bearzot's Italy was already considered by many pundits as the most entertaining team of WC 78
I have always maintained that a coach's share in a team's success amounts to 10 % at best. To me, it's the players who are on the pitch that make the difference. This is all the more true with the national team : Trap sees his players only 5 or 6 times a year and for not more than 2 or 3 days, not a long period enough for him to instill his "defensive spirit" into them in my opinion (it's funny to call defensive a man that used to play Boniek, Platini and Rossi all together) His main role is to create a good tactical balance on the pitch and make sure that the team's cohesion is strong in the crucial moments of a tournament : Trap can do that fairly well I believe. Is he a eunuch though? Perhaps, but he must be a very special sort of eunuch since no trainer in the world has won as much as he has at club level..
In my opinion, what people label "cowardice" or "defensive spirit" is in reality lucidity and vision. If all it took to be successful was put ten men in front of the goallie and wait for a counter attack, then why don't other teams also play like that? And don't tell me it's because they care about spectacle : no professional team on this earth will put entertainment before victory. Everybody wants to win and is ready to pay a very high price for it.
As for Cosmi sitting on the squadra bench, I am afraid it is highly unlikely. I like Cosmi, I really do, but he looks like the new Mazzone to me, i.e. a colourful character who specialized in rescuing small teams from relegation but who never really made it with a big team, let alone the National Team. As I've said in another thread, I would personally fancy Mancini, as I think his young age would mark a change with his relatively old predecessors Trap, Zoff and C. Maldini. But rumour has it he's heading for Inter now, so God knows who will replace Trap (btw I don't think it was a wise decision on his behalf to announce that he'll quit after Euro 2000 so much time in advance).
Anyway, since the original topic of this thread deals with the players that should go to Portugal, here's my own list of 23
Goallies : Buffon, Toldo, Pelizzoli
Defenders : Oddo, Nesta, Cannavaro, Zambrotta, Birindelli, Ferrari, Legrottaglie, Coco
Defensive mids : Gattuso, Pirlo, Perrotta, C. Zanetti
Offensive mids : Camoranesi, Totti, Del Piero, Marchionni, Cassano, Di Vaio
Strikers : Vieri, Inzaghi
The formation would be 4-2-3-1. I picked Di Vaio over Miccoli because he can both replace DP on the left and play as a striker if needed.