Italia: La Nazionale II

Weak Milan & Inter = Weak Italy

Super goal from Eder at least.

For me Bulgaria won 2-1.

i wish more european fans stood against shit like this

Santon and Abate called up for England.

Criscito reportedly upset for not getting called up.

I feel very sorry for Criscito but unfortunately his response is more likely to alienate him even further. I'd much rather have him than that scrub Pasqual though.

I'm very glad for Santon, he's been out of the set up for a while but he's been a positive addition at Inter and experiences like this will help him grow. I still have questions over his defending at times and his urgency to get back on the transition but he's worth his call up, certainly.

I'm hoping to see a midfield of Florenzi/Soriano---Valdifiori---Verratti against England, I dislike placing Verratti in front of the backline. He doesn't play the position regularly at club level and it restricts him unnecessarily. We need to give him the freedom to roam, not to mention that whilst an energetic presser, he typically does so whilst supported by an anchor. It's an entirely different prospect positionally and Conte hasn't the time to teach him the intricacies. Marchisio should be taking the position in front of the defence when he gets back from injury rather than forcing people into new positions - ala Candreva in central midfield might I add.

Also whilst Gabbiadini did miss an excellent chance against Bulgaria, I would include him in the line up regardless of our formation. He's compatible with any of our forwards, a good set piece taker, capable out wide and he's wily in the box.

P.S. I couldn't care less about what Eder said or did years ago. He's been living in Italy for eight years and people change over time. He wants to play for Italy and clearly cares very much about doing so. No one should stand in his way.

P.P.S. Fun fact: Chiellini is the top scorer for Italy in the current call up and Bonucci is second. Abate is equal third.

Bertolacci has pulled out of the squad with an injury. Rough for the lad, really wanted to see him get some time.

Pls Robes. If you are going to take this stand then at least return the 1934 WC (Monti (ARG), Ferrari (USA)), 1938 (Ferrari (USA), Andreolo (URU), and 2006 (Camoranesi (ARG)). The only WC you have won without an oriundo playing in the team is 1982.

Except Camoranesi , the others had Italian parents emigrated in South America. It's a bit different than getting to play with Italy because of your great grandfather ffs
besides that pic of Eder with Brazil jersey was during World Cup 2014  

Totti is English IMO.

That Eder one is awful, but nothing is worse than Costa who played for us 7 months before the WC it's clear as day most of these nationalized players (at least the brazillian ones) don't give a shit about the actual meaning of international football, they just want to play at international level

Ganso pls, be thankful you took Fred instead and he got you out of the group stage

Eder is quite entitled to have two identities, being Italian isn't about eradicating his heritage.

Conte's revealed his starting eleven against England:

Buffon
Ranocchia---Bonucci---Chiellini
Florenzi---Parolo---Valdifiori---Soriano---Darmian
Eder---Pellé

At least he's rotating, though I'd have liked to see Gabbiadini and Santon starting.

Who the hell is Validation and why is Mr no goals in 98 games Pelle playing.

Valdifiori's been excellent for Empoli this season and given the form of De Rossi and the injuries to Marchisio, Pirlo and Montolivo he's probably our best option in front of the defence currently.

Agreed on Pelle though, I don't know why he's even in the squad.

SES' offside goal

dat offside

smh

Balotelli ruined everything. My favorite player turn into one of the most hated one. Italy would have been building around that pos at this time. FFS

Yes this had to be the Italy of Balotelli now.
We're scrubs in attack, we've not even a Dybala-esque talent to exploit , we're paying the Balotelli's failure more than we could think.

Maybe you shouldn't have made him feel so unwelcome in Italy then, just a thought

But he was never this    , he was "hated" just after shit  WC 2014 , and anyway , he always did everything to be hated , he was loved by Inter fans and he threw Inter kit after CL semi-final etc etc
He was always capable to dissipate the good created for him more than the contrary. Even Liverpool was a great and unhoped chance in this his moment of career ( he'd gone in Turkey with another agent , but Raiola gets always the maximum for his players ) but he is dissipating also this. At least, he doesn't act as an idiot now , simply regressed as football player

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/european/5186943/Juventus-punished-after-Mario-Balotelli-is-racially-abused.html

Can't fathom why he would want to leave...

In any case, too much pressure was put on a too immature person.

BarrileteCosmico wrote:Maybe you shouldn't have made him feel so unwelcome in Italy then, just a thought

Hate and love is part of becoming a professional athlete. Its nobodys fault that he never matured enough or cared enough about soccer. Its his own fault. But i suppose you can't knock someone for the way they live their life. But for a fan like me, its waste of a potential.

BarrileteCosmico wrote:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/european/5186943/Juventus-punished-after-Mario-Balotelli-is-racially-abused.html

Can't fathom why he would want to leave...

In any case, too much pressure was put on a too immature person.

That was unfortunate but he was pretty much loved when he was on Milan. Nobody cares about your skin color if you are bagging 20 goals a season, not even hitler probably.

I don't think Juve ultras count for the whole population .
Besides that Balotelli wasn't a player to feel the pressure ,it was another reason because he looked like a great talent.
It was mainly his arrongance and believing to be a top 3 player in the world ( " just Messi and CR are better than me " ) while he was just Balotelli . But if you haven't a brain the worst thing is to have Raiola as agent

So there's a game on