The Franchise wrote:Of course, Ozil and Park are not the same type of player at all. I agree with your post, just mentioning Pirlo is not unstoppable like Low seems to be saying.

If Germany didnt need Khedira further back he would be ideal. Obviously that hinders them further forward so overall its not a good idea.

As I said a few posts ago, its should be a even game possession wise. So its not like Ozil is going to tire himself out by playing defence the entire game. I think it would be irresponsible to allow Pirlo the sort of freedom other teams have done.

I would point to the Croatia game, in which at half time Modric was tasked with picking him up and he did so very well, without losing his own game in doing it.

I think we are in agreement then, my mistake.

I've always said a good defence in fact starts with your strikers. Not so much as man marking, in that sense Low is right trying to take Pirlo out of the game entirely is not possible without sacrificing too much themselves. But yes surely he must instruct Ozil and Gomez to generally defend spaces to his front and rear and occasionally to close him down.

May actually work in forcing Italy wide, which is really not what we want to be doing with this formation.

"He [Pirlo] is having a bit of a renaissance. He is an outstanding footballer and a brilliant strategist. Man marking is useless with him because he drops deep so often," Low said in a press conference.

"[Italy can play] 3-5-2 or 4-4-2. We have to familiarise and prepare for both systems. We want to keep our own rhythm.

''Germany are afraid of us.''

''I saw Hart was confident I wanted to take him off his high horse''

lol Pirlo is really talking himself up

Let's see how it works out.

I thought I had posted this earlier, but I couldn't find my post, maybe I turned my PC off without hitting 'send', if I repeat myself, please ignore me:

I think Löw saying that Pirlo won't be man-marked is to be taken with a grain of salt. We man-mark nobody - it's quite simple, actually, we zonal-mark. Pirlo sitting deep will be pressed by Özil, who'll chase him for a dozen to twenty yards, at which point Piggy or Khedira will take over, until Pirlo comes into Hummels' range, at which point he'll be dispossessed without a foul.
If he goes to the flanks, he'll get bullied by Reus and Podolski until Lahm and Boateng/Bender can take over.
He'll be man-marked, alright, but not by one player, he'll always have a marker on him, but who that's going to be, will depend on the "zone" he's in.

Just like Germany did to Messi. A player that's in theory is unstoppable, is just impotent if he has literally no space. And we're so much better defensively now than we were 2010.

Piggy is a concern though, he's been "meh", against Greece. On the other hand he had a couple incredibly boss tackles even then.

juveman17 wrote:This game is gonnna be epic

I miss the 2006 squad though and that Del Piero upper 90 shot.....

Italy's WC 2006 squad was brilliant. Of the starting eleven without injuries, the goalkeeper and entire defense was world's best in almost every position. Almost the same applies to the defensive and central midfield. Up front they had Totti who was said to have underperformed for Italy in his career but on ability there is nothing really to say. Toni had come off a phenomenal season. Camoranesi was a wonderful winger while Perotta even though not in the same class as these players was in good form and a very hard working team man. The team work was great and the coach was one of the best possible ( Lippi before he went on an unforgivable ride of self indulgence from 2008 onwards ). There were many good substitutes as well. Before the tournament began I had tipped them to be losing finalists to Brazil but we all know what happened. As for that match I was supporting Italy against Germany as will be the case this Thursday and that moment in the 119th minute when Pirlo threads that pass to Grosso was something I won't forget. Later in WC 2010 what Iniesta does against Portugal seems almost like a carbon copy of what Pirlo did in this match four years ago.

Shame Maldini wasn't on the 2006 squad, he deserved a WC winners medal.

mtfootball wrote:Italy have good players too. Cassano, Chiellini, De Rossi, Pirlo etc are experienced and are/can be WC.

You forgot Gigi there! Shame on you!

*fidget* *fidget*

I can't wait for the match to start!

rwo power wrote:

mtfootball wrote:Italy have good players too. Cassano, Chiellini, De Rossi, Pirlo etc are experienced and are/can be WC.

You forgot Gigi there! Shame on you!

*fidget* *fidget*

I can't wait for the match to start!

Yeh I originally had Buffon on the list, but I put Balotelli as well, however since he isn't experienced, I accidentally deleted both.

Pirlo was shut down in second half by Modric when they changed formation.As a result Croatia became better team in that half scored the equalizer and controlled the game.

It is not impossible to stop Italia midfield ,but you need players for it.I think Toni kroos is a perfect player to play this game. He may not be as good of a offensive threat as Ozil but he brings a good equilibrium between CM and AM. Moving Ozil to the wings and playing Kroos as a AM is an idea although it is a reactive line up and Germany dont need a reactive line up, it is Italy who imo is going to play with a reactive line up.

Zealous wrote:''Germany are afraid of us.''

''I saw Hart was confident I wanted to take him off his high horse''

lol Pirlo is really talking himself up

Let's see how it works out.

Interestingly the German translation on TV had Pirlo say "I saw Hart was nervous". Tk tsk. Translators these days...

Goal.com decieved me :xavi:

think di natale should play and balotelli as sub. balotelli has been great holding ball, and driving the attack well, but he has been missing chances really badly.

i think balotelli normally looks good as a sub di natale is always there to take dangerous chance so i am in for di natale to start but think prandelli will still start balotelli ahead of others.

Adit wrote:Pirlo was shut down in second half by Modric when they changed formation.As a result Croatia became better team in that half scored the equalizer and controlled the game.

It is not impossible to stop Italia midfield ,but you need players for it.I think Toni kroos is a perfect player to play this game. He may not be as good of a offensive threat as Ozil but he brings a good equilibrium between CM and AM. Moving Ozil to the wings and playing Kroos as a AM is an idea although it is a reactive line up and Germany dont need a reactive line up, it is Italy who imo is going to play with a reactive line up.

well i think croatian tactical change had huge impact or not, but italians definitely were tired in second half, and they lacked concentration in midfield and so did chellini. i dont think it was more because of tactcal change that helped Croatians more.

Zealous wrote:Shame Maldini wasn't on the 2006 squad, he deserved a WC winners medal.

True. He had opted out of the national team on his own though. Also sad that Nesta got injured so early but Materazzi made the very best of the opportunity afforded to him.

Ass or tits? Choose yourself

rwo power wrote:

mtfootball wrote:Italy have good players too. Cassano, Chiellini, De Rossi, Pirlo etc are experienced and are/can be WC.

You forgot Gigi there! Shame on you!

*fidget* *fidget*

I can't wait for the match to start!

And Barzagli, who is a world cup winner

My horror scenario: Italy will get overrun by the energetic German midfield, and Pirlo will be a mere shadow, not being able to show his skills. Seen it before, can happen again, also with less time to rest. I just hope we wont be pushed back like England, even though it would be pointless to lie high if Germany destroy us on counters.

Will be some very interesting 10-20 minutes.

Eivindo wrote:My horror scenario: Italy will get overrun by the energetic German midfield, and Pirlo will be a mere shadow, not being able to show his skills. Seen it before, can happen again, also with less time to rest. I just hope we wont be pushed back like England, even though it would be pointless to lie high if Germany destroy us on counters.

Will be some very interesting 10-20 minutes.

Löw:

We want to try to enforce our rhythm on Italy,... It will be important to seize the initiative and try to force Italy to drop deep with our game. We want to act, not react.

http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/news/newsid=1834386.html

i have high expectations for this game


after the 2 last games that were goalless for 120 minutes

i need an exciting game with a lot of drama

Just don't go to extra time. The winner needs to be fresh to beat Spain.

free_cat wrote:Just don't go to extra time. The winner needs to be fresh to beat Spain.

Dat Catalan pride...

Chiellini is 50/50 for this game, unfortunately.

free_cat wrote:Just don't go to extra time. The winner needs to be fresh to beat Spain.

This!

Zealous wrote:''Germany are afraid of us.''

''I saw Hart was confident I wanted to take him off his high horse''

lol Pirlo is really talking himself up

Let's see how it works out.

oh the shitstorm if Xavi have said those...
Pirlo is H&R

Germany striker Miroslav Klose, 34, plays his club football in Rome for Serie A side Lazio.

The veteran forward explained on Tuesday how he plans to use his Italian to eavesdrop on the opposition and relay any of Italy's tactics to his German team-mates.

"I'll try to be a bit of a spy and pass on any bits I hear," he said.

"I should be able to pick up a few sentences and pass them on if they are helpful. I don't think it will be too loud [inside National Stadium] for that."

Montolivo will eavesdrop you eavesdropping though Miroslav, spreading false tactical intel. Counter Espionage on a football pitch; intriguing

Really looking forward to this game. Two footballing giants going head to head, it has the potential to be game of the tournament.

Remember semi final in WC2006, this will be even better.