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Analyzing the Past and Looking Towards the Future

August 17th, 2008 | By: Julian | 16 Comments »

First things first- apologies. I didn’t liveblog the match like I planned to, so sorry for that. And sorry for not posting over the past 2 days, but I literally was only home for 5 minutes since Saturday. We’ve got a crapload of stuff to cover, so I’ll get on with it.

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.

Defenders: Andrea Barzagli, Daniele Bonera, Marco Cassetti, Giorgio Chiellini, Andrea Dossena, Fabio Grosso, Gianluca Zambrotta.

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

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.

Tags: Azzurrini, Group E, Italy, Lippi, Olympics

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Comments

By alessio | August 18th, 2008 at 12:29 am

Legrottaglie is replacing him. Let’s just hope he’ll come out ok.
I disagree with you. Just because we had a shitty Euros, doesn’t mean you throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Lippi doesn’t like the position Maggio plays, Rosina is still completely unproven despite a decent (not stunning) season for Torino, and Balotelli? Are you serious? What’s with people and him? Yeah, he’s a great young talent. He’s scored 3 goals in 11 league games, a respectable record but considering he’s 18 and far from a starter at Inter, why the hell would Lippi call him up? He’s got a lot of maturing to do before he joins the Nazionale.

And he’s not dipping into a lot of youth talent because of a few reasons:
#1- He’s not looking for a instant revolution. The squad in South Africa in 2010 doesn’t need to be the squad on the field right now. Would Chiellini have been in the squad in 08 if we decided in 06? I think not.
#2- These picks are based on match fitness- The big clubs have been training for longer, same with Uefa teams. So Rosina is probably not match fit, even if I think he doesn’t deserve the Nazionale yet. And as far as I know, Juventus is the only big team that really plays young Italians, as we always have. (with few Roman exceptions)
#3- Olympics. Most of our youth tournament just got back from a long tournament, and will have several days to get over jet lag. They also have a season looming. That’s why none of them are on it.

Posted from United States

By Marco Pantanella | August 18th, 2008 at 8:17 am

Ditto alessio #1, 2 and 3.

And I’ll add: leaving Del Piero at home, considering the stunning form he is now, would be absolute heresy. Shame on you Mr. Julian.

Biased? Who me?

Posted from France

By Michel-Olivier | August 18th, 2008 at 9:07 am

i think this is a send off match/farewell match for camoranesi, delpiero, perrotta, zambrotta, cassetti and dinatale. i don’t think they will make the 2010 squad if they qualify. look at what happen to brazil in wc2006, argentina in copa2007, france and holland in euro2008, old(32-above) players can’t defend.

i thought lippi was going to call maggio, palladino, balotelli, cassano, paolo cannavaro and foggia.

Posted from United States

By lamagica | August 18th, 2008 at 9:46 am

“i thought lippi was going to call maggio, palladino, balotelli, cassano, paolo cannavaro and foggia.”

yeah, i’m not sure what the resistance is there. rosina is another who i thought might get a look. as alessio mentioned, obviously the other young guys like giovinco, montolivo, dessena and rossi, etc. are being given a rest due to their olympic duties.

i dont know what cassetti’s call-up would be for since he’s no spring chicken and never really been part of the nt…unless lippi just wants to utilise some experience for upcoming qualifiers and then transition in some unproven youth at the appropriate time. the other old-timers, at least, have a bit more to offer and have been staples on the nt which could help with the front end of the qualifier fixtures.

Posted from Italy

By Julian | August 18th, 2008 at 10:00 am

My thing is though, this is a perfect time for a fresh start. It’s a friendly, so why not field younger guys and see how/if they gel? What’s there to lose?

By mele419 | August 18th, 2008 at 10:20 am

Gotta agree with alessio’s points. And I also think it would be foolish to leave ADP at home, especially since Lippi actually plays him where he plays best, too. (And I, on the other hand, am not biased =P)

Posted from United States

By Marco Pantanella | August 18th, 2008 at 1:50 pm

Farewell match for Camoranesi????????

Please Mr. Michel-Olivier, refrain from uttering such idiocies….

Posted from France

By Julian | August 18th, 2008 at 2:37 pm

Palla is an interesting guy. Tons of talent but it seemed like only Donadoni could really get it out of him. He was supposedly played out of position on Juve, so maybe a good performance this year will see him recalled

By Bashar | August 18th, 2008 at 4:06 pm

I think Camoranesi should stay for a while because we have a lack of quality wingers to begin with. Camoranesi, Quags and maybe Iaquinta, Palladino, Rosina and Maggio. Compare that with any other position where Italy are stacked with both young and experienced players.

Del Piero I think should still get a run out especially if Lippi wants to play a 4-4-2 or a 4-3-1-2. Until his form dips (for either club or country) he could still be an asset. But by 2010 I don’t know if he should still be in. Depends on how well he’s playing at that time.

Posted from United States

By alessio | August 18th, 2008 at 5:41 pm

Agreed, Bashar. Just because a player is old, doesn’t mean we need to throw them out. If they are obviously declining (Perrotta, Gattuso, Materazzi) then yeah, get rid of them but I could see Ale at the WC. Last year’s start was because he had just come from Serie B and he was injured for pre-season.

Palladino was played out of position at Juve. He’s a 2nd striker, although he can play further up front, but we pretty much always played him as a left-winger in place of Nedved when he got a chance, which bothered me. Giovinco will fit at LW better though.

Posted from United States

By alessio | August 18th, 2008 at 5:42 pm

And yeah, ADP can thrive in a 4-4-2 or 4-3-1-2. He just needs to play behind the main striker a bit where he can really use his creativity. On the wings or upfront by himself he cannot perform and I was glad when he told Donadoni that, because it did not seem the Don was getting it.

Posted from United States

By lamagica | August 18th, 2008 at 6:46 pm

actually, didnt palladino play wide in his first call up last year (wasnt it in a 433 lineup)? i thought he had a stellar game, especially compared to his club form. i remember only seeing one game with juve (against livorno) where he impressed me and again, he was part of a trident with trez and dp. i distinctly remember one goal in that game where the three of them connected beautifully – palladino crossing from the right side, dp lopping it from the left and trez finishing with a full volley.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJYuPD5A2CE&feature=related

Posted from Italy

By alessio | August 18th, 2008 at 9:34 pm

In his Italy callup, but not for Juventus. I know exactly the game you’re talking, Livorno-Juventus. But in all others, ie- Juventus-Inter, he was fielded at the left wing.

Posted from United States

By yoman | August 18th, 2008 at 10:14 pm

Giovince missed 2 easy goals from the run of play.
Giovinco was a no show vs Camerroon and Beligium, and cornes he took sucked. Italy were up 1-0 and he missed an easy goal. the rest is history.

By tito | August 19th, 2008 at 7:38 am

Nigeria’s beatdown of Belgium speaks volumes about our limitations. The way to beat an Italian team is to physically maul them. Like Argentina, if the refs allow a sufficiently physical game to unfold, we lack the physicality to respond. Likewise, when calls go against us, we lack the composure to react tactically and fall victim to outbursts like Toni’s against Holland or Viviano more recently. Teeny and temperamental players like Giovinco and Rosina, talented as they may be, only deepens our troubles.

Posted from United States

By Porchetta | August 20th, 2008 at 9:23 am

Lot of people are surprised at Lippi´s choices for the tes against Austria but actually, iam not at all surprised. Lippi will revert back to his usual 4-4-1-1 even though he has promised a trident and the most pleasing aspect abt his strategy is that opposition will struggle even to make inroads n our defence. I wot be surprised at al if we take a early 1-0 lead, sit back and finis the match easily with a 2-0 win.
Gilardino to score wth a header and del piero will also score. The world cup winnig stars will be motivated to impress their master tactician. Lots may argue about Iaquinta´s selection but for me, he is a great asset. He is very good in the wide left role and he will play a vital role. Watch out for De Rossi.

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