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Player Reviews: Holland 3 - Italy 0

June 9th, 2008 | By: Ricci | 157 Comments »

Hey guys, my name is Riccardo and I’ll be helping out around here for all things Azzurri. Chris and Marco are slammed with work right now so I hope to add a different perspective and encourage you guys to discuss opinions about tactics and formations in the comments. That’s what I’m all about. Tactics.

Before I start, let me just say when Andrea Pirlo starts criticizing your tactics, you might have problem. It’s a known fact that he didn’t even start speaking until age 16. Generally, he can’t be concerned with tactics. He’s too busy serving up delicious reverse passes and golden long balls on a platter to his forwards, and getting his hair feathered He’s easily the quietest and most agreeable guy on the team but he did have this to say:

“If De Rossi had played then I would’ve been further up the field, but there are 23 of us in the squad and the Coach makes his decisions.”

“In the second half with Grosso and Zambrotta we got to the byline a bit more. We probably should’ve had them on earlier, considering the way the game went, but it’s easy to say in hindsight.”

Says worlds. On to the ratings.

Buffon - Did make one really nice save to keep the game in reach at the end of the first half. Other than that the goals weren’t really his fault, but he just didn’t look himself. Also, didn’t really communicate well with Matrix and Barzagli. Kind of hard to communicate with Matrix though. Guy still talks in grunts and snorts from the days of Homo Ergaster. Rumor has it the walls at his house in Milan are covered in cave drawings. 5.5

Panucci - I like Panucci, but I like him in the center. Don’t really know if he has the pace and legs to get forward constantly like the position demands in today’s game. On the plus side, he looked good defensively on the right AND the center. In the center he did look like he was commanding things and keeping Barzagli from eating a shotgun at around the 75′ mark. Put him in the center with Chiellini and that pairing is good to go. Never gonna happen though. 6

Barzagli - Showed his true self today. As a Palermo fan I’ve been watching this guy screw up all year. He’s slow and gets tricked constantly by pacy, skilled players. He wasn’t as bad as Materazzi but let’s be honest…a 3 legged emaciated feral dog could have played better than Marco today. Probably at Cannavaro’s bedside right now waiting on him hand and foot. 3.5

Materazzi - How did he get picked? He was the slowest player on the field by 5 steps and he must have showed the same lack of pace in training. Supposedly he wasn’t fully fit either and was holding an ice pack to his leg after he came out too. Guy really soils the good name of Keanu Reeves and everything that “The Matrix” stands for. 3

Zambrotta - Looked poor in the first half on the left, but then again, he’s a right footed player. He did get run ragged a little bit too along with the other 2 morons as well. Switching to the right when Grosso came on, he looked like a different player. Marauding runs, good inside passes and better defensive work. Another brilliant move by Donadoni, taking our best RB and putting him on the left. Guy hasn’t played LB for Barcelona all year. 6

Pirlo - Dude worked his tail off. He shouldn’t have to work that hard, it affects his play greatly. His space and time on the ball were extremely limited and he did what he could. He did have a few brilliant long passes, and didn’t really make too many mistakes. I’ve been saying all year that the reason he gets so tired at Milan is because he’s constantly running to find space b/c Ambrosini and Gattuso do not offer him any kind of relief in the middle. His rating goes down because he didn’t boss the game like he usually does, even though it wasn’t his fault. 6.5

Gattuso - Looked ok. Committed SOO early to the Oranje players and they just basically passed right around him. I don’t even remember one time where he won the ball in the middle and started something. He just doesn’t look like the same player anymore. Again, if paired with De Rossi or Aquilani along with Pirlo I’m sure he wouldn’t be ridiculously tired by the 60′ minute mark. Just ball chasing all day. 5

Ambrosini - Screw you. 1

Camoranesi - Got starved of the ball and had to track back and defend a lot. When he got the ball he didn’t look good either. Tried to do it all on his own and basically didn’t even pick his head up to look for a different option. Should have been taken out way sooner. 4.5

Di Natale - Looked ok. Nothing great. That volley was pretty decent. But when Khalid Boulahrouz has you down on lock, something might be wrong. Again, in a different tactical set up I think this guy gets a lot more passes his way and runs his defender ragged and makes him tired. Cassano is the better option on the left in a game like this because he will create something from nothing. Toto won’t really do that, but he still offers some great things. Just not tonight. 5.5

Toni - Had zero support. Did a lot better when Del Piero came on and floated from side to side and took some pressure off him. He had 2 big guys hanging off him at all times like he was at Club Roxy NYC on a Saturday night. Can’t really blame him, but he did get the ball stuck under his feet a few times, and I’ve seen him play much, much better. 5

Grosso - Grosso bleeds blue. Gave headaches to everyone down the left when he came on. Should have scored on that run, but Eddy V did make a great save. He was one of the few guys tonight who showed any kind of ability to run past people. Guy’s gotta start next time, and keep Zambro on the right where he belongs. 7

ADP - I was a staunch opponent of ADP after I saw that game against France in qualifying. He goes to ground too easily for me, but he is a small guy after all. I think he has a TON to offer this team, just not from the start. He gets himself into great positions constantly. Bring him on around the 60′ minute and watch him break people’s ankles with his feints. He had a really good game tonight and like Grosso and Pirlo was a little unlucky not to score. Plus to me, he’s better closer to the goal on free kicks than Pirlo is. Would have liked to see some more, Donadoni just waited too long. 7

Cassano - One of the first things he does is serve a perfect ball to Toni. I don’t care if he’s got the mental capacity of a 7 year old, he’s a genius on the field. He’s got a great first step and will give every defender fits. Needed to be on much earlier, but did pretty well and I thought he looked SO comftorable on the ball and with his teammates. 7

Donadoni - Seems like a nice guy. Maybe he should try his luck at snooker. Perhaps darts. Waited too long for subs, and put out a despicable line-up. Right before I left work I looked at the lineup and my heart literally dropped to the floor. I knew we would not win this game. How do you start 1 guy under 30 against a team that is mostly under 30? 0

All credit to Holland and Van Basten. They outplayed/outcoached us tonight. Van Basten might as well have bought a ticket for Donadoni to a Nike Joga Bonito clinic because that’s what it was. They looked electric at times, and if I wasn’t an Azzurri supporter it would have been a joy to watch. Instead, it was a nightmare.

Hope to hear some of your opinions in the comments guys. Thanks for the time.

Tags: Euro 2008, Group E

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Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 157 comments.

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By Ben | June 10th, 2008 at 6:17 pm

“but I see that due to the Dutch flag on the end of my comments you guys have to spit venom to compensate for your team’s poor showing how very very sad.” hahaha yes it is sad but it seems football brings out the mutant in most people!

I stand corrected curt and I have not said anything against the dutch team, actually it is thought by all that they played an enormous game and the result reflects that in fact I was sad not to see Arjen Robben play but at the same time relieved.

I am however a fan of Serie A football, I enjoy a well mechanized game, but you can’t say that the old stereo-types hold true to what most think of the italian game. The Inter - Juve game was as open a game as any you would see in any league. Actually the Premiership teams like Chelsea and Manchester seem to have adapted to what you call catenaccio.

Posted from United States

By lamagica | June 10th, 2008 at 6:56 pm

curt, where and to whom are you referring to when you say we are “spitting venom”? is it because someone enlightened you on what catenaccio is? or the fact that you are waaaaay off base when suggesting that serie a generally adopts a catenaccio strategy? if you’d have really watched and absorbed serie a games you’d know that is far from reality and, if i’m not mistaken, it is currently the highest scoring league of the ‘top three’ leagues….the same league that produced two consecutive golden shoe winners in 06 and 07.

maybe because serie a actually takes pride in a highly tactical, COMPLETE GAME, including the defensive aspects, you are confusing it with ‘catenaccio’.

Posted from Canada

By lamagica | June 10th, 2008 at 7:01 pm

“when italian play it will always be catenaccio even if its not catenaccio formation, same thing goes for dutch total football, brazilian samba football, japanese kamikaze, the english and Scottish anti-football its not about tactical system but how the players play football in the field.”

what does that actually mean?

Posted from Canada

By Michel-Olivier | June 10th, 2008 at 7:43 pm

@ lamagica
italian play defensive football, dutch play attacking football, brazilian play beautiful football, and the english play bad football.
what i’m saying is base on international football not club football.

Posted from United States

By Ricci | June 10th, 2008 at 7:51 pm

lamagica is spot on. Check out Greece play. They are 100X more negative than Italy will ever be. We weren’t negative the other day, just bad. Would you call Spain’s tactics catenaccio? Most of their goals against Russia were scored on the counter attack. The fact that you base your opinion on Italian football on various “pundits” tells me everything I need to know. Grow a brain and get an opinion of your own. Your team played with 2 defensive midfielders as well.

“If a coach use a player in front of the back four instead behind the back four for me it’s stil is catenaccio because the player still act like a sweeper.”

Michael Oliver, I guess every team in the world plays catenaccio. Cuz that’s how the game is being played today. Netherlands even used 2 defensive midfielders in front of back 4. I guess you can call that double catenaccio. I’m gonna be like you and just spout things out, DUTCH PLAY DOUBLE CATENACCIO!!!!

Posted from United States

By Nima Sadoughi | June 11th, 2008 at 4:18 am

I’m from Iran and I’m an Italy fan.
Really good analysis but I do not agree about ‘Ambrosini’. Although he was not so much good but at least better than 1.
About ‘Cassano’, in my opinion he was horrible with too many wrong passes in the field.

Good luck Italy

By Franco | June 11th, 2008 at 6:38 am

the analysis is ok. I always had doubts about Barzagle, i mean Palermo lets in 3 goals a game at an average, then how can barzagli be a heir to cannavaro??Also, the game was lost when Gattuso and Ambrosini were both included in the playing 11. De Rossi, Pirlo and Aquilani is a must if we are to win against Romania.Cassano and also Del Piero had very less time to do any impact..Cassano brings unpredictability in the minds of opponents, he will torment defenders of any stature , all it takes is a moment of genius to change the course of the match. I dont give a damn about his 7 year old mentality, but what is the point of bringing him if he is given 10-15 minutes??time has come to field Cassano right from the start..maybe Del Piero must be brought in in the 50th minute which gives him a lot of time to impose himself..It is really obvious that the next two matches are going to be decided by Cassano or Del Piero..

By Michel-Olivier | June 11th, 2008 at 7:20 am

@ Franco
the heir to cannavaro is Fabiano Santacroce, you should see this guy play.

Posted from United States

By Franco | June 11th, 2008 at 2:02 pm

Michel, i very well know about Santacroce, but it will take him atleast another 3 years to break into the squad. Sadly, Barzagli who was hailed as the next Canna has never looked composed at the centre. If only nesta were there…

By Drew | June 12th, 2008 at 9:36 am

These ratings are harsh. The team played a horrible game but to take it out on Ambrosini is stupid. First of all, Ambrosini played well, wasn’t his fault Italy lost. Ambrosini, Gattuso, and Pirlo won the CL for Milan in ‘07, more than most other teams can say. I do think De Rossi should be a starter next game but to blame the loss on Ambrosini is rash, to say the least. The central defenders were pitiful and from there should be immediate change - Chiellini should start in the middle in lieu of Materazzi. They looked brighter in the second half so we can take that as a starting point going into the next game.

And to all non-Italian fans - criticism is fair and warranted at times but it is always convenient to slam the Italians for their defensive style. In sports, defense wins championships - hence, 4 world cups. Next time, step back and think about how many championships your team has won. Unless your Brazilian, feel free to keep your mouth shut.

Posted from United States

By curt adalbert | June 13th, 2008 at 1:07 pm

Gosh Italians are soooooo touchy good luck with Romania

Posted from Netherlands

By curt adalbert | June 13th, 2008 at 1:12 pm

Ricci - ‘compensating for something’ i just throw it up there…

Posted from Netherlands

By james | June 13th, 2008 at 5:50 pm

I agree with sascha. italy IS an overrated team.yes it flucked the world cup title with lots of bad referee favourable decisions (vid: matches agst america/australia/germany/france) fouls were given or not given/ offsides conceded or not to their favour, goals disallowed also in their favour. Italy NAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH - most boring football ever

By antonio | June 14th, 2008 at 12:04 pm

I agree with James, Italy is So overrated and riding the coattails of their own history. Once upon a time they were good. As for being THE champions, spare me. They played the US and Ghana and barely squeaked out. The Euro is harder than the World Cup…Greeks were the champs. I hope Italy continues their bad playing to show they are nothing but flash and an old name.

By Paolo | June 14th, 2008 at 2:09 pm

Yeah you’re right antonio. The us ghana and czech republic and finished FIRST!! And hey we only beat Germany and France to take down our fourth world cup. All you italian haters good luck with your no name nationality that does fuck all on the world stage. Thats why you spend your time on Italian blogs….because none of you have anything to discuss on your own blogs except how fat your pussies are.

By james | June 14th, 2008 at 5:54 pm

WOW Paolo - fourth world cup final!!!!!!!!!! ha ha ha. The first two do not really count with only a couple of countries taking part. As to the most recent two, I advise you to re watch all the games and not just where Italy was concerned. Beating Germany??? Re watch carefully that game mate and as a consequence re watch the final as well. Most probably though you are so drunk with your perceived greatness of italian football that you wouldnt know how biased refereeing was. As to my hating Italy. NAHHH I dont. I love their songs and their pasta and I think they should stick to those since their football is so utterly boooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrring.

By Paolo | June 14th, 2008 at 6:38 pm

I’ve watched the final and semi final lots of times buddy. Clean games for the most part. Germany game was the best game of WC 06 even the germans will tell you that. France hahaha-are you reffering to zidanes headbutt to materazzi or the penalty given to france right off the bat. Calls really went our way. As an Italian fan i can tell you that at least our team sticks with their culture unlike these colonized fuckers. We play with pride and are not the most attacking style of football but we are one of the best teams in the world FACT. James what is your nationality????? And BTW for our games to be sooooo boooooooorrrrringgggg why don’t you explain how the ratings for an italian game in the world cup groupstage outnumber the final????? LOL run from this convo before you hurt yourself.

By james | June 15th, 2008 at 4:30 pm

Be careful you dont get hurt paolo. No no my dear friend ask anybody who s not drunk on and indoctrinated to italian football that their play is boring, and as to the semi final and final i am refering to referee decisions taken in favour of the italians, decisions (e.g. penalty which was not conceded to the germans)which would have had an impact on the game as other favourable decisions in italy’s matches against the usa and australia to mention just two. And now italian fans are talking about a conspiracy against them. What about the consiparcy in their favour. Just to mention one - Greece was banned from the WC 06 because of corruption when at the time Italian football was facing their worst kind of corruption scandals. There FIFA used two weights and two measures. Please enjoy these few days cause in a couple of days you will be singing “non gioco piu’ … me ne vado” as your famous MINA used to sing. As to my nationality first tell me yours than I will tell you mine:)) CIAO

By james | June 16th, 2008 at 5:04 pm

Some things they are saying about italian football in other blogs:

I think those kemp pretty boys should pay a little bit more attention to there game instead of their looks…

The italian team is normaly very effectif but that doesn’t mean it’s great to watch.

defended like pussies for al the matcht in my opinion the Dutch win.

FAKE A INJURY OR THE DEFEND FOR AL THE MATCH LONG WAITING FOR A GOAL.

haha…world champions who???? lol v did teach them a thing or two about football..

Italy have always rode their luck, and are the masters of winning undeservedly, through blatant dives (against Australia in recent history) and gamesmanship,

what do they know about football

Punished for their arrogance

I am one that never pondered all the questionable decisions that have gone Italy’s way over the years

counter-attacking is the only game the italians know to play..

just remember in 2006 the “non existing” penalty agianst australia, and later on, the penalties against france to win the cup. so don’t be very arrogant, your soccer is not attractive, you play defense to win and when the opponents score early against you, you guys lose it.

world champions?? your road to the final was against australia, and ukraine, meanwhile france played against portugal and brazil and spain, big difference in the roads to the finals!
Interesting eh guys:)))))))))))))

By lamagica | June 16th, 2008 at 5:19 pm

jim-boy, looks like you know fuck all about a lot of things. for starters, can you fill me in on the ‘corruption’ related to greece? i’ll have more questions later. it’ll be my pleasure to tear you apart in our upcoming ‘conversations’.

Posted from Canada

By Paolo | June 16th, 2008 at 11:42 pm

MY NATIONALITY???? ITALIAN YOU FUCKIN HOMO BOY…….N honestly i’m not even gonna waste time explaining how stupid your debate points are because it’ll be a piece of literature too fucking long for you to read and understand you dumb fuck. The fact that you’re pussy to spit out your nationality says everything i need to know let alone the fact that you’re on this blog in the first place lol. What a bitch you are. “first tell me yours and then i’ll tell you mine” hahahaha go home you twatfaced pussbag

By james | June 18th, 2008 at 12:17 pm

Well it seems lamagica it seems you donot know much about football and football tournaments. Don’t you know that Greece was disqualified and banned from taking part in WC06 because of corruption charges in its football league? Same thing that Italy faced at the time and yet Italty was allowed to take part.
Both you and Paolo deserve being Italian fans - you have the typical prerequisites - bad losers who because they are pissed off rebut by steeping low and hurle personal insults. I never insulted you - I commented on the lack of sportmanship of Italians in general. As to my being a homo - Paolo - you know what they say - it takes one to recognise another.
You know what else is said? That those who really cannot see or hear are those who do not want to see or hear. Yes I come on on a lot of blogs to see what others are thinking and saying about all the teams in general. I tried to explain that Italian football is not football. They cannot perceive total football as it should be played. They use drama, simulation etc etc.to try and cheat their way into winning. Poor football and sports tactics who take out the pleasure of the game.
As to my nationality - well I am a cosmopolitan- German with English and Dutch connections. I doubt your nationality Paolo. Very very few Italians can write English as you do. I suspect you are an Italo american or italo canadian who hasnt found his place yet. I side with Germany, England, Holland and Brazil - teams amongst others who know what real total football is. It doesnt worry if they win or lose. All I want is the sheer pleasure of seeing them play.
And you can write at any length you like. If I understand your Dante ( which I have read and I very much doubt whether you know one line of)I can understand your stupif inanities. Please stick to football as i have done previously

By dave | June 18th, 2008 at 12:26 pm

Couldn’ t help not answering the last two comments of Paolo and lamagica.OK, first of all I’d like to say that your insults and foul language convince me that you do not have a proper argument to counter those of other people who donot share your views. Second, why do all Italian supporters mention the 2002 Korea-Japan Wc? Is that the only thing you can mention in favour of your team? Even so, Totti deserved that red card - it was simulation at its perfection.

I’d like to say that I agree with those who have written before me. In the WC06, Italy had to face weaker teams such as Australia and Ukraine while France faced Brazil and Spain. Even so, the australians played an amazing match against the italians and deserved a win. The penalty after extra time was a clear example of simulation. Grosso’s attempt deserved a red card not a penalty.
Your game is boring and you do not possess the skill, elegance and spirit of true football. You forget what true football is all about: sportsmanship, fair play and beautiful skill. You have cheated in the FIFA and the UEFA and you cannot convince other european countries that you are the better team with more wins than other teams… although you may have wriggled your way to victory, your attempts in front of goal were as usual: counter-attack, with the whole team defending the goal post. You play for the sake of not losing a match not for the beauty and spirit of the sport.

By james | June 22nd, 2008 at 4:38 pm

Where has your pleasure in tearing me apart gone lamagica?
Commentator on Itlaina National TV (RAI1):”In tutta onesta’e’ passata la squadra che lo meritava di piu’” What poetic justice. The Cheatalians beaten at their own game. OUTta here … “NON gioco piu’ me ne vado.. (con la coda tra le gambe…)”

By Ritianne | June 25th, 2008 at 11:54 am

Great comment James. As the people od Siena sing when they win the Palio :” L’ave, l’ave, l’avete in culo. L’ave, l’ave, l’avete in cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuulo”.

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