4-4-2 or 4-3-3

June 6th, 2006 | By: Jay | 6 Comments »

Well, now the game’s afoot. Lippi experimented with two different looks today in training. One side with Totti, using a 4-3-3 and one without which is a more stable, defensive 4-4-2.

Clearly, I hope they come out swinging with the attacking 4-3-3 look. This will be Ghana’s first World Cup, its a young squad, and the longer they stay in the game they’ll get more confident. Put the screws to them early and see how they respond, I say. Of course, one could argue that Ghana’s strength is in the midfield (Essien and Appiah) and that’s where the Nazionale seem uncomfortable lately. Kuffour is a crafty and strong player in the back, very familiar with European style, but I fancy Italy’s chances if he’s left to mark someone as large as Toni.

Tags: Azzurri, Ghana, Italy

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Comments

By Vin | June 6th, 2006 at 3:14 pm

Ghana will be a nice test, but I am confident that we can beat them.

To be perfectly honest, the only thing that worries me is the prospect of having more of our guys injured due to the physical African style. I hate that.

The way around these guys will be to beat them with finesse… then again, I wouldn’t mind seeing the Matrix (yes, I said it!) in there if the Africans start playing rough.

Posted from United States

By marco DeMichele | June 6th, 2006 at 10:41 pm

i want a 4-3-3 with totti and no DEL PIEROOOOOO .. DP will kill the italians if he plays .. TONI will be the next itlian God

Posted from Australia

By Chunder | June 6th, 2006 at 11:14 pm

I hope this WC doesn’t become political. Not to talk about conspiracies or anything, but I thought the last one was a kind of “affirmative action” WC; where the smaller teams got a favorable ride to the detriment of the more established countries. Of course not Brasil, though ‘cos everyone loves them.

Posted from United States

By enzo | June 6th, 2006 at 11:42 pm

I don’t care what formation Italy uses, who plays, who doesn’t play, just as long as it wins, otherwise there will be dire consequences for the safety of mankind

Posted from Australia

By Vittorio | June 7th, 2006 at 3:11 am

Very interesting how different the midfields are in the 4-3-3 versus the 4-4-2 that Lippi fielded.

In the 4-3-3 you have Camo, De Rossi, and Perrotta feeding Totti and then Gila and Toni. This seems more like a 4-3-1-2 than a 4-3-3 actually.

But in the 4-4-2, Perrotta and Totti come off for Pirlo and Gattuso.

The interesting things here are that De Rossi is in BOTH lineups, and that Perrotta is on the field for the 4-3-3 (4-3-1-2). I suppose this is to make up for some of the tackling you might be lacking with Totti, but I guess that’s what I thought Gattuso was always there for.

Posted from United States

By bianconeri | June 7th, 2006 at 3:49 pm

i think that italy’s only chance of winning the WC is to shrug off its defencive style and go for an attacking look with the 4-3-3. I think Del Piero deserves to start but if he doesnt shine, to bring on Totti. The difference with this world cup to the last is that even if Del Piero and Totti dont create anything, we always have Pirlo. Watch out Brazil

Posted from Australia

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