me, too. Schürrle had a few faux pas defensively, so yeah, Poldi might be the smarter choice in jogis eyes. I can also see Kroos for Schweini...

No team has had more shots at #Euro2012 than Italy - 87.

4 goals from 87 shots

Balotelli's misses.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:No team has had more shots at #Euro2012 than Italy - 87.

4 goals from 87 shots

Juventus 2012

I dont think anyone accuse this Italy of being defensive at this tournament but what we can accuse them of is being very bad finishers lol.

Think what Inzaghi would do with this service

nah most of those shots are long shots .

One goal from open play so far

Adit wrote:nah most of those shots are long shots .

One goal from open play so far

Usual spanish fanboy hater

Italy have played great so kudos to them. Hope they continue to play this way because it's better than what they tried to do in South Africa.

Truth hurts but apart from pirlo offensively the italian midfield has been largely impotent.Marchisio,De ross,Motta etc have been excellent supporting Pirlo defensively but none of them had fantastic game offensively.

Adit wrote:Truth hurts but apart from pirlo offensively the italian midfield has been largely impotent.Marchisio,De ross,Motta etc have been excellent supporting Pirlo defensively but none of them had fantastic game offensively.

None of them are supposed to be offensive players, but there have been chances.

Marchisio created two chances against England, the one De Rossi bottled in the second half and I believe one of Balotelli's chances (not 100% on this one). Marchisio had a couple good chances against Spain, bottled a one v one against Croatia too.

Motta had the header against Spain (just off the top of my head right now) and a backheel to start a nice attack against Croatia.

De Rossi, hit the post against England and then missed a sitter in the six yard box in the same game.

Sorry, if any of these are incorrect I'm just going off of memory

In any case, they are not offensive players, they support Pirlo first and foremost.

More passes than anyone else = attacking team

More shots than anyone else = defensive team

Luca wrote:

Adit wrote:Truth hurts but apart from pirlo offensively the italian midfield has been largely impotent.Marchisio,De ross,Motta etc have been excellent supporting Pirlo defensively but none of them had fantastic game offensively.

None of them are supposed to be offensive players, but there have been chances.

Marchisio created two chances against England, the one De Rossi bottled in the second half and I believe one of Balotelli's chances (not 100% on this one). Marchisio had a couple good chances against Spain, bottled a one v one against Croatia too.

Motta had the header against Spain (just off the top of my head right now) and a backheel to start a nice attack against Croatia.

De Rossi, hit the post against England and then missed a sitter in the six yard box in the same game.

Sorry, if any of these are incorrect I'm just going off of memory

In any case, they are not offensive players, they support Pirlo first and foremost.

I dont know if they are there for defensive works alone but they clearly havent contributed enough in attack to ''say those players are offensive threats''.

Cassano and Balotteli relaying too much on long shots in an example of them not getting enough support. They both had 33 shots this tournament and scored 1 goal and that was during a set piece.Even though you can say they are bottling chances i just dont think they are getting enough service.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:More passes than anyone else = attacking team

More shots than anyone else = defensive team

passes remaining teams

Spain 3211
Italy 2676
Germany 2557
Portugal 1754

Adit wrote:

Luca wrote:

Adit wrote:Truth hurts but apart from pirlo offensively the italian midfield has been largely impotent.Marchisio,De ross,Motta etc have been excellent supporting Pirlo defensively but none of them had fantastic game offensively.

None of them are supposed to be offensive players, but there have been chances.

Marchisio created two chances against England, the one De Rossi bottled in the second half and I believe one of Balotelli's chances (not 100% on this one). Marchisio had a couple good chances against Spain, bottled a one v one against Croatia too.

Motta had the header against Spain (just off the top of my head right now) and a backheel to start a nice attack against Croatia.

De Rossi, hit the post against England and then missed a sitter in the six yard box in the same game.

Sorry, if any of these are incorrect I'm just going off of memory

In any case, they are not offensive players, they support Pirlo first and foremost.

I dont know if they are there for defensive works alone but they clearly havent contributed enough in attack to ''say those players are offensive threats''.

Cassano and Balotteli relaying too much on long shots in an example of them not getting enough support. They both had 33 shots this tournament and scored 1 goal and that was during a set piece.Even though you can say they are bottling chances i just dont think they are getting enough service.

You're right, they aren't for two reasons.
The first is in the 3-5-2 against Spain and Croatia, the wingers didn't provide enough service into the middle.
The second, is in the 4-3-1-2, Montolivo/Motta (neither of which are natural trequartistas) haven't provided enough creativity to open up defenses.

So, because of this, Cassano has been dropping off deeper to collect the ball, try and find Balotelli or have a shot himself.

Balotelli has had a variety of chances, including a few inside the box which he should be scoring.

I have no problems with Italy shooting from distance, they are not the type of team that is going to walk the ball into the net and to be fair they have had quite a few decent shots from outside the box.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:I dont think anyone accuse this Italy of being defensive at this tournament but what we can accuse them of is being very bad finishers lol.

Think what Inzaghi would do with this service

My friend our finishing has been sh*t

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:No team has had more shots at #Euro2012 than Italy - 87.
4 goals from 87 shots

Not for nothing was I recalling the days when Italy had more than one world class finisher on a regular basis and now they need to rely on an erratic and crazy Balotelli as their best hope which is sad. Cassano is not up to it physically and in the last match even his passing and decision making was bad.

Adit wrote:Truth hurts but apart from pirlo offensively the italian midfield has been largely impotent.Marchisio,De ross,Motta etc have been excellent supporting Pirlo defensively but none of them had fantastic game offensively.

The whole team plays around and for Pirlo. He is by light years their best player. Maybe one reason why Italy was rated low was that they hardly have outstanding players in defense, midfield or attack but what most people did not anticipate was that Pirlo could roll back the years to this extent.

Zealous wrote:

sbaggio wrote:

REWB wrote:^^fck me ozil looks EPIC in that pic. looks like a total beast.

back on topic, i think it will be an even game. i have a feeling ozil will flop though, pirlo will shine again. Germany will go through as they have much more clinical players.

He looks like a retard.

Lol sbaggio uber-nationalism

He's going to make a few Italian players look retarded :lucas :

What's up, Zealous? Pirlo may make one or two Germans look like monkeys as well.

messixaviesta wrote:

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:No team has had more shots at #Euro2012 than Italy - 87.
4 goals from 87 shots

Not for nothing was I recalling the days when Italy had more than one world class finisher on a regular basis and now they need to rely on an erratic and crazy Balotelli as their best hope which is sad. Cassano is not up to it physically and in the last match even his passing and decision making was bad.

Good to see you in this section Deepak.

Cassano had an odd performance. He is the kind of man you'd expect to step it up big in these situations (which he usually does). But what bothered me is how he didn't fulfill his usual role of being the Fantasista/10 of the frontline as he was being uncharacteristically selfish along with his inaccurate passing against England. Very strange as although I suspect his lack of fitness after the stroke has taken a toll on him.

Most of us didn't want Balo to play.

We wanted Antonio Di Natale who is one of the best finishers in the world. He also naturally is a 10 and combines far better than Balo does with Cassano as its pleasing to the eye.

Which is why I was perplexed on why Prandelli didn't even use him as an impact sub! Maybe he was resting him for Germany

Point being Di Natale has to start with Cassano imo as when given the chance to finish, he makes it look easy.

As for Italia, people underrate them as usual every tournament.

Italia's defense midfield and attack is greater than many think as people like Mole, Dosto etc can attest to that.

Italia's problem is that Prandelli hasn't yet found the best system that suits them.

Arquitecto wrote:

messixaviesta wrote:

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:No team has had more shots at #Euro2012 than Italy - 87.
4 goals from 87 shots

Not for nothing was I recalling the days when Italy had more than one world class finisher on a regular basis and now they need to rely on an erratic and crazy Balotelli as their best hope which is sad. Cassano is not up to it physically and in the last match even his passing and decision making was bad.

Good to see you in this section Deepak.

Cassano had an odd performance. He is the kind of man you'd expect to step it up big in these situations (which he usually does). But what bothered me is how he didn't fulfill his usual role of being the Fantasista/10 of the frontline as he was being uncharacteristically selfish along with his inaccurate passing against England. Very strange as although I suspect his lack of fitness after the stroke has taken a toll on him.

Most of us didn't want Balo to play.

We wanted Antonio Di Natale who is one of the best finishers in the world. He also naturally is a 10 and combines far better than Balo does with Cassano as its pleasing to the eye.

Which is why I was perplexed on why Prandelli didn't even use him as an impact sub! Maybe he was resting him for Germany

Point being Di Natale has to start with Cassano imo as when given the chance to finish, he makes it look easy.

As for Italia, people underrate them as usual every tournament.

Italia's defense midfield and attack is greater than many think as people like Mole, Dosto etc can attest to that.

Italia's problem is that Prandelli hasn't yet found the best system that suits them.

You're the man! Forza Italia!

Sup sbaggio

I'm just hoping to see a great game

Arquitecto wrote:
Good to see you in this section Deepak.

Cassano had an odd performance. He is the kind of man you'd expect to step it up big in these situations (which he usually does). But what bothered me is how he didn't fulfill his usual role of being the Fantasista/10 of the frontline as he was being uncharacteristically selfish along with his inaccurate passing against England. Very strange as although I suspect his lack of fitness after the stroke has taken a toll on him.

Most of us didn't want Balo to play.

We wanted Antonio Di Natale who is one of the best finishers in the world. He also naturally is a 10 and combines far better than Balo does with Cassano as its pleasing to the eye.

Which is why I was perplexed on why Prandelli didn't even use him as an impact sub! Maybe he was resting him for Germany

Point being Di Natale has to start with Cassano imo as when given the chance to finish, he makes it look easy.

As for Italia, people underrate them as usual every tournament.

Italia's defense midfield and attack is greater than many think as people like Mole, Dosto etc can attest to that.

Italia's problem is that Prandelli hasn't yet found the best system that suits them.

Thanks arqui.

I agree to some extent about Di Natale but there have been doubts if he can do it for Italy. As to why Balotelli played I guess it was due to his physical prowess.

I agree that Italy have a good team in all aspects. All I meant was that they don't really have any outstanding players besides Pirlo and Buffon and hence such a team will be rated low. For traditional reasons at least people should take Italy more seriously than they have a habit of doing.

I would say Prandelli has done at least a decent job with what he had in hand.

Only 6 players from 2006 still play for both teams while on of them sits on the bench. I also updated my blog ( under my avatar) for this special occasion

Immortal Babun wrote:
Only 6 players from 2006 still play for both teams while on of them sits on the bench. I also updated my blog ( under my avatar) for this special occasion

De Rossi

So I heard that Germany have not defeated Italy in an official match since 1970. Can anyone confirm or deny this statistic?

That statistic is entirely true but probably irrelevant, until a few days ago Spain had never beaten France :lucas :