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No More Totti. Ever.

August 10th, 2009 | By: Julian | 48 Comments »

Once upon a time, we had Francesco Totti. A man beloved in his home club, Roma, and envied/hated/deemed overrated by many others. Yet the man’s stats speak for himself. On the top 10 all time scorers’ list for Serie A, and numerous trophies to his name- including a World Cup- fill out his CV.

So when he retired from international play in 06 (It wasn’t official till 07, but his last game was the World Cup final), people split into two groups. One group thought that this was a huge mistake. They believed his vision, passing, and creativity were necessary on a team that always thrives off a trequartista. The other group believed he was overrated, past it, and not necessary on the Azzurri anymore.

No matter what group you’re in, the issue has finally been settled. Lippi has seemingly ruled out a Totti return once and for all:

“There is a great deal of respect between us, but he made his decision and I have no intention of going back on it”

It seems like Lippi is in the latter camp. For the record, so am I; I think the squad needs to focus on youth, and we have at least 2 ready-made trequartistas ready to follow in Totti’s footsteps. One is in his prime but being ignored by Lippi, and one is getting there but being ignored by Ferrara. Totti is undeniably good- say what you want about his discipline and treatment of the referees, but in terms of pure footballing prowess and skill, he was blessed by the football gods. But he’s not the only one, and it may be time to move on from this issue for good.

Tags: Cassano, giovinco, Group E, Lippi, Totti, World Cup 2006, World Cup 2010

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Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 48 comments.

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By mike | August 11th, 2009 at 11:32 am

Funny, you didn’t seem to mention the fact the Totti can’t manage to play a full 90 minutes without breaking a tibia either…

Posted from United States

By gio | August 11th, 2009 at 5:14 pm

you should have also mentioned underrated, as Totti is even better than most think.

i don’t think he belongs on the Nazionale, but then, Gatuso, D’agostino, Palumbo and Gilardino don’t belong even more.

as far as i am concerned, Totti is still the most valuable player in football today.

Posted from United States

By Daddio | August 11th, 2009 at 6:19 pm

Certainly for the Azzurri, only those that aren’t Italian or Italia fans slight him, trust me every day in Italy there is a call for Totti to return and it’s coming from the northern media above all. Hopeless without a link man and he’s still a monster. He will be playing at the world cup, despite what you read from Lippi or others.

By Michel | August 11th, 2009 at 6:51 pm

Totti is the greatest player ever. Cassano is a GREAT player but just like in Roma Totti was and is still better than him. But put them both in the squad and they will create magic like back in the day!

Posted from Sweden

By marco | August 11th, 2009 at 8:33 pm

giovinco is not ready to play at this level as a starter. totti is still the best option italy have to dictate the offence and alleviate some of the focus on pirlo (who is definitely a shadow of his 06 form) through the middle. his vision and passing improvisation is second to none in italy and arguably the world. however, im convinced lippi is not going to call him (barring a slew of injuries) because he clearly favours role players, (at the expense of pure talent in many cases) and tries to develop a ‘team’ approach which requires these said role players to gel and digest a system over time. you only have to look at many of the questionable selections he’s consistently made over the last while in contrast to public opinion. he will not be bringing totti in last minute because of this nor will you see cassano or micolli because of their apparent attitudes. rossi and pirlo (and maybe with the odd cameo by camoranesi) will be our only playmaking sources with the some provisions from our wing backs surging deep and delivering crosses. it aint gonna be pretty next summer and we better hope that team spirit can carry us for the most part.

By fital | August 11th, 2009 at 8:43 pm

duhh, can’t help myself to be bias
Totti is always valuable if he is in a good condition.

OK, just keep it without Totti for the whole qualifying, if the team getting worst just like in confed cup, we better have this man in case he’s fine.

Cassano insertion is a must.

and please kick gattuso, ianquita, zambrotta, perotta out

Posted from Malaysia

By KJ | August 11th, 2009 at 9:05 pm

Totti is old news..And Daddio, you couldnt be more wrong.. The only reason it seems Totti is neccessary is because Lippi’s attack options are so listless

Bring in Cassano and Miccoli.. Wow, that would be some creativity up front with Rossi

Posted from United States

By kqql | August 11th, 2009 at 9:50 pm

Lippi & Co @ St. Jakob-Park stadium

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/04zQaDFb8B2dl/610x.jpg

By kqql | August 11th, 2009 at 10:02 pm

More on the 4-4-2 Lippi is using…

[url="http://www.calciomercato.com/index.php?c=46&a=136690"]
[b]Lippi: ‘No more poor quality matches’[/b]
Italian manager wants a more balanced 4-4-2, confirming the
debut of Domenico Criscito and Claudio Marchisio: [/url]
.

Probable starting line up will be:

4-4-2
Buffon
Zambrotta, Chiellini, Cannavaro, Criscito
Camoranesi, Palombo, Pirlo, Marchisio
Gilardino, Rossi

———–> Pirlo will likley play more in advance role, and that’s why Marchisio is being used on the left instead of CM..
.
.

By kqql | August 11th, 2009 at 10:04 pm

Lippi: ‘No more poor quality matches’

http://www.calciomercato.com/index.php?c=46&a=136690

By Marco | August 11th, 2009 at 10:19 pm

If Lippi Actually speaks to his players like this than I see no way for the Azzurri to actually win. How can a manager talk so down to his players and get away with it? Read the comments above, such an arrogant presumption. The man’s day has passed. Let’s not forget, that yes, he has won a number of trophies, but at the same time, he was fired from all of his previous jobs. He does a good job than he fucks it all up. This national team is no better than it was during the confederation cup. These are younger players, but are they necessarily the ones that should be here? There are better. Not to mention, the oldies he’s removed are not the worst of the lot, Zambrotta and Cannavaro are still there and starting. Oh well, we will see tomorrow. What channel is it on?

By Enzo Baker | August 11th, 2009 at 11:04 pm

If no Totti then it should be Fabrizio Miccoli. Heart, toughness, skill, and a team player.

By Dhaw | August 11th, 2009 at 11:54 pm

Of course Roma’s pride and joy will not be without his critics but as wise man once said; “to avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing,” and if there is one thing Totti is not, it’s nothing.

By gianfranco | August 12th, 2009 at 8:13 am

“Totti is still the most valuable player in football today.”

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As of that wasn’t enough, I was then treated to this!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Totti is the greatest player ever”

Phew, at least I got a great laugh in today!

Posted from United States

By mike | August 12th, 2009 at 9:09 am

“as far as i am concerned, Totti is still the most valuable player in football today.”
You must be on acid.

“Cassano insertion is a must”
That just sounds hilarious.

“Totti is always valuable if he is in a good condition.”
This MIGHT be true, except he’s only in good condition 4/365 days of the year.

Posted from United States

By kqql | August 12th, 2009 at 10:15 am

Enzo Baker | August 11th, 2009 at 11:04 pm

If no Totti then it should be Fabrizio Miccoli. Heart, toughness, skill, and a team player.

Never going to happen…………………….

Fabrizio Miccoli testified against Luciano Moggi in court///

By kqql | August 12th, 2009 at 10:21 am

@ Court….

“Miccoli? He is a player of very low quality,” snapped Bari Coach Conte when asked about the testimony.

“I have already answered these questions to the authorities. In my view this sport has footballers and players.

“Zinedine Zidane and Alessandro Del Piero are footballers. Miccoli is a player, and one of very low quality at that.

Source: football-italia.net

By kqql | August 12th, 2009 at 10:25 am

Lippi’s…. Don’t call list for 2009/2010 – First Edition

1) Cassano
2) Miccoli

By Pepe | August 12th, 2009 at 11:24 am

The same old racism in Italy against the Southerners. It’s always been there and anyone who’s lived there knows it’s true.
Is this true even in emigrant Italian communities abroad in US, Australia, Canada?

Don’t get me wrong, I know Conte is a southerner but he’s willing to enter the calcio ’sistema’. Does Cassano also have a Che Guevara tattoo, I forget?

By gio | August 12th, 2009 at 11:41 am

Totti has already scored 5 goals in the first 2 official games of the season in the EC. yes, last year he had cruciate surgery … that takes over a year to recover from. in the top 10 all time scorers of Italian footballing.

hate all you want, if he hits stride this year he will kick everyone’s ass.

just curious as to what sad-ass excuse for a player you think is better Gianfranco?

By Michel | August 12th, 2009 at 11:49 am

For me Totti is the best player ever like I wrote some comments ago. At the best seasons he have had he was the best player in the world, especially in 03/04. He was just AMAZING! He should have got the golden ball there also in 06/07 but its to bad that award is decided by team achievment (should be player performance) and ignorance/dislike of some people. I mean like Totti was voted 10 06/07! A f*cking scandal.

Posted from Sweden

By alessio | August 12th, 2009 at 12:30 pm

Bah that’s stupid cop-out, Pepe. Has nothing to do with Cassano or Miccoli being from the south, Iaquinta and Gattuso are from Calabria, Di Natale, Quags, Criscito from Napoli, etc.

And dear god do I love Conte hahaha

Posted from United States

By Paul | August 12th, 2009 at 1:40 pm

Live Blog Up Now

Posted from United States

By Stasio | August 12th, 2009 at 2:47 pm

Totti is a legend and still a better striker then anything we got by a mile…lets hope next year he wants to go out at the world cup for the national squad, i bet if he has a big and healthy year this year he will tell Lippi he wants back on and Lippi cant say no.

By Pepe | August 13th, 2009 at 4:13 pm

It’s not the be-all and end-all but there are certain players who refuse to play the sistema and they tend to be southerners, why does Quagliarella never start? Out of all the strikers Lippi takes he’s always the best one. Also they tend to have a Juve connection the ones who play. Either that or they are impossible to leave out at certain times (like Toto). But there’s got to be a reason that fiery southerners are left out and fiery northerners aren’t. Del Piero always had an attitude problem nella nazionale but he was in every squad, Cassano has never acted up in the seniors (nor Miccoli) but they don’t get picked for their attitude?

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