Italia vs Scotland

Dude, this season Rocchi is more than International class, he is a class apart! At that level, sometimes strikers on form can be far better than their more naturally gifted copunterparts, and sometimes the talent really comes to fore a bit late (eg Toni). I am not sure how long Rocchi's form will continue, but till it does, he is among the best there is. At the mo, Rocchi >> Toni.

If I have to pick the 10 strikers for Italy among all playing at the mo, I would pick:

Toni, Totti, Iaquinta, Rosina, Di Michele, Rocchi, Quagliarella, Gilardino, Del Piero, and Amauri (yeah, its time Italy claims him )

The 6 who play in Euro2008 shoudl come from the above 10!

then come the likes of Bianchi, Rigano, Di Natale, Lucarelli, Cassano, Miccoli, etc... they are good, maybe even as good as the above 10, but not there IMO.

This is Italy, there are too many talented strikers!

And its only in Italy where you can actually get away with calling a 24 yr old (Quagliarella) as too young to play for Azzurri!!! We haven't even considered the talented azzurrini like Palladino, Pazzini, Pelle, Lupoli, Rossi, etc yet!

Stefan Kuntz wrote:

bluenine wrote:lol

Its not that I don't rate Di Natale, I do, but there are better options... I would rather see the likes of Rocchi or Del Piero play... or even Quag!

But the latest I have heard is that its between Di Natale & Camoranesi for the right, and DP and Quag for the left... so in that case, the front line should be:

Di Natale ---- Toni ---- Del Piero

Stefan Kuntz wrote:

bluenine wrote:I have never been a big fan of DP, but with Totti unavailable and considering DP's current form, he HAS to start... I hope Donadoni has that sense.

Now I fear Di Natale and Camoranesi supporting Toni, that looks like a blunt attack to me

Mate - I respect your opinion but don't lump Di Natale and C@m*$@n£#! together.

Di Natale is a fine player - one of the most underrated in Europe's top leagues for sure.

Nothing blunt about Di Natale.

DP has had his time and is a Serie B player.

Rocchi makes the best of what he's got but will never be international class - Quagliarella is too young.

Di Natale - spot on

We will definitely park the bus, otherwise we will get stuffed.

Yeah will be a 4-5-1 possibly headed by Kenny Miller. One striker will make way Quashie if fit. Would like Scott Brown to start instead of Teale, but it will probably be the same team as saturday

It's utterly depressing how the likes of Quashie and Teale get anywhere near the side. If we are to play a 4-5-1, Boyd should play.

Agooner wrote:Italy will win by 2 goals but DP should stay far from the starting line-up otherwise he'll fuck up their chances.

Del Piero is on song right now, so I would start him.

People are too hard on Alex; I hope he starts and scores a brace.

If Totti were available, I would have benched DP.... but now, I can't see how he can be left out of the starting line up...

Forza Italia!Forza Milan! wrote:

Agooner wrote:Italy will win by 2 goals but DP should stay far from the starting line-up otherwise he'll fuck up their chances.

Del Piero is on song right now, so I would start him.

People are too hard on Alex; I hope he starts and scores a brace.

Can't believe Camoranesi still gets in the squad

I'd go with Toni supported by Del Piero and Rocchi.

Thats the one I am talking about!!

BoBo Vieri wrote:Can't believe Camoranesi still gets in the squad

I'd go with Toni supported by Del Piero and Rocchi.

I can't wait for the game, I'm gonna be pished to hell and gone.

bluenine wrote:Thats the one I am talking about!!

BoBo Vieri wrote:Can't believe Camoranesi still gets in the squad

I'd go with Toni supported by Del Piero and Rocchi.

That would be the best trio IMO.

Although I do like Di Natale, Del Piero lurking behind Toni has something special about it.

Forza Italia!Forza Milan! wrote:

bluenine wrote:Thats the one I am talking about!!

BoBo Vieri wrote:Can't believe Camoranesi still gets in the squad

I'd go with Toni supported by Del Piero and Rocchi.

That would be the best trio IMO.

Although I do like Di Natale, Del Piero lurking behind Toni has something special about it.

That's what I'd go with....and then bring on The Quag later

Barry Ferguson wants Scotland to come at us and try and put us on the back foot.

Brave if they try that.

VS

I hope they try (and I think they will)... should give Toni & Co some space to play around with....

I hope Italy don't start defending the lead after (and if) they go ahead - thats the only disaster scenario I can see.... well that and Materazzi having a ...er.....umm... off day

DeanoTheEmo-WHUFC wrote:Barry Ferguson wants Scotland to come at us and try and put us on the back foot.

Brave if they try that.

Scotland will park the bus. But at least it looks like Brown is going to start. And I'm hoping he'll give the Italians a right fright.

Calidad wrote:It's utterly depressing how the likes of Quashie and Teale get anywhere near the side. If we are to play a 4-5-1, Boyd should play.

Deano's cursed. Quashie will score the winner from 30 yards out to complete his awful season.

I really hope Di Natale is given a chance, both Donadoni and Cannavaro have been talking lots of complimentaries to the medias this week, his application and desire certainly deserves more chances, he works very hard in the Azzurri camps.

The press conference with Buffon was very funny, poor Gigi!!!!

I hope Donadoni doesn't use this game as another excuse to mess around with his tactics, sometimes football is a very simple game, there is no need to overcomplicate, a 4-3-2-1 system may be attractive, but teams have struggled in utilising it this season, the tactic is certainly alien to Donadoni, he never used it at Livorno, he may have the personell and has been using it in the training drills this week. Let us see how things go, we have the squad to get the result, they are in a routine now with the season, so momentum should now lie with us, rather than in the earlier games where the squad had no match practice and irregularity.

Di Natale and Del Piero is very appealing, with Di Natale you have sharpness, and incisiveness, the ability to thrust at teams. With Del Piero you have the guile, the grace, the vision, to float something up for Toni. Toni is best because he is superb at his first touch and holds the ball up brilliantly allowing the support to join him.

Naturally the three midfield places have to go to BEAST, Pirlo and De Rossi / Perrotta. Our midfield virtually selects itself now, the competition for places is poor, you cannot see anybody displacing those four.

If we are patient and don't let the anxiety affect our performance then we are strong enough to take three points, its essential to settle into a rhythm quicky, but to expect Scotland to be well organised and tenacious. The only problem i can forsee is that if Scotland sit deep, the nature of the 4-3-2-1 invites us to press and maintain a very high line, a team with pace can exploit this, i know very little of Scottish players, but i know our defence in the centre is not the quickest. In those sorts of situations you expect one defender to drop off and cover, even if you then cannot play an offside, you should be well enough organised to cope with the attacks, you would not expect them to commit too many foward anyways as our own attack of three players would counterract that vulnerability.

It will be an interesting match, a must win game for us, and i am very interested to see what Donadoni will do tactically. For Scotland, we wish them the best of luck, their supporters are always fantastic and they deserve a chance to hit a big tournament again, hopefully ot at our expense though!!

I think the Scots will win, Buffon has been sick for the past two days, so he might not even play, but if he does he probably won't be at 100%. I'll be wearing my kilt all day and get totally pished during the match.

Italy are going to find it tough against the scots, Donadoni's leadership does not inspire confidence. There is a good chance that Italy will not qualify for Euro, such things happen after a World Cup victory.

Our midfield will be the key tomorrow. If Brown and Hartley can stop Pirlo and Gattuso bossing the game then we could manage to get a point. Lets not give Pirlo freekicks around the box this time.

I can't understand why we would put Boyd on the bench when he is our best chance of scoring.

Bobkat: being pissed is always the best way to watch a Scotland game. Especially on a beautiful day like Saturday

Gigliati wrote:Italy are going to find it tough against the scots, Donadoni's leadership does not inspire confidence. There is a good chance that Italy will not qualify for Euro, such things happen after a World Cup victory.

We have a tendency to struggle against the 'smaller' nations, always we have had this problem, previously though we had been rescued by our ability to produce a performance against the top teams. Now we rely on our games v Ukraine, v Scotland and v France. These three are the most important, if we can win all three then we can qualify as the winners. This problem you referred to happened after the 1982 world cup, let us hope we have learnt from the lessons of this history.

The players like Cannavaro and BEAST have rallied around Donadoni this week, to be honest there is little else they could do, they are hardly as likely to give a vote of no confidence in public, but we have to trust and give him his time. Anything less than a victory though is a potenbtial disaster, and the FIGC would have a big decision to make. I'm happy for Prandelli, Spalletti, Ancelotti to take over even if they can manage their clubs as well, Capello is an absolute NO for my opinion.

Pirlo has been poor all season and it looks like Gattuso has caught it off him in recent games. I doubt Italy will dominate in midfield, I think it will down down to finishing. Italy as always will be strong in the defence, and have quality up front to be clinical in front of goal in a game of few chances.

Pirlo wrote:

Gigliati wrote:Italy are going to find it tough against the scots, Donadoni's leadership does not inspire confidence. There is a good chance that Italy will not qualify for Euro, such things happen after a World Cup victory.

We have a tendency to struggle against the 'smaller' nations, always we have had this problem, previously though we had been rescued by our ability to produce a performance against the top teams. Now we rely on our games v Ukraine, v Scotland and v France. These three are the most important, if we can win all three then we can qualify as the winners. This problem you referred to happened after the 1982 world cup, let us hope we have learnt from the lessons of this history.

The players like Cannavaro and BEAST have rallied around Donadoni this week, to be honest there is little else they could do, they are hardly as likely to give a vote of no confidence in public, but we have to trust and give him his time. Anything less than a victory though is a potenbtial disaster, and the FIGC would have a big decision to make. I'm happy for Prandelli, Spalletti, Ancelotti to take over even if they can manage their clubs as well, Capello is an absolute NO for my opinion.

I have a feeling it could be Capello though as he is the only one who would be willing to leave his job atm and his club would have no problems with him leaving. True though, Capello would be another Trappatoni. I'd like to see Ancelotti have a go.

DeanoTheEmo-WHUFC wrote:Barry Ferguson wants Scotland to come at us and try and put us on the back foot.

Brave if they try that.

I sincerely hope we do go at the Italians. I'd love us to go 4-4-2 and attack them. Can't see it though, I think we'll go with a 4-5-1 and try and stifle Italy.
Being a fan of attacking football, I hate to see that happening.
I'd rather we attack, and if we lose, so be it, but at least we go down fighting!

FORZA SCOZIA!!

Italy hates long high balls, high tempo and physical football! If Scotland plays their normal game they have a chance otherwise they will lose....

monty wrote:Our midfield will be the key tomorrow. If Brown and Hartley can stop Pirlo and Gattuso bossing the game then we could manage to get a point. Lets not give Pirlo freekicks around the box this time.

I can't understand why we would put Boyd on the bench when he is our best chance of scoring.

Bobkat: being pissed is always the best way to watch a Scotland game. Especially on a beautiful day like Saturday

Yeah being rat arsed with your mates while watching the match is a great way to watch it. Just avoid us if Scotland doesn't come away with any points.

I just hope we don't have an off day in the means that pressure gets to us and we become nervous in our play...the Scots will punish us. They are confident, high team spirit and have no pressure. Has to be the most worried I've been since The World Cup final...

FORZA ITALIA!

Im sorry, but as much as Scotland are doing well at the moment,

if Scotland beat Italy I'll find you an elephant that can tap dance

You underestimate Scotland my friend. We didn't get to 16th in the world by losing.

I Am Weasel wrote:Im sorry, but as much as Scotland are doing well at the moment,

if Scotland beat Italy I'll find you an elephant that can tap dance

This isn't Berti Vogts Scotland....even now Smith has left...all that seems to have done is fired them up even more.

As Pirlo says the smaller (Non top) nations we always struggle against.

USA in the world cup...Lithuania in the qualifiers...etc. I'm not forgetting the 1-1 at Hampden either...that day Scotland really did deserve their draw!