Now This is Infuriating

As a Roma fan I can say that Motta isn’t ready for the national team. His play has regressed (not drastically mind you) since last year and he still needs a bit of time to develop. One day he’ll be there, but not quite yet.

Alessio , he makes the best highlight vids of football players…

I actually don’t think Motta was that bad once he got his legs under him in the Europa League qualifiers. His vision is awesome for a wingback (see: passes to David Pizarro in buildup to Totti Goal vs Genoa and Alessio Cerci in buildup to Totti Goal vs Kosice) and he wasn’t too bad defensively … but yes, a few moments in all of the games he was poor and liek alessio said, later in some of the games at the end of last year, I think he was a little poor.

Let’s hope he is not regressing, because he is an extremely bright talent.

Posted from  United States

ancora!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3–8s5PTC4M

Posted from  Australia

Carlo Mazzone: Italy Boss Marcello Lippi Can’t Stand Antonio Cassano
http://goal.com/en/news/10/italy/2009/09/08/1487577/carlo-mazzone-italy-boss-marcello-lippi-cant-stand-antonio

Sacchi has taken Lippi side……………………….too

1. of course Lippi can’t stand Cassano.
2. Sacchi just goes to show you what an idiot that guy is. With the players available to Italy in 1994 he should have walked to the world cup. but instead had to rely on Baggio. 1996 showed exactly what kind of a coach Arigo Sacchi is.
3. The thing about Cassano is a problem. But what is really grinding my gears is this talk of Amauri in the same breath. People are also refering to him as an oriundi – which he is NOT. He is Brazilian, he is not italian. Just because he has played his professional career in Italy doesn’t mean a fucking thing. It would be crushing to see this Brazilian get selected before Cassano or Pazzini or any other deserving Italian.

Alright so, here is why (IMO) Lippi doesn’t select Cassano if you guys want to know.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4gjMzcFIZw

Here’s a little background – At this time Capello was the coach of Real Madrid, prior to the release of this video – Lippi himself actually picked Cassano twice for the national team. However, once this was put out, with a couple previous practice antics, Capello benched Cassano and Lippi never selected Cassano again.

Here is likley Line up as of tuesday…..

Pirlo and 4-4-2 shelved for Pepe

4-3-3
Buffon
Zambro-Canna-Chiellini-Grosso
Camo-De Rossi—Marchisio
Pepe-Gila-Iaquinta

Why he wouldn’t use D’Ago for Pirlo is beyond me………
….

Sacchi is so annoying always has to put in his two cents in.

Pepe-Gila-Iaquinta??? Is this a joke?
Ladies a gentlemen Lippi is on drugs.

ok so does anyone know where i will be able to read live commentary for tomorow’s match?!

so what if motta has had a couple of below par games (the only real one was against genoa, imo)? zambrotta has been having below par games for entire seasons at a time and has looked nothing short of pathetic on a pretty poor nt backline for the last year or so.

motta is plenty ready, considering our available ‘options’. he’s not quite seasoned to the point that he is a sure thing but, then again, our so-called ’sure thing’ (zambrotta) has been looking dire for the last two years and looks like he’d struggle to make an impact in a charity, old-timers match. i’d more readily give a run to a guy that has promise and will likely give you glimpses of his unquestionable class (along with the inevitable mistake) rather than continue on with a guy who is well past it and offering absolutely no upside but still yielding the same if not more mistakes than motta would. at least in motta’s case you are investing in the future by giving him playing time and i highly doubt zambrotta would have anything more to offer than motta at this point in time.

Posted from  Canada

forza lippi! my prediction would be 1-0 for la nazionale, a gilardino-esque goal or iaquinta header will seal the deal

Posted from  Canada

I cannot comprehend why Gilardino is STILL on this team. He is garbage. He reminds of poor man’s Inzaghi. I’d rather have Inzaghi in his place!

Posted from  Canada

Did anyone see this ditty by Lippi?

“I don’t feel goals are a problem. Tomorrow one of their defenders can score again, or Buffon with a header. The important thing is to win,” Lippi told a news conference on Tuesday.

This is just fucking ridiculous. Why is Lippi trying to be Dane Cook?

Posted from  United States

That lineup, if true, is so depressing on so many levels, that I don’t even want to think about it.

Posted from  Canada

Anyone see Andrea Poli play for the under-21, he looks really good and is only 19.

My haed hurts over thinking about Lippi’s selections so I am not going to get upset about it right now.

I just want Italy to win!

FORZA AZZURRI!

Bulgaria – Italy from Oct, 2008

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKhN3pyNdEk

Just watching a bit of the spain match on GoalTV – what a difference. Lippi is going to have a tough time if he puts his shitty squad up against the likes of spain.

Here’s the thing, not only is Cassano missing something wrong, but there are a slew of issues our national team is facing. Our defence is full of gaps, and slow. Against mediocre teams it looks like we’re going to concede a penalty. Our midfield is slower, and is so bad, our best and most creative player gets the ball picked off of him from behind. Our offense cannot score, and is full of too mych PEPE Our goalie, whom Lippi hopes will score a header tomorrow (no worries I don’t even understand what the fuck he is saying anymore) cannot stop a single penalty. Guys if you think Buffon is good, well I don’t know what to tell you – he couldn’t even properly catch the ball in the last game, but I do admit, he is the closest thing to right that we have at the moment. This ship is sinking, I’m already reserving my tickets for 2014 cause 2010 is just about finished.

Wait you’re now criticizing Buffon? Jesus Christ man.

Posted from  United States

1) Taking shots at Buffon is probably the best example of the insanity of italian fans. We criticize buffon for not catching the ball (while he universally recognized as one of the greatest goalies alive), we criticize totti for not reaching his potential in big games (while he led the last world cup in assists and regularly forced other teams to go with more defensive midfields), and we take shots at coaches for changes this up (while when we had a coach that brought in new faces we constantly complained despite playing Spain to a deadlock last euro cup while they were in the middle of the most successful run in the history of internal soccer). Now im not saying we need totti and donadoni back, but lets be somewhat objective in our criticisms and not just list things just to list them.

2) If DiNatale doesnt play tomorrow that would be the biggest sign to me that Lippi doesnt have a plan, which would be much scarier than not making good decisions. If you put DiNatale on this team without giving him a chance in the past and with him constantly playing well when you do give him a chance, why put him on the rost if you are not going to play him after not scoring in the 1st game. You HAVE to want to find a consistent striker, so how do you not look to him?? I am not even going to get into the fact that he is about the only striker that can control the ball and knows how to bring up the midfield to help organize the offense.

3) As an AC Milan fan, after Gattuso’s bullshit in the derby he should never get a call up again. Name any other incident in italian soccer in 10 years and then watch that Milan-Inter derby and tell me him clearly asking to be taken out because of frustration (not an injury) then walking off the field without a sub ready, then hurrying seedorf (who is coming off an injury), then going back on the field and playing with his captain band in his fist instead of on his arm, and then playing completely out of position and coming in and making a dangerous tackle after already having a yellow. All in 5 minutes he disrespected his coach, a teammate, his captaincy, and an opponent. I know he is injuried now, but even healthy he serves no purpose on the national team.

4) Why can’t we just try 1 game of Buffon-Gross-Chiellini-Cano-Santon-DeRossi-D’Agostino-Palombo-Aquilani-Rossi-DiNatale-Qaugs? Tell me thats not our best chance of scoring.

Posted from  United States

That would definitely be our best chance of scoring because its 12 players… take out aqualani

Posted from  United States

lol Nick your a funny guy… I’m listing all that’s currently wrong with the azzurri – and yes, those that think Buffon is the savior of this team need to only look at his performances with Juventus over the last year to realize there are more and more soft spots creeping. But that’s how it is, crucify a couple young guys and label them as not ready yet, i.e. Motta because of a couple below par games, but in the same breath pronounce your undying love for a guy that has played like shit for three years – and is consistant at it – Zambrotta or Gilardino, heck even Pirlo. What I was saying about buffon is in a nutshell, he isn’t where he used to be, yet he’s the closest thing to a quality player we have – it says something when a country like italy only has quality coming from the keeper.

Regardless, I highly believe that D’ago, DiNatale, and Quags should get the call. If lippi continues with these call ups he should at least go with the best combination of players he has. I don’t understand his lust for Gilardino? is there something special going on off the pitch and under the sheets between these two? Gilardino hasn’t even scored for his favourite Fiorentina coach in the serie a this year.

Also, if grosso and zambrotta are playing together today we are going to lose or tie 1-1. Grosso no matter how many crosses he sends into the box cannot defend, and with cannavaro and zambrotta looking like swiss cheese, tonight is going to be a very long and frustrating night. This is a team we are playing that is average yet has a sniff at a world cup spot and also has an opportunity to beat the ‘Campione Del Mondo’ in Torino do you think they’ll take this game lightly?