ITALIA - LA SQUADRA AZZURRA 2008-09

Good game by Aquilani. Maybe I was wrong to say Montolivo is better than him.

BrianS wrote:Good game by Aquilani. Maybe I was wrong to say Montolivo is better than him.

Yeah, he was on song yesterday... I think with this performance, he has sealed that role in the team. Montolivo can at best now be a bench warmer / back up.

Good to hear that at least he knows his area of improvement!!

But that is a good question, is Balotelli ready for the Azzurri? I know that teenagers are a NO-NO for La Nazionale, but the new look azzurri attack has been worring me.

Lippi played Di Natale-Gila-Pepe for 2 games, and the only 2 goals were scored by Aquilani. As an attack this is not working.

Compare that to say a new look attack of
Rossi - Balotelli - Cassano

hmmm.. I know it lacks the width, but it holds so much more promise - it looks much more threatening than the one Italy has been using so far. Italys strength these days are its great support strikers, and Lippi seriously needs to start thinking of using them. The width can come from the fullbacks, Zambrotta and Grosso/Dossena are good at that.

So what would you rather have in WC 2010?

Di Natale-Gila-Pepe or Rossi-Balotelli-Cassano???

I'm Not Ready For Azzurri Yet - Balotelli
Inter starlet Mario Balotelli admits he is not ready to play for the senior Italian national team yet despite scoring a decisive brace for the Under 21s yesterday night. After his two crucial goals for Italy's Under 21 side, Mario Balotelli is back with a vengeance, if he was ever even gone, although lately Jose Mourinho hasn't been giving him much playing time at Inter.

The 18-year-old striker does not expect things to change instantly, however, and also admits he is not yet ready to play for the senior national team led by Marcello Lippi. "For now I am happy with the Under 21s, I can't think about the senior national team yet," he said. "I still have to grow in certain aspects, how can I hope Lippi calls me up if I get so many yellow cards?"

He then sent a message to his club coach Mourinho: "I hope he at least saw the highlights of the match against Israel, and lets me play in Rome: even without me, though, I'm sure we will win just the same." Serie A leaders Inter will face a struggling Roma on Sunday night in what is a highly anticipated clash.

Right now I don't think Balotelli is ready yet, but he may be by the time 2010 arrives. Gilardino and Di Natale don't seem like big game players. They may score a few goals in qualifiers but I don't think at the World Cup they'll be scoring many goals. Rossi should get more playing time.

Just seen Balotelli's 2 goals for the U21's. Two excellent goals. Lovely little pass from Cigarini for the second as well.

BrianS wrote:Right now I don't think Balotelli is ready yet, but he may be by the time 2010 arrives. Gilardino and Di Natale don't seem like big game players. They may score a few goals in qualifiers but I don't think at the World Cup they'll be scoring many goals. Rossi should get more playing time.

I hope he breaks into the squad by 2010... it is very rare for Italy to play a teenager to a world cup.... hasn't happened in my lifetime.

From the resources currently available, I would say the best strikeforce for Itaky would be:

Cassano - Amauri - Iaquinta

Toni is looking sluggish, Gila I am not too sure of. Del Piero should now be a supersub. Di Natale & Quagliarella are decent bench options to have, as is Rossi. Pepe has had a promising start, but I am not sure he is world cup quality. Ditto Borriello. Giovinco and Balotelli, lets give them a year and see how they develop. I would love to see Miccoli given a chance considering his great form, but that is very unlikely - Lippi never liked him at Juve.

Clearly, these are the 14 players who will vie for the 6 striker spots in the 2010 WC squad.

Calidad wrote:Just seen Balotelli's 2 goals for the U21's. Two excellent goals. Lovely little pass from Cigarini for the second as well.

Cigarini is my MOTM. He's really turned it up a notch lately.

bluenine wrote:

BrianS wrote:Right now I don't think Balotelli is ready yet, but he may be by the time 2010 arrives. Gilardino and Di Natale don't seem like big game players. They may score a few goals in qualifiers but I don't think at the World Cup they'll be scoring many goals. Rossi should get more playing time.

I hope he breaks into the squad by 2010... it is very rare for Italy to play a teenager to a world cup.... hasn't happened in my lifetime.

From the resources currently available, I would say the best strikeforce for Itaky would be:

Cassano - Amauri - Iaquinta

Toni is looking sluggish, Gila I am not too sure of. Del Piero should now be a supersub. Di Natale & Quagliarella are decent bench options to have, as is Rossi. Pepe has had a promising start, but I am not sure he is world cup quality. Ditto Borriello. Giovinco and Balotelli, lets give them a year and see how they develop. I would love to see Miccoli given a chance considering his great form, but that is very unlikely - Lippi never liked him at Juve.

Clearly, these are the 14 players who will vie for the 6 striker spots in the 2010 WC squad.

I agree with your analysis of the situation except on Amauri.

Would you like to see Amauri take up a roster spot and put a potential bright star like Rossi on the back burner for the next few years, taking away crucial developmental time that could have him one of the more feared strikers by 2014?

He's always and on numerous occasions stated that Brazil is his #1 choice, and Italy 2nd. I would rather to have Borriello instead of him.

3zycupid wrote:

bluenine wrote:

BrianS wrote:Right now I don't think Balotelli is ready yet, but he may be by the time 2010 arrives. Gilardino and Di Natale don't seem like big game players. They may score a few goals in qualifiers but I don't think at the World Cup they'll be scoring many goals. Rossi should get more playing time.

I hope he breaks into the squad by 2010... it is very rare for Italy to play a teenager to a world cup.... hasn't happened in my lifetime.

From the resources currently available, I would say the best strikeforce for Itaky would be:

Cassano - Amauri - Iaquinta

Toni is looking sluggish, Gila I am not too sure of. Del Piero should now be a supersub. Di Natale & Quagliarella are decent bench options to have, as is Rossi. Pepe has had a promising start, but I am not sure he is world cup quality. Ditto Borriello. Giovinco and Balotelli, lets give them a year and see how they develop. I would love to see Miccoli given a chance considering his great form, but that is very unlikely - Lippi never liked him at Juve.

Clearly, these are the 14 players who will vie for the 6 striker spots in the 2010 WC squad.

I agree with your analysis of the situation except on Amauri.

Would you like to see Amauri take up a roster spot and put a potential bright star like Rossi on the back burner for the next few years, taking away crucial developmental time that could have him one of the more feared strikers by 2014?

He's always and on numerous occasions stated that Brazil is his #1 choice, and Italy 2nd. I would rather to have Borriello instead of him.

Yeah, Amauri is a mercenary flirting with both Italy and Brasil. But then, Camoranesi was not too different, even tho he did it more subtly.

But the main reason is that the difference in quality between Amauri and Borriello is astronomical IMO. Amauri will not hold up Rossi, coz Rossi cannot play in Amauri's position. Amauri will take the place that has recently been taken by Toni/Gila/Borriello. Maybe Balotelli might be able to take that role for Italy in the future, not Rossi. Rossi & Cassano will be fighting for DP's role.

Blog: Pride for sale
Amauri's veiled ultimatum regarding his international future has left Steve Wilson's blood boiling
So Amauri is now up for grabs to whichever international team is quickest to get on the phone to him. Is that what the Italy jersey has been reduced to? A player stating “I will give my heart and soul to play for you… as long as you call me up before Brazil ask me.” It is another sign of the blatant disregard these millionaire playboys have for international football.

You or I would give anything to pull on our country's shirt, feel the hairs stand up on the back of our necks as we belted out our national anthem, chest proudly puffed out, and to look around the stadium at all our compatriots willing us on. Not so today's pampered prima donnas. The latest round of international football has highlighted the gulf between player and fan.

England have Ashley Cole pulling out a suspect sick note after being booed for his disinterested display against Kazakhstan and David Beckham denigrating the proud records of centurions like Billy Wright, Bobby Charlton and Bobby Moore by picking up caps for celebrity three-minute cameos. Meanwhile, in Scotland you have Kris Boyd shamefully turning his back on his country.

However, in Italy you have the worst culprit of all. Amauri knows his chances of an extended career with Brazil are slim given their abundance of talents, but instead of accepting his lot he is the latest player to attempt to bend the rules by claiming Italian citizenship. Just like 'Spaniard' Marcos Senna, 'Turk' Mehmet Aurelio and 'Tunisian' Francileudo Dos Santos.

If the Juventus striker truly wants to play for Italy - and I think in honesty he would do far better in the blue of Italy than the yellow of Brazil - he should stop courting Dunga and offer himself forward 100% to Marcello Lippi. However, he says he will end this protracted drama over his international future by accepting the call of the first nation to contact him with an offer. A true mercenary.

This development blurs the line between club and national football forever. More and more players whose ability limits them getting a call from their birth nation will attempt to leech a career off their adopted countries. Personally I hope Dunga picks and plays Amauri for the Portugal friendly in November and then never selects him again. It would be nothing more than he deserved.
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Agreed, though the closing sentence is harsh.

If anything, he's more likely to get into the Brazil team now. They're hardly overflowing with brilliant strikers - currently it's Pato, Jo, Luis Fabiano in the squad. Can't see why he shouldn't be able to get into that group, perhaps after Dunga inevitably leaves.

Anyway, I think this argument is getting outdated. To quote a cliche, the world is flat. Many more people are born in one country, live elsewhere, have parents of mixed nationalities, move around between countries, etc. It's inevitable that this finds its way into football.

kas wrote:If anything, he's more likely to get into the Brazil team now. They're hardly overflowing with brilliant strikers - currently it's Pato, Jo, Luis Fabiano in the squad. Can't see why he shouldn't be able to get into that group, perhaps after Dunga inevitably leaves.

Anyway, I think this argument is getting outdated. To quote a cliche, the world is flat. Many more people are born in one country, live elsewhere, have parents of mixed nationalities, move around between countries, etc. It's inevitable that this finds its way into football.

The argument that the author is making is that Amauri is whoring himself to the most willing manager and country. In club football this may have become the convention, but surely there has to be a certain level of diginity. To be sure, I don't particularly like it when Camaronesi plays for Italy, but the oriundi have always helped out the national team. I can live with that. Balotelli should play for Italy because he was born in Italy. But to look for some tenuous links and use them as a ticket in...I don't know. And the way Amauri is doing it is a bit unsettling.

If I were Italy, I wouldn't bother calling him.

Qualigarella/Rossi/Di Natale/Cassano/Toni/Gila/Balotelli/Boriello
etc is enough to chose from

Poor game yesterday by Italy... the only bright side was that at least Toni got a goal (and broke his long scoreless patch). And the debut of Maggio.

Rossi was disappointing, I guess he is not ready yet. Ditto Montolivo.

Italy will need to improve.

http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/86/italy/2009/03/20/1166521/calcio-debate-who-should-marcello-lippi-call-up-for-italy

Good article, I agree with most of Carlo's choices.

Carlo Garganese’s Italy Squad

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Marco Amelia (Palermo), Federico Marchetti (Cagliari)

Defenders: Marco Motta (Roma), Gianluca Zambrotta (Milan), Andrea Dossena (Liverpool), Fabio Grosso (Olympique Lyonnais), Nicola Legrottaglie (Juventus), Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus)

Midfielders: Matteo Brighi (Roma), Angelo Palombo (Sampdoria), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina), Pasquale Foggia (Lazio), Andrea Pirlo (Milan)

Strikers: Antonio Di Natale (Udinese), Fabio Quagliarella (Udinese), Vincenzo Iaquinta (Juventus), Sergio Floccari (Atalanta), Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal), Antonio Cassano (Sampdoria), Giampaolo Pazzini (Sampdoria)

Its good to see wider recognition for players like Foggia, Floccari, and Motta. Also Palombo, he deserves his chance now. I have been calling for their inclusion in the Azzurri for a while. These 3 MUST be included, even start the games!!

Some changes that I would suggest from Carlo's squad:
1. Legrottaglie is just not good enough for this level, I rather see Gamberini or even Santacroce. This is a great opportunity to give young Santacroce some bench experience as Chiellini-Cannnavaro are likley to start in any case.

2. Not convinced yet by Pazzini. IMO he is no different from Gila. If Italy indeed want to look for the future, then Balotelli or Acquafresca are better bets. If you want to look at form, then Di Vaio, Del Piero or Mascara may be better alternatives. But anyways, this position is anyways a bench player. Between the other five strikers, Italy have enough firepower for these games.

3. Other names I would like to see in Italy squad soon are Marchisio, Santon and Rosina. But perhaps not this time.

Motta and Brighi!

Casiraghi's Italy Under-21 squad for Austria friendly:
Goalkeepers: Fiorillo (Sampdoria), Seculin (Fiorentina)
Defenders: Ariaudo (Juventus), Bellusci (Ascoli), Crescenzi (Roma), Darmian (Milan), Malomo (Roma), Ranocchia (Bari), Renzetti (Albinoleffe)
Midfielders: Barilla' (Reggina), Bolzoni (Inter), Castiglia (Cittadella), Cia (Triestina), Di Gennaro (Reggina), Pasquato (Empoli), Poli (Sassuolo)
Strikers: Immobile (Juventus), Mendicino (Lazio), Paloschi (Parma).

I understand Casiraghi's experimenting with mostly the U17 players, and has not called any of his U21 regulars for this game... good move. But why the hell is Santon not in this team???? Wouldn't this be a good time for giving Santon his U21 debut???? He is clearly the biggest star for the U17s, I just cannot understand that!!

There can only be 2 reasons for this.

1. Lippi has indicated to Casiraghi that Santon will skip U21 football and graduate straight to the Azzurri. I know Lippi rates Santon, but this looks very unlikely as it is not the italian way.

2. Casiraghi is just plain mad. He will either end up debuting Santon straight in the EuroU21 competition, which is silly, or just leave him out, which is the stupidest thing I can imagine! Specially coz there is a good chance that Motta may graduate to the azzurri, leaving the U21s without their star RB!!!

Crescenzi is a midfielder.

And why no Okaka Chuka? Racism?

Black Magic wrote:Crescenzi is a midfielder.

And why no Okaka Chuka? Racism?

I forgot about him.... he and Santon deserved to get their U21 debuts in this game!!!

Lippi annouced his squad. Bocchetti is a pleasant surprise, and the inclusion of Foggia, Brighi, & Motta is great and expected. But disappointed to see Lippi still ignoring Cassano and Floccari.

Italy squad
Goalkeepers: Buffon (Juventus), Amelia (Palermo), De Sanctis (Galatasaray);
Defenders: Bocchetti (Genoa), Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Chiellini (Juventus), Dossena (Liverpool), Gamberini (Fiorentina), Grosso (Olympique Lyon), Motta (Roma), Zambrotta (Milan);
Midfielders: Brighi (Roma), De Rossi (Roma), Foggia (Lazio), Montolivo (Fiorentina), Palombo (Sampdoria), Pepe (Udinese), Pirlo (Milan);
Forwards: Di Natale (Udinese), Iaquinta (Juventus), Pazzini (Sampdoria), Quagliarella (Udinese), Rossi (Villarreal).

bluenine wrote:

Casiraghi's Italy Under-21 squad for Austria friendly:
Goalkeepers: Fiorillo (Sampdoria), Seculin (Fiorentina)
Defenders: Ariaudo (Juventus), Bellusci (Ascoli), Crescenzi (Roma), Darmian (Milan), Malomo (Roma), Ranocchia (Bari), Renzetti (Albinoleffe)
Midfielders: Barilla' (Reggina), Bolzoni (Inter), Castiglia (Cittadella), Cia (Triestina), Di Gennaro (Reggina), Pasquato (Empoli), Poli (Sassuolo)
Strikers: Immobile (Juventus), Mendicino (Lazio), Paloschi (Parma).

I understand Casiraghi's experimenting with mostly the U17 players, and has not called any of his U21 regulars for this game... good move. But why the hell is Santon not in this team???? Wouldn't this be a good time for giving Santon his U21 debut???? He is clearly the biggest star for the U17s, I just cannot understand that!!

There can only be 2 reasons for this.

1. Lippi has indicated to Casiraghi that Santon will skip U21 football and graduate straight to the Azzurri. I know Lippi rates Santon, but this looks very unlikely as it is not the italian way.

2. Casiraghi is just plain mad. He will either end up debuting Santon straight in the EuroU21 competition, which is silly, or just leave him out, which is the stupidest thing I can imagine! Specially coz there is a good chance that Motta may graduate to the azzurri, leaving the U21s without their star RB!!!

Casiraghi is experimenting to see who can be part of the next cycle. Both Mendicino and Immobile are good talent, the former is currently the capocannoniere of the Primavera championship and latter is top scorer of Juve's Primavera team. Ariaudo's a good prospect for the future, he's really impressed me in the few match that he has played for the senior team this season.

Azzurrini regulars will be back to meet the Netherlands in a friendly on 31 March and I think Santon will get debut in this match.

bluenine wrote:Lippi annouced his squad. Bocchetti is a pleasant surprise, and the inclusion of Foggia, Brighi, & Motta is great and expected. But disappointed to see Lippi still ignoring Cassano and Floccari.

Italy squad
Goalkeepers: Buffon (Juventus), Amelia (Palermo), De Sanctis (Galatasaray);
Defenders: Bocchetti (Genoa), Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Chiellini (Juventus), Dossena (Liverpool), Gamberini (Fiorentina), Grosso (Olympique Lyon), Motta (Roma), Zambrotta (Milan);
Midfielders: Brighi (Roma), De Rossi (Roma), Foggia (Lazio), Montolivo (Fiorentina), Palombo (Sampdoria), Pepe (Udinese), Pirlo (Milan);
Forwards: Di Natale (Udinese), Iaquinta (Juventus), Pazzini (Sampdoria), Quagliarella (Udinese), Rossi (Villarreal).

Pretty good call-ups overall, Bocchetti is a surprise call.
Chiellini, De Rossi and Pirlo are 1 yellow card away from suspension, they have to be careful not to pick up any before the Ireland match.

I still don't understand why Lippi keep insist on Pepe, he was obviously not Azzurri material and Cassano deserves this call-up more then him.
I'm love Lippi after his achievements with Juve and Azzurri but this getting stupid. I think Cassano has no chance of playing for Azzurri as long as Lippi remain.

3zycupid wrote:

bluenine wrote:Lippi annouced his squad. Bocchetti is a pleasant surprise, and the inclusion of Foggia, Brighi, & Motta is great and expected. But disappointed to see Lippi still ignoring Cassano and Floccari.

Italy squad
Goalkeepers: Buffon (Juventus), Amelia (Palermo), De Sanctis (Galatasaray);
Defenders: Bocchetti (Genoa), Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Chiellini (Juventus), Dossena (Liverpool), Gamberini (Fiorentina), Grosso (Olympique Lyon), Motta (Roma), Zambrotta (Milan);
Midfielders: Brighi (Roma), De Rossi (Roma), Foggia (Lazio), Montolivo (Fiorentina), Palombo (Sampdoria), Pepe (Udinese), Pirlo (Milan);
Forwards: Di Natale (Udinese), Iaquinta (Juventus), Pazzini (Sampdoria), Quagliarella (Udinese), Rossi (Villarreal).

Pretty good call-ups overall, Bocchetti is a surprise call.
Chiellini, De Rossi and Pirlo are 1 yellow card away from suspension, they have to be careful not to pick up any before the Ireland match.

I still don't understand why Lippi keep insist on Pepe, he was obviously not Azzurri material and Cassano deserves this call-up more then him.
I'm love Lippi after his achievements with Juve and Azzurri but this getting stupid. I think Cassano has no chance of playing for Azzurri as long as Lippi remain.

Was about to say the same thing mate. I don't know how Pepe get's in. Everytime I see him I think he looks very ordinary. Doesn't seem to have anything about him. No pace, no tricks, no real goal threat.

How does he get in over Del Piero, Cassano etc?

Calidad wrote:

3zycupid wrote:

bluenine wrote:Lippi annouced his squad. Bocchetti is a pleasant surprise, and the inclusion of Foggia, Brighi, & Motta is great and expected. But disappointed to see Lippi still ignoring Cassano and Floccari.

Italy squad
Goalkeepers: Buffon (Juventus), Amelia (Palermo), De Sanctis (Galatasaray);
Defenders: Bocchetti (Genoa), Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Chiellini (Juventus), Dossena (Liverpool), Gamberini (Fiorentina), Grosso (Olympique Lyon), Motta (Roma), Zambrotta (Milan);
Midfielders: Brighi (Roma), De Rossi (Roma), Foggia (Lazio), Montolivo (Fiorentina), Palombo (Sampdoria), Pepe (Udinese), Pirlo (Milan);
Forwards: Di Natale (Udinese), Iaquinta (Juventus), Pazzini (Sampdoria), Quagliarella (Udinese), Rossi (Villarreal).

Pretty good call-ups overall, Bocchetti is a surprise call.
Chiellini, De Rossi and Pirlo are 1 yellow card away from suspension, they have to be careful not to pick up any before the Ireland match.

I still don't understand why Lippi keep insist on Pepe, he was obviously not Azzurri material and Cassano deserves this call-up more then him.
I'm love Lippi after his achievements with Juve and Azzurri but this getting stupid. I think Cassano has no chance of playing for Azzurri as long as Lippi remain.

Was about to say the same thing mate. I don't know how Pepe get's in. Everytime I see him I think he looks very ordinary. Doesn't seem to have anything about him. No pace, no tricks, no real goal threat.

How does he get in over Del Piero, Cassano etc?

I can give the Lippi reason... Lippi plays Pepe as a winger, which is a place Cassano cannot play in. For Cassano or DP to make the squad, it will have to be in place of one of the 6 strikers.

Not that I agree with this reasoning. DP can be a much better winger than Pepe can ever dream to be. For me, Lippi's squad is great except for Pepe and Pazzini. Floccari needs to be given a shot ahead of Pazzini, coz IMO Floccari is the one who can replace Toni. At least Lippi always selects Iaquinta, thank God for that.

Instead of Pepe, I would take DP or Rosina any day. And Cassano has to be selected as one of the 6 strikers, he is in such good form and he has been showing good discipline. Di Natale has been poor this season, nothing compared to Cassano's magic.

I was impressed with Marco Motta in our two games in the CL and it's good to see that he is being given a chance with the national team.

Just read up on his ownership details because I knew he was only at Roma on loan after being originally co-owned by other clubs. Surely Roma will buy him outright this summer?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJXXtDQOWe8

OMG !!!

Hadn't seen this before - very short YouTube clip with Totti/Toni v Slovenia.

The 2nd pass is wonderful, the 1st is absolutely obscene

Pierre Littbarski wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJXXtDQOWe8

OMG !!!

Hadn't seen this before - very short YouTube clip with Totti/Toni v Slovenia.

The 2nd pass is wonderful, the 1st is absolutely obscene

Already seen that one Pierre. Black Magic posted an article A Defense of Totti which was a defending some of the stick Totti has gotten while also explaining what a good player he is and showed some clips that highlighted what makes him soo good:
http://roma.theoffside.com/team-news/a-defense-of-totti.html

Cesc Soler wrote:I was impressed with Marco Motta in our two games in the CL and it's good to see that he is being given a chance with the national team.

Just read up on his ownership details because I knew he was only at Roma on loan after being originally co-owned by other clubs. Surely Roma will buy him outright this summer?

Very impressive indeed. Its likely that there will be a co-ownership deal for next season where he plays for Roma before we buy him outright.

The boy has some major lungs though.

The Azzurri always had a weakness at right back, for all the great defenders Italy have churned up over the last 2 decades, the RB position has always stuck out like a sore thumb. If you look at the best Italy have fielded over the years, you will see a lot of average ones and makeshift RB's... Bennarivo was probbaly the best of the lost sinve 1990. Others like Tassotti, Panucci, Zaccardo, Bonera, etc were just not upto standards as an RB. Zambrotta has been fielded out of position here of late... but I think times now are a-changing.

Italy now have a bunch of youth talent graduating, who might make RB their strongest position in the near future.

Santon, Motta, Pisano and Di Silvestre are the ones I speak of. The first 3 have already established themselves as quality performers, while Di Silvestre is still a bit of a hit-and-miss, his quality is there for everyone to see. Santon was not even born when Italy staged the WC in 1990, but he has already shown he is capable of playing at the highest level. And his confidence is imporving. Motta is probably the best of the lot at the mo, most likely to start at the RB role in the EuroU21s this summer. Pisano is simply the fastest Italian full back I have ever seen in my lifetime, and as the game becomes quicker in these modern times, it will only be to his advantage.

Casiraghi is going to have a headache trying to select his RB for EuroU21 finals... a different kind of headache than what all Azzurri coaches have experienced in the last 2 decades... infact, we might even see the opposite of the NT situation, as the Azzurini may end up with an RB playing at LB!!!

bluenine wrote:The Azzurri always had a weakness at right back, for all the great defenders Italy have churned up over the last 2 decades, the RB position has always stuck out like a sore thumb. If you look at the best Italy have fielded over the years, you will see a lot of average ones and makeshift RB's... Bennarivo was probbaly the best of the lost sinve 1990. Others like Tassotti, Panucci, Zaccardo, Bonera, etc were just not upto standards as an RB. Zambrotta has been fielded out of position here of late... but I think times now are a-changing.

Italy now have a bunch of youth talent graduating, who might make RB their strongest position in the near future.

Santon, Motta, Pisano and Di Silvestre are the ones I speak of. The first 3 have already established themselves as quality performers, while Di Silvestre is still a bit of a hit-and-miss, his quality is there for everyone to see. Santon was not even born when Italy staged the WC in 1990, but he has already shown he is capable of playing at the highest level. And his confidence is imporving. Motta is probably the best of the lot at the mo, most likely to start at the RB role in the EuroU21s this summer. Pisano is simply the fastest Italian full back I have ever seen in my lifetime, and as the game becomes quicker in these modern times, it will only be to his advantage.

Casiraghi is going to have a headache trying to select his RB for EuroU21 finals... a different kind of headache than what all Azzurri coaches have experienced in the last 2 decades... infact, we might even see the opposite of the NT situation, as the Azzurini may end up with an RB playing at LB!!!

Wasn't Benarrivo a LB, blue?