Italy is a poor side?

Have seen this tripe rolled out again and again(mostly by English media and forums). Seem to have an idea that the Azzuri is there for the taking and England was the better team, done in by bad luck again. Did I see the same match? Thought the Italians played some very nice passing football in the first hald with some flowing moves creating a number of good chances. Otoh England looked decent on the break but lacked patience/intelligence and frequently took shots from very tough angles. Once Italy led in the second half they sat deep and England seemed pretty clueless on how to play actual,creative(vs counterattacking) football. Italians are actually a team coached by a great tactician, whereas england seem like a more-promising-than-usual bunch of young guns coached by a clown(putting shrek on the right and leaving baines stranded, wtf?). And I hear a lot abt how Italy is not what it was and I just dont see it.

GK: Buffon, enough said. Sirigu and Perin are excellent as well.

CB: OK there is no GOAT like Nesta but imo Barzagli is a wonderful reader of the game in his own right and one of the best in the world, and chiellini is a fighter and an excellent manmarker. Together they are a pairing as good as anyone, and bar the Bayern game I haven't seen them comprehensively beat by anyone.


Fullbacks; De sciglio is a wonderful young fb. I mean with all the wanking shaw gets, this kid is at least as good. Darmian has been good for Torino this season the few times I've seen and showed his class. There is no scrub like abate bringing the standard down.

MF: Is there a stronger group in the tournament? You have the agless genius of Pirlo. Time and again he picks the perfect ball t instigate dange from a neutral situation, ruining the shape of the oppo. The kind of player my team, Argentina, dream we had(reminds me of riquelme actually). De Rossi who is a monster defender with excellent technique. World class. Marchisio is a workhorse player who might not be a virtuoso but has a huge workrate and eye for goal. An excellent tactical player every team needs for a pressing game. And lastly verrati as we've seen is still growing but plays beyong his years and is extraordinarily talented. His close control and short passing are wonderful. Any of these players would walk into the midfields of many title contenders, much less a team like ingerlund.

Forwards; Yes there is no huge name like Totti or Del Piero(who I though scrubbed at nt level) but there are some wonderful players. Balo as we all know is a wonderful talent. Can be headless at times but for some reason has played with a cool head for the Nazionale and rarely disappointed. Cassano is a headcase but a football genius on par with anyone Italy has had imo. For some reason it seems he does best with less pressure imo. almost singlehandedly making the likes of sampdoria and parma dangerous. Immobile looks like an excellent classical number 9, and insigne looks a star in the making(although not mature yet, I agree). Still, hardly a weak attack!!

Call me delusional but the italy squad looks excellent top to bottom(except maaybe fullback, but which team has two wc fbs?). It seems Goebbels was right when he said repeat the lie a thousand times and it becomes the truth. The english media(with an obvious agenda) has harpe on so long abt serie a not being what it was,no wc defenders,team past its prime, etc. that even the public has bought it. To me this azzuri side looks as as any since 04, which was truly a ridiculous team.

I was hoping they used Perin instead of Sirigu even though he has no experience at this level.

Always liked the Azzuri

OMG  Italy appointed an Advocate for this forum    i see how poor Italy is....   

I also would like to have seen Mattia Perin

BTW, English media are always

And normally, Italy mostly get their job done (last World Cup was just an unfortunate blip). I can remember how often Germany were called a poor side, too. Both Italy and Germany are "tournament teams" and such don't need to be perfect - they just improve along the way of a tournament.

Italy don't have the best squad on paper but their defence is solid & they are a great team tactically & that's what counts most at International football. Will reach the last 8.

actually I think Italy will reach the finals

Do Italy not have any natural fullbacks? Chiellini was absouletly woeful against England, can't pass, dribble or bascially do anything required of a fullback.

Surely De Sciglio or Abate or somebody would be better than a CB?

lszanto wrote:Do Italy not have any natural fullbacks? Chiellini was absouletly woeful against England, can't pass, dribble or bascially do anything required of a fullback.

Surely De Sciglio or Abate or somebody would be better than a CB?

De Sciglio picked up an injury just before the England game, otherwise he would have played on the left, whilst our best fullback talent wise, Criscito, wasn't picked, though in truth he's struggled to regain form after two massive knee injuries.

It's likely we'll see Darmian on the left in the next game with Abate playing on the right, with Chiellini returning to the centre.