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Intro: Salvatore Bocchetti

July 1st, 2009 | By: Julian | 14 Comments »

Our beloved Azzurri is in a time of transition; I’ve said that, you’ve read that on other sites, and you probably think that, too. But what does that really mean? In essence, older players are going to be let go and younger players are going to be brought into the national team setup. “Intro” is a new series of posts that I’m doing to, well, introduce players that are pretty likely to be a part of the Azzurri sometime into the not too distant future. First up is U-21 star defender, Salvatore Bocchetti.

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?

Tags: Azzurrini, Group E, Salvatore Bocchetti

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Comments

By Sam | July 1st, 2009 at 10:50 pm

hahaha number 4 “Shitov”

(very childish)

By mike de robbio | July 2nd, 2009 at 12:31 am

i watched all the u-21 games and he played great throughout i thought. almost scored a header too. very good and he’s already been called up for the senior squad but hasn’t yet played…he really needs to be there in 2010 i reckon.

Posted from Australia

By sabastiano | July 2nd, 2009 at 6:41 am

I read this article in Channel4.com
The New Cassano

Sampdoria playmaker-in-chief Antonio Cassano has shocked everyone by returning to training weeks before his team-mates. The 26-year-old, whose career has been mired by tantrums and a general lack of commitment, appears to have changed his ways. Yesterday afternoon Cassano did a couple of laps around Sampdoria’s training ground before attempting some stretches and a spot of cycling. The man known as ‘the Bari Brat’ is doing everything to gain the attention of Italy Coach Marcello Lippi, who chose not to select him for the Confederations Cup. Cassano is desperate to earn a call up for next summer’s World Cup and recently admitted he would play full-back if it meant he got the chance to go to South Africa.
Sampdoria Coach Luigi Del Neri will find Cassano in tiptop condition ahead of next season. In the past he has turned up overweight.
My Comments:
I would like to see how Mr. Lippi will respond to that! By all means Cassano is what we need in Azzurri in addition to fresh young talents such as Bocchetti and Giovinco etc. Time for Azzurri to change and time for Lippi to realize that his old squad which won the world cup in Germany 2006 is no longer efficient except for Buffon, Grosso and Pirlo. If Lippi decided not to call Cassano to me that means one thing and one thing only that is Lippi is no longer fit to be at the top helm of our beloved Azzurri.

Posted from Qatar

By Vincent | July 2nd, 2009 at 8:16 am

Lippi is a stubborn fool. If he doesn’t call up some of the younger stars and Cassano and Pazzini and some others, Italia will flame out and take a while to recover.

Remember, the 2014 WC will be in Brazil so it will be tremedously difficult to win that one

By Francesco | July 2nd, 2009 at 8:33 am

Bocchetti in my opinion is our number 1 defensive prospect and should definitely be a regular in Lippi’s call-ups now that he has graduated from the U-21 side.

By marco | July 2nd, 2009 at 11:10 am

bocchetti and motta need to be in the next squad. keep it up cassano!!!

By Angharad | July 2nd, 2009 at 11:57 am

Bocchetti and his Genoa and Azzurrini teammate Criscito are both very good defenders (sometimes defensive mid in Criscito’s case) and certainly full of promise for the future. But I don’t think Azzurri fans should start hailing Bocchetti as Italy’s savior in the back line quite yet — he’s an undeniable talent, and has moments and games of brilliance, but he’s also young and hasn’t quite found consistency yet. I don’t see him as the solid CB Italy needs until at least 2012.

Posted from United States

By Paul | July 2nd, 2009 at 12:43 pm

I love Bocchetti. He played for my hometown club, Frosinone, for 2 seasons and he played very well in what games I could watch. He was a definite reason for why Frosinone performed so well and were able to shock Serie B and finish mid-table.

Posted from United States

By Shuli Italia | July 3rd, 2009 at 4:33 am

Defense line should look like this
Bochetti, Motta, Santon, Chiellini

By Julian | July 3rd, 2009 at 2:53 pm

Shuli- switch Motti and Chiellini and you have one hell of a young backline. As long as they gel together and have the chemistry that teams need to be successful, that could be one of the best defensive lines in world footy. If only Lippi would try it out…

By Shuli Italia | July 4th, 2009 at 3:35 am

agree with you Julian

By Shuli Italia | July 4th, 2009 at 3:39 am

Midfielders should look like this:
Marchisio, Pirlo, D’Agostino, Foggia
Offense should look like this:
Cassano, Pazzini or Giovinco, G. Rossi

By Kev | July 4th, 2009 at 12:48 pm

aight guys picture this lineup: 4-4-2; buffon, santon, criscito, chiellini, giovinco, pirlo, de rossi, cassano, rossi, balotelli

By Shuli Italia | July 5th, 2009 at 4:40 pm

so when is lippi going to call his squad, any news? do you think he will call some of the Azzurrini players that shined in Euro U-21 championship? What are the chances lippi will call cassanno? do you guys think that lippi will be fired after WC 2010? If so, who is the predecessor?

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