Who Likes Friendlies?

Glad to see some new faces so I am not going to complain too much. Only thing is, Grosso and Zambro have been bad recently, and where is the creativity up front? Palladino perhaps?

I also think Gio is getting closer to the squad. If he can string some consistent performances over the next months I think he has a good chance of being included.

Very glad to see Pazzini in the list

Additions I like:

Gallopa
Pazzo
Cassani
Palladino

Vatine:

Legro
Zambro (2006 seems so long ago)

Cant comment because I havent seen them enough:

Candreva
Biondini

Also, I agree with Julian. As a Bari supporter, why not Bonucci or Rannochia or maybe even S Massielo (a bit of a stretch) When you have close to the least ammount of goals allowed in all of EUROPE!!!, why not reward these guys with the Azzurro shirt in friendlies. I think we can all agree that Rannochia is shaping up to be the future in central defence for Italia, who knows, he may be a guy who is ready to play at this level now. After 12 rounds of Serie he has certainly proven himself, in me eyes anyways (for whatever thats worth)

Posted from  Canada

Italy squad
Goalkeepers: Buffon (Juventus), De Sanctis (Napoli), Marchetti (Cagliari)
Defenders: Bocchetti (Genoa), Cannavaro (Juventus), Cassani (Palermo), Chiellini (Juventus), Criscito (Genoa), Grosso (Juventus), Legrottaglie (Juventus), Maggio (Napoli), Zambrotta (Milan)
Midfielders: Biondini (Cagliari), Camoranesi (Juventus), Candreva (Livorno), De Rossi (Roma), Galloppa (Parma), Marchionni (Fiorentina), Palombo (Sampdoria), Pirlo (Milan)
Forwards: Di Natale (Udinese), Gilardino (Fiorentina), Palladino (Genoa), Pazzini (Sampdoria), Rossi (Villarreal)

For the guys who are still dreaming that Lippi would call Cassano, no he wont and he will never will if he is playing good football and if he is the best Italian-International player. The problem between the two is so deep and very ugly, I suppose Lippi is taking this matter personal, so please do not dream of seeing Cassano in Italy squad for friendlies or World Cup 2010 as long as Lippi is coaching the Azzurri, ok. Moreover, Cassano has set his plans this summer, he will get married and watch the world cup while enjoying his honeymoon.

Do you guys really think that Lippi will revolutionize the squad for the World Cup 2010. NOOO, just because he likes friendlies he wants to experiment as much players as possible, but the truth of the matter he is going to South Africa with his old guards adding 3-4 new players. His prime time squad consist of; Buffon, Cannavaro, Grosso, Zambrotta, Chiellini, Cammoranesi, Pirlo, De Rossi, Palombo, Gilardino, Iaquinta. He will change 2 players in each game he is going to play in South Africa if necessary 3 according to the performance and formation and the opponent style of play. Them 3 players will be at his choice after he is done experimenting in friendlies. No hard feelings guys, but Italia will either progress the group stage or not that depends on the old guard performance but I do think the round of 16 is were Italy will say thanks South Africa and goodbye.

Lippi likes to call up players who have shown to be consistent in their ability over a period of time (usually at least 1.5 to 2 seasons). This is Ranocchia’s first season in Serie A, so Lippi probably feels that he should give him more time to settle and not inflate his ego. He needs to know that he must keep his performances up before being selected. He needs to keep his feet on the ground. Same goes for Mannini actually. He has only recently put in really good performances. Last year he was at Napoli and I don’t remember anything special. Consistency is key for Lippi…and the key to winning.

And Foggia barely plays at Lazio so that’s why he’s not there.

And I personally have nothing against Pepe. He’s a hard working winger and plays for the team. And he actually played well at the Confederations Cup. He wasn’t called up for these friendlies, but he’s not a bad player.

Zambrotta is there because I recall him putting in good performances against Ireland and Cyprus. His experience is his strength. But I believe guys like Maggio and Cassani were called up to be tested in place of Zambrotta.

And finally, Cassano is not being called up for 1 of 3 reasons. Either:

1) Lippi wants him to keep fighting for his place. This will keep his performances up and keep him in good form. Also, it will help the team learn to be able to play without him. If Lippi called up Cassano during the qualifiers and all Italy had to do was get the ball to Cassano so he can score…then the Azzurri would become like the old Inter who always relied on Ibra to do something for them. The team needs to be able to know how to play without Cassano first. Look at the problems Portugal have when Ronaldo isn’t there.

2) Lippi feels that Cassano isn’t ready to play for the Azzurri. That despite his changed attitude he might still be a negative influence in the locker room. Not that he’s gonna cause trouble, but that he’s too big an ego and will unsettle the other players…even if he doesn’t mean to. And that he only plays his best when the team is built around him like it is at Sampdoria. That while he can handle the pressure at a club like Samp, that maybe the pressure in a big team like the Azzurri will be too much for him. These are valid concerns. So if Lippi does decide not to call him up, I trust Lippi’s judgment because he is a very intelligent coach and knows how to build a strong team.

or 3) Lippi doesn’t want to look like a pushover and succumb to media pressure. If Lippi does this it could make him look weak. This may cause the players to lose respect for him or lose faith in him. Another very valid concern.

Overall, I don’t think there is any sort of agenda against Cassano. Lippi has said that he thinks he’s a nice guy, but that he is free to make his own decisions.

Ibrahim Afellay (PSV), Ryan Babel (Liverpool), Mark van Bommel (Bayern München), Khalid Boulahrouz (VfB Stuttgart), Edson Braafheid (Bayern München), Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Feyenoord), Eljero Elia (HSV), Orlando Engelaar (PSV), John Heitinga (Everton), Klaas Jan Huntelaar (AC Milan), Nigel de Jong (Manchester City), Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool), Joris Mathijsen (HSV), Robin van Persie (Arsenal), Arjen Robben (Bayern München), Stijn Schaars (AZ), Wesley Sneijder (Internazionale), Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax), Rafael van der Vaart (Real Madrid), Piet Velthuizen (Vitesse), Michel Vorm (FC Utrecht), Gregory van der Wiel (Ajax) en David Mendes da Silva (AZ).

The slection of holland

Their midfield is very strong and so are their strikers.

It is a friendly yes, but do you guys think that the Azurri have a chance or will it be like in the euro 2008?

i hope the Azurri wins ofcourse but it will be very difficult
i don’t think our team is on the high level like holland

sorry for my english

Posted from  Netherlands

ranocchia must and should have been feilded in this experimental match, legra??lol..the guy doesnt even start for Juve..Guiseppe Rossi´s inclusion belies all logic, Rossi has failed miserbaly for Azzurri and also for his club this season and he does not perform against quality teams, doesnt offer us anything..Lippi has got it right with his strikers choice with the exception of Rossi..even Floccari or maybe guiseppe sculli could have been better..palladino and pazzini´s selection was due..cassano will not be selected under Lippi, Hopefully he will be there spearheading our Euro 2012 campaign..bochetti is weak when it comes to zonal marking, Balzeratti is better than Cassani..Santon will not be the part of world cup squad for sure..atleast there is no pepe..palombo with De rossi gives us a solid DM role..camo, pirlo and Gallòppa should be an interesting combo..let us just pray that Canna gets injured or something like that..facts r facts r facts..nesta, today along with Chiellini is the best central defender in Italia..

Montolivo called in place of De Rossi

Posted from  Switzerland

“seeing as they’re merely friendlies and losing isn’t as important as seeing who can gel in the Azzurri.”

Expecting a loss, are we?

I wouldn’t worry that much about Holland since we’ve been a bit out of form the last couple of months and vdSar won’t be there like in 2008 which makes about as big of a difference as Italy missing Buffon at his topform like in 2006.

Watch out for Sneijder and vPersie though, they’re on fire as you well know (maybe you haven’t seen vPersie, but I predict he’s going to cause even more trouble for you than Sneijder).

It’s amazing indeed that Cassano isn’t getting a call-up. I think he’s your most in-form player at the moment. Would have been a player I’d expect a lot from along with Di Natale. The rest doesn’t look that scary I must say.

Posted from  Netherlands

I was wondering something, how fast are your probable starting LB and RB? I thought I saw an article earlier here saying you might have a problem with speed there. Has it been fixed? Since Holland DOES have 2 of the fastest wingers in the world they could both field at the same time on both wings (Robben and Elia). Allthough I’m afraid our coach hasn’t recognized this option yet (or isn’t interested in using it right now).

Elia is probably a guy you don’t know yet, but he’s about as fast as Robben, perhaps even faster (he’s younger and less injury prone as well). At the moment he’s the star player at HSV just like Sneijder is at Inter. I’m hoping to see both of them on the wings with Sneijder and VPersie in the middle in our usual 4-2-3-1 system. That should make for some fireworks regardless if Italy plays it safe I recon.

Posted from  Netherlands

Davide Biondini, the second red head ever to play for the national team after Luigi Apolloni back in the mid-90s.

http://www.sporting-heroes.net/files_footballworldcup/APOLLONI_L_19940717_GH_T.jpg

montolivo gets recalled for de rossi! im kinda excited for that to be honest cause i kno on his day montolivo is almost like a younger francesco totti. And since he’s doin pretty at fiorentina right now his form and confidence is only rising! I’m not gonna lie, i luv this kid as a footballer lol

doin pretty good*

I remember Appoloni in 94, lol. Wasnt Mussi a redhead too?

Posted from  Canada

What’s the ginger population in Italy? (Sans Riise, I mean) .01%?

Posted from  United States

wherever the pubs r in italy the gingers follow hahaha

it’s nice to see biondini and cassani in the italian team. italy should go after franco-italian rb sebastien corchia. his playing regularly for le mans, i believe his the next panucci.

Posted from  United States

I HAVE A DREAM:

beginning to wonder if Lippi actually has a plan here: use the old guys to fill in and make sure we qualify while he scouts out the younger talent, sees who has impressed and who has been good over the long term, and then replace the older players, slowly, with younger ones so that the older players can teach and pass on some of their experience to the younger players. he still has a year left to get the squad pulled together which is still good time to allow players to gel. how much time do you really need to let players gel anyway? in the meantime, he will be able to analyze all the other teams and coaches to gain knowledge of how they play, while all the other teams will have much less time and fewer games to see what the “newer” Azzurri are doing on the pitch.

I am just noticing that the team is now getting quite an influx of new faces. many of the old ones (Toni, Gattuso, Gamberini, etc.) out, some proven youngsters (Pazzini, Maggio, Bocchetti) in for a repeat, and some new faces (Candreva, Biondino, Galloppa, Palladino, etc) in for a first.

if we can just get Palumbo, Montolivo, Gilardino, and maybe Zambrotta, etc. reaplced (there are so many qualified options (Aquilani (if he is finally fit), Foggia, Miccoli, Motta and Santon), we would have quite a team with which to be reckonned.

i full on have to agree with xyz’s comment. as exciting as these changes seem, lippi still won’t take a diverse, new team to the world cup…it’ll be the old guard again. I predict that the furthest we’ll get is the quarter finals and that’ll be with some dull, lucky football!

Posted from  Australia

cant wait for brazil 2014 though!!! giovinco etc should be good to go! I reckon it could be the strongest italy team in a world cup we’ve had in years! imagine it…santon, giovinco, balotelli, ranocchia etc all in form. i may actually even go to brazi and watch it.

Posted from  Australia

sebastien corchia already played for france u-21, plus italy dunt need a right back option right now, as they have santon, motta, bochetti, santacroce, crisicto, de silvestri and maybe more waitin in the wings of grosso and zambrotta

People must understand the main reason for Cassano never (EVER) being included now or in the future until Spalletti takes over after the WC.

Cassano ruined Lippi’s son: by sleeping with his fiancee at the time. It’s not only he refused to sign with the agency Davide was helming at the time, but did the most terrible thing he could have in Lippi Sr.’s eyes.

Paul Newman believes in vendetta. He will never call Antonio and it’s only because of his son, no matter what was said last week by Davide. He’s just to ashamed to acknowledge that his girl got “stroked” by Cassanate.

There’s a lot of gingers in Italy if you lot are genuinely interested, and tons more with traces of it. It’s not coincidence that the two most common surnames in Italy are Rossi then Russo, which can both mean ‘redhead’.

For some reason redheads are extraordinarily common where I’m from in Napoli, where we have several sayings about them, and the unfortunate stereotype that they’re all criminals. Every single one of them has the nickname ‘O’ russ’. I would be genuinely shocked if Appolloni was the first one, and Biondini won’t be the last. TBH, down south we would call Cassano one when you look at his colouring.

Hope that answers your question.

Posted from  United Kingdom

The Dutch style of play (clockwork orange) is the kryptonite to the Italian way of playing the game. That fast, constantly moving quick style of soccer is the perfect strategy against the methodical, poised, skilled and patient way of play that the Italians are masters of. Teams are starting to pick that up, and Italy has suffered. The way the US competed with Italy in the WC shows. Fast, fast, fast…don’t give the Italians time to think. Lippi needs to address this issue before June asap.