Debate: Should Lippi recall Totti/Nesta??

I doubt it, he retired when Donadoni was in charge and refused to play in the European Championships. How was Totti to know that a manager he has a great relationship with would take charge of Italy and his services would be needed?

Shows how full of shit Lippi is though.

Quick q. If Totti does come back, how much will Italy's 1st choice lineup differ from:

There will be no Toni, Materazzi, Camoranesi, (may start the odd game) Gattuso or Perrotta and I reckon Gamberini will (or should rather) be there ahead of Cannavaro.

I dont think anyone can guess what Italy will line up with come next summer. Only Pirlo, De Rossi, Buffon and Chiellini are guarenteed starters.

Cam and Gattuso will be in the squad though yeah? I've completely lost track whats happened to Toni. Did he retire to Germany at some point?

debaser wrote:Quick q. If Totti does come back, how much will Italy's 1st choice lineup differ from:

Buffon
Zambrotta-Materazzi-Cannavaro-Grosso
Cameranesi-Pirlo-Gattuso-Perrotta
Totti
Toni

?

Chiellini, De Rossi (who played that day anyway), maybe two or three others? I'm not sure what team Lippi is playing now. But would I be right in saying only Materazzi and Perrotta are out of the reckoning now? Anyway, just struck me it that while there is a bunch of younger players coming through, could end up with v similar team lining up in SA. Doesn't seem winners often come back with such a similar team 4 yrs on (but that might just be my imagination).

De Rossi instead of Gattuso
Marchisio/Palombo instead of Perrotta
Chiellini instead of Materazzi
Gilardino/Iaquinta instead of Toni

France brought back a relatively similar side in 02, except with better strikers. They failed badly

Good chance he'll be at Roma in January, and we'll see from there what he can do for the last half of the Italian season.

Camoranesi yes, unfortunately. I can see Palombo, Brighi and De Rossi being enough for Lippi but its unlikely Gattuso wont be there, very unlikely.

Black Magic wrote:There will be no Toni, Materazzi, Camoranesi, (may start the odd game) Gattuso or Perrotta and I reckon Gamberini will (or should rather) be there ahead of Cannavaro.

I dont think anyone can guess what Italy will line up with come next summer. Only Pirlo, De Rossi, Buffon and Chiellini are guarenteed starters.

Camoranesi is a nailed on starter. Lippi has a huge hard on for him. Maybe he'll do crap (as usual) and Lippi will play someone better like Marchionni.

Gamberini isn't even sure of making the squad.

Canna is a nailed on starter as are Zambrotta and Grosso.

I look forward to the day that Argie c*nt just retires.

Black Magic wrote:Good chance he'll be at Roma in January, and we'll see from there what he can do for the last half of the Italian season.

Camoranesi yes, unfortunately. I can see Palombo, Brighi and De Rossi being enough for Lippi but its unlikely Gattuso wont be there, very unlikely.

Really, Gattuso shouldn't be there. Ambrosini is ahead of him for Milan and rightly so. Lippi likes his personality though, so he'll probably get there based on that.

Black Magic wrote: I look forward to the day that Argie c*nt just dies.

Don't know if anyone has noticed, but he never turns up in the big games.

He's a small game player (if that).

The problem is Lippi is going with fellas that are older and shitter than they were 4 years ago. Its ridiculous when Samp's midfield of Mannini and Palombo is better than Italy's.

Let me do a Carlo Garganese style prediction for Lippi's squad (agreeing with most of his analysis/predictions):

Goalkeepers (3)
On The Plane: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)
In The Airport Lounge: Federico Marchetti (Cagliari), Morgan De Sanctis (Napoli)
Outsiders: Marco Amelia (Genoa), Luca Castellazzi (Sampdoria)

Defenders (8 )
On The Plane: Gianluca Zambrotta (Milan), Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Fabio Grosso (Juventus)
In The Airport Lounge: Davide Santon (Inter), Nicola Legrottaglie (Juventus), Salvatore Bocchetti (Genoa), Domenico Criscito (Genoa),
Outsiders: Marco Motta (Roma), Alessandro Gamberini (Fiorentina), Andrea Ranocchia (Bari), Alessandro Nesta (Milan), Andrea Barzagli (Wolfsburg), Andrea Dossena (Liverpool), Marco Materazzi (Inter)

Midfielders (6-7)
On The Plane: Andrea Pirlo (Milan), Rino Gattuso (Milan), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Claudio Marchisio (Juventus), Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus)
In The Airport Lounge: Angelo Palombo (Sampdoria), Gaetano D’Agostino (Udinese), Simone Pepe (Udinese), Alberto Aquilani (Liverpool)
Outsiders: Pasquale Foggia (Lazio), Marco Marchionni (Fiorentina), Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina), Cristiano Zanetti (Fiorentina), Daniele Mannini (Sampdoria), Giandomenico Mesto (Genoa), Matteo Brighi (Roma), Christian Maggio (Napoli), Simone Perrotta (Roma), Daniele Galloppa (Parma), Luca Cigarini (Napoli), Candreva (Livorno)

Attackers (5-6)
On The Plane: Vincenzo Iaquinta (Juventus), Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina), Francesco Totti (Roma)
In The Airport Lounge: Antonio Di Natale (Udinese), Fabio Quagliarella (Napoli), Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal), Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus), Giampaolo Pazzini (Sampdoria), Amauri (Juventus),
Outsiders: Luca Toni (Bayern Munich), Antonio Cassano (Sampdoria), Mario Balotelli (Inter), Sergio Floccari (Genoa), Fabrizio Miccoli (Palermo), Sebastian Giovinco (Juventus)

You really think Francesco is a lock Bluey?

There's no indication whether Lippi will call him up yet. If he does call him up then he will be a starter.

Legrottaglie is on the plane.

Marchionni is in the airport while Aquilani is an outsider.

I also think Di Natale is on the plane.

Nesta, Materazzi, Zanetti, Cassano, Miccoli, these guys aren't even outsiders. They won't be going fullstop.

I also think Del Piero is more of an outsider.

Black Magic wrote:You really think Francesco is a lock Bluey?

If he is fit (and at least in ok-ish form), he will be on that plane.

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:There's no indication whether Lippi will call him up yet. If he does call him up then he will be a starter.

Legrottaglie is on the plane.

Marchionni is in the airport while Aquilani is an outsider.

I also think Di Natale is on the plane.

Nesta, Materazzi, Zanetti, Cassano, Miccoli, these guys aren't even outsiders. They won't be going fullstop.

I also think Del Piero is more of an outsider.

Legrotaglie, probably. The only reason I put him in the "airport lounge" is just in case Nesta is pressurized to make a comeback. Otherwise, all the defenders in the "airport lounge" should all make it.

Marchionni & Aquilani, hmmm... I think Aquilani has a better chance of making it if he becomes a regular at Liverpool. But perhaps both should be "outsiders".

Di Natale, not 100%.... coz Totti & Amauri may eat up precious places... but most likely he will be in the squad.

Nesta, Materazzi, Zanetti, Cassano, Miccoli... I agree, maybe with the exception of Materazzi... Lippi likes him, and from the looks of it, Mou prefers him to Cordoba/Chivu at CB.... so if he gets some playing time & impresses, he could sneak in.

Del Piero plays for Yooway... Lippi's verson of azzurri is increasingly wearing zebra stripes.

Thing with Del Piero and Materazzi is, if he wanted to call them up, i'm sure he would have done so by now. But he hasn't so my feeling is that neither of them are in Lippi's plans.

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:Thing with Del Piero and Materazzi is, if he wanted to call them up, i'm sure he would have done so by now. But he hasn't so my feeling is that neither of them are in Lippi's plans.

Maybe he was trying to test new players like Rossi & Gamberini, and now is not too impressed? DP & Matrix go well with his "group mentality" theme for the world cup...

We shall see blue! The friendlies next year will give us a good indication of who's going. I predict neither Del Piero will be called up by Lippi. You can bump this thread if i'm wrong

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:We shall see blue! The friendlies next year will give us a good indication of who's going. I predict neither Del Piero will be called up by Lippi. You can bump this thread if i'm wrong

I predict that 5-6 of the 9 strikers I have mentioned in the first 2 categories will travel

Here's my predicted squad

Buffon, Marchetti, De Sanctis

Zambrotta, Grosso, Cannavaro, Chiellini, Legrotagglie, Bocchetti, Criscito, Gamberini

Pirlo, De Rossi, Camoranesi, Marchisio, Palombo, Gattuso, Marchionni

Gilardino, Iaquinta, Di Natale, Totti*, Pazzini

replace Totti with Rossi if the former decides not to come out of retirement

That's my prediction blue. What are yours? We'll compare who got more right in the summer

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:Here's my predicted squad

Buffon, Marchetti, De Sanctis

Zambrotta, Grosso, Cannavaro, Chiellini, Legrotagglie, Bocchetti, Criscito, Gamberini

Pirlo, De Rossi, Camoranesi, Marchisio, Palombo, Gattuso, Marchionni

Gilardino, Iaquinta, Di Natale, Totti*, Pazzini

replace Totti with Rossi if the former decides not to come out of retirement

That's my prediction blue. What are yours? We'll compare who got more right in the summer

I see you have inserted Totti...

I guess we disagree on only three picks: Gamberini, Marchionni, & Pazzini. Instead of these 3, I think Lippi would pick Santon, Pepe, & Rossi.

This is the worst Italy squad since the 1986 WC, although it would be a bit better if Lippi wasn't obsessed with picking as many of his 2006 squad as possible.

Murray wrote:This is the worst Italy squad since the 1986 WC, although it would be a bit better if Lippi wasn't obsessed with picking as many of his 2006 squad as possible.

Totti says he will return if he is fit and Lippi is willing to call him.

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:Totti says he will return if he is fit and Lippi is willing to call him.

as we all expected....

It's good news.

I wonder whether Pirlo will go back into his original position now?

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:It's good news.

I wonder whether Pirlo will go back into his original position now?

Much as I hate to admit it, it is good news for Italy... now Lippi just needs to convince Nesta, and there is a chance....

Why do you hate to admit it?