by Bashmachkin Mon Jun 16, 2008 9:57 pm
blue:
I don't agree that the Italian side are better than any club side from Serie A - certainly not the Italian side that is taking part in this tournament. I don't see that they compare to the likes of Inter or Roma either when looking at their individual players or when looking at their team play, their cohesion, their style of play. The Italian back four is playing poorly, but it's not only that the players are off form or haven't played together enough - on paper, the back fours from Inter, Roma, Juve are all better. The midfield Italy played in their last game, with De Rossi and Perrotta alongside Pirlo (and with Camoranesi ahead of them) sounded good, but De Rossi and Perrotta were shadows of their Roma selves, with little quality movement off the ball, with De Rossi rarely driving forward. The Italian midfield hasn't gelled so far. And as you yourself say, someone like Del Piero seems to struggle to perform for the national team despite a good season for Juventus.
I don't think it is true that the top national squads feature more quality than top club squads - I think the quality of squads tends to be pretty similar. But I think it is an ideal that national spirit and fervour makes up for a lack of familiarity, cohesion, practise. I think a lot of players don't care especially so for international football; and whether they do or do not care, they are under more pressure at international level. Perhaps it is true that a national team can excel with the backing of their nation - obviously, no club team can unite a nation as much as a national side can, and I think there is something powerful in that type of support, and it can create, very quickly, a really positive mentality and an atmosphere that can sweep a team along. But that requires a national team to perform in the first place - that support has to be earnt, and like I say, if it isn't earnt, then a national team will soon find itself under a huge amount of pressure.
I think Turkey are a particular case. They were very determined yesterday - they seemed to feel a sense of injustice during the game, and perhaps they were particularly determined since the Turkish team may be seen as frequent underachievers in international football. Ultimately, I think they were quite fortunate in winning the game despite their determination - they're the type of team that can play nice stuff, but that struggles to finish moves off, and they got back into the game via two mistakes from Cech.
Overall, I do think club football is more advanced because it features teams with more cohesion; it features teams who are built to be teams, teams who can buy players to fit certain positions, to add what has been missing; whereas international sides get little time together, and have to make do with what is at their disposal. The entertainment level at this tournament has been huge, but I think the key thing hasn't been that the international sides are showing more quality than club sides - it is that sides at this tournament seem a bit more positive, seem to possess more attacking mentalities. Hopefully such mentalities will carry on into club football next season.
Home
. Maybe the conditions of it being very hot in portugal helped certain countries who could cope with it better as well.
