I disagree. Maggio was far more intelligent and Italy caused more trouble. Instead of mindless running at Cole and never having a hope of winning, he cut inside with the ball. Italy had 2/3 amaing chances in ET to win it. Very few really great created chances in the first 90.

http://youtu.be/HHI1wltPFjk

Ciro Immobile is still eligible to play for the U21s? For some reason I thought he was in his mid-20s now.

He's 22 now but you gotta be at least 21 the the beginning of the qualifyers to take part in the championship. Italy can even use Balotelli if they want.

Thanks for this.

^ No real DM in there.

Nope, bit odd.

Is Parker injured? I've quite warmed to him the past year or so.

Italy Lineup(3-5-2): Buffon; Barzagli, Bonucci, Ogbonna; Maggio, Marchisio, Pirlo, De Rossi, Giaccherini; Giovinco, Osvaldo.

7 Juve players

Penalty England. Clear handball, but booking is harsh.

Lampard, 1-0.

Nice cross Glenn Johnson, nice headed finish Lampard, 2-0.

3-0 Defoe, poor goalkeeping.

I'll never understand Prandelli's fetish for Giaccherini. The guy is a bench-warmer at Juve for f@ck's sake! And then this ugly 3-5-2, a clear sign of defensive football.

Some coaches seem to have their favourites, doesn't make sense really. At leats they're winning.

Was just about to come and post about this.

Giaccherini is a mediocre player at best, at least with Pepe, even if he's a bad footballer the effort he put in overshadows that slight fact.

Also, how Guys like Bonucci and Barzagli are the starting CBs for Italy I'll never understand. From the days of Nesta Canna, Paolo just a few years ago to these 2 boneheads...

Ogbanna at leas shows promise of becoming a really great player imo, should have gone for him this summer when he wouldn't have cost us an arm and a leg.

4-0, Milner. That took the piss a bit.

2-2

5. Baines deflected FK.

Albania 3-1 Cyprus

Heh, off to a good start.

Yeah, don't know why he's sticking to some of the guys.


Who would you pick instead?

Ranocchia, for sure.

To me it makes perfect sense to go with Barzagli, Bonucci and Chiellini. They're used to play in that system, they're used to playing with each other and given their performances over the last year it's hard to say they're bad players.

Italy shouldn't be playing with this system to begin with.

Ranocchia/Barzagli and Chiellini in a flat 4 formation. There are good FB options that Prandelli can choose, why he would play Bonucci and Barzagli together in a back 3 I'll never know.

I'm not sayng Barzagli is that bad, but you simply cannot play him in a 3 man defence when Bonucci is the other guy involved and there isn't even Chiellini to cover for them


No it really doesn't make that much sense because doing good against mid-table Serie A teams is different from going out at international level and doing the same thing. The only really great player in that bunch is Chiellini, the other 2 are very limited players, only Barzagli had a really great season at Juve btw, Bonucci is a completely different story.

Also you have to look at the system as a whole, just because Juve play with a back 3 does not mean that it's the same system.


Agreed

Sorry han, that's very silly.

Juve had the best defense in Serie A last season and certainly the best Italian defenders. If they don't count because they only do it against Serie A teams, then surely that rules out every Serie A based defender.

I actually really like the 3-5-2 personally, especially the way Juve played it against Udinese with Giovinco slightly off the front, basically gives you 4 players in the middle to control play better.

It doesn't rule Serie A defenders out, but it's a completely different environment, and just because it works well in Juve's system does not mean that it will work well for the NT.

Bonucci imo is a terrible player, there are better options than him, even the Juve fans don't particularly like him. Barzagli had a great season but other than that he's not a particularly skilled defender in any sense of the word. I think playing next to someone like Chiellini benefits him a lot, which is why going out the way they did last night without someone like Chiellini to cover them was a mistake.

It's the same thing as what happened in the Euros against Spain in the summer. They face good opposition who are smart and can pass it around them and they get tied in knots. Give me one team in Serie A who can do that. The league is a different beast, 95% of the teams are inferior and Juve will have the ball possession advantage, thus less pressure on the defence, it's different when you don't have the ball and you're constantly under pressure, which was what happened last night in the second half. Bulgaria could have seriously made it emberassing for the Azzurri.

The same can be said for us for example.

You really think Juve's defenders could have put in the performance Nesta and Thiago did for us last season in all our encounters with Barca? Not a chance

Nests and Silva aren't available for the Italian NT, that was my point.

True, that and it seems that 'historically' Juventus has contributed a lot to the NT. If we set aside the local rivalry between our Milan and Juventus, you would find that Juventus have contributed a lot to the NT success, even when they were demoted.

As for the three-man defense, Prandelli is brave to take on that concept scratching the Italian back four. Reaching the final in his girst tournament, I personally believe that should leave minimal room for criticism.

Ahh, it's futile.

I think sometimes the quality of individuals is not important. Han may not rate Bonucci, but Gigi/Bonucci/Barzagli/Chiellini know each others game well and play in a back 3. Ranocchia and others may struggle (Ranoc did in Gasps short time at Inter) do if Prandelli wants to play with a back 3 it makes sense to use Juve players who're used to each other and the system.

Whether they Should be playing this way is debatable, but as R7 says above, Italy were a disaster in 2010 yet Prandelli lead them to the Euro Fonal and deserves a bit of time.

I wasn't talking about them in the context of being in the NT but of how really great defenders handle teams who play such a smart passing game. Juv's player have never encountered that aside from against Spain, where they failed

I call it like I see it, and there is no way you can convince me that Bonucci starting is the best option for Italy, even if he does play regularly with the others at Juve, that does not automatically make him good enough for the NT.


I really don't consider this a Milan vs Juve thing. Milan has contributed some of the best players in the history of the Azzurri as well so it really has nothing to do with that. I'm talking about picking someone only because he might have a good rapport with the other defenders instead of someone who is on the most basic technical level a better player and overall better defender.

As for the 3 man defense, Prandelli scrapped that within the first 2 games, and Italy put in their best performances with a back 4 consisting of Abate, Barzagli, Chiellini and Balzaretti against England and Germany.

I think it's ridiculous that he would use that system simply because Juve use it and it works for them. And don't even get me started on him using Giaccherini as a left wingback...

I agree with that

But you make it sound like Prandelli is avoiding Maldini. In fact, the only possible alternative is a former Serie B defender and Ranocchia. I don't think worlds separate those two. And if Prandelli has more faith in Bonucci, so be it.

None of the mentioned names really make a good defender. It's a shame Italy is reduced to such a poor selection. I don't have to remind you that the selection of players cut for the tournaments in 2000 or 1994 would have topped the present first team selection. Barzagli alone isn't that good, but the pairing with Bonucci makes both more comfortable and confident. Sure, if you had a great defender like Nesta put aside because of their good rapport - it would be insane. But Prandelli has limited options and he picks the one that wins - in Serie A.

You tell me that B-B are a good tandem against mid-table teams in Serie A? Well, they were good against Milan as well. I dislike them, I never will call them great or historical like some do, but they weren't exactly bad either. And really, Italy won't face many classy teams in the qualifications, most of the teams they'll be up with are just "mid-table Serie A" class teams.

The problem is that you're thinking of them as a duo, when imo, Chiellini, who is Italy's strongest CB by a country-mile, should be partnering the second best options. IDEALLY in a back 4 system which works a hell of a lot better than the disjointed 3-5-2...

And the options, realistically speaking are (starting from the best) Chiellini, Barzagli, Ranocchia, Bonucci, Ogbonna

Guys, you're forgetting Acerbi...

Ahh, yes the Diesel

Italy - Malta in less then an hour. Let's see how many the Azzurri can put past my fellow headless chicken countrymen

Good luck

I'm sort of ashamed to say this, but I'm still behind the Azzurri against my own Country

Our NT can barely even qualify as a professional team. I'm really not that into anything that has to do with Maltese football.

Belgium-Croatia should be a good watch.

I really don't get the inclusion of Diamanti, Peluso or Cassani. They're all so average and not worthy of the NT shirts.

Epic fail. Cleverly could have scored a hat-trick in the first half. But Ukraine are leading after a great strike by Konoplyanka.

What a laughably one-sided referee we had today. The Ukraine players didn't put as much effort for the yellow shirts as he did.

Oh well, Behind with 5 minutes to go and finishing with 10 men, I'll take a point.

It was a good game, both teams had multiple chances to score and the draw is a fair result.

Konoplyanka is a very nice player, can be world class in a few years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MGebXOcTh4

I agree a draw was fair. We didn't deserve to win after some of those misses, they were criminal.

That was an amazing goal from him, went in with such ease too.

‘I Feel Completely Albanian’ – Switzerland’s Granit Xhaka Admits To Intentionally Botching Goal-Scoring Chance Against Albania

If you feel completely Albanian, then why did you choose to play for Switzerland? Same for Shaqiri, Behrami, Dzemaili and Mehemdi. How sad...

Surely admitting you missed on purpose is essentially a form of matxh fixing? Intentionally changing the outcome of a game isn't legal, that's no different to a goalie letting in a shot on purpose.

Surely his International career is over now? Why would they pick him again?

Because he's invaluable. But I agree, he scored a career own-goal.

Didn't Swiss win?

So what? It's still immensely unprofessional. The trust is gone.

I don't think it matters. I believe one of the games Bruce Grobbelaar was in trouble for match fixing for was a game in which he didn't conceed. He tried to without making it look obvious but kept pulling off great saves. The point of sports is to try, intentionally avoiding to do the goal of a sport is not right, he should get a ban in my opinion.

Unprofessional, agreed

Trust gone, over-stretched

Changing outcome of match, not really