On The Right Track

Disclaimer: The post is pretty long as it is, and only covers the senior team. I was going to post about the younger guys qualifying, but the post would’ve been outrageously long. So tomorrow’s post will cover the Azzurrini.

Italy-Montenegro Review

It was almost exactly the score I predicted- and one that should please Roma fans, at the very least. We won, although we weren’t really dominant. We had the majority of possession and played decently. Our attack was pretty blunt and we did concede a goal, which I’m never happy about, but overall, it was what it was. A game against a smaller team that we won. Not much more to say imo. We have 10 points out of 4 games, are sitting top of the group, and scored 6 while conceding 2 so far.

But we haven’t been perfect- far from it. We’re not playing total-attacking football that everyone loves to watch. We’re not scoring a ton of goals, and even worse, our offense in it’s current state doesn’t really seem capable of doing that. We’re scoring enough to win, but we should be creaming the smaller teams by huge margins. These qualifiers have revealed some pretty sad stuff about our team- namely that we don’t have a prime punta who can go out there and score goals for us, Fernando Torres style. So no, I’m not thrilled about how we’ve done so far.

But I am satisfied. Why? Let’s take a look at some things:

For one, the squad as a whole seems more cohesive. Under Donadoni, everyone seemed really slow and unsure of themselves. Lippi on the other hand seems to have this air of almost invincibility about him. I feel like I did when watching us play in Germany- like we can’t really lose. The squad as a whole just seems more at peace and solid. Maybe it’s just me, but it’s reassuring nevertheless.

Two, all the big teams are struggling. Go ahead, think of a big national team. Brazil? Not even sure if they’re going to keep their coach. Argentina? They’re also having a tough time qualifying, and even with guys like Aguero and Messi were unable to score yesterday. Spain? Doing solid, but still letting in goals against the little guys (like we are). France? They’re slowly turning around, but c’mon. They kept Domenech for crying out loud. Basically, everyone seems to be struggling (yes, even “almighty” England hasn’t looked all too convincing in games where the scoreline was totally in its favor). So you can’t just point the finger at us and say “Ha, fluke, good luck defending your title”. Our team has new faces, a “new” coach, and needs a bit more time to gel.

And finally, while some players are struggling (Hi Gila), some are flourishing. I’ve been hugely impressed with Chiellini and Dossena, and they seem very capable of leading this team in defense for years to come. Chiellini didn’t do that great a job of marking Vucinic, but he was colossal against Berba and I have a feeling he’ll only get better over time. Aqui is also playing pretty well. Yes, the goals were a bit of luck and skill, but fact is, he scored them. He kicked the ball and they wound up in the net. So that’s 3 young guys right there that have really stepped it up in these early games. I really wish we could’ve seen Rossi yesterday, given that Gila was running like a 400 pound gorilla (new nickname time? “Gila gorilla”? Leave thoughts in the comments). But overall, we’re showing that we’re a scoring threat from everywhere, not just our offense. I’m not sure if that speaks more about the quality of our midfield or the impotence of our attack though.

Finally, Amelia was great during yesterday’s game. Should he have had Vucinic’s goal? Maybe, but he had quite a few stellar stops too. It seems like stepping up from Livorno to Palermo has upped his game. He’s no Buffon, but I no longer get sent into convulsions when I hear Buffon’s injured. Now if only Curci can become the next big thing and if Viviano steps it up a few notches…

Besides these positives, though, there are some stuff that I want to see changed for next time. Our next qualifiers aren’t for months, so this is early and speculative, but still:

• The next forwards called up should be: Cassano, Rossi, Pepe, Christmas, Iaquinta, and Gila Gorilla. I know I sound like I’m contradicting myself since I just said Gila Gorilla sucked, but hear me out. He’s been pretty damn good in Serie A so far. Qualifiers are months away. If Prandelli can keep pushing him to do as good as he’s doing, he might just have the confidence to be great on the national team, too. As for Cassano, he’s earned his spot and that’s all I’ll say about him. Rossi too has shown huge potential and I don’t see why he shouldn’t start. I’ve been impressed by Pepe’s running, especially considering I thought he sucked at first. But he’s won me over. And finally, Christmas and Iaquinta should serve as the experience. Christmas is hit or miss but he can be a good sub, and Iaquinta is the closest thing we have to a true #9 right now. I know some of you guys really want Amauri, but word is Dunga is pretty close to calling him up (and that prick should never even be given the option of playing for our shirt given how he feels about us, but that’s another post entirely). Our attack has been the weakest area of these qualifiers, and something’s gotta give.
• The formation really has to change. I firmly believe a 4-3-1-2 is our best bet, but if Lippi doesn’t like that, goal.com suggest he should try copying Spain. Honestly, I’m not sure that’s the way to go, but let’s face it. We just don’t have the wingers for a 4-3-3. A 4-4-1-1 like we used in Germany wouldn’t be a bad idea, but that requires someone linking the midfield and attack. Which basically means it requires Cassano. And we all know how much Lippi loves him

The most common complaint seems to be that we’ve been “lucky” so far. You know what? Good. I don’t really care. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Great teams can grind out results even when they’re not playing well – even when they don’t deserve to win. The only game I’d even say that we “lucked” through is the one against Cyprus, when Christmas scored the winning goal in injury time.

But for now, Azzurri life is good. We’re leading the table and starting off our WCQ campaign almost perfectly. Only 2 teams out of all of the groups have more points than us – those being Spain and England- and only Germany has as many. I’m glad to see that we started this qualifying campaign off on the right foot (Unlike our last Euro qualifiers, Donadoni)

And finally, I’d like to give a special shout out to Lippi. He’s matched the record for longest unbeaten streak as Azzurri coach, with 30 games. Here’s to beating the record with our next game, and hopefully another 30 game unbeaten streak to follow!