May 3: Judgement Day

Lippi’s an imbecile. He’s not taking Pannucci because of a personal disagreement and just a few weeks ago had the audacity to declare Vieri indispensable to the squad. Need I say more??He’s going to have a mini camp on May 3 just so Cassano cannot complain that he wasn’t given a chance before his world cup hopes are dashed.

Cassano, Pannucci & Zambrotta were the only players who even bothered to show up at Euro ‘04, and now Lippi’s on the verge of cutting out two of the three. True, Cassano hasn’t had a great opportunity to shine at Madrid, but he has that special intangible ability (much like Totti).

Totti, however, will lack the confidence to justify his spot on the team, let alone captain– much like how beckham was off his game in ‘02. It’s unavoidable; I’ve had the same injury as Totti (on two different occasions, to each ankle) and one’s body simply does not allow itself to go 100%, regardless of mindset. I was absolutely raring to get back onto the field, trained hard and went to therapy religiously, but as I learned, only time can produce a full recovery.

In my view, I’d take Cassano over Totti (if not someone else)and Pannucci over Materazzi.

Lippi is a stubborn donkey.

Posted from  United States

I don’t see how Cassano could be more valuable than Totti and warrant a spot on the squad. While Totti hasn’t played since late February, Cassano has barely played any football in the past year. He can’t even get more than 10 minutes at Real, so who’s to say he’ll be any more match fit and in form than Totti will be in June.

We can all agree though that Materrazi SHOULD NOT be going.

Posted from  United States

Sorry guys, but I’m going to say something contreversial.
Italy is a better team when they play without Totti. There I said it.
Now hear me out before jumping up and down and poping a vein…
My comment is not directed at his talent and abilities to which god has gifted him in abundance. He is far and away Italy’s most talented player. But here’s the rub, the team has always been designed to go thru him. He demands the ball all the time. This is the problem.
He tends to be hot headed, so other teams know they can trick him into losing his composure, way too easily.
Secondly it makes Italy easier to defend against. Mark Totti well and you stop Italy, easy as that.
They have played and had better results with him out, I think because they are forced to play as a unit using everybodies talents and not relying only on one key individual.
Take a look at how much better Roma played when Totti was pushed forward as a striker?? Now that’s where I think the national team should be playing him. Not as midfield general.. Italy has tons of talented midfielders who can back up a Totti.
There, now you can pop..

Posted from  Canada

I wouldn’t go THAT far (i.e. better without Totti), but I do agree that they should put him up top, especially since he won’t be the “100% Totti” we all know and…, well, most of us admire him anyway…

But too bad for us, because Lippi’s an imbecile and he’ll never do anything remotely intelligent. Just as it would make perfect sense to put Zambrotta on the left where he prefers to play, Nesta & Canna in the middle, and Pannucci on the right — so he could make those runs and swing those crosses in for our man Toni to head home. But no… Pannucci cannot represent his country because Lippi wants to stomp his feet like a two-year-old child. Whatever.

Still, we’d need a more creative midfielder because both Pirlo and DeRossi are better from the back (and Pirlo’s been playing like crap). I’d rather have Liverani in the center (over Del Piero– save the points for Alex, rinaldo– he’ll need them this summer)

Paul: fair point, but Cassano has been training every day with Real Madrid (not small potatoes) and he’ll be back to full fitness much sooner than Totti, at least he’ll be able to run circles around Totti come June. The only problem: if we raise our glasses to la nazionale come June, Caasano’s glass will have vino but Totti’s will have Hefeweizen… if you dig.

Posted from  United States