GameDay. Ireland v. Italy

June 7th, 2011 | by: Marco |

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Ireland v. Italy

7 June 2011 19:45:00 BST
Stade Maurice Dufrasne — Liège-Sclessin (Luik)
Referee:‬ Serge Gumienny‎

Italy

Starting Lineup: Viviano, Cassani, Gamberini, Chiellini, Criscito, Nocerino, Pirlo, Marchisio, Montolivo, Rossi, Pazzini.

Marco’s thoughts on Italy. Prandelli has rewarded Pazzini after a decent performance in the second half of Friday’s game against Estonia. However, the concern I have with this formation is that for some reason it seems a little too rigid. Cassano’s vision and ability to hold onto the ball is now absent; while a suitable replacement like Seb Giovinco finds himself starting from the bench.

Montolivo will be hard pressed to replicate his stunning performance against Estonia, and if he does succeed in turning heads he will have truly deserved these repeat opportunities by Prandelli.

For this match, I would have personally enjoyed a complete overhaul of our lineup following the last match; however, it’s become obvious that Prandelli wants to build off the positives over our last match; it’s also become apparent that his overzealous attack mentality has shifted into beefing up our midfield. Be mindful however, we could find Cassano and Giovinco on at the same time during a duration of this match; and if that’d be the case; instant calcio orgasm!

Republic of Ireland

Starting Lineup: Forde, McShane, St Ledger, O’Dea, Ward, Coleman, Andrews, Foley, Lawrence, Keogh, Long.

Marco’s thoughts on Ireland. The Trap has seemed at home in the green garb of the fighting Irish. In my opinion his days as manager of Italy always seemed like he was just a little too careful. He was under tremendous pressure to produce a championship and thus never coloured outside of the lines. In fact performances like the draw against Sweden @ Euro 2004 demonstrated that all too often the Trap coloured too far inside the lines. Enter his tenure in Ireland; and although the Irish haven’t relived the memories of Italia 90; they still seem to have risen from the ashes and brought about an era of competitiveness. Remember, had it not been for a hand of Henry they’d be in South Africa for the World Cup.

It is my impression that regardless of current form, Ireland do come out well organized. Whether they’ll be able to cope with a very different Italy than they are used to remains to be seen. They will not be pushovers in this match.

The Match.

Well, predictions are abound. However, I do predict a similar Italy to arrive onto the pitch this evening than was present during our last match. Prandelli has them playing a possession intense game which is a nice change from them sitting back and watching the ball for 75 minutes. One of the marked changes in our match against Estonia was that we didn’t sink down to the Estonian level of play. I am reminded how Donadoni managed to go down to the play and talent of the Faroe Islands years ago for Euro 2008 Qualifications. Prandelli managed to keep the team motivated and in search of a positive result. I expect a similar type of mentality to come about in this match. We are going to be going for the win. However, I do predict the Irish will come out strong and willing to take the game to the Azzurri. My prediction will be 2-0 for the Azzurri.

As always please comment during the match down below!