WC2010 Group F - Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:I agree with Pierre in that most of the players aren't as good as the previous generation. Chiellini is not at the level Nesta or Cannavaro were. Pazzini/Gila are not at the level Vieri/Inaghi were etc.

Still no excuse to continue to rely on the likes of Canna and Gattuso.

abundance wrote:
but also he consistently picked the worst 11 and system from the crappy 23 he brought along. Class

d gorgeous one haz spoken wrote:

Kimbo wrote:

blutgraetsche wrote:I don't know if the English on here really can take the piss now. Your team is as old as theirs, and if you get knocked out by us, you'll need as much of a transition as Italy does.

In fact, if I was an England fan, I'd probably hope for your team to get knocked out, because if you knock your arch rivals Germany out, a lot of the real problems your squad has, English football in general, will be glossed over and forgotten. Your problems are structural, and I have my doubts if Capello is the right guy to fix them. He is a guy for results, not for evolution or even revolution of football.

Everything always gets glossed over in England. We scraped past Slovenia 1-0 and finished 2nd and suddenly we're on course for the worlc cup again.

OrangeSky wrote:
But that is Italy though, Blue. Until the FIGC, the league, and the clubs get serious about youth development, then things will continue in this way for the foreseeable future.

Antarion wrote:

fitting ad?

d gorgeous one haz spoken wrote:

Persistence wrote:

d gorgeous one haz spoken wrote:

lol those algerian guys in the daily top 5 are funny 2

blutgraetsche wrote:I don't know if the English on here really can take the piss now. Your team is as old as theirs, and if you get knocked out by us, you'll need as much of a transition as Italy does.

In fact, if I was an England fan, I'd probably hope for your team to get knocked out, because if you knock your arch rivals Germany out, a lot of the real problems your squad has, English football in general, will be glossed over and forgotten. Your problems are structural, and I have my doubts if Capello is the right guy to fix them. He is a guy for results, not for evolution or even revolution of football.

Di Caniooooo! wrote:

Persistence wrote:

d gorgeous one haz spoken wrote:

lol those algerian guys in the daily top 5 are funny 2

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:I agree with Pierre in that most of the players aren't as good as the previous generation. Chiellini is not at the level Nesta or Cannavaro were. Pazzini/Gila are not at the level Vieri/Inaghi were etc.

Still no excuse to continue to rely on the likes of Canna and Gattuso.

Pirlo wrote:He's just like Capello, stubborn and unflexible, they're stuck in the 1990s, both are obselete and useless.

Prandelli's Italia will surely be more entertaining, and he'll give the younger players a chance, he's well liked and respected in Italy, i get the feeling everyone in the Italy camp apart from Cannavaro thought that Lippi was a twat, but none of them bar Iaquinta and Pepe had the balls to confront him,

I'd like to see De Rossi, Chiellini, Pepe and Camoranesi phased out now, the former two are just media hype, the latter are fucking useless at international level.
Prandelli has to work and get the younger players involved and experienced now, this generation is finished, it's time for Cassano and Balotelli to be the future

bluenine wrote:

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:I agree with Pierre in that most of the players aren't as good as the previous generation. Chiellini is not at the level Nesta or Cannavaro were. Pazzini/Gila are not at the level Vieri/Inaghi were etc.

Still no excuse to continue to rely on the likes of Canna and Gattuso.

I am not so sure, depends on how you define generation. I define it was the available talent in that year... so Nesta is still very much this generation, he could ve been persuaded to play... he is still among the best in the world. As for strikers, there are the likes of Totti, Cassano, Miccoli, Iaquinta, Balotelli, etc who have the talent upfront. Those 5 are not much better/worse than 2006 or 2002.

This Italian generation may not be the best one, but it has enough talent to do quite well in the world cup....

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:

Pirlo wrote:He's just like Capello, stubborn and unflexible, they're stuck in the 1990s, both are obselete and useless.

Prandelli's Italia will surely be more entertaining, and he'll give the younger players a chance, he's well liked and respected in Italy, i get the feeling everyone in the Italy camp apart from Cannavaro thought that Lippi was a twat, but none of them bar Iaquinta and Pepe had the balls to confront him,

I'd like to see De Rossi, Chiellini, Pepe and Camoranesi phased out now, the former two are just media hype, the latter are fucking useless at international level.
Prandelli has to work and get the younger players involved and experienced now, this generation is finished, it's time for Cassano and Balotelli to be the future

Judging from Prandelli's spells at Parma and Fiorentina, he will give youth a chance and will also try and play good football.

Pepe should have never been anywhere near the national setup. Same goes for Camoranesi, who i never rated particularly highly. He went to 4 international tournaments (which is a travesty in itself) and was pretty crap in all 4 of them. Prandelli if he drops Chiellini and De Rossi. Both are overrated. I remember we used to complain about having Materazzi as our backup to Cannavaro and Nesta. Now we have Chiellini (who's at the level of Materazzi) as our star defender. Things were not so bad back then . De Rossi has been pretty underwhelming at the 3 international tournaments he's been at, most notably, his passing has been very erratic. Prandelli will need balls to drop him.

As for the short term future. Cassano should be made the focal point of the attack. Shame for him that he won't be able to play at World Cup until he's in his 30s. Balotelli and Santon look promising, they need to break into the Inter side now. Montolivo was good in this tournament, he will almost certainly be a major part of Prandelli's plans. Aquilani might stay fit, but it's doubtful! There is Giuseppe Rossi aswell. There is talent, but still not as much as there should be. Serie A teams need to give the young Italian players a chance.

Pirlo wrote:4-2-3-1-

Buffon; Motta, Bonucci, Chiellini, Santon - Pirlo, Montolivo - Balotelli, Cassano, G.Rossi - Pazzini/Gilardino.

bluenine wrote:Rosina

Anyways, bobo/pirlo, why don't you guys have a shot at 2014 squad... and we'll bump up this thread 4 years from now... it will be fun, have a go at it.

Bluenine’s WC 2010 squad prediction:

Buffon, Amelia, Curci

Nesta, Barzagli, Andreolli, Bovo, Pasqual, Chiellini, Zambrotta, Grosso

Pirlo, De Rossi, Brighi, Montolivo, Marchionni, Rosina

Iaquinta, Cassano, Tavano, Miccoli, Gilardino, Palladino



LOL! I didn’t realise I would get that so wrong 4 years on... a bit embarrassed about some of the choices ( Barzagli, Andreolli, Tavano!). But also very proud of some of the predictions (Montolivo, Chiellini) who were kids with potential in mid 2006, and also Brighi & Marchionni were fair calls... its not easy making calls on who will make it big in 4 years time!!

So I got only 8 right, but Lippi is partly to blame for that... I SHOULD HAVE got Cassano, Miccoli, Brighi, & Marchionni right too! So I am claiming 12 which is an amazing over 50% right!

Funny thing is, if I had just repeated the 2006 squad, I would ve got 9 right! That’s the problem, Mr Lippi, thats the problem!



Anyways, back to the topic, my prediction for the 2014 Squad for the time capsule:

Marchetti, Sirigu, Buffon

Chiellini, Gamberini, Bonucci, Bocchetti, Criscito, Santon, Motta, Cassani

De Rossi, Montolivo, Marchisio, Aquilani, Brighi, Palombo, D’Agostino

Balotelli, Pazzini, Gilardino, Rossi, Cassano



More confident about my choices this time, specially if Prandelli is still coach in 2014... if they sack him and get Lippi back, then all bets are off!

debaser wrote:No Camaronesi?