Italy Season Preview

I noticed that a lot of club pages over at theoffside have season previews up. I thought it’d be a good idea to do something similar with the Azzurri. But a country’s schedule is nothing like a club’s schedule, so how would this work?

Well, this post is basically a review and a preview all in one. I wanna take a step back and look at the last two games, and see what went right and what needs fixing (That’s the review part). And I also want to take a look at the future of the Azzurri, in terms of upcoming games and players (aka, a preview). Basically, I think it’s time we take a critical eye at our team, see what works and what doesn’t, and look at what the future might hold.

What Worked:

Over the past 2 qualifiers, we saw some good stuff from our guys.

• We showed that even when we’re not playing at our best, we can go out there and grab the three points. Yes, we were outplayed for most of the Cyprus game and during stretches of the Georgia game. But last I checked, all the FIFA Qualifying table shows is how many points we got. Not possession stats/ joga bonito vibes. We got what was important–the win– and that does count for something.
• Some guys also proved pundits wrong (myself included)- who thought Toto would go out there and be the best player against Cyprus? I wrote him off after the Euros, but he’s showing that he’s still got something left. Is he good enough to play as a starter until South Africa? I don’t know about that, but for the immediate future, Christmas is a part of the squad and rightfully so.
• Gigi Buffon is the best goalie in the world and might just be one of the best footy leaders, too. Italy needed a captain to lead the team while Canna was injured? Buffon got that. How about a stellar goalie? Check. An amazing reader of the ball? Double check.
• I hate naturalized citizens playing for other countries (I’m looking at you, Deco), but Camo is the exception to that rule. He’s been our flashiest and most creative midfielder recently, and when you’re on the pitch with a guy named Andrea Pirlo, that’s quite an achievement. It also speaks volumes of what’s happened to Pirlo recently, but more on that in a second.

What Didn’t Work:

• Any central defender not named “Giorgio”, “Fabio”, or “Nicola”.
• Pirlo. Pirlo needs a rest like Paris Hilton needs a job. It seems to be evident to everyone except the people that can make it happen.
• Italy’s medical staff.
• Our single biggets problem, though, is motivation. Maybe some of the guys are tired, maybe some of them are old, or maybe they don’t have the drive to win anymore. But that’s just unacceptable. Lippi has to pick players that are in form and hungry. If, say, Zambro doesn’t have the drive anymore, drop him. Simple as that. Those who don’t want the trophy in 2010 are just going to weigh everyone else down.

What Went Horribly Wrong:

For this section, I’d like to tell you guys a story.

Once upon a time, there was a magical land called Italy. In this fantastic land, knights used to reign supreme, and legendary knights such as Baggio and Donadoni became famous. One day, a knight named Luca Toni showed up. At first, he was ok. He couldn’t quite slay the dragons like the other knights, but he’d occasionally be able to swat dragonflies. Nevertheless, the King of the land, Lippi, decided that Toni was so good that he could fight a whole bunch of dragons, and lead the other knights into battle. But then something awful happened to Luca Toni. He began to lose faith and strength, and can barely carry his armor anymore. This magical land is now left with almost no knights who can slay the dragons that are outside the town. Other knights, much better than Luca Toni, showed up and told King Lippi that they’d be able to slay the dragons. King Lippi said no and went back to smoking his cigar. And for some mysterious reason, Luca Toni is still leading the knights that fight the dragons.

(Key for the story: Dragons= goal, knights = strikers, dragonflies=insult, armor=national team shirt. )

Morals/hyperboles of this horrible parable:

1. I hate Luca Toni.

2. Antonio Cassano is God’s gift to football, and not being called up is an insult to him.

3. Lippi is known for smoking cigars (Don’t believe me? Click here)

So the answer to “what went horribly wrong” is simple, really. It’s Luca Toni’s career.

Who Can Change It:

A whole bunch of people, but first and foremost, Lippi. He needs to grow a pair and drop Toni. I don’t even care if he replaces him with Gila at this point, but it’s becoming obvious that Lucagoal just isn’t cutting it. Christmas proved that any single person can help the team greatly, but it all depends on Lippi. He decides who gets called up.

Personally, I’d love to see this as our starting 11 next game (against Bulgaria in October):

Buffon

Dossena Canna Legro Zambro (hey, we don’t have too much choice on the right wing)

Camo Aqui DDR

Cassano

Rossi Di Natale

It’s a mixture of old and new, and would give some much needed innovation into the side. Yes, Rossi is largely untested on the national team, but hey, that’s what qualifiers are for. There’s a good chance he’ll be a starter come 2010, and we have to get him integrated sooner or later. Cassano as a trequartista would be an amazing move, considering his insane skills. And yes, I dropped Pirlo. Not because I don’t like him but because I’m afraid of what’s gonna happen to him if he doesn’t rest. I’d love to see how Aqui/Monto could do in his role.

Antonio Cassano:

In case you couldn’t tell, I think Cassano is absolutely vital to the future of our national team. (That’s why he gets his own section in this season preview). Cassano just has “it”. He’s an amazing dribbler and passer, and he’s scored some phenominal goals in his day. He had anger problems but those are in the past. He’s only 26 now, and will be 28 come 2010. That means he’ll be in his prime when we’re trying to retain our world cup. I can’t think of a single footballer who’d be more devastating than Cassano at his best, with years of playing consistently under his belt. He is the epitome of the number 10- not Pirlo, who’s a deep lying playmaker, and not DDR, who’s a hybrid defensive/offensive middy- but Cassano, who would do wonders linking the midfield and strikers.

We need him. We lack strikers and we lack playmakers besides Pirlo, and Cassano is the perfect solution to that. He’s both rolled into one. Not calling him up has been Lippi’s biggest mistake. Even Donadummy saw that Italy needed Cassano. I don’t know what Lippi is waiting for, but he can’t wait much longer.

(As a side note- I’d also love to see Giovinco play, because he seems like the eventual hier to the number 10 and to Cassano. But he’s young, and this year needs to prove himself worthy at Juve. His time will come. Cassano’s time, on the other hand, is now.)

What to Expect/Season Preview:

We’ve got quite the year ahead of us. The senior squad is gonna be playing a ton of qualifiers for the World Cup, and the Azzurrini are going to (hopefully) be in the U21 UEFA Championships. First, the little Azzurri will have to triumph Israel, but then they’re in for next summer’s competition in Sweden. But we have history on our side- we’ve won it more than any country- and Israel isn’t exactly a team that instills fear. Preview of that game to come soon.

But for the full squad, don’t expect anything radical to happen. Based off of Lippi’s past comments, next game he’ll probably call up Monto and Rossi. I don’t think he’ll call up Cassano, and I’m hoping Barzagli gets dropped.

Our group for world cup qualifying is pretty tough, as we’ve seen so far. Bulgaria are going to be a tough test, and Vucinic is going to love playing against us when we face Montenegro. The biggest challenge is probably Ireland- coached by Trappatoni and currently right below us in our table.

All that being said, I’m not worried. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- we’re a talented enough country where we should be able to navigate through this group with Materazzi as our CB. As long as we’re hungry, driven, and motivated, I don’t think there’s a single country in the world who can stop us when we play at our peak.

Forza Azzurri!