ITALY thread

Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Un’Italia da 7"

Congrats to Italy. PLF man. You're too harsh on Mario and Antonio. They tried. Have faith in Cesare. No one knows if any of the subs would have done better.
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Un’Italia da 7"

pirlo just like helder postiga 2004
why players gotta do that to us:RANT:
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Un’Italia da 7"

0-0 was a cert, love listening to the radio beforehand, some mad English presenter had said that Steven Gerrard was the best midfielder in the world at this moment, now he had played well before tonight, but sorry there's been a few midfielders already better than him and one of them showed how good he was in Pirlo.

As said before Prandelli needs his chucks kicked, Cassano is absolute pants, and Balotelli ain't much better, how Di Natale doesn't get a game has me flabbergasted, he scored in one game, got part of a game in another and then he got papped out.


FD
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Un’Italia da 7"

Review, Prandelli knows what he's doing and I agree with everything he's doing except up front.

What did Cassano and Balotelli do today? One or two good efforts out of 8?!

Diamanti did more in his brief moments than the two of them combined! I was so happy when he replaced Antonio! And he repaid his manager's faith in him!

henrys hand said:
Thank God, that England did not win tonight. They tried to pull a Chelsea, playing defensive and trying to win through penalty. Thank God, it didn't pay off. I hate these cowardish defensive tactics, that's not what football is about.

About Italy, they played pretty well, although sometimes not quick enough. Batoletti was the bottle-neck of the team, too tanky and too stupid. He had at least two or three very big opportunities that others would have exploited successfully. He should have been replaced at the 65th minute with Di Natali and Italy would have won that game without needing extratime and penalty.

That Olivia-guy was actually pretty good, don't understand the hate towards him, he did some marvellous technical dribblings and was the second playmaker beside Pirlo. In a few years, with more experience and a bit more muscle and hardness he can become a very good playmaker for Italy.

Congratulations to Italy for a well deserved win!
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Well said and completely agree.

I didn't criticize Montolivo for his performance tonight. Just the fact that the biggest pussy on the field is taking a PENALTY! That's wrong and we saw the result! If it wasn't for Pirlo turning the momentum on its head and being so cool, giving all his team-mates confidence at the same time breaking Hart's confidence and redeeming Ricardo, then Italy would've been ROBBED like Bayern was against Chelsea.
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Un’Italia da 7"

Di Natale and Balotelli maybe? Balotelli missed a lot but was always alone up front until Nocerino entered and started going forward at occasions.

henrys hand said:
That Olivia-guy was actually pretty good, don't understand the hate towards him, he did some marvellous technical dribblings and was the second playmaker beside Pirlo. In a few years, with more experience and a bit more muscle and hardness he can become a very good playmaker for Italy.
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Problem is he is already 27. He should be in his best form mentally and physically. Milan might change him a bit now but yeah he had a very good game. Some of those chips were brilliant.
 
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Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Un’Italia da 7"

I thought Montolivo was alright tonight, except his Penalty. Thought Nocerino was unusually sharp when he came on.

Cassano should've come off earlier - thought Balotelli was alright but needs to work on his finishing. He did very well to hold the ball - none of our other strikers offer this strength. I guess this is why we kept him on.

Either way - well done to the whole team. I don't think anyone was bad - our worst player was playing decent, which said a lot about the whole team's motivation and the team's bond.
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Un’Italia da 7"

How awesome has DDR been this tournament though? Back to his good old days.
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Un’Italia da 7"

You don't need his strength though. Not against England at least. You weren't gonna outmuscle or outjump Terry and Lescott, so why not go for two dimunitive agile unknowns who could've picked their pockets and taken better advantage of their abysmal offside trap?

Would Antonio Di Natale who's been top scorer of Serie A for awhile, not taken all those chances that fell to Mario better? He most certainly would have!

Him being alone up front isn't really an excuse imo Zeem. We're not talking about those moments. We're talking about the moments where Pirlo chips him the perfect through ball, he's through on goal with an old tired slow John Terry trying to catch up to him, but he hesitates and then tries to do a stupid chip. He had 3 really good chances to score but missed them all!

Cassano was even worse! At least Mario had a COUPLE decent efforts like the little flick, and bicycle kick or a long range effort in 1st half which was close.

@Don, you sure?! he didn't look happy to be getting subbed. And you guys are right. He looks back to his best and that's a midfield to DREAM of! Let's hope the strikers take better advantage of this midfield next game now. Actually I personally hope Balotelli and Cassano play again because I have my money on Germany! :D
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Un’Italia da 7"

He's played well, but tonight he was a liability.


FD
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Un’Italia da 7"

Italians simply did things better tonight, even if i wanted England to go through if i´m honest, so they also can feel a bit glory with their NT...

now i can´t wait for Italy vs. Germany.....
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Un’Italia da 7"

Yeah im sure sina. He has confirmed as much, he is not sure hell make the semi.
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Un’Italia da 7"

I see. Thanks for the info. Makes sense then.

Well, that looks even better for my Germany bet now! :D
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Un’Italia da 7"

True, Antonio and Mario were not at their best. Still, know one knows if any of the subs would have done any better. Just pure speculation. Maybe Cesare will make changes for the next match.
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Un’Italia da 7"

Who makes these stats? :LOL: Almost no successful passes inside the area for Italy.

09sYw.png
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Un’Italia da 7"

Italy is a serious candidate to win Possession Cup 2012 (despite Spain is favourite).
Jokes apart, it will be hard against Germany but I believe we will see two entertaining semi-finals.
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Un’Italia da 7"

A well deserved win for Italy. I also think PLF is too harsh on Balotelli. Prandini is proving that Ballotelli is a coachable player. I saw him put in a lot of defensive work. IMO he played a reasonably good match although his finishing did let him down.

De Rossi was clearly injured.

I also would like to see Giovinco more often, but i don't think Cassano is having a bad tournament.

Italy looked very good yestersay, but was that because they are strong or because England was weak? I'm not quite convinced about them. Germany will win easily if they continue to play like their match against Greek (the best team performance of the tournament).

Nevertheless, this Italy team is fun to watch, attractive football. Oh and that guy in the middle, Pirlo or something, he is one hell of a player..maybe Milan should try him out...
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Un’Italia da 7"

Hey gerd i watched the game on canvas, instead of the nos. Was quite refreshing, the level of the nos is truly apalling. Ook is jullie taalbeheersing van ern geheel ander kaliber.
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Un’Italia da 7"

I saw the CL final in Holland (while on a short holiday in Zeeland, nice people by the way) and i was disappointed. I think canvas is quite good. For the Spain matches in the group stage they had Courtois and he did very, very well. The most entertaining (not the best) is a Dutch one: Johan Boskamp who lives in Belgium since the mid-seventies...our problem is that we don't always understand him because he still speaks like the people on the street in Rotterdam.
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Un’Italia da 7"

Yeah i thought the commentary was impressive on canvas. Informed, interested, insightful and eloquent. The dutch commentary is bigoted, uninformed and filled with clichees.
Haha yeah boskamp is on tv a lot here as well. Amusing guy. Donderstraal toch een eind op!
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Un’Italia da 7"

The fact that Belgium now has lots of talented players is for a large part due to Boskamp. I'm not only speaking of our current national team (Boskamp for example was one of the first people who noticed Eden Hazard) but of the current youth selections. Boskamp was the first to put bias on youth development. He is very important for Belgian football. And on top of that he is a fantastic guy (when i was young he was my idol, he used to play for my favourite team RWDM) who is respected by all these young players.

I'm sorry for the off-topic.
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Un’Italia da 7"

Well done chaps. A thoroughly deserved victory and, truth be told, you should have had the game wrapped up in 90 mins.
I just wonder whether the extra exertion of E/T and penalties will cost you against a well rested German squad?!

We were always 2nd favourites.
We can only play to our current strengths and that, at the moment, is defensive solidity.
Our defence has been ok. If we had scored in the first 25 minutes, then we may have had a bit of a hope with the counter-attack option.

I really like the way Italy are playing and the attitude.

Re: Balotelli. I think he is doing an important role. He's a focal point.
Sometimes, having too much movement, too much going on up front can be a bad thing.
Balotelli up front, with attacking players playing off him, gives you a nice shape.
I don't think it's too fair to judge Balotelli ONLY on his individual contribution.

I think you look weaker without him.

Re: Diamanti

I just bloody knew it the bastard!! :LOL:
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Un’Italia da 7"

gerd said:
The fact that Belgium now has lots of talented players is for a large part due to Boskamp. I'm not only speaking of our current national team (Boskamp for example was one of the first people who noticed Eden Hazard) but of the current youth selections. Boskamp was the first to put bias on youth development. He is very important for Belgian football. And on top of that he is a fantastic guy (when i was young he was my idol, he used to play for my favourite team RWDM) who is respected by all these young players.

I'm sorry for the off-topic.
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I did not know that, thats pretty interesting!'Round here he is appreciated most for his comic value..

Wasn't he fighting for his life only a few years back?
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Un’Italia da 7"

Dominic said:
I did not know that, thats pretty interesting!'Round here he is appreciated most for his comic value..

Wasn't he fighting for his life only a few years back?
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Yes he was in a pretty bad shape.
Regarding youth development. Since he was a player he and some of his team mater organized free training sessions for very young players who weren't affiliated by a club. He has been doing this and other things concerning youth for years.

He was only two months coach with Standard, but he brought players like Witsel, Fellaini, Carcela and Onyewu in the first team...

I'm a youth coach myself and my team is very promising (lost one match in 4 years) and Boskamp came watching them (i was terribly proud that day). What distinguishes him from all other scouts is that he doesn't do it for the money, but purely because he lives football. He is far more than entertainment. I'm pretty sure he knows every single talented youth player in Belgium.
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Un’Italia da 7"

Gerd said:
Italy looked very good yestersay, but was that because they are strong or because England was weak? I'm not quite convinced about them
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well i guess that depends on what u mean by "convinced". we have a good team, which plays some good football. if prandelli would line up a 3-5-2 i believe we would have a very good team..... and if pazzini and rossi were here we would have a great team. we're not on the same level of spain and germany (then again, it's quite normal as this team is a new team), but i can't think of any other national team wich is clearely superior to us.... so that's pretty good to my book. prandelli revolutionised this team and finally got us to play the kind of football we can play. we faced some pretty serious competition over the last 2 years (we beated spain and drew with germany.... in germany, just to mention 2) and only had 3 false steps (against uruguay, usa and russia... all friendlies). we are an unbelievably moody team though, as we may beat the best team on the planet one day and be completely outclassed by a lesser team the day after. that's why, at the beginning of this tournament, i said "we may be the surprise of this tournament, but we may just as well get out at the group stage". i guess this inconsistancy is part of the maturation process of the team.

having said that it would be impossible to draw any conclusion from yesterday's game, as we basically had no opposition whatsoever (i did expect us to be better than england, but not that much better.... or at least not with this team we're lining up).
and yet we completely blew it. our lack of coolness in front of the goal is now beyond ridiculous. cassano is the shadow of the player he was when he stopped playing last winter. he was invisible yesterday. marchisio had more shots on goal in this tournament than cassano. and marchisio is a midfielder, who has to cover 20 meters before even getting to the box..... and he's also being asked by prandelli to contain his runs...... and he's also playing off position..... and yet he was more of a scoring threat than cassano (who is a forward). this is quite simply not acceptable, especially when u think we have the likes of di natale and giovinco on the bench.

and the same goes for balotelli. i absolutely love what he's doing. his commitment, his hardwork... it's almost moving, really. but at the end of the day, u just have to score. he's done all the right things, all the right movements, he's always at the right place in the right time, he always puts himself in the position to score a goal, and credit to him for that...... but u just CANNOT miss so many sitters..... we just can't afford to waste so many clear chances.
i like mario, i really do. and i really appreciate what he's doing for the team...... but he's just unable to keep his cool whenever he's in front of the goal and that makes him a liability. so either he gets his head back into the game right now or we should drop him. OR (and that would be my call) we pair him up with di natale.
let me ask u guys one thing.... specifically to those of u who followed roma this season. is there ANYONE among u who doesn't believe borini would have scored at least 2 goals yesterday, had he been playing instead of balotelli? and what about di natale?
mario is 21 years old and he's an amazing player for his age. i am confident that by the time he's 26, he'll be a world class striker. an absolute beast, with the phisical strenght of mario gomez and a better technique than fernando torres in his prime...... but today, di natale should be picked ahead of him... or at least he should be lined up with him. we're already missing pazzini and rossi (who would be our starters upfront)... we can't afford to keep di natale on the bench.

henrys hand said:
That Olivia-guy was actually pretty good, don't understand the hate towards him, he did some marvellous technical dribblings and was the second playmaker beside Pirlo. In a few years, with more experience and a bit more muscle and hardness he can become a very good playmaker for Italy.
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it's not really hate, mate. it's disappointment. u see riccardo montolivo (that's his real name) has been one of italy's biggest disappointments for the last 5 years. he's an amazingly talented player. his ball control, his technique, his touch are world class, his passing is superb, his vision could easily turn him into the natural replacement for pirlo. he almost has the complete package to become a world class midfielder.... he just lacks of one thing (wich happens to be one of the most important): personality. confidence, gutsyness, self-assurance, call it like u want... whenever there's a big game, montolivo melts, he simply disappears from the game. mind u, it's not a matter of handling pressure... he went through a pretty complicated situation this season in firenze and showed he can deal with pressure pretty well. he just lacks the personality to step up his game when needed.
and that's the difference between a world class player and "just a talented player". we've been waiting for montolivo to grow a backbone for years, eventually we gave up. of course he's 27, so there's still hope, but he already let us down too many times for us to have any hope in him.
the penalties yesterday were the perfect paradigm of the difference between pirlo and montolivo. as soon as montolivo approached the box (just like Sina) i knew he would miss it. i could just see the fear in his eyes. look at pirlo instead. after the match a journalist asked pirlo why did he take the penalty like that.... you know what his reply was? he said "well Hart was making silly faces at me, trying to distract me. so i though ok, if that's how u wanna play it, then let's see if i can turn that smile upside down"
now i realise that pirlo is one of the very best registas in the world and by comparing monto to pirlo i'm setting the bar pretty high...... but when u have as much talent as montolivo, then that's the level u're supposed to be playing at.... theese are the expectations u're supposed to meet, and there's no hiding this.

having said that, i also though montolivo was brilliant yesterday, and i would love to see him keep playing like this (i don't mind about the penalty, as every player could miss one). i just don't feel like getting my hopes up again though, as he already let me down for years.
Milanista said:
Thought Nocerino was unusually sharp when he came on.
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unusually sharp???:CONFUSE::CONFUSE: get outta here!!! he's been one of milan's very best player this season!! :COOL:

anyway germany is going to DISMANTLE US thursday. it would have already been a tough game had we played on the same day. now we have 2 days less of rest and most of our players are completely worn out... i'll consider myself happy if we lose by less than 2 goals.
Sina, concerning the substitutions, prandelli had really no choice. abate asked to be subbed because he was suffering leg cramp. same goes for de rossi. as for cassano he clearely couldn't play anymore.
actually the situation is pretty serious because after the second half, also marchisio and balzaretti were suffering leg cramps, and yet they were forced to remain on the pitch because we had no substitutions left.
there's no way they're gonna be back in shape in less than 5 days, nevermind 3. we are completely screwed.
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Un’Italia da 7"

gerd said:
Yes he was in a pretty bad shape.
Regarding youth development. Since he was a player he and some of his team mater organized free training sessions for very young players who weren't affiliated by a club. He has been doing this and other things concerning youth for years.

He was only two months coach with Standard, but he brought players like Witsel, Fellaini, Carcela and Onyewu in the first team...

I'm a youth coach myself and my team is very promising (lost one match in 4 years) and Boskamp came watching them (i was terribly proud that day). What distinguishes him from all other scouts is that he doesn't do it for the money, but purely because he lives football. He is far more than entertainment. I'm pretty sure he knows every single talented youth player in Belgium.
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Again, thanks for the info. I did know about his love for the game. He is addicted to it, in his own words. Watching every single game he can all night long. Ending up watching the jleague.

Anyway did something come out of his scouting mission at your team?
 
Re: The Italy Thread - Forza Azzurri! - "Un’Italia da 7"

Dominic, i've sent you a PM.

Ben, good post, as always. Don't forget that Italy are among the last 4 of this tournament. So they already have achieved quite a lot. To me Germany seems the strongest team. They were really, really good against Greece (by far the best team performance of the tournament). Italy can't afford to be wastefull against Germany. And to me it's obvious that Germany are the favourites. But this is football, a game where the (in this case relative) underdogs always have a chance (remember the CL final and the difference isn't that big at all). Italy might go to the final.
 
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