Vaffanculo, Donadoni

I agree. The worst thing wasn’t the heavy scoreline, the incompetence, the sloth on counters (twice) or Materazzi in general, it was the fact that Donadoni thinks he’s right.

I 100% agree with your recommended squad, as I called for before, Panucci-Chiellini in the center. I’d like to see ADN come on late to use his pace to burn defenders, cause Del Piero’s a great supersub but he’s not fast. Cassano should start, that way Camoranesi and Panucci can come on to trick things up.

Unless our midfield can deliver to Camoranesi/Winger#2, Toni ain’t gonna score. And Gattuso and Ambrosini won’t. When you see Pirlo go into sliding challenges, something isn not right in Azzurri land.

flanking ADP and Cassano behind Toni should provide the service he needs…Given a full 90, that is

Bravo to both Chris and Alessio. Hit the nail on the head in almost every tactical aspect. A bunch of early 20’s Italian-American bloggers can see what a Milan legend can’t. Pity.

i have doubt about Aquilani since he is less experienced, but when it comes to the MUST-WIN game, this lad might give 1000% and thrust out the likes of Firgusen-Coldoron-Brahimmovic’s eyes, not to mention that Morattitits and Gigliana have already cummed.

Perotta/Aquilani….just toss the coin Donna baby girl.

After suffering a similarly humiliating loss due to a weak midfield and excessive defensive wingback formation, which is entirely the fault of our coach, I see why the Italians are so frustrated with Donadoni.

Whatever happens, good luck with the rest of the competition. With Donadoni refusing to change the lineup (like Rehaggel) it’s going to be a disappointing run.

Mind you Alessio, that was one incredibly awesome tackle by Andrea. Like, of epic proportions. Maybe because I never see him pull one off. Haha, I can’t get over Chris’ message on the liveblog when it happened… “PIRLO TACKLE! PIRLO TACKLE!”

Amen Chris. I have to say that Rino finally kicked into action in the second half and showed sparks of that grit that we all know and love, but by that time, it was much too late. That being said, I am totally behind your formation, Aqui and DDR would add some much needed energy. I just don’t think people should count Rino Badass Gattuso out. He still has a hella lot to give to this squad when he’s not space cadet-ing and he’ll be the first to admit it if this isn’t the case. I wouldn’t mind seeing him paired with Andrea and De Rossi in midfield.

A glaring example of how poor and sluggish our defense and midfield were yesterday: if you paid attention on their 2nd goal, the player attempting that late coverage on Sneijder was Di Natale! Now, you can blame him for not rising to the occasion on offense, never being decisive in big games, not ever putting a decent shot on goal all night, but at least he was trying! On a counter from a corner, one of our forwards ends up as our last defender: something is obviously very very wrong and everyone but Donadoni could see it.

Chris, I don’t know where you got the Donadoni quote but in Italian, it sounds a bit different and he’s got a point.

Quoting from La Repubblica:

“In base al risultato la formazione era tutta sbagliata – risponde Donadoni – ma manca la controprova. Per me non era sbagliata, sbagliato è stato non fare gol con le occasioni che abbiamo avuto e aver subito sui nostri errori. Uomini e moduli non mettono però al riparo da errori e gol sbagliati”.

This roughly translates to:

“Based on Monday’s final result, one could say the formation was completely inappropriate, but there are no means to verify the alternative. In my view tactics weren’t the mistake. The mistake was not scoring with the chances we obtained and conceding on our defensive errors. Different players and tactics don’t guarantee you avoiding missed chances or making mistakes.”

All Donadoni is saying is that there’s really no guarantee (and no means to verify it) that Italy still wouldn’t have crashed & burned with a Roma midfield or with ADP and Cassano. I mean with Barzagli & Materazzi playing the way they did, the game could have ended 5-0.

In addition, you’re being harsh with your line-up expectations for the match vs. Romania. Call me an optimist but despite what you obviously think of him, Donadoni’s not an idiot. He might be a bit stubborn yes, but he doesn’t even come close to say… Raymond Domenech in that area. After Monday’s performance, I really don’t expect him to field the same AC Milan midfield line for a while.

If he does fine, I’ll throw in the towel, will stop defending him and will even throw the first stone, but let’s give this guy one more chance. No point in hate-bashing until this thing is over and call me crazy, I’m still hoping it will not be over until Gigi Buffon and Fabio Cannavaro raise to cup towards the sky on June 29.

Still from La Repubblica:

Despite defending his choices, Donadoni is open to making changes in the Azzurri’s next match. “Changing things” he says” is in the natural logic and order of things. We will have to evaluate the physical recuperation of the boys, something which will have to wait until tomorrow. Everyone went to sleep at 4am last night, and this doesn’t give us the opportunity of making a clear assessment.” As far as what changes lie ahead however, that’s still an open question. Truth be told, the Azzurri’s second half Monday was not as dramatic at the first, and many are wondering whether a tactical change involving Del Piero and Cassano supporting Toni would be an indicated solution. Perhaps coupled with the other “consoling factor” of Monday night’s performance, namely the utilization of Christian Panucci in lieu of an embarassing Marco Materazzi, and the confirmation of a super-fit Fabio Grosso on the left wing.

“I was satisfied with the performance of our substitutes in the second half, and using those tactics against Romania, with Del Piero playing as a second striker just like he likes to do, could be the right choice” said Donadoni. “However, we must also take into consideration that at that point, Holland started focusing on defense in order to avoid taking risks, and that allowed us to push up more freely.” The Don declared that Italy’s formation could also change, perhaps to the 4-1-4-1 that has worked so well on other occasions: “We might use that formation, but there are plenty of other options. Playing with 4 midfielders leaves us the problem of finding someone to play the left-wing role, as we don’t have a specialist in the squad“. Indeed, the player which could probably fill those shoes best is Simone Perrotta, who is right-footed and plays more towards the center. Not the most ideal solution.

What do you all think of this formation? (It is quite similar to Chris’s)

4-1-3-2

Backline: Zambrotta on the right, Grosso on the left, Chiellini and Panucci in the middle.

The 1 is Gattuso, whose job it will be to run side to side and box to box just like Cannavaro would’ve done.

The Midfield Trio: Pirlo, Aquilani and De Rossi

The 2 strikers: Toni and Del Piero or Quagliarella.

“Based on Monday’s final result, one could say the formation was completely inappropriate, but there are no means to verify the alternative. In my view tactics weren’t the mistake. The mistake was not scoring with the chances we obtained and conceding on our defensive errors. Different players and tactics don’t guarantee you avoiding missed chances or making mistakes.”

No means to verify it? Is he kidding? Fuck this moron. I feel 10X worse than when Guidolin screwed up my beloved Palermo earlier this year because Italy have a bench full of world class players and you choose to play a 34 year old Materazzi who got eaten by Del Piero and plenty of others again and again this season.

Defensive errors are down to the defensive players the coach picks, not down to the will of the players. It’s not like Marco is sucking on purpose, he just sucks. The back 4 and midfield should basically pick itself, up front we have more tactical flexibility which is always a good thing. I don’t crucify Donadoni for what he’s done with Di Natale and Camo, I crucify him for that abortion of a back 4 and midfield, which cost us the “defensive errors” he talks about. Fucking prick.

Fratelli, ease up on the insults. There is no shame in losing to the Netherlands (especially this squad). We all know the scoreline does not tell the whole story.

Keep in mind we are missing Cannavaro, who would have ran his ass off the prevent those counter attacks. Also keep in mind, alot of these guys won us a World Cup…..

JP, There’s no shame in losing 1-0. I didn’t think I would ever see the day when Italy get blown out 3-0, could have been 4 or 5 if not for Buffon.

Bobo, you just calmed my nerves a little bit. Thank you for that.

I agree with this post 150%. Somebody tell barzagli that World cup 94 is over and we all got past the bra strap and long hair. Fuckin goofbag.

Bobo, I’m not asking this to be an ass, it’s a sincere question: What has Donadoni shown you during qualifying that gives the impression he’s up to the task? Or that he has the capabilities to coach at this level?

JP I actually really like that lineup especially because it is easy to modify to a possible substitution where Cassano takes Aquilani or De Rossi’s place and the remaining two midfielders shift back and play on either side of Gattuso. Also you could sub out Gattuso and shift De Rossi back…well the possibilities are endless but sadly I doubt the Don will come up with such brilliant ideas.

Glad to see I’m not the only optimist here. Thank you Bobo.

Chris, to answer your question: Italy did make it out of the qualifying group ranked first didn’t they? A group with WC finalists France no less. Donadoni might not be the most shrewd tactician on Earth but he got us this far. As Bobo said, I can’t help but think Monday night was just an accident with plenty of extenuating circumstances (Cannavaro’s injury above all).

To make a parallel with other coaches, everyone in Brazil ripped on Dunga for his defensive tactics until he shut everybody up by winning the Copa America. I say until this is all over, we can only do but one thing and that is (to quote you) “In Donadoni We Trust”.

Ok I’ll shut up now.

Guys we have real ballers on our team no matter what I see Italy advancing. This was the best thing that coulda happened to us. Well come out with a fire in our stomachs and kick some Romanian ass then well move on to the French!!! Forza Azzurri!!

“Italy did make it out of the qualifying group ranked first didn’t they?”

So didn’t Greece. And? There were certainly times he didn’t take anything off the table, but how many times did he actually put things on the table? Add to the equation? At best he was running in place with a team which should have finished first in qualifying, Franco or no.

The biggest problem I have? So many posters on an internet forum saw this coming once the lineups were announced. How could the coach of the national team not?

Donadoni led us out of the qualifying group….yes he certainly did. He did it with a 3-1 defeat to the french and a skin of the balls match to the scotts. Anything could’ve happened regardless of the lineup. In the game against holland THE BENCH WAS BETTER THAN THE STARTING LINEUP! That’s not even sarcasm that’s a fact. But it’s okay we’re only in the group of death no big deal. And hey if we ever need to score and make something happen we don’t need inzaghi bcuz we got good ol boriello on the bench and i wouldn’t be suprised to see him start insead of luca toni. What a fucking joke this guy is. I do agree that a loss like this was inevitable in this tournament. It may be a good thing to light a fire inside this Italian team. But on the other hand we’re surely gonna have to play spain in the quarter finals. WHY WAS THERE NOT TWO SUBSTITUTIONS IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE SECOND GOAL????????????? I said this in another post but when the azzurri are down 2-0 something is wrong and as a coach you react accordingly. What a fucking fagbox. This guy seriously better impress all of us with a 5-0 win over romania or else he’s probably better off changing his identity and hiding out in austria and or switzerland!

Just go with a 4-1-4-1

Buffon
Zambro-Panucci-Chiellini-Grosso
De Rossi
Camo-Pirlo-Aquilani-Perrotta (same position he played during the WC 06)
Toni

i think they should go back to there 4-4-2 formation that they use for the world cup, or they can play 4-1-4-1,

Well, it looks like he’s going to make changes. (that is, if the media are right this time)

4-3-1-2 with Materazzi, Gattuso, Camoranesi and Di Natale heading to the bench. http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=731750

As far as I can guess from what they say there it would be something like
Zambro – ? Barz/Panucci – Chiellini – Grosso
DDR – Pirlo – Ambrosini
Cassano
Toni – ADP

Ambro still in it? Noooooooooooooooo

Johnny — not sure, but they didn’t name him among ‘to the bench’ so I’m guessing he’s still there. I have to say that surprised me though, as I would think DDR in, Ambro out.

It’s speculation at this point.

Marco – thanks for the post and the excerpts from La Repubblica. I think Donadoni is clever enough to know he’s made some serious errors. The question is does he have enough coaching experience to learn from his mistakes.

So what does losing 3-0 in the first round mean for Italy? I’ve checked recent Euro tournies to see if there is any historical precdents.

joemaica.wordpress.com/2008/06/11/3-0-and-then-what-happens/

It’s something when even Pirlo says he’s pissed off, perhaps it isn’t all rose petals and kisses in the azzurri camp after all.

No one really knows (certainly not goal.com).

The Gazzetta’s best guess this morning is a 4-3-1-2 with a diamond in the middle (De Rossi playing a bit behind the other two midfielders and Camoranesi playing behind the two strikers).

Grosso-Chiellini-Barzagli-Zambrotta
Ambrosini-DeRossi-Prilo
Camoranesi
Del Piero-Toni

But we are going to see all kinds of speculation between now and Fridy afternoon; the Gazzetta filled a page today with suggestions from “celebrities”.

The second coming of christ I see…those are high expectations for anyone, let alone your golden boy. If you believe his presence would have solved all of the problems on Monday than you are just as arrogant as the coach you seem to have such a fondness for…

“DDR is a defensive mid, an attacking mid, a central mid, but most importantly….he’s a 5th defender. His workrate allows him to vacuum everything from box to box, touch to touch for a complete 90 minutes. He’s the best asset on the team, because he allows for such tactical versatility, he’s your best midfielder and he’s on the fucking pine? Come on, Susan. Pull your skirt up, take your black & red panties off and do the one thing that you can’t fuck up: start your best midfielder.”

“No service. DDR playing would’ve allowed Pirlo to sit further up top and provide more creativity centrally because De Rossi can act as a playmaker. Until Del Piero and Cassano came on, two guys who drift until they can’t drift anymore, Luca was being fed longballs England-style and holding and holding….and holding…and holding…waiting for the cavalry to arrive. Gattuso and Ambrosini have passing ranges which don’t extend beyond the length of their manhoods (in Gattuso’s case seven feet), which works in the Milan system. ”

Marco great stuff…

Excellent post, Chris..

“Italy did make it out of the qualifying group ranked first didn’t they?”
Yeah, by beating the smaller teams. How does that help in the Group of Death?

In qualifying Italy met one good team. How many points did they get against them in two matches? I count… one?

i dont care about the midfield . We wont win with this defence for sure. matrix and barzagli were incredibly slow. I dont know if there has been a worse centre back pairing for italy. The defensive combination was bad to begin with. Matrix & Barzagli played horribly. Panucci’s Trap era problem hasnt been rectified yet. He goes on a lot of overlaps & cant get back to his defensive post in time & gets caught off position. He has aged further so is even slower. Zambrotta tried to go the overlap in the first 15 minutes but seeing the defensive woes he stayed back. This crippled the left side. In the 2nd goal Panucci was caught out of position he should have been with van Bronckhorst when he released the cross. But he was out of position from the corner that took place just before.No one except zambrotta has earned a spot for the next match. one thing is for sure. It should be grosso on the left and zambro on the right. chiellini should replace materazzi. We can give another chance to Barzagli

As a neutral fan in the international scene you Italian fans have overlooked far too many things…First the problem with the team is the fact that your players are old and have already won the WC06. They lack drive and hunger to win this Euro and they simply could be out of gas from playing a long club season and now in the off-season playing an international tournament. Rather than arguing about whether Milan’s midfield is the problem or DDR should be in there you need to see that your team is old, slow, and un-motivated. Look at the youthfulness of Spain out there. They are hungry to win and they have tons of youth who can run up and down the field all day. On Toni, the arguments here are extremely flawed…elite strikers create offense when they are on the ball, Toni did not do that at all. He squandered a couple of chances that he should have buried. He got the ball and didn’t score…DDR isn’t going to give him any better balls than the one he got alone in the box that he popped over the net. Toni was a flat out embarrassment because he is an elite striker but when the Dutch got ahead he quit and that should worry Italian fans more than the fact that your midfield is slow, old and lacks motivation to win this tournament.

Gianfranco, dude, what the matter man? Did someone shove a tree up your ass?

This is not good… They are already turning on the coach.. First Pirlo and now these players..
http://goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=731904

Ha.

Steven. Whoa there.

Panucci = Dona’s job. Remember one rainy night in Scotland. If not for THAT goal, we would be talking WC Qualifiers with the ENGLISH.

Repay the Romanisti, and start Aqui e DDR Donadumbo.

Enough MAN LOVE for Marco e Chris a tutti!!

One positive note- Yesterday the Azzurri squad went into the city of Vienna with their families, except for Cassano, who chose to sleep instead.

Bravo, Talentino.

Good for Cassano,I would rather have the Azzurri getting rest rather than strolling around Vienna burning out their legs.

I just meant it made me laugh a bit after a few days of Azzurri shittiness.

Haha, it’s worded great. If I was Cassano, I’d do the same thing.

I am sure he is not sleeping alone :p

and daniele, as much as panucci is good with headers his defence was a problem on monday. we should play youth were its necessary.Unlike before i fully convinced now as to why de rossi should start :d . Chiellini should be in the defence rather than panucci.

Sushan, Si.

He should be played in the middle, where he is more effective at the ripe old age of 5,678 years young.

But Dona is the coach, and he is smarter than I am. And today is opposite day.

I’m just as torn as Chris is. I’d love for the Azzuri to win it this year, especially for Canna but I do not and I stress DO NOT want to see Donadoni as the coach in 2010.

Bobo, your biased in your views…most of you posting are. This is an Italy page, I got it, but you have all turned on each other and reverted to favor your own club teams over the national team. ITALY IS OLD, and does not have any pride in their play. Experienced, older players don’t always win. Hunger, motivation, pride, skill, youth, at times can make up for lack of experience. I don’t care how many trophies Spain has since 1970, it was an example of a team that lacks experience that the italians have but was at least able to score some goals and win their match.

Regardless of where the current national coach used to coach at the club level, the problem is that your players are old, tired, and lack any sense of pride in adding a Euro title to their WC06 crown. Point is, many of you are looking to place the blame on Milan players/ex coach when the problem is not one guy on Italy played well regardless of what his club team is and if your criticizing the players from rival club teams on YOUR OWN national team than you have no sense of pride in your favorite national team just like the players don’t right now. You can get mad at Gianfranco for defending his Milan team but he isn’t bashing Roma players or Inter players or any other Serie A players that played like crap for Italy against the Netherlands.

Darren – That will NOT HAPPEN.

He is gone after this tournamnet whether he likes it or not.

Worst loss in 25 years? First against the Dutch in 30? Barely got out of an easy, EASY group.

The 3-1 was a bad way to get off the bat.

If Donadoni starts anything that resembles this formation, I will just empty my Smirnoff.

Buffon;
Zambrotta, Barzagli, Panucci, Grosso;
Gattuso, Pirlo, Ambrosini;
Camo, Toni, Di Natale.

“…but we haven’t lost this badly to ANYBODY in 25 YEARS”

I don’t know how accurate this comment is, or if it’s off by a few years plus or minus.

But, taken at face value, that would put the last 3-0 loss at just after “we” won our last World Cup.

It could be nothing more than a let down by players who have already won everything that there is to win. Folks, there are going to be more losses in the future. I hope we will handle then better than this…

I dont see how Don could not start Cassano,ADP,and DDR.

MAD – It’s one thing to be tired, uninformed, and leadinto battle with half the army on the bench.

It’s another thing to just give up because you have won the World Cup.

I get it. It was the biggest honour in the world.

But the EUROS are no pushover.

Italia 3 Romania 1.

“…but we haven’t lost this badly to ANYBODY in 25 YEARS”

I meant in a tournament. The last I can remember was World Cup 1970, 4 – 1 to Brazil in the final.

“Point is, many of you are looking to place the blame on Milan players/ex coach when the problem is not one guy on Italy played well regardless of what his club team is and if your criticizing the players from rival club teams on YOUR OWN national team than you have no sense of pride in your favorite national team just like the players don’t right now. ”

Uh, Chad, did you go to sleep during the second half? Cassano, Del Piero, Grosso, Zambrotta… all these guys played very well, and you can’t deny that Italy had chances to tie the game in the second half.

BTW, Milan is my team. I bleed rossonero. But what Donadoni did is inexcusable, and it’s not cannabilistic or immodest in the least to admit when one’s own club has had a bad season. This summer, the Azzurri are my main concern, so I call bad decisions as I see them.

And I think that it’s very patronizing of you to say that Italian players have no pride to win another cup. Call it disinterest, but don’t you dare call it a lack of pride. Most of these guys have medals and trophies that many players can only dream of.

Oh man, I’m dying to know.

What team are you rooting for, Chad? Please share it with us…

My best guess would be that he’s rooting for Spain… why else would he keep throwing the geriatric argument in our faces? I like the Spanish team and everything,`but I’ve wanted revenge against them since that loss in the friendly. If we get out of the group, I think we can take them. And yes, I realize that Donadoni is still the coach for the Azzurri.

Test

I just want to take a moment to point out one thing:

We’re having a serious discussion about Cassano as a starter against Romania. This just made me smile a bit.

Not that I’m against it, but a week ago, I would’ve said “so, basically, you want a ten-man squad at the 60th?” Of course, a week ago, I figured a worst case scenario of a tie with Holland.

I should clarify that again. Chris didn’t say that.

Is it too early to say I never trusted him? For an Interista it hurts to say this, but we need Roman players. Bring on Aquilani & bring on de Rossi; Scolari had the balls to pull apart his team after the first game at WC2006, look where it got them.

But, let’s be frank, it’s Donadoni. We’re fucked.

Well, im gonna examine La Gazzetta, but goal.com put this out there:

http://goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=731750

Usually unreliable, let’s hope this is actually legit. And it DOES look reputable!

http://www.gazzetta.it/Speciali/Europei/2008/Primo_Piano/2008/06_Giugno/11/totoformazione.shtml

Geez…let’s keep our fingers crossed.

Alot of people are bashing the decision to go with an all AC Milan midfield, using Milan’s 5th place finish to justify their anger. However, don’t forget that there were a plethora of reasons as to why Milan finished 5th and Ambrosini was not one of them.

Massimo was one of Milan’s best players. He scored 6 goals (I think) and had alot of assists. But those are just stats, you can’t measure his ball winning ability, leadership, and work rate with numbers and figures.

That said, I’m 100% for starting De Rossi and Aquilani. I really do think that a 4-1-3-2 will get us to the final. Like I said, losing your opening match against against the Dutch is not a bad thing. Losing 3-0 sucks, but I think the scoreline is decieving. What really sucks is the fact that Italy NEEDS TO WIN the next two games, and one of those matches is against France.

But how awesome would it be if: Italy starts the tournament with their worst performance in 25 years, rebounds to get out of the group by winning the next two thereby sending France home early and then goes on to win the Final! I could write a better script (it would involve Italy not losing 3-0 on opening day) but hey, I like the way that first one sounds too.

“Look at the youthfulness of Spain out there. They are hungry to win and they have tons of youth who can run up and down the field all day.”

Look, don’t patronize us, okay? The same could be said of every Spanish team since the 1970s. Total trophy count since then: ZERO. This team could very well be different, but the burned hand teaches best with Spain.

I can’t believe that anybody is arguing that De Rossi couldn’t have made a difference. Pirlo wasn’t nearly as brilliant as usual because he had way too many defensive responsibilities on his shoulders, especially as the two defensive midfielders on either side of him did very little to help win possession (when I saw Pirlo making a tackle, I knew we were in for it). I mean, when freaking Di Natale has to mark Sneijder on the second goal, you know there’s something wrong with the defenders (we knew that, though) and the defensive midfielders. Daniele De Rossi is one of the best midfielders in the world, and he gets left on the bench for a guy who only became a Milan regular after Calciopoli caused the Milan roster to get a lot thinner. I hope you’ll join me in saying, WTF?!

I always knew that Inzaghi should have been picked ahead of Borriello. It’s as if Don is naive and really thinks that Borriello is anything more than a flash in the pan. He picks youth when experience is needed and picks old farts when younger legs could do the job twice as well. So, while I have defended him to an extent, I can honestly say: F*ck you Donadoni for that Holland match. I was so embarrassed for my country and for the players themselves, because you know a lot of idiots were gleefully pouncing on their reputations.

To Chris: No, Donadoni is no tactical genius. He barely qualifies as a coach. But he’s never been under this kind of pressure before to change his lineup, not even with the first match against France when everybody just shrugged and said it was a World Cup hangover. I’m fairly positive that Donadoni will cave into the pressure, and conveniently enough, other coaches have suggested many different formations that could do the job. What’s for certain is that things will change, but we’ll have to wait until Friday to see if they’re for the better.

P.S. Gamberini and Chiellini is growing to be a more and more attractive option in the back. But I’m really not sure how much time they’ve had playing together and whether there’s any chemistry there. At any rate, I’m fairly positive that Panucci and Chiellini will be the starting CBs, and, as someone suggested, Panucci can be replaced by Gamberini right away if he’s struggling.

Sort of a biased midfield, Chris.

I understand that Ambro should not start again, but Gattuso MUST be in there. He and Pirlo have some sort of weird telepathic (sp?) connection. It’s difficult to explain, but easy to see. Perrotta and Aqui should both definatley NOT be starting over Gattuso.

Spain. I like the Spainish. I like them every international tourney. They always come out guns blazing and then they run out of steam. That being said, they are certainly an exciting team to watch.

I think we will get out of the group. Donadoni is a tool, make no mistake about that. But he must put the proper squad out there. I’m pretty much in agreement with all of the Italia fans here with regard to who should be on the pitch Friday. Italy has played many tourneys with their backs against the wall and have used that as a form of motivation. It can happen again.

And I’m not Chad. I think the Italian National team is in a stage of transition. A lot of players from the 06 team are here – it’s just getting the right match. We can do it. We’re not that old, to be honest. But definitely older than a Holland or Spain. We can do it. Forza Azzurri!

Spain always starts with a bang. Not to say they don’t have an enormous team.

“Cassano, Del Piero, Grosso, Zambrotta… all these guys played very well”

I don’t think I can agree with this at all. Grosso and Zambrotta pushed up, but the last two goals were:
a. crossed to and then distributed away from in front of Zambrotta
b. headed in right in front of Zambrotta
c. Grosso’s contribution to the defense was in direct inverse proportion to his offensive contribution.

I have to say that Cassano made a pass to Toni and at least Del Piero took a few shots, however this was a team loss. Ultimately, none of these guys “played well” from my point of view.

Previous to the game, the only thing I would have wised for was that there was a playmaker or second attacker behind Toni. Either pushing Pirlo up or Quags, Del Piero or Cassano in for Ambrosini: funneling the attack to him. In any event, The defense didn’t defend well and the attack didn’t score.

The players that were in were all world class level players. Any one of them could start for most of the teams in the tournament, and they would be happy to have them. It was just a bad game.

Perrotta is almost as mediocre as Ambrosini. As far as I’m concerned, if the third midfielder next to De Rossi and Pirlo (he’s got to use those two, right? Right?) isn’t one between Gattuso and Aquilani, I’m going to kidnap a girl, climb a skyscraper with her on my shoulder, then start banging my chest once I’m at the top.

Seriously, Ambrosini. I couldn’t believe my eyes.

Without doubt we can go far in this tourney, we WILL beat Romania, the don is not as stupid as some on here think, he made a mistake with the last lineup and he knows it. No coach on this earth will admit tactical mistakes. The lineup will be different against Romania im very sure of that. My guess Buffon

Zambrotta Panucci Chiellini Grosso

De Rossi Pirlo Gatusso

Cassano

Toni Di Natale

The Romania/France games will be very nerve racking, but I do think we will get out of the group and then only get better, Forza Italia!!!

Perrotta has 10X the workrate and pace that Ambrosini could ever dream of. Ambrosini may be MUCH better in the air, but his defensive ability has always been overrated because of his willingness to “get stuck in”. Lots of players like to get stuck in, doesn’t mean they are good defenders. Rushing into challenges and running around like a chicken with no head does not make you a good defender. Ambrosini’s positional awareness is simply appalling. Again, I’m not talking about him in a Milan shirt. As far as I know for them he has been fine. But this isn’t Milan. We don’t have Kaka who can turn a bad pass into a great one. Just because he had one chance in front of goal the other night (which he fluffed), doesn’t really mean anything to be fair. Aquilani and De Rossi bury that chance. Perrotta blazes it 400 seats up.

“…but we haven’t lost this badly to ANYBODY in 25 YEARS

I meant in a tournament. The last I can remember was World Cup 1970, 4 – 1 to Brazil in the final.”

I looked it up. The last loss of this kind in a tournament was to Sweden 3-0 in the European Cup Qualifying stage in 1983. We would lose to Sweden (again) and Czechoslovakia 2-0 in the same qualifying outing. Twenty-five years ago, almost one year after we had just won the World Cup with what would prove to be a legendary squad.

“Sort of a biased midfield, Chris.”

Not a more biased midfield than one with Ambrosini and/or Gattuso.

Quote from Zambrotta:
We are very focused on the match and want to erase the bad start we’ve made to the tournament against the Netherlands. We will take to the field with the aim of winning against Romania, they (Romania) have quality players, and we know that they can defend well, but we need to think about ourselves and go into the match fully prepared to give our all. With the right approach I’m confident that we can get back on track.”

Grosso added:
“We’ll definitely need to change lots of things but we’ll find out exactly what when we talk with our coach, We know we got the first match wrong and when you only play three matches in the group you can’t afford any more slip-ups.”

Certainly the right noises coming out of the Azzurri camp, lets just hope it unfolds that way! Forza Italia!!

I am a neutral fan in the tournament. I have no loyalty to any of the teams in the Euro08. My club favorite is Arsenal (not and English national team fan at all either), but I watch a lot of the Serie A games as well. My main beef with the posts in here is the fact that there is far too much criticism of one Serie A club teams players in order to favor your own club teams players. That is natural but your loyalties should lie with your National team first and your club team second. The greater good of country over state.

Ricci I believe DeRossi would foul his own mother!? He gets stuck in just like the next guy, it is the nature of the job they do. Perotta is not better than Ambro, and I have to saying “As far as I know for them he has been fine” just shows your ignorance on Ambro and his performance this season.

perrotta is crap. Easily worse than ambro. he can shove the workrate up his ass. I want to see aquilani play.

Donadoni got the tactics all wrong, if there was any tactics to begin with.. The players were a lot of times out of position.. and one player out of position causes another player to be out of position.. It’s a chain reaction..

Ambro found himself having to push forward because Camo and Di Natale were playing too wide at times.. The tactics is just wrong..

Bring any 2 of Di Natale, Delpi and Cassano and make them play behind Toni in a central attacking position and you’ll find Ambro playing his role, just like he does in Milan.. He can be a monster in the midfield..

De Rossi > Ambrosini, but apparently De Rossi is Gattuso’s replacement.. So I guess Ambro might have a chance to prove himself.. (if Donadoni changes the formation)

As far as I am concerned Ambrosini is not a national player, he may perform well for Milan but not Italy. De Rossi on the other hand always impresses me and we should be playing our future stars in the Euros, not playing a past his best 31 year old! we fielded the oldest ever team to play in the tournament against the Dutch and it showed. Also we desperatly need to drop the 4-3-3 formation as it simply doesn’t work! We won the World Cup in 06 with 4-4-2 and 4-3-1-2 formations for fu@ks sake so if it aint broke why try and fix it???!!!

I am so angered and upset with all the other top teams doing so well and showing the world what they can do, and I just know we can play so much better, we wait and hope! Forza Italia!!

I suppose Perrotta being crap means he shouldn’t have started the final in Berlin.

Antonio: So Gattuso needs to start, along with De Rossi as you say, against a team renowned for sitting 6-7 people behind the ball at all times? Not saying he won’t or it’d be a terrible thing, but having another guy to pick the lock could hardly be considered a poor choice in this case, provided they can play defense, which they can. And it’s hardly biased when most fans of a great number of teams are calling for the same midfield.

And I think a great deal of the club bias is perception, simply because the two sets are so readily identified by their respective clubs. We’d all feel the same way about the Milan midfield if they played for Lecce, Bari and Mantova. Or the Roman midfield if they played for Cisco Roma. There’s no bias from me against Milan, nor any for Roma, because when it comes to la nazionale that’s out the window. The one Roman on the pitch was fucking brutal on Monday until he was moved centrally. Massimo Oddo should’ve been on the right if that was going to be the case, and everyone who’s been here more than a week knows how I feel about him. I suspect this is the same for most people. Fact is, the midfield of De Rossi and Aquilani was typically dominant when on the pitch together (Aquilani’s health being an issue) this year, and we just want to see that translate to the Azzurri. Nothing more. Everyone wants an Azzurri win…provided Donadoni is fired afterwards.

chris, of course perrotta is crap *rolls eyes*. he was the sole reason why we had to resort to pk’s in order to win the thing. had he been off, we would have hammered the french 5-1 in regulation.

Spoken like a true gentleman, chris.

Guys, sadly Gattuso will never be the same player he was. Those who have watched Milan this year would agree with me. i reckon it is high time for our management to groom De Rossi who in addition to his physical/defensive traits brings a great technical part into the game. I mean De Rossi is a complete midfielder, a total package..

“That is natural but your loyalties should lie with your National team first and your club team second. The greater good of country over state.”

Si and this IS the case.

But on the boot, CLUB COMES FIRST.

**FROM ESPN**
Coach Roberto Donadoni is expected to make changes for the Romania game with forward Alessandro Del Piero, midfielder Daniele De Rossi and defenders Fabio Grosso and Giorgio Chiellini most likely to come in to the starting lineup.

A change of formation from 4-3-3 to 4-3-2-1 is also possible.

FORZA ITALIA!!

I was wrong . Perrotta was the best italian player in the tournament. fuck he was the best player in the tournament. he should have won the ballon d’or too . fuck that useless cannavaro and another useless thug zinedine zidane , perrotta is the real deal.

^^^^^^^^^^^

happy chris and other roma fans.

ps- de rossi is better than baggio

And I think it’s a tribute to two great clubs that their entire midfields could be up for inclusion and debate in la nazionale. I mean, we could be starting Inter’s Italian midfield:

Buffon;
Zambro, Panucci, Chiellini, Grosso;
XXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX
Del Piero, Toni, Cassano.

(It’s not Azzurri time unless you’re throwing shots at Inter these days.)

Chris, I agree, if there is one thing that every Milan and Roma fan can agree on it is that INTER IS CRAP!

**** Perrotta. I want to see Aquilani out there. So many other countries use these tournaments as a chance to get exposure for their talented young players but we Italians are so afraid that the youngsters will move abroad that we wait to introduce them into the fold until they’re 25 and fully embedded within the Serie A. This usually works to our advantage, but who wouldn’t have wanted to see Rossi, Giovinco, et. al get their chances? I don’t know if they would have done any worse than the guys out on the pitch that fateful night.

Yes. Inter. Not an italian team. So sorry for the inter fans who don’t
have a team to support during the euros, but argentina is not
a european country.
It is in south america, which is where inter should be playing.

Yeah don should be hanged for not playing aquilani. We are absolutely wasting his talent. Look at holland. sniejder is as old as him. worked out well with him, innit??

Inter who??

inter??lol.This is like talking about england.Absolutely no relevance

Grosso:

“We are not big babies the way some people have said,”

“Technical critiques of our performance are fine, but there have been some really nasty and pointless personal attacks. I was no longer accustomed to the Italian Press, they often behave this way.”

“The heavy result does not reflect everything seen on the pitch that day. Besides, it is a verdict that must be accepted and transformed into positive energy for the next game,” added Grosso.

“We conceded the first goal in what might euphemistically be called a ‘strange’ way, the squad got irritated and straight after the second went in. It’s not easy in such an important competition to recover from that.

“The 2-0 shook us up, but we still had chances to re-open the match. The whole squad goes together, win or lose, all the way to the end. We want to make up for it and will prove it.

“We cannot make a mistake in the game against Romania, but we are not afraid. The pre-World Cup spirit is still intact and we’ll show you all. We are aware of our capabilities.”

Perrotta and Aquilani are different types of players, definately, Donadoni needs to play Aquilani right from the start against Romania if we are to win it..definately..

Our line up was just shit cassano is rumored to be playing the trequarista position behind toni and ADP with chiellini and grosso coming in.

SO MUCH FUN to watch Italy tailspin. CRASH!

Donadoni should’ve called up Barone, like Lippi did in 2006. This way, we’d still have someone worse than Assbrosini in the team.

Seems like Grosso can ring true here as well:

“Technical critiques of our performance are fine, but there have been some really nasty and pointless personal attacks. I was no longer accustomed to the Italian Press (worldcup blog comments), they often behave this way.”

Oh Chris,

That Inter midfield couldn’t even put one away against America.

Anyway, I’m iffy on Perotta starting. He’ll run his ass off, but I know about Simone’s finishing boots, and it makes me a little worried. Aquilani needs to be bubble-wrapped as much as Van Persie, but I’d love to see him come in as a 2nd half sub.

I’d love to see ESPN’s news come through. A Christmas tree formation (hopefully) minus Mr. Christmas.

The irony.

Lots of bashers are buzzing like little gnats in my ear.

Lest we forget.

World, WORLD, Cup Champs = Italia.

So.

Fuck off haters?

We will be back Friday.

Aqui should start but DOn doesn’t believe in him. Spal should whisper in his ear.

“Play Aqui, or I take De Rossi back to Rome with me”

Believe me if there is anyone that hates to love Simo and loves to hate Perrotta, it’s me.

I love the guy for his hardwork, and counter attack brilliance.

But he can’t hit the broad side of a barn, and it KILLED Roma this year.

Although he is a MUCH better replacement than Ambroforcio.

What strikes me as funny is that people are now clamoring for Del Piero to be a starter… Del Piero is a supersub. The man is nearing retirement age for a footballer and his skills, while undisputed, need to be saved until the beginning of the second half lest he be as dead on his feet as Camoranesi was against Holland.

Cassano NEEDS to start, and Di Natale will probably start alongside him as he had an okay game against Holland but also good pace (which is something I can’t say about a lot of our players).

Aquilani( in the left side of midfield), Grosso( as the left back) and Cassano( as a striker or as a trequarterista in the hole behind strikers)is a must if we are to win..definately, risks must be taken and i hope there is no need to add that De Rossi wil be playing in front of the four men defence..How on earth could Donadoni leave out the brightest and complete midfielder out from the line up??

sushan, I’m a Romanista and I think Perrotta sucks the shit out of a dead nun’s ass. But Ambrosini is no better. Pirlo and De Rossi should be there, and possibly Aquilani, but if not Gattuso. It’s not club bias.

What are the chances that Aquilani will start? Any takers? I know that you can find ratings of how players have done in training somewhere, but I’m not sure where. If Aquilani is impressing in training, then that can’t hurt his cause.

John , we shouldnt be talking about perotta or ambro , it should be Aquilani thats all

I am really looking forward to France vs. Italy.

Both teams disappointing thus far, but the French more so than the Italians.

Should there be a very clear winner he will have to be considered top favourite (along with others like Holland, Germany, Portugal).

really, guys, i’m not sure why people have to say ambrosini is shitty, perrotta is crap, gattuso is garbage. THEY ARENT! they all have a ROLE on this team and serve a purpose in the lineup. the problem, for the 1,034,568th time has to do with how donadoni ‘interprets’ their skill set and how he (in)appropriately uses them within a squad set-up either as starters or as subs and what other players are used to compliment either of them (or vice versa). it really is as simple as that. i honestly dont get this bashing of players. the midfield that was fielded in the last game failed not because any of them are “shitty”. they failed because they were set up for failure with likely the wrong formation and compliment of players chosen for that tactical set up.

rather than dwelling only on the midfield selection last game as an example, look at where panucci was played last game in the first half, a position that he should only be considered as COVER for zambrotta not as a starter. panucci doesnt play rb for roma anymore for a reason. he is highly versatile (that is his role for this team – cover across the back line) but at this point in his career, he should be a cb fixture if anything and again, only as cover on this team….which in light of cannavaro’s and matrix’s situations, now makes him a potential starter there by default.

roberta????? so he is a female because? i understand we are all upset about the way this idiot wrecked the Azzurri,but please,don’t be like him.

Gianfranco, what’s with the personal attacks man? I’ve watched Ambrosini 15-20X this season and he was fine. Didn’t stand out, didn’t look bad, he was fine. To say he was your best midfielder is an insult to Clarence Seedorf. Without him you guys are Intertoto.

I think you’re forgetting that I’m not even a Roma fan. In fact in 2005 I cried when Milan lost and in 2007 I screamed with my Milan friends until I lost my voice. My friends on my calcetto team call me Kaka cuz I never stop talking about him. I’m just trying to be objective, Roma’s midfield pair of Aquilani and De Rossi are flat out better. Yes, De Rossi gets stuck in, but he has something called positional awareness and technical ability that Ambrosini will never have. We need runners and at 31 years old, most of Massimo’s running days are behind him. This isn’t 1970 where the game is being played at a walking pace.

To the guy who said that Del Piero shouldn’t start, and that Di Natale should get the nod instead, I agree. Del Piero is great… as a super-sub.

Put somebody like Di Natale right behind Quags and Toni… or Toni and Cassano. OR, put Cassano in the trequartista spot and put Di Natale or Quags and Toni right in front of him.

Shelve the Christmas Tree.

lamagica, I think you’ve got too much faith in your ability to read games purely based on tactical set-up. Yes, of course the players are meant to complement each other, but Gattuso was out of form and no formation is going to change this. Ambrosini is shit, you can put eleven turds on a field but they’re not going to start playing football just because you arrange them in 4-3-3. He’s got marginal defensive midfield skills, and nothing else: no speed, stamina, workrate, technique, power, offensive asset, etc. etc. all stuff that Aquilani and De Rossi are overflowing with. As for Perrotta, I’d have a better aim on goal if you tied my feet together and stuck an ice-cone up my ass, which makes him a serious liability (Germany 2006, we wouldn’t have needed supplementaries in the semis if he could have finished any one of Totti’s assists). Again, formation doesn’t come in here. Just his bumpy feet.

No doubt Donadoni is more guilty than any of the individual players for fielding a formation worthy of Ridolini’s glory days, but that some players just aren’t that good (or aren’t much in form) is just a fact you’ve got to deal with.

Also, I’ll third the suggestion that ADP shouldn’t start. He might have a few good moments but he’s just not reliable enough on the long run.

I’m not that dissatisfied with the attack, I’m ok with giving Di Natale and Camoranesi a second go. The former has great room for improvement and the latter is needed for cover. It’s in the midfield that changes are most drastically needed.

To whoever it was that posted the goal.com article…goal.com is like Gazzetta dello Sport never trust a word they say, which is good for us since goal.com is saying that Ambrosini will start against Romania.

My formation:

Zambrotta – Chiellini – Panucci – Grosso
DDR – Pirlo – Aquilani
Perrotta
Cassano – Toni

Let me explain the Perrotta part. One of our problems was that Toni got isolated with 2(sometimes 2 defender hanging on him) Perrotta makes runs that are out of this world creating space and splitting defenses on a regular basis (yeah I know he cannot finish but he is there to free up Toni) He can defend well. With Cassano the defence need to double up on him because he will try to beat defenders 1 on 1 and very comfortable on the ball and can put a cross in, a through ball… you name it. He can switch sides to make the defense work harder

ADP is my supersub

with Aquilani – Pirlo – DDR we have a good balance in the midfield not to mention that they can shoot from distance so that is another new quality to add to our game. DDR and Aquilani can defend very well, hopefully Aquilani finds his inner Viera like he did before on occasions

john, i’m not basing my assessment of a game purely on tactical set-up. of course form plays into the equation but that wasnt the intention of my post. i merely used post to deflect the real incompitence of this team: donadoni and his decisions. all i’m saying is that these guys that are getting slashed are less to blame for the debacle on monday. if you want to consider form as a deciding criteria, then why the hell was materazzi playing? imo, form, is not always the most important criteria and obviously not the only one. as an example, palladino was dire most of the year on juve, yet he gets a call up against portugal, is played in his natural position, and bam, he looks great.

your opinon is that you dont care for those particular players. fine. for me, all three you mention have a certain, induvidual merit and can play a certain role on the team which should be utilised accordingly. i’m not saying that, say, gattuso or ambrosini or even perrotta are deserved starters. not at all. i’m saying that fielding two conservative dm’s within a three man midfield is the worng decision, imo, regardless of who they are or even their respective form. of course in this situation, i’d rather see aquilani and de rossi in the middle as they collectively offer similar defensive cover yet also have incredible work rate to cover loads of real estate, and the ability to contribute offensively with their technical assets and decent passing range. those are the traits required especially to compensate for the meager numbers in the midfield (ie fielding 3 rather 4 or 5). however, i wasnt arguing that point at all.

you guys need to listen to lamagica, he knows what he’s talking about

I agree totally with your back line.
On the midfield I think that instead of Aquilani i think that Perrotta or Camo should play on the wing.
Up front shoule absolutely be ADP, Toni and Cassano.
That is absolutely a winning XI.
But this crap donadoni is pulling is world class players, but they just don’t work right together, like what you said about Rino/Ambro and the Milan midfield…
Hopefully he gets his shit together or crashes and burns so we can get a new coach…

Player Updates from uefa.com (Tuesday June 10):

Antonio Cassano
The most popular player among the supporters at the ground today. He treats each practice match like the real thing and gets very upset if his goals are disallowed. Fascinating character to observe.

Daniele De Rossi:
Kept electing to shoot at goal rather than pass to his team-mates. Seems desperate to impress his way into Donadoni’s first-team plans.

Luca Toni:
The only player to have managed 90 minutes against the Netherlands who played in the practice match. Is being given extra time to find his form.

Antonio Di Natale:
Struggled against the Netherlands, but good showing in training. Spurred on by the support in the crowd at the stadium in Maria Enzersdorf.

Marco Borriello:
In good shape, developing a rapport with his team-mates, a lethal finisher and would make a decent impact substitute on Friday.

Marco Materazzi:
‘Matrix’ was rested along with Panucci the day after the match against the Netherlands after picking up an injury against the Netherlands. Looks likely to be replaced by Giorgio Chiellini.

Fabio Grosso:
Proved in training that he is still in great form on the left flank and scored a fine goal in the practice match.

Christian Panucci:
After his efforts against the Netherlands, he was allowed to rest today by Donadoni.

PANUCCI IS SHIT YOU MORONS. DO YOU ASSCLOWNS EVEN WATCH SERIE A? YOU PLAY CHIELLINI AND GAMBERINI IN CD. SOLID AS A FUCKIN ROCK

For me I recommend big changes:
-Sit the washed up Matrix, Barzagli and Panucci and start Chiellini, Gamberini and Grosso
-Please get Ambro and Gattuso out and start DeRossi and Aquilani
-Enough of the pylon Toni. He’s done Sweet Fuck All in international play. Start Cassano or Quags or Borriello. I don’t care who.
We need to get eager, younger and faster. We looked old, slow and easily exploitable.
Oh by the way, ADP is a supersub, not an international starter. The World Cup 2006 proved that.

Justin, no.
You are the assclown moron. Panucci is quite fucking nasty, which is why he is on the national team.

fortunato – Toni didn’t look good against the Netherlands b/c he was being fed the ball with 3 defenders on his back. he missed one great opportunity, but other than that, his play was affected by those around him. Borriello is not the man to start. He disappeared in the last 5 games of the season…

I’m going to have to disagree on Del Piero. Now yes, I’m a Juventino and Del Piero is my favorite player ever, but I think he should start, probably alongside Camoranesi. He can use his creativity, and best of all, sub him out around 60′ where Di Natale can use his pace to burn defenders, and Cassano around 55′ to use both his pace/creativity.

I think ADN’s pace is more effective late game.

This is the winning formula:

Buffon

Zambrotta ——– Chiellini ——- Gamberini ——— Grosso

DDR——————-Pirlo —————-Aquilani

ADP

Cassano ————- Toni

I totally agree with you alessio. Besides, with his deadly free kick skills, he can change any game.

no my friends this is the way the national teams formation should look like

Super GIGI
Zambrotta—Chiellini—Barzagli/Pannuci—Grosso
————Gattusso/DDR——Pirlo
—-Camo——-Adp/cassano—–Perrota
——————Toni

Agreed Frank, minus Gamberini and play Panucci, he wasnt half bad in the center against Holland. Gamberini isnt experienced enough

both of chiellini and gamberini will not start – they have not played together and that would be too much of a risk. the backline will be

grosso, chiellini, panucci / barzagli, zambro

in mid-field, people who have watched milan games, would not say this stuff about ambro – he’s had a brilliant season, defending, scoring and leading the team, saying that club form is no reflection of national form, would automatically rule out all the youngsters we want to put in and keep materazzi on the team forever based on 06. mid field will be

pirlo, ambro, ddr

this could be played with DDR back and one of the strikers falling back a little as well

del piero will not start, he cannot – he is a sub, super sub i agree, but a sub nevertheless. di natale cannot be ruled out because of one match where he was Ok. camo on the other hand was shit. so was toni but then can still buy the fact that he needs service and didnt get any – difficult to not play him, wish we had another option…

di natale, toni, cassano (ADP subbing)

regardless of club loyalties and player bashing, this is the most realistic team that has a chance of getting fielded on fri

Formation:4-3-1-2

Buffon

Zambrotta – Chiellini – Materazzi/Pannuci – Grosso

De Rossi – Pirlo – Perrotta

Cassano

Toni – Di Natale

if Donadoni puts on the same team againt Romania as he did against the dutch, I’m going to Zurich. And it wont be pretty.

^^^
LOL =))

gazzetta reporting this friday formation will be this:

Buffon
Zambrotta-Panucci-Chiellini-Grosso
De Rossi-Pirlo-Perrotta
Camoranesi-Toni-Del Piero

Thank god gazzetta can’t be trusted. If Perrotta is on the field I’m going apeshit.

Sam you could not have said it better…

If we are not gonna use aquilani, why did we bring him??:x most coaches would be ready to give an arm for aquilani and here is italy playing perrotta

I am only happy with that if he changes from 4-3-3
This smells Christmas tree for me and that would make Perrotta a little less effective (I just dont think that is a great fit for the player’s strength… I am not even sure that he would do much more better than Ambro, again I am not dissing Perrotta as a player or Ambrisini it is more of a tactical consideration)… Aquilani would be my choice as as I posted before I’d use Perrotta further up.

It is undoubtably an improvement in tactics though… at least I hope

CRAP…del piero named captain, so he is obv starting…trust donandoni to get scared of all the criticism and move from one extreme to the other…would have respected him more if he had at least stuck with a few of his orignal choices, not all but at least some of them….now it seems that he is just caving in to all the pressure..

I dont think starting ADP is a tragedy. I dont know what formation he will use. ADP played well and was creative upfront. We will need that because Romania will be defensive minded

I am in agreement wth the Aqui shit.

In any other squad HE STARTS.

I know he doesn’t have alot of firs team matches, but he lit up u-21 and is a STAR IN THE MAKING.

Simo on the wing, is NOT THE ANSWER!!!

But it’s surely better than what we had before.

Aquilani must play, he can make a huge impact with his subtile passing and long shots!

Mele, just a side note…being in the national team doesn’t mean anything other than the coach likes you. See- Materazzi, Barzagli…….etc.

Ale is 100% correct.

Lippi hates Panucci, that is why he was left home.

Italy should never play 4-3-3! 4-4-2(4-1-2-1-2) is the best for them!

Buffon
Zambrotta-Materazzi-Panucci-Grosso
Gattuso
Pirlo Camoranesi( OR De Rossi )
Del Piero
Luca Toni Di Natale

this is my humble opinion and it might not be “right” but i guess its better than donadoni’s line-up which screwed up the team!

Yeah, the two had a pretty famous disagreement. I’m for Panucci in the squad right now, but you can kind of see where he came from. Not the most friendly of characters.

Good blog post here- http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/blogs/al38.html

“The reality is that he will, in all likelihood, turn to Alex Del Piero. A rejuvenated footballer and Serie A top scorer, he was the Azzurri’s biggest threat when he came on as a substitute against the Netherlands. His inclusion would seem like a logical step, but only if Donadoni puts him in a position to perform at his best. If he sticks Alessandro on that left flank again then he’s clearly learnt nothing. “

That’s the position that led Alex to be dropped after a shitty performance against France. If he’s fielded awkwardly again, I don’t want to hear everyone bitching about how ADP “flopped” again.

Jas, I agree but the Don is worried about coverage.

I guess he doesn’t feel Aqui can give him te coverage he thinks he is losing without playing Rino e Ambromerda.

Which IMO is just the opposite. Aqui is a good defender, and can get forward, and spark counters, and finish better than anyone in his position.

Panucci isn’t a friendly character?

I beg to differ Ale.

Lippi was a hard ass, and stuck to his guns. Panuc deserved to be there, AT LEAST on the bench, and had one of his best years yet 2 years ago.

Oh well.

Thats the thing Dona doesn’t know by now and its SCARY.

Zambro on the left, including Ambro and Rino, and putting ADP and Cazzano out of place.

This dude has no brains.

Oh c’mon Daniele, you’ve gotta admit he is the grumpiest player ever.

I have never seen him smile.

I’d rather see Ambrosini than Gattuso. Both are slower as balls, but Gattuso goes in late, bitches, and generally is ineffective. At least Massimo gives us some aerial ability. Now if he could just run his ass back on the counters.

There have have been a lot of theories as to why we fucked up on monday. ambrosini, donadoni etc etc but the funniest is of the idiots who call themselves liverpool fans

http://eighteenfive.blogspot.com/2008/06/dossena-omission-causes-italyworst.html

check the comment by “uncle colin”. i am still laughing

Even funnier if Dossena doesn’t end up signing for them.

ohh boy! one of them thinks Lippi is still the manager!!!

not even good for comedy value

i am an italian azzuri fan living in madrid my suggest is to put a line-up of buffon,zambrotta,chiellini,panucci,grosso,pirlo,di rossi,gattuso,del piero,camoranesi,toni for the match against romania,for if we get this line-up we must win for i know that romania cannot be able to stop this attacking team,with the very best wishes for the azzuri from aliou in madrid.

Ale,

He is stern, but always helps players up off the ground, applauds fair play, and fights for the shirt.

Gabs back me up!!

Not sure those are the two Roma midfielders we should be seeing.

DANIELE IS RIGHT, ALE!!!

so, ADP is getting the captain’s armband tomorrow?? that’s according to Gazzetta and Channel 4…

on top of that, some are saying it’s Perrotta and Ambrosini in the spots of…Gattuso and…Ambrosini lol. wtf?

however, Gazzetta says it will be Grosso, ADP and De Rossi as the changes…

If Del P. is started, he will need to be substituted around the 60th minute.
I know he’s in-form, but I don’t know that he can keep pace with 20-somethings for a full 90. When he’s taken out, he should be replaced with QUAGS.

What an upset for Croatia!

Reported formation:

Buffon
Zambrotta Chiellini Panucci Grosso
De Rossi Pirlo Perrotta
Cassano
Del Piero Toni

Back to the 4-3-1-2 according to goal.com and la repubblica. I LOVE this formation and lineup, except Aquliani for Perrotta. That though, I could see as a definite sub.

I agree ilcapitano

Del Piero should def not be captain or starter

I dont think the captaincy is really important… this is not England

players who can only lead with an armband are not true team players and leaders. it should not matter whether Buffon or ADP are captain. making a big deal out of the armband is unnecessary in football, unlike some other sports. i dont think italy make it such an issue.

They don’t, and that’s why ADP is getting it. Most caps.

“Tomorrow against Romania I want to be decisive,” said Alex. “I will play alongside Luca Toni as a supporting striker.”

GOOD.

anyway ADP would be a decent captain and has been for a long time on club level.
and his English is very good in case he needs to speak with the ref in depth about the current political climate in Saudi Arabia

Gab, speak to the ref ala Ballack?

looks like don is switching to 4-4-2 or 4-1-3-2.

no SGM, about the offside rule…lol

I can handle ADP being a starter as he has shown in his career to be a big game player but history has shown that he won’t play the whole game.
I can live with Perrotta and Panucci starting BUT I won’t be able to handle seeing any of these four starting Bazagli/Ambro/Gattuso/Matrix. I too would love to see Aquilani instead of Perrotta.
Toni has always pissed me off as he never seems to bury his chances particualarly when we need them most so in my mind, the dude is not a big game player and we need a hugegame tomorrow.

Toni played some big matches well for Bayern, so was hoping that would translate to the azzuri.

sushan that web site is hilarious. Is that a joke or is it a bunch of drunk brits talking shit professing to know the game of soccer? Dossena is a good player but please, whose kidding who/

ma, er cazzo di donadoni non l’ha messo i bimbi d’ori della squadra.

te pijass’er corpo

ADP will win us a penalty kick tomorrow, which he’ll convert, and then deliver a great corner for Toni to make it 2-0.

ahahahaha

BRAVOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

tell that moron what he is … donadoni should be hanged

im glkad to see others think the same!!!

Ma che cazzo state a di’? Oggi si pacca un po di culi romanians. Se l;italia perde, vi inculo uno a uno.
Translation:
I agree that with you say…today is going to be a tough game and a fun one to watch too. Hopefully italy will win with honour and pride.
Vaffanculo Donadoni!!!

AMEN to everything you just said. donadoni is the most arrogant, incompetent bastard and the Lippi cut out could probably do much better. I am torn as I want Italy to win the Euro however, if they do wlil the Don be fired? No. So we can’t win it but if we don’t win, the Portugese people I know will NEVER EVER let me live it down. So for me, its a lose-lose situation. Plus, then our WC win will continue to be questioned and I hate when people do that. Donadoni merda

vaffanculo lazy italian players…