ITALY thread

Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Il sogno è appena cominciato"

dplane said:
And Gerd, i respect you but it does bother me you often put yourself on that moral high ground lo zio is talking about
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actually when i said that, i wasn't thinking about Gerd's post (reading my post again, i realise i wasn't much clear indeed :P ).
when i mentioned that "holier than thou" approach, i meant i don't like when people deny the result by taking into account other factors... like "we didn't deserve to lose coz we had more possession"... or "we deserved to win because, despite not scoring, we had more chances".... or "they didn't deserve to win coz they didn't play fair".. and so on.

beachryan said:
Yeah, there is a lot of cultural bias on my part. I'm from North America - where 'cheating' in any form is viewed as about the worst thing you can do in sports.
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true dat. the other day they were showing in tv this episode.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlLfkUh23ic
now look at the contact. nesta barely touched the guy, so it should be normal to see the other guy just"backing off".... and yet i was flabbergasted... the average european or southamerican player would have collapsed unconscious on the floor as if he was being knocked out by mike tyson. and i realise i got so accustomed to this sort of ridiculous reactions, that i was schocked at the reaction of this american guy. unbelievable.

anyway, what are your feelings about yesterday's game guys?
i didn't like it one bit. i don't like this formation... and most of all i don't like some of the interpreters. u don't wanna line up 2 strikers? i don't like it but fine. u wanna go for the xmas three formation? i like it even less, but okay.... but what the hell, why would u go for that formation and line up giaccherini and marchisio as inside forwards. we're one of the squads with most inside forwards and winger in the world (candreva, diamanti, cerci, el sharawi)... so why lining up a central midfielder like marchisio in that spot?
and as for giaccherini, i can only imagine he's banging prandelli's daughter, coz honestly there's no logic explanation for his call up, nevermind the fact he's a starter. 2 years ago prandelli preferred him to balzaretti as a left back (!!!:CONFUSE:) and now he's being picked ahead of el sharawi? seriously WHAT. THE. FU**K!!!!

the general idea is u put too much weight forward, u're gonna get exposed at the back... u cover yourself up too much, then u're not gonna be dangerous upfront. yesterday we managed the impossible. we were fragile at the back and almost harmless upfront.
mexico's defense was just beyond ridiculous and yet we couldn't take advantage of their blunders.

i really hope we won't see this italy again. now a few individual obeservations:
de sciglio - the kid is really coming along. such personality and composure.... good thing he's on the rise, coz ever since balzaretti moved to roma, he litterally disappeared.

abate - i was mad at him for the entire first half, coz he would never venture forward and give us an outlet on the left.... then the commentator on tv said it was prandelli who was telling him to stay put..... weird. however i guess it wasn't his fault.

Montolivo - do u remember what player montolivo was till 1 year ago (right before the european cup)? i had lost all hope in him.... the technique and vision of modric and the personality of a jellyfish.... look at him now. i remember stefano used to say "perhaps joining milan will finally help him grow a backbone". boy was he right!

balotelli - another player who made a complete and sudden turnaround. ever since he left manchester he's been absolutely unreal. it's as if he finally thought "ok enough messing around, let's start playing some football for real now". i'm very happy to see he's finally becoming the player he was supposed to be :))
yesterday he had to deal with double coverage for the entire game (another reason why this formation is stupid) and yet it was like it didn't make any difference whatsoever :))

barzagli - :SHOCK: 2 major blunders in 1 game! that's pretty much as many mistakes he did this entire season with juve. i can't even remember the last time i've seen him so confused on the pitch. oh well, at least now we know he's human :P
 
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Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Il sogno è appena cominciato"

lo zio said:
sad to hear this. i haven't watched the game, so i can't very well comment on this, but of all the theatrics displayed by football players, those time-wasting acts (when the final whistle is near and your team is winning) are among those which annoy me the most.
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The thing is you know when the players get these pretend injuries, most of the time the ref simply isnt going to add on enough time at the end of the 90mins to compensate for it. I think FIFA/UEFA could cut out a lot of it by forcing the injured player to go off the pitch and stay off for 2-3 mins whilst the game continued. If the players arent seriously injured they can get up and the game can continue instantly but if they are genuinely injured it's better for them to go off the pitch and have proper medical treatment from the sidelines. Obviously you couldnt do this with goalkeepers (like in the U21 match) but I cant see why it couldnt be done with outfield players. Would Sergio Buscuits constantly fall over for Barca and Spain if he knew each time he went down and delayed the game he'd be stuck on the side-lines with his team down a man for 2 mins, instead of the usual 10-20 seconds? Probably not.
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Il sogno è appena cominciato"

lo zio said:
i really hope we won't see this italy again. now a few individual obeservations:
de sciglio - the kid is really coming along. such personality and composure.... good thing he's on the rise, coz ever since balzaretti moved to roma, he litterally disappeared.

abate - i was mad at him for the entire first half, coz he would never venture forward and give us an outlet on the left.... then the commentator on tv said it was prandelli who was telling him to stay put..... weird. however i guess it wasn't his fault.

Montolivo - do u remember what player montolivo was till 1 year ago (right before the european cup)? i had lost all hope in him.... the technique and vision of modric and the personality of a jellyfish.... look at him now. i remember stefano used to say "perhaps joining milan will finally help him grow a backbone". boy was he right!

balotelli - another player who made a complete and sudden turnaround. ever since he left manchester he's been absolutely unreal. it's as if he finally thought "ok enough messing around, let's start playing some football for real now". i'm very happy to see he's finally becoming the player he was supposed to be :))
yesterday he had to deal with double coverage for the entire game (another reason why this formation is stupid) and yet it was like it didn't make any difference whatsoever :))
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4 Milan players, 4 decent performances :P

Balotelli has the highest goal ratio in Serie A right this past season. A goal every 98 minutes.

De Sciglio is so calm, it's unreal. I hope he doesn't do a Santon (though I think that's mainly Inter's fault).
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Il sogno è appena cominciato"

Or just use a stopwatch timing system like most other sports. You can stay down injured as long as you want, it doesn't affect the length of the game.

Although, it still disrupts play, so I do kind of like the idea of forcing players off for a while. I think that's what FIFA were trying to do when they introduced the rule that if you had medical attention you had to leave the pitch, but then they neutered it by allowing refs to wave them back on immediately.
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Il sogno è appena cominciato"

cfdh_edmundo said:
The thing is you know when the players get these pretend injuries, most of the time the ref simply isnt going to add on enough time at the end of the 90mins to compensate for it. I think FIFA/UEFA could cut out a lot of it by forcing the injured player to go off the pitch and stay off for 2-3 mins whilst the game continued. If the players arent seriously injured they can get up and the game can continue instantly but if they are genuinely injured it's better for them to go off the pitch and have proper medical treatment from the sidelines. Obviously you couldnt do this with goalkeepers (like in the U21 match) but I cant see why it couldnt be done with outfield players. Would Sergio Buscuits constantly fall over for Barca and Spain if he knew each time he went down and delayed the game he'd be stuck on the side-lines with his team down a man for 2 mins, instead of the usual 10-20 seconds? Probably not.
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yep, i remember u pitched that idea a few months ago.... and as i already told u, i think it's a brilliant idea. ;)
Milanista said:
De Sciglio is so calm, it's unreal. I hope he doesn't do a Santon (though I think that's mainly Inter's fault).
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amen to that! :))
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Il sogno è appena cominciato"

lo zio said:
true dat. the other day they were showing in tv this episode.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlLfkUh23ic
now look at the contact. nesta barely touched the guy, so it should be normal to see the other guy just"backing off".... and yet i was flabbergasted... the average european or southamerican player would have collapsed unconscious on the floor as if he was being knocked out by mike tyson. and i realise i got so accustomed to this sort of ridiculous reactions, that i was schocked at the reaction of this american guy. unbelievable.
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LOL zio, that american guy is Claudio Bieler, he is Argentine so your sentence about european and southamerican players is still valid :P
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Il sogno è appena cominciato"

Baxter said:
LOL zio, that american guy is Claudio Bieler, he is Argentine so your sentence about european and southamerican players is still valid :P
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LOL! :DD
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Il sogno è appena cominciato"

Verratti was really good against Ireland yesterday, his only issue is that he keeps the ball a lot even with defenders surrounding him. Too bad Montolivo got injured, since Verratti is probaby going to be Pirlo's sub who will replace Monto you reckon?
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Il sogno è appena cominciato"

Interista said:
Verratti was really good against Ireland yesterday, his only issue is that he keeps the ball a lot even with defenders surrounding him. Too bad Montolivo got injured, since Verratti is probaby going to be Pirlo's sub who will replace Monto you reckon?
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Although I've never really rated Montolivo, I feel very sorry for him. At this age, it might even be his last shot at the WC.

Apparently Parolo had a very strong performance, so perhaps he's the one that'll get Montolivo's spot.
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Il sogno è appena cominciato"

Interista said:
Too bad Montolivo got injured, since Verratti is probaby going to be Pirlo's sub who will replace Monto you reckon?
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i wouldn't be surprised to see verratti and pirlo playing together in the same midfield, but until we'll know what formation we'll play, there's no way to tell.
Interista said:
Verratti was really good against Ireland yesterday, his only issue is that he keeps the ball a lot even with defenders surrounding him.
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yeah, i noticed it too. pirlo does it all the time, but when pirlo does it, u don't even sweat it, because u know that one second before the tackle, he'll dance around the defender's feet.
with verratti instead, u slide to the edge of couch and start screaming "what the hell are u doing kid!, get rid of that ball!!" :DD

however we gotta give credit where it's due. verratti doesn't play on the same calm, controlled rhythm of pirlo and he doesn't have that same unnatural tranquillity and that absolute indifference to pressing pirlo shows.... but still, it's damn hard to take the ball away from that kid, or to force him to commit a mistake under pressure.
still, i'd feel much happier if he'd be more aware of upcoming pressing. the only guys who can pull that crazy shit are pirlo, platini and zidane.... and verratti still has a looong way to reach those 3.

yesterday's game was a borefest. honestly i don't even know why we play theese friendlies a few weeks before the big events. everybody knows italy doesn't show up until the games really matter. i'm very sorry for montolivo. such a bad way to miss the world cup.
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Il sogno è appena cominciato"

Portieri: Buffon (Juventus), Perin (Genoa), Sirigu (Paris St. Germain);

Difensori: Abate (Milan), Barzagli (Juventus), Bonucci (Juventus), Chiellini (Juventus), Darmian (Torino), De Sciglio (Milan), Paletta (Parma);
Centrocampisti: Aquilani (Fiorentina), Candreva (Lazio), De Rossi (Roma), Marchisio (Juventus), Thiago Motta (Paris St. Germain), Parolo (Parma), Pirlo (Juventus), Verratti (Paris St. Germain);

Attaccanti: Balotelli (Milan), Cassano (Parma), Cerci (Torino), Immobile (Torino), Insigne (Napoli).

It seems like we have quite a wide range of player types, which could come in handy when breaking down different types of opposition.
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Il sogno è appena cominciato"

I'm most surprised with aquilani. did he really do that well this season to earn the place?
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Il sogno è appena cominciato"

I think Aquilani had a solid season, as Fiorentina had an excellent season. I think he's there also because Montolivo got injured on Friday.
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Il sogno è appena cominciato"

yeah, aquilani had a great season. him and borja valero basically carried fiorentina on their shoulders when rossi got injured.
aquilani's skill were never really questioned. talent-wise, he has nothing to envy to the likes of montolivo and verratti. his problem has always been his inconsistancy. he simply can't play more than 3 games in a row without having a major injury. so, since this has been his first real injury-free season, it's only normal he took montolivo's spot.
Milanista said:
It seems like we have quite a wide range of player types, which could come in handy when breaking down different types of opposition.
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yeah, i like this squad. but i'm very disappointed destro didn't make the cut. i would have picked him over balotelli in a heartbeat. i would have loved to see a destro-immobile offensive lineup.
 
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Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Il sogno è appena cominciato"

About Destro and Balo, in theory, I agree with you, but I think Balo has something about him that puts him ahead of all the other strikers. e.g. Balotelli who scored 2 goals against Germany in 2012 required a player of a different calibre and different state of mind. Prandelli can tame Mario and that makes him a huge figure in the attack.
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Il sogno è appena cominciato"

thanks for the opinions on aquilani guys. as zio said, I always doubted his injury issues but never the talent. I just checked his minutes this season and wow. boy, did he have a consistent season. :) the rest of squad also seems good to me.
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Il sogno è appena cominciato"

I really hope to see Balotelli playing a great World Cup and shutting the mouth of those racists scumbags.
The guy is a great player!
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Il sogno è appena cominciato"

Sad news about Montolivo, never nice to see a player miss such a big occassion.


FD
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Il sogno è appena cominciato"

i'd rather go with the guy who gives me the best chances to win games, regardless his skin color. besides, there's so much going wrong with italy theese days, racism is the last of our problems. racism has basically no penetration in italy.... yeah there are a few small towns (especially upnorth)where racism is an issue(like verona, bergamo and a few more), but on a national scale, racism in italy is as demographically irrelevant as it is in uk or germany or france or usa.
Milanista said:
About Destro and Balo, in theory, I agree with you, but I think Balo has something about him that puts him ahead of all the other strikers. e.g. Balotelli who scored 2 goals against Germany in 2012 required a player of a different calibre and different state of mind. Prandelli can tame Mario and that makes him a huge figure in the attack.
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yeah, when he decides to make an effort, he's an amazing player, but this season destro has been much more impressive than mario.
having said that, u're right about prandelli.... he's the coach who had the best impact on him so far, so there's a chance we might see the "euro 2012 balotelli" again.
in that case, i'd love to have him on board. :))
 
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Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Il sogno è appena cominciato"

did we just drew 1-1 with luxembourg?!? how did that happen!! :LOL::LOL::LOL::LOL: i didn't even know there were international friendlies yesterday and only found out about it in the news today.
are there gonna be more of theese pathetic, meaningless friendlies or was this the last one?
can u imagine how the people who payed to see the game must have felt? they should demand a refund from the federation... although if u're silly enough to go to a italy friendly, u kinda deserve it :P
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Il sogno è appena cominciato"

Interestingly though, Verratti was voted MOTM against Ireland and Luxembourg. Prandelli has been experimenting with DDR and Veratti deep, and Pirlo further up. I'm guessing this means Pirlo has fewer touches of the ball, but when he does get the ball, it's in a more upfield position so he can cause more harm.
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Il sogno è appena cominciato"

Milanista said:
Prandelli has been experimenting with DDR and Veratti deep, and Pirlo further up. I'm guessing this means Pirlo has fewer touches of the ball, but when he does get the ball, it's in a more upfield position so he can cause more harm.
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nice. that's exactly what i thought about when i heard about montolivo missing the world cup.
this could indeed be a good idea, but only if we can display a wide formation.

i heard on tv prandelli seems to be going for a 1 striker formation. that's worrying. prandelli isn't exactly a cautious coach, so that choice could mean he doesn't feel confident with our players' fitness. but maybe i'm just overthinking.

anyway guys, could any of u provide me with a link to a schedule with all the games and the kickoff times (italian times of course).....
i know, i'm that lazy. :P
 
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Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Il sogno è appena cominciato"

you can check all the games here. times are auto-set to your zone. (sharkscores.com is pretty good too)
 
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Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Il sogno è appena cominciato"

thanks man, that's exactly what i was looking for! :))
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Il sogno è appena cominciato"

Did you guys by any chance watch the friendly Italy played against my club Fluminense? :D

That was very unusual, but really entertaining to watch. The match ended 5-3 to Italy (it ended 2-2 at half time but our defending was shocking in the 2nd half), and that guy Immobile simply took part in all 5 goals! A hattrick and 2 assists.

How good is he really? To me he looked very sharp in front of goal, even scored with a Romarioesque finish.
 
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Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Il sogno è appena cominciato"

buffon's out and it's time for sirigu to get some worldwide recognition. and make englishmen go from being happy to sorry... looking forward to the game. hope it's gonna be another classic.
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Il sogno è appena cominciato"

Respect to Gigi. Beautiful message to the team, fans and Sirigu:

Buongiorno a tutti... la vita è bellissima e sono ancora in debito con lei.... non sarà una partita saltata o un altro mondiale saltato a farmi cambiare idea!!!..

poi ci sono molti modi per essere importante, anche se non si è protagonista in campo... quindi... forza grande Salvatore... forza magici ragazzi... FORZA ITALIA,mio grande amore!!!
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Hi everyone. Life is beautiful and I'm still in debt with her. A missed match or missed World Cup won't change my mind about it!!

There are many other ways to still be important, even if I'm not on the field... so... FORZA SALVATORE (Sirigu), FORZA MAGICAL RAGAZZI... FORZA ITALIA, my biggest love!!!
 
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