World

Europe

Italy

Italy-Greece Review

November 20th, 2008 | By: Julian | 34 Comments »

Not a friendly that’s gonna go down in the record books- hell, I wouldn’t advise you to watch it unless you need a good nap. But let’s break down the performance.

The Good:

Guiseppe Rossi. This kid was all over the place and he provided pace and creativity. He has a tendency to dribble a little too much, but if he keeps starting he’ll turn into a fine forward. It was a very promising showing from him in a game that counts for very little- though he had one chance early on that he should’ve sunk. But if anything, he proved that he deserved to start.
Camo. I flipped out when I noticed he was starting, but it may have proved to be a masterstroke by Lippi. He loves Juve so what better way to help Camo get into shape for the Derby Saturday than by letting him play? Yes he could’ve gotten hurt again but he didn’t. He was the most creative guy out there and always looked capable of sparking an attack. Had some great short passes but tried the long ball over the top a little too much.
De Sanctis. I hadn’t seen him play before, but I was pretty damn impressed. He organized the back four well, wasn’t afraid to communicate, and always knew when to come out and hold his line. Maybe should’ve done better with the goal but it was a very solid performance by him
The beginning of the second half. Lippi must’ve had one hell of a pep talk at half time, because we came out flying. The Greek goal came almost out of nowhere, and we looked capable of equalizing once we went behind. The pace was only killed when the subs came into the game.
Finally, Marcello Lippi himself. The great man is tied for most consecutive games without a loss- 31.

The Bad:

The frigging ESPN360 announcers. Honestly, who is “Daniel Day Rossi”? Daniel Day-Lewis’ cousin? He’s Italian you idiot pricks- there’s an E at the end of his first name.
In the first half there was an over-reliance on Toni. Way too often we tried a long ball over the top or a high cross. We should’ve been a bit more creative and dynamic in our attack, which brings me to my next point…
No one out there really looked capable of beating thier man, with a few exceptions (Rossi, Camo). We need someone who’s a creative dribbler and not afriad to take on defenders.
Players disappearing faster than President Bush’s approval ratings. I think I saw Grosso 3 times in the first half: singing the national anthem, stealing the ball once early on, and then eating a sandwich. Monto too was nearly unnoticeable. For a guy being heralded as the next Pirlo, he’s gotta step it up or make way for someone else.
FIFA’s new number rules. DDR is 6 now? This is absurd.

The Surprising:

Luca.Toni.Scoring.
Actually, Luca Toni period. He looked like he didn’t suck and I was shocked. Held up the ball well, had one nice pass to Camo in the second half in particular which could’ve easily resulted in a goal.
Gattuso having a very good game. I’ve been harsh on him for a while but he’s back to his bulldogish self. He did a great job in the midfield today.

Overall, it was a meh game. There were some bright sparks but really, we should’ve beaten Greece. I’m not entirely happy with the team as it is. We were exploited too much on the counterattack, and on the left flank in particular. We need more creativity and potency up front, and we especially need a forward who can dribble his way through defenses. Finally, without Pirlo, we need someone to orchestrate moves from the back, and Monto isn’t that guy.

But the result speaks for itself. Congrats to Lippi, who deserves nothing less. Let’s go kick Brazil’s ass in February and have him set another record.

Tags: Camo, DDR, De Sanctis, Gattuso, Group E, Italy, Luca Tonigol, Marcello Lippi, Monto, Rossi, World Cup 2010

Italy World Cup RSS Feed

Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 34 comments.

Read the rest of the comments

By Marco Pantanella | November 20th, 2008 at 3:28 pm

P.S. Daniel Day Rossi isn’t even the worst one I’ve heard. Try teaching the FSC report guys that there isn’t anyone named “Alberto Gilardinho” or “Vincenzo Inaquinta”.

By kqql | November 20th, 2008 at 4:12 pm

5 Min Highlight – Greece – Italy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vUFJypeWG4

Posted from United States

By Julian | November 20th, 2008 at 4:15 pm

Marco- all these years? I don’t get paid to write about my boy Rossi unlike those guys at ESPN

Posted from United States

By alessio | November 20th, 2008 at 4:53 pm

Hasan “Salisandwich” courtesy of MUTV.

Posted from United States

By Julian | November 20th, 2008 at 5:31 pm

Hasan’s got one hell of last name though. I just call him SallyHam cause that’s about as far as I get when reading it before I get lost entirely

Posted from United States

By asem | November 20th, 2008 at 9:57 pm

Greece goalie is pretty damn good.
Does he play for a decent club?

By marco | November 20th, 2008 at 11:01 pm

I’ve heard the FSC guys pronounce iaquinta’s name “Laquinta” like the hotel. And I hate it when that idiot says Cag-lee-ari instead of cagliari

By Vincent | November 20th, 2008 at 11:22 pm

Need Cassano in the front to scare the defence of the opposition. G Rossi and Cassano would scare the bejesus out of Brazil’s backline. I am not sure about Toni still. He seems sto be sliding down the scale to me, and 2 years from now will be worse.

I will give Lippi some more time to reinvigorate the sqaud, but Capello is sure doing the job in England, and I don’t even like him!

By Julian | November 20th, 2008 at 11:25 pm

Cassano and Rossi should be upfront but only if there’s a prima punta up there with them. Cassano provides the spark, Rossi the dribbling, and someone’s got to be up there to tuck it away. Any thoughts on who?

Maybe Acqua but he’s still pretty young. I’d be willing to give Gila a chance to partner them

Posted from United States

By asem | November 21st, 2008 at 2:16 am

SUPER PIPPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Hahahahaha

By kqql | November 21st, 2008 at 2:33 am

Rossi-Amauri
Rino/Aqua-Pirlo-De Rossi-Camo
Grosso-GC-Canna/Santa-Zambro
Buffon/Amelia
—–> vs Brazil

By Adrian | November 21st, 2008 at 3:40 am

that is pretty sad that italy drew 1-1 with greece
i am digraced to be italian right now

Posted from Australia

By Sushan[ACM] | November 21st, 2008 at 5:46 am

i think italy should play amauri . he is better than all our strikers

By kat | November 21st, 2008 at 7:20 am

Nevermind Amauri. What this Azzurri desperately needs is a trequartista. Naturalization might actually be of great help in this case considering the shortage of Italian attacking mids after Totti.

Posted from Italy

By John Silver | November 21st, 2008 at 9:06 am

Continuing the discussion on the previous page -

“i agree with much of what you say in terms of abilities and fielding, John S. except that Gilardino and Toni are “good” options as prima punta, particularly as they are not capable of consistently finishing. it makes no difference whether Gilardino is at the top of the serie A charts. the Azzurri 4-4-3 does not suit him (as well as not suiting many others), confidence in one arena does not necessarily translate directly to another, and international football is different.”

Well, I would throw Toni out of the window asap, but I think Gilardino has a lot to give. Yes, the 4-3-3 formation in its current usage (which is more like the 4-2-3-1) renders his abilities rather redundant, but he’s still a prima punta of the finest breed, and he can turn out very useful if Lippi means on building a somewhat more versatile team (which I hope he does) as he fits the 4-4-2 like a glove. He’s an excellent compromise between the experience of Toni and Inzaghi and the vitality of Acquafresca and Borriello; investing in him leaves us with nothing to lose and everything to gain. Besides, who would you deploy in his place?

I think you’re absolutely right about Giovinco. He can be a good asset, but not in the 4-3-3. He needs another formation, which is one more reason why I’m hoping for a versatile Azzurri team come 2010.

Posted from Germany

By John Silver | November 21st, 2008 at 9:11 am

“Cassano and Rossi should be upfront but only if there’s a prima punta up there with them. Cassano provides the spark, Rossi the dribbling, and someone’s got to be up there to tuck it away.”

I agree with this, but subject to the condition that we’re always talking about a 4-3-3. Cassano and Rossi could play together as strikers in a 4-4-2, since the wingers would then take care of a lot of the jobs they’d do in a 4-3-3. That would be a pretty dazzling combination of speed and fantasia.

Then again, if it were a 4-4-2, I’d probably slot in Gilardino alongside Cassano…

Posted from Germany

By Vincent | November 21st, 2008 at 2:32 pm

Enough of the 433!!!!

By Kurdt | November 21st, 2008 at 6:29 pm

Another absurd thing in this friendly was playing an injured DDR for full 90 MINS!! god i hate lippi for this.

Posted from Taiwan

By alessio | November 21st, 2008 at 11:50 pm

Yeah, kinda stupid, but at least his injury wasn’t really in danger of being worsened from the game, unless he fell or something.

I agree, no more 4-3-3

Posted from United States

By kqql | November 22nd, 2008 at 1:18 am

Cassano News…

Calderón Criticises Cassano
http://www.goal.com/en/news/1705/real-madrid/2008/11/18/971146/calderon-criticises-cassano

Totti To Sue Cassano Over Biography Claims?
http://www.goal.com/en-india/news/1709/roma/2008/11/20/973544/totti-to-sue-cassano-over-biography-claims

Cassano Needs To Shoot More – Bellucci
http://www.goal.com/en-india/news/139/italy/2008/11/19/971886/cassano-needs-to-shoot-more-bellucci

Gasperini Hits Out At Cassano
Cassano? He is strong but if he isn’t playing for Italy then he should ask himself why,” Gasperini told ANSA.
http://www.goal.com/en/news/1632/genoa/2008/11/21/975438/gasperini-hits-out-at-cassano

By gio | November 23rd, 2008 at 3:24 am

John S.

it is great to hear your opinion as always, even when i do not completely agree, but it always makes me reconsider my position.

though i do not fully agree about Gilardino (and i think that his difficulty netting against some not-so-great international teams backs me up at least to some extent), i see your point. part of the problem with Gilardino is actually not Gilardino himself, but the service he is getting from a midfield the likes of DeRossi, Montolivo and Gattuso. i have seen few good crosses and forays into the box over the last 4 or 5 games (though it should be added that the few that i have seen resulted in scuffed efforts by Gila’).

for Gilardino to really work i think he needs a mid field of 4 behind him who can offer creativity, accurate through-passes and crosses, and solid rebound action. De Rossi’s assist on the Toni goal was fantastic, but normally he cannot provide good through balls to the front line and shold not be expected to. Gattuso offers virtually nothing in terms of passing. Motolivo would work well if we had Pirlo and another creative midfielder behind him.

in any case, at this point i think i would actually prefer to see Inzaghi in there. if we are talking about a prima; i cannot think of another better candidate. he is at least as active as Toni and does a better job of finishing.

i think a 4-4-2 (with DeRossi sliding to the back point of a trapezoid) would make a lot of sense. i think it would be interesting to consider pushing DiNatale back and making him part of the midfield – he has the pace and he is already doing that work but just pushed up to the front. his passing and through-balls are pretty good – plus it would be another player on the field who would have the ability to finish.

——-Del Piero——Quagliarella—–

Di Natale——-Pirlo——–Camoranesi
—————DeRossi—————–

Zambrotta–Chiellini–Cannavarro–Grosso

By gio | November 23rd, 2008 at 3:26 am

* Montolivo, Pirlo and another creative midfielder behind Gilardino.

By gio | November 23rd, 2008 at 3:30 am

Camoranesi should not be played as a forward.

By ema | November 23rd, 2008 at 5:43 pm

Final like the old days – king Fabio vs Italy

Posted from Denmark