Vincenzo Fiorillo

Sure, we’ve had tons of goalies that are said to be “The Next Zoff” or “The Next Buffon” but Fiorillo’s resume is already very impressive:

Name: Vincenzo Fiorillo
Age: 19 (January 13, 1990)
Height: 6′3″
Club: Sampdoria

Awards:
2008 Primavera Cup. Saved 2 of 4 penalties in the cup final.
2008 Primavera League Title
Has already made 3 appearances with the Senior Team

Azzurrini:
Voted Best Goalie at the 2008 Euro U-19 Championships.
Already has a cap for the U-21 (Friendly vs. Austria in March)

Not too bad for a kid who’s only 19. By the time he’s experienced enough for the Azzurri, Buffon should be on his way out. Could be a perfect passing of the torch. The only thing, like all the other Azzurrini stars, he needs playing time at the club level. Hopefully he’s loaned out to a Serie B club this year to gain much needed experience. AS Roma continuously held onto Gianluca Curci (once “The Next Buffon”) and he now is pretty much off the Azzurri radar.

And even more impressive, he has a youtube:

Sal plys his trade over at Genoa, where he’s been a stalwart in the center of their defense since 08. Genoa, mind you, almost always play with a 3 man defense, which probably means that Bocchetti has a tougher job than most defenders who play in a 4 man backline. He started in all 4 games for the Azzurrini in the last Olympic games, and was a regular starter in the recent U21 European Championships. Needless to say, he’s quickly establishing himself as a top flight defender in a time where we really need one.

Wikipedia has a decent summary of his play, and since I haven’t seen him play very often, I figured I would just post it here:

Bocchetti is not a tall defender but is similar to Fabio Cannavaro in that he compensates with excellent timing a spectacular leap for headers [as seen in the above picture-Julian]. Although becoming well known for his strong tackling and no-nonsense style of defending, Bocchetti possesses a cultured left foot and lung bursting energy which enables him to perform as a maurading left back as well as his favoured role as centre back.

The kid is versatile, energetic, and has good positional sense. I think he’s got all the necessary tools to play for the Azzurri. What do you guys think?

Now that the giant disclaimer is out of the way, I figured we might as well take a speculative look at who’s might be called up to represent Italy in South Africa 2010. I decided to limit this post to the starting XI- the entire roster would be even more difficult to predict. I also limited myself to the following:

• The player has to be good enough currently to be called up. Ie, this is based on present-day form. Thus, Giovinco isn’t included because he’s not even currently playing for Juve.

• Age at the time of the Cup. Love Panucci to death, but I don’t think he’ll be recalled to the Azzurri at the young age of 37.

• The players must be Italian. No Amauri.

• It’s gotta be a realistic call up. Do you really think Lippi is going to call Bonera?

• Finally, it is my list, so some of these are more like Julian Callups than Lippi Callups

Goalie: Gianluigi Buffon. This is the only spot that’s a virtual lock *Knocks on wood, a giant Oak tree, and a log cabin* Buffon is one of the best goalies in the world, and unless he gets severely injured or loses form and Viviano/Amelia steps it up big time, he’s going to be our starter. Lately he hasn’t been looking like the Gigi we all know; you know, the superhero with gravity-defying stops. But he just returned from injury, so give him a few weeks to regain form and he should be A-OK.

Left back: Grosso. I’d put Santon here but being only 18 he’s not going to be called up for a while. Plus Grosso hasn’t quite lost it yet, and is still a threat going forward. Mostly though, he just has a huge place in my- and more importantly, Lippi’s- heart for what he did in Germany.

Center Back: Fabio Cannavaro. Now, this is somewhat debatable. The man is the heart and soul of our team. Yet, he’ll be pushing 37 by the time the Cup comes. On the other hand, he has a ton of experience. But, he’s known for making mistakes and not being as good as he once was.

Yes there’s plenty of debate on both sides of the Cannavaro issue. But why did I include him? Three reasons: One, he’s the captain. Two, Lippi isn’t going to drop him. Three, this is likely (hopefully?) his last major tournament. Unless he wants to bring his AARP card along with him to Euro 2012.

Center Back: Giorgio Chiellini. Affectionately known as The Schnozz by some fans due to his nose, there’s no denying the class of this guy. He’ll be 24/25 in South Africa, meaning he’ll be young but will have the experience of the past Euros under his belt. I’ve been saying for a while now that he has the potential to be world class, but I think we’re finally starting to cross that boarder- it isn’t much of a stretch to say that he is world class. Juve are a much stronger team with him at the back, and so are the Azzurri.

Right back: Marco Motta. We can’t have 2 fullbacks over 30 unless we want to exit the tourney at the first round. Motta has stepped up hugely since going to Roma, and has experience on the U-21 side. We’ve got to drop some youth into the squad somewhere, and it might as well be here if the choice is between him and Zambro.

Defensive Midfielder: Daniele De Rossi. Last season was De Rossi’s. He was debatably the best player for us at the Euros, and carried Roma while Totti was out. This year he hasn’t quite hit the highs of last year, but he’s still one of the best defensively middies out there. Best of all, he can also set up play, meaning he’s something like an Azzurri Swiss Knife. Probably the future captain of the Azzurri, as well. No reason to not call him up.

Deep Lying Playmaker: Andrea Pirlo. I think this one speaks for itself. He’s got one more tourney under him, like most players that Lippi loves, but unlike them, he’s still world class. Some say that DDR doesn’t quite play for the Azzurri like he does for Roma. For Pirlo its the opposite- it seems he reserves his best games for the blue shirt.

Other Midfielder: Brighi. If we have a guy lying deep making plays, one shielding the back four, and one charging ahead with the attack, we need a guy in the middle to run his ass off and link everyone together. If Gattuso is fit and in prime shape, he can have this spot. If not, I’d rather it go to the Brighadier or Nocerino.

Trequartista: Cassano. Nope, don’t care that Lippi hates him. Don’t care that his chances of being called up are slim at best. If he’s not at the world cup, it means that Lippi isn’t doing his job properly.

Striker: Pazzini. The other half of Cassano, the one that bangs in goals like they’re going out of style. If he can continue this vein of goalscoring into next year, no reason why he shouldn’t be called up. And hey, can he be any worse than Toni?

Striker: Guiseppe Rossi. Rossi has had 3-4 years now of playing for big clubs and has proven himself time and time again. Best of all, he’s young and he’s talented. I’m not quite sure that he’s the next Baggio, but if he’s going to prove himself on the international stage, there’s no better place for him than South Africa.

Next up: A look at the Macheda issue, and why Italian clubs are letting promising talent be snatched from under them.

So the “new” jerseys should look similar to those. But we’ll get new, redesigned, modern jerseys after the Confederations’ Cup.

EDIT: Of course, as soon as I post this, I see that Francesco has a great preview of the jersey here, complete with pictures.

This next part might get a bit confusing. This summer, the U21 European Championship will take place, and our Azzurrini are in it. And yet, the qualification groups for the 2011 U21 Euros have already been handed out. That’s right- unless I’m reading this wrong, it looks like we start playing qualifiers for the next Euro championship before this one even begins. Even stranger, it seems like the U21 Euros are every two years instead of ever four, like they are for the senior teams. This baffles me, but luckily, we have a pretty easy draw on paper. Our young guys will have to face Wales, Hungary, Bosnia, and Luxemborg.

And finally, we’re less than a week away from the Brazil-Italy friendly, which is taking place on February 10. As soon as Lippi releases the call ups, check here for a write up/preview.

AC Milan is making a habit out of buying old, past-their-prime players. I’m no Milan fan (I’ve never doubted that my club is Roma, and that I’m a diehard Roma fan), but I doubt that Milan fans will disagree with this. Look at who Milan have brought in over the past few seasons: Sheva, Beckham, Emerson… There’s really just no emphasis on young, Italian players. Milan had a potential great at this time last year- Alberto Paloschi. And where is he now? At Parma in Serie B, to make space for Sheva and Inzaghi. Let’s face it-Milan should’ve kept him. Sheva is not who he once was, Inzaghi is best as a sub, and Borriello is constantly injured. Pato can’t be the sole savior of Milan’s frontline.

Other clubs are guilty of giving little room to young Italians as well. Inter have very few Italians, though they do have Balotelli. Fiorentina might not be considered one of the Big Four in Italy, but they have guys like Monto. Roma and Juve do seem to be more focused on youth, as the two clubs combined have De Rossi, Aquilani, De Ceglie, Marchisio, Chiellini, and Giovinco. That may very well be the midfield and part of the defense for World Cup 2010.

One Italian legend, and two other potential aces. But will they play enough to prove themselves?

Now, some might argue that this is all irrelevant. After all, it’s the club’s job to win trophies, not to set up players for the national team. But I disagree. Even Sir Alex Ferguson believes that clubs should have some connection with their country. That what separates Real Madrid and Barca from becoming Roma or Juve: every country has their own style of play. England plays more physically, while Italy tends to play more tactically. And that’s often reflected in the clubs, mostly through the English and Italian players. If you lose that, you lose a sense of identity.

Paloschi should be given a tryout at Milan. Balo should be fighting for a starting spot at Inter, and Nedved should be giving way to the plethora of promising youngsters at Juve. Even Roma should start digging for more younger Italians. If the big clubs in Italy allow more younger, Italian players to play, the national team will grow that much stronger. We won’t be able to find “The Next” Pirlo or Baggio unless the club teams allow the youngins to show what they’re made of. Let’s give youth a chance.

For most clubs, the Coppa doesn’t really mean anything. For most bigger clubs, that is. Smaller clubs go into it for prestige and money. Milan probably doesn’t care too much that they’re out, but combined with the fact that they lost to Palermo soundly over the weekend and are 6 points behind Inter, Ancelotti’s probably pissed.

Another Italian team feilded a below par side today and were similarly humbled- but it was Sampdoria, and in the UEFA Cup, which counts quite a bit more than the Coppa Italia. Palombo was out, and Cassano and Bellucci started on the bench. Standard Leige scored 3 times in the first half, and though Mazzarri through on Cassano in the second, it made little difference.

Now, there isn’t much shame in this. I dunno if you guys remember, but Standard nearly knocked Liverpool out of the Champions League this year in preliminary qualifiers. Either Mazzarri underestimated them or doesn’t care about the UEFA Cup.

Udinese had a much better day in their UEFA Cup exploit, beating Dinamo Zagreb 2-1. Zorro Quags got on the scoresheet early in the 5th, and Obodo doubled in the second before Dinamo grabbed one back late into stoppages. Sadly, the victory was overshadowed by reports of an injured fan. A Dinamo supporter fell from the stands and had to be taken to the hospital. Early reports indicate that the idiot was probably smashed, but I hope he makes a quick recovery.

Obviously, I would’ve loved to see both Italian teams win, but it’s far from over. Udinese qualified for the next round with thier victory today, and Samp still have a shot, as long as they take the next game a bit more seriously.

Finally, the draw was made today for the group stages of the U-21 Tournament next year, and Italy got quite possibly the easiest group we could’ve. We were placed in Group A with Belarus, Serbia, and hosts Sweden. The other group, B, contains heavyweights Germany, Spain, England, and Finland. Top two from each group progress on, and the first game is June 16th against Serbia.

Casiraghi isn’t happy:

“I would have preferred to meet Spain and Germany, seeing as we always seem to find it tough against sides like Serbia and Belarus, as we saw two years ago in Holland”

He raises two pretty interesting points. One, two years ago, we crashed out of this tourney at the group stages after losing to Serbia and drawing with England, despite thumping the Czechs. Two, Italy in general seems to step up its game against bigger teams.

Speaking of stepping up game, it appears I’ve gotta step up mine as a blogger. Latest info shows that page views for this are down since last month. I know that’s probably because there’s really been no games recently, but I’d love to see more people on here and more comments. I realize that the onus is on me to post often and to post conversation-promoting topics, though, so I can’t blame you guys. Let’s get those numbers up for next month!

Italy Coach Marcello Lippi wants to refresh the look of La Nazionale by bringing in a couple of new faces for upcoming internationals.

The Azzurri and Italian football in general has been criticised recently for not giving young footballers enough opportunities.

When asked whether he would call up Juventus veteran Alessandro Del Piero, Lippi replied: “He’ll now stay at home because, by now he is a player everyone knows about.

“Instead, I want to renew this team a little. I want see a few new players. I want to discover new people a little.

“Then, when it’ll be the right moment, those players will have an important condition. They will be taken into consideration again.”

Speaking on Sky Italia, Lippi also addressed the question of Juventus’ Brazilian striker Amauri who has applied for an Italian passport and could play for Italy if it is granted.

“I have spoken only once with Amauri, this summer in Turin at the TIM Trophy,” revealed Lippi. “I said to him, among many things, not to consider anything that he read in the newspapers as attributed to me.

“Because the only things I have said that regard him, I have also said to him. In the moment, he becomes Italian and only then will I take into consideration the possibility of calling you up.”

Returning to the future composition of the Azzurri, Lippi does not see Francesco Totti and Alessandro Nesta coming out of retirement to play for La Nazionale again.

The World Cup winning tactician went on to talk about Mario Balotelli, Inter’s headstrong 18-year-old striker who recently performed exceptionally for the Azzurrini.

“I don’t want to put pressure on him,” said Lippi. “There are a lot of people who already think we put too much on him.”

Lippi then tackled the issue that has troubled many a Coach of Italy over the last 10 years. What does he plan to do with Antonio Cassano?

“He is like every one of the other players in Serie A. I always like to say that all players from 18 to 40 should dream of La Nazionale.

“They should not be angry if once, twice or five times even, they do not come to be selected. Evidently, whoever makes the choices has different ideas in his head.”

That’s quite an interview from the coach. Let’s break it down.

First and foremost, Lippi is open to adding youth to the team. In fact, based on what he says above, the next call ups should have quite a few younger players at the expense of older guys. We know what Del Piero and Materazzi have done for the team in the past, and they may still have some role to play, but it’s time to make way for the new prodigies. Guys like Rossi, Santacroce, Maggio.

On the subject of Amauri, Lippi claims he’ll only consider calling him up when he gets citizenship. Amauri’s been in stunning form for Juve, but I really don’t want him on the Azzurri. One, as I’ve said previously, he considers us a backup to Brazil. Now if he was about to get citizenship to the Faroe Islands and waiting for Dunga to call him up first, I’d understand. Sorry Amauri, but the Azzurri is no one’s second choice. You either want it or you don’t. And the second reason is because I think we have the strikers anyway. Quags, Pepe, Rossi, Gio, Gila, Cassano… we’re at no shortage for talent in this area. None of those guys are prima puntos in quite the sense that Amauri is, but all of those guys have something that he doesn’t: loyalty.

Totti and Nesta: still retired

Finally, Lippi discusses 2 extremely skilled strikers, Cassano and Balotelli. He doesn’t want to put pressure on Balotelli (and let’s not forget, the kid is only 18. He’s still Azzurrini material) and claims Cassano still has a shot of making the team. Nice claim. Now get him on there.

As a side note, sorry for the lack of posts, but there’s been almost zilch news on the international front. As soon as there is, I’ll be posting and commenting on it though.

I dunno if I’d give us a thumbs up, but it could’ve been worse…right?

Not a vintage performance by any means. We looked pretty flat and devoid of ideas for most of the time (though Monto did provide a spark every once and a while). To me, this proves a couple of things. One, we still have no true replacement for Pirlo. Without him, we’re nowhere near as creative or dangerous offensively. Again, Monto is slowly showing that he could be a replacement one day, but not quite yet. And two, this just proves to me that Cassano really should’ve been called up. Yes he’s a nutter, but he’s one of the most creative nutters out there. We just looked flat and he would’ve been lethal even as a substitute.

But when all things are said and done, a draw away to what seems like the toughest team in the group isn’t a bad result by any means. They’re undoubtedly happier with the point than we are, though. We still aren’t playing convincingly, but this team is going to need time to gel. Lippi is bringing in younger guys, and they need to learn how to play and fit into his system. Monto is doing well, Rossi seems like a staple for years to come, and Pepe impressed me. Even the old guard seemed pretty well. GC-Canna proved a solid central defense, at the least, and DDR was his usual midfield god-like self. Offensively we’re still looking shaky, but that’s probably because we don’t really have a guy linking the midfield and the front guys. We couldn’t really get behind thier defense. Italy has revolved around trequartistas forever, going back to the days of Baggio and more recently, Totti. There are a few guys currently playing who fit the bill- that nutter I was talking about before, Rosina, maybe even Aquilani- but Lippi isn’t calling them up. So we have to find ways around that and be more potent especially in the final third. If we’re not going to be creating a hundred chances, we’ll have to be more clinical. Hopefully, with Toni suspended, whoever does play for us on Weds will bring thier finishing boots unlike the lanky ass Bayern striker.

But the real problem we need to address is our formation. I have no clue why we play with a 4-3-3 when we have enough issues linking the midfield and attack as it is with a 4-4-2. What we should be playing is a 4-3-1-2. Am I crazy in thinking that? Maybe, but hear me out. The back 4 basically choose themselves- Dossena, GC, Canna, Zambro. As for our midfield, it should look something like DDR-Pirlo-Monto. In front of them should be Cassano, serving as a link to our strikers. Finally, Gila and Rossi should complement each other up front. This could prove devastatingly effective. It’s got a ton of creativity- Pirlo, Monto, Cassano- but also balance. DDR would act as the anchor around which the rest of the midfield could operate. Finally, I think Gila and Rossi could play to each other’s strengths greatly. On his day, Gila is a great finisher (I have faith Prandelli can get him back to where he was), and Rossi can set up goals rather well. But hey, this is me. Unless Lippi calls up these guys (cough CASSANO), this will remain a pipe dream. (And yes, I know a lot of people are going to say that I’m an idiot for thinking Gila is a great striker. To them I say, shut up. He’s getting better and with more confidence he’s going to be great again.)

But overall, I’m satisfied. Not thrilled by any means, but I’ll take 7 points from 3 games. Again though, if we don’t start kicking it up a notch and actually scoring, we’re gonna be in trouble. For the time being, I’m confident things will click into place. We just need some time and less injuries.

Next up we face Montenegro. I’m pumped that Quags finally got called up, because if we field the Udinese frontline, I have little doubt that we’ll get goals. Pepe, Christmas, and Quags are all used to playing together and should feel right at home. The only problem there is that Rossi and Gila are begging to start, so I have no idea what strikers are going to play on Weds. I do know something equally important- which Montenegrian striker will play, and his name is Mirko Vucinic. He’s the #1 guy we have to watch out for. Just like we neutralized Berba, neutralizing him is priority uno for our defense.

And yes I hate the new numbering system too.

News Bits:

• DDR is injured and probably out against Montenegro. Another Azzurri player is injured. Why can’t the crappy ones get injured? How come we never hear about Luca Toni getting thigh injuries?
• Lippi’s liking the way the squad is and how Rossi in particular is playing. I agree that our midfield and defense are looking good. But our offense needs to step it up. Even England is knocking back 4 goals like it’s nothing nowadays. If they can do it to Croatia surely we can against Montenegro right?
• The Azzurrini aren’t doing too well. They tied 0-0 with Israel at home and have a ton of players out for the next game, including Giovinco, Marchisio, and De Ceglie. They play the second leg Weds away and must win to go onto the Finals. If they don’t make it I wouldn’t expect to see Casiraghi stick around for much longer.

• Amelia is out and will not play in the upcoming qualifiers. He picked up a back injury in training and word is that the doctors don’t want to risk the injury being any worse. Which is a shame cause he was really starting to grow on me. Buffon and De Sanctis are still there, but a third goalie could be called it. Who might it be? Smart money’s on Abbiati of Milan fame, or if Lippi is feeling courageous, maybe young Curci who was loaned out from Roma. Whoever gets called up (if anyone) won’t play anyway as long as Buffon and DS don’t get injured (and what are the chances of that?) so it doesn’t really matter. Both picks have their advantages-Abbiati has the experience while calling up Curci would be a much needed confidence booster for the young lad.
• Sepp Blatter, head of FIFA and all things idiotic, gave Italy the World Cup yesterday. 2 years after we actually won it. He didn’t present Italy with the trophy after the actual final in Germany because he claimed he “didn’t want to cause problems” considering Zidane got sent off and the crow was supposedly hostile. That’s absolutely bullshit. How could the president of FIFA wait 2 years to present the winners of the freaking World Cup with their trophy? Oh, and what did he say when he finally presented the trophy? “Better late than never”. Abate, head of the FIGC, was understandably pissed, saying: “This has never happened before, so you can see how FIFA considers Italy.”
• Acquafresca was ruled out of the upcoming U-21 Championship qualifiers. To replace him, Casiraghi has called up Michele Paolucci, who plays for Catania but is owned by Juve. I know little about the guy but he’s got huge pressure on him considering someone’s gotta score and both Rossi and Freshwater are injured, so they can’t. The good news is that a win against Greece, who the Azzurrini face in their next game, would secure qualification for them. They lead Group 1 with 22 points, four more than second placed Croatia.
• And the new FIFA world rankings are out, and we’ve moved up to 2nd. Spain is still in first, and England just keeps dropping down the list.

1. The Olympics. I watched the entire match yesterday and I’m not sure who to blame. The ref was absolute garbage, missing what should’ve been a third penalty on Rossi and allowing Belgium’s goal to stand when it clearly didn’t cross the line (maybe FIFA’s goal line tech isn’t so crazy now?). But we really didn’t show up. Rossi was great, delivering both penalties as he should’ve. Viviano shouldn’t've pushed that Belgian guy even though the ball was thrown at his face. But what the hell? 10 men for 70+ minutes and 0 goals from open play? Abate blames the ref, and on one hand, he’s right. The ref flat out sucked. But we really didn’t play like we could. Ie, Giovinco didn’t show up at all for starters. We kinda looked like we walked in their deserving to win and we clearly didn’t. We were beaten by the better team- the one that could (and did, at least twice legitimately) score from open play, and the one that played like they were a man up. Belgium go onto play Nigeria, and Italy goes home.

It sucks hugely. I was watching it with a friend’s dad who commented during the game, “It can’t be a good sign for the full national team if our young guys can’t make it far in the Olympics.” But I think he’s 100% wrong. The talent is oozing from the squad- it might be the mentality that really needs changing. Either way, Our Beijing adventure is over. Casiraghi and Zola still have thier jobs, but it’s in the past now, and we should be focusing on the future. Which is a great segway into point 2:

2. Lippi’s first call-ups. Lippi announced his first squad since (re)taking over the reigns, this for a friendly against Austria. The men called up:

Goalkeepers: Marco Amelia, Gianluigi Buffon.

Strikers: Alessandro Del Piero, Antonio Di Natale, Alberto Gilardino, Vincenzo Iaquinta.

I’m stunned. He’s playing it far too safe and he’s not dipping into young talent. Bonera and Cassetti over Maggio? Does Di Natale still deserve a place on the team? Gila instead of Cassano? Really? Don’t get me wrong- some of the decisions were great. Some were a given, obviously (I shudder to think of the day when Italy loses Buffon to retirement. For the love of God, Curci, fulfill your potential. But no pressure eh?), but there’s plenty of guys who deserved a call up. My squad would look like this (changes in bold):

Goalkeepers: Marco Amelia, Gianluigi Buffon.

Defenders: Andrea Barzagli, Christian Maggio, Marco Cassetti, Giorgio Chiellini, Andrea Dossena, Fabio Grosso, Gianluca Zambrotta.

Midfielders: Alberto Aquilani, Mauro Camoranesi, Daniele De Rossi, Rosinaldo, Angelo Palombo, Simone Perrotta, Andrea Pirlo.

Strikers: QUAGS, Balotelli, Crazy Cassano, Vincenzo Iaquinta.

Rosinaldo hasn’t proven himself on a big stage yet (Kinda a problem when you’re playing for Torino) but he’s rediculously talented. Balotelli deserves the call up because he’s young and loyal-unlike Amauri- and Cassano is Cassano. One of, if not the, most talented players on the face of the Earth. You always need Quags since you’ll never know when you need a BS goal. ADP is class but the squad needs to transition. We need young guys.

So on the one hand, most of the call ups aren’t shockers. But we’re in the perfect time to transition- right after a major tourney. And I know most of the young guys that should get called up probably didn’t because they’re in Beijing (Giovinco, Rossi), but there’s still plenty of talent. Friendlies should be ways of testing new players. Part of me thinks Lippi played it safe so he wins the match, but he didn’t win his first match in charge last time he was in control of the Azzurri and that reign ended ok.

3. Random tidbits:
-Roma head Franco Sensi died. I wish the Sensi family all the best. He was a great owner and I hope his daughter takes good care of the club.
-Milan beat Juve to win the Berlusconi trophy. 2 quick things: one, since the trophy is named after Milan’s pres, they kinda have that extra motivation to win it, no? Two, it’s a preseason friendly and mean about zilch. Congrats to Milan for winning but honestly, not a biggie. The biggest news to cmoe out of the match imo:GC is injured and out for a month. Crap.