Re: 2016 MLS Thread

[McLewis]

As childish as that rant sounds, I am genuinely curious as to what exactly about Giovinco led the scouts to believe he would not be able to help Italy at the Euros. Looking at their pick of forwards, they could sure use him.

Pirlo is a bit more straight-forward given his age, but to leave him off as well summarily was also quite surprising.

The MLS guy is clearly salty about this, and while I'm not at all in agreement with his footballing reasoning, the complaints about Conte's dig at MLS have merit. Conte's reasoning does come off as arrogant. MLS is clearly inferior to European play, but you have to have respect for other leagues. More should be expected here from Conte.

[rincon]

Neither of them should be called. Pirlo is well past it. A year of losing sharpness at his age seals it, we can't keep relying on him.

Giovinco certainly has no place either. Not only is he not better than Insigne or El Shaarawy, but he has attitude problems and has been playing in the MLS as opposed to a top league were he would stay sharp.

They knew exactly the consequences of leaving Europe, Pirlo has said so himself, Conte is just being realistic. The writer sounds way too childish.

[B-Mac]

Giovinco 100% deserves to be on the squad, especially with scrubs like Eder and Immobile there, and considering he has picked up right where he left off last season in MVP form again.

Oh well I am a TFC supporter so just means Giovinco will be in a TFC kit all summer while Italy are probably disappointing at the Euros struggling for goals.

[B-Mac]

Giovinco certainly has no place either. Not only is he not better than Insigne or El Shaarawy, but he has attitude problems and has been playing in the MLS as opposed to a top league were he would stay sharp.

lmao

attitude problems

now I know you haven't been watching Giovinco, "where he would stay sharp" guy has been in on every goal but 1 for Toronto FC this season either scoring or assisting it.

you are just blindly following european stereotype of MLS.

[Luca]

Giovinco certainly has no place either. Not only is he not better than Insigne or El Shaarawy, but he has attitude problems and has been playing in the MLS as opposed to a top league were he would stay sharp.

lmao

attitude problems

now I know you haven't been watching Giovinco, "where he would stay sharp" guy has been in on every goal but 1 for Toronto FC this season either scoring or assisting it.

you are just blindly following european stereotype of MLS.

Kind of feels like the opposite, this is your first exposure to Giovinco so I understand. I live in Toronto too, so I definitely understand. I also happen to be a Juventus fan, and I followed Giovinco's career very closely, from his time at Empoli, to Juventus, to Parma, back to Juventus and his current success in MLS.

He thrives because he is the star at Toronto, with Italy and with Juventus this is not the case and his play suffers. A player from MLS will not be called for the Euro for Italy, it won't happen. Especially with a manager as stubborn as Conte, and I feel him being snubbed is completely fine. And I am not sure why this even would bother you or any other TFC fan, him being called right now would be disastrous as it is mid-season for MLS, while it is the end of the season for players like Insigne.

If Italy needs Giovinco to be the difference maker at the Euros, then that already tells you the chances this team has Were talking about Italy, a World Cup winning team of 2006 that called Iaquinta over Cassano, lets not get into technicalities. It's not a mere coincidence that Giovinco is playing better than he ever has, as soon as he left Italy. This was a good, safe move for him.

[B-Mac]

I have followed Giovinco since he was beasting U21 euros in Sweden with Balotelli and Robert Acquafresca....hardly my first exposure to him.

I too saw him at his time in Parma where he was a star man on the team, before juventus brought him back.

and pls let's not compare 2006 italy with prime Totti, Del Piero, De Rossi, Pirlo, Cannavaro etc to this sad group of scrubs Italy is sending over now

[rincon]

Really? I don't know Giovinco?  

Giovinco has been in Canada for 1 and half years. He was at Juve since he was 8 years old. He has always had attitude problems and has to be the "main man". He is a player that had to have it all or nothing in Italy, he would rather play at a weaker league and be the king than fight for his spot in mid table Serie A.

Eder and Immobile that you mention are there for different reasons, different players. Eder is better than Giovinco at everything though.

Not only that, he only particularly effective on the left of a 4-3-3 in Parma, where Insigne and El Shaarawy absolutely deserve to be over him. We can't call a third player in the same mold.

You also have to realize that Conte has actually coached Giovinco at club and national level before so its not like he is blind to this. He has called Giovinco to the NT to test him even when he was playing in MLS. No one that goes to the MLS at 28 deserves to play for Italy, we don't need that kind of mentality.

Pirlo is the one that was more in contention for a spot with Marchisio injured and Montolivo and Motta undergoing tests.

[McLewis]

I'm not bothered that Pirlo or Giovinco were snubbed. It's how they were snubbed that bothers me.

[B-Mac]

I'm not bothered that Pirlo or Giovinco were snubbed. It's how they were snubbed that bothers me.

agreed, more then happy to have Giovinco play the entire season for Toronto and lead us back to the playoffs.

But Conte's comments and Rincons tone toward the MLS is the issues I have.

As if these Serie A Italian players on the National team are anything special

this is the worst period for Italian football in years

[rincon]

What is he supposed to say then?

Giovinco is scoring and assisting everything in MLS, the only reason not to call him is to believe that he is doing so because he plays in a much easier league. How does one go about not calling Giovinco without bringing in the quality of the league?

Maybe this players are not special like you say, but they sure are more useful than Giovinco, and they play in european leagues and european tournaments against better opponents every week. That helps. Is this worst period for Italian football in years? could be, but it sure as hell is better than the MLS.

The "outrage" for the people in terms of forwards is not calling Pavoletti, no one is asking about Giovinco.

[Luca]

Giovinco so good he doesn't make the worst Italian team ever

You're missing my point B-Mac, you're claiming people are disrespecting MLS while simultaneously doing everything you can to disrespect the Italian national team, super classy.

Anyways, my point about the '06 team was not the abundance of talent, it was the fact that what was considered a generational talent like Cassano was snubbed for a player like Iaquinta.

Conte managed Giovinco at Juventus, he knows the player well. If he made the squad, he would be sitting on the bench watching Insigne start ahead of him- who does that benefit?

It actually seems more like MLS fans just want validation for the league and when the MVP cannot make his own national team, I'm sure it hurts. To be honest, I like Giovinco, TFC was the right move for him but everyone, including himself, knew what it meant for both his reputation in Italy and his tenure for the national team.

[McLewis]

To the point of the MLS writer, all Conte had to say was that it was a technical or even tactical decision to leave them at home. Based on the reasoning that keeps getting brought here and in other places, one of those reasons appears to be exactly why these guys were left at home. And that's totally fine.

What's not cool is to virtually say you didn't take them "Because MLS sucks". Doesn't matter how bad the league is, that's disrespectful and unnecessary. Conte didn't need to say that, and yet he did. The saltiness from MLS is understandable in that regard.

[Luca]

To the point of the MLS writer, all Conte had to say was that it was a technical or even tactical decision to leave them at home. Based on the reasoning that keeps getting brought here and in other places, one of those reasons appears to be exactly why these guys were left at home. And that's totally fine.

What's not cool is to virtually say you didn't take them "Because MLS sucks". Doesn't matter how bad the league is, that's disrespectful and unnecessary. Conte didn't need to say that, and yet he did. The saltiness from MLS is understandable in that regard.

I agree, Conte is a fool for that

[VendettaRed07]

When Giovinco left Juve for MLS Conte actually supported the move and said he would follow him and Gio needed to make the best decision for himself

Now after he's played about as well as you can possibly expect, and even above that, he basically said "lol just kidding, MLS players aren't being considered for jack"

it's just a weird thing to do to the guy. I get not calling him up but don't jerk him around like that

[rincon]

Except thats not the whole story at all. Giovinco HAS been called up and played for the NT while being in the MLS. He is just not better than Insigne or El Shaarawy, who has exploded since he joined Roma.

[Cruijf]

I'm not bothered that Pirlo or Giovinco were snubbed. It's how they were snubbed that bothers me.

Disagree. They are both good enough to contribute and should have been called. That they weren't is idiotic and annoying.

How they were snubbed means nothing. The MLS is light years behind all the major European leagues and even those involved in it must accept that. If Giovinco was legitimately not good enough I wouldn't be bothered by this at all. it's that he is good enough that annoys me.

[McLewis]

I'm not bothered that Pirlo or Giovinco were snubbed. It's how they were snubbed that bothers me.

Disagree. They are both good enough to contribute and should have been called. That they weren't is idiotic and annoying.

How they were snubbed means nothing. The MLS is light years behind all the major European leagues and even those involved in it must accept that. If Giovinco was legitimately not good enough I wouldn't be bothered by this at all. it's that he is good enough that annoys me.

Whether they are good enough is subjective, debatable and irrelevant to me personally. Conte's the coach so that's his decision to make and he made it. Players that don't deserve to get snubbed, get snubbed....all the time. Not fair, but it's football. I've made my peace with that.

There's just a respectful way of doing it. Most coaches know this and they do it. Conte apparently doesn't know or doesn't care. That is what bothers me.

[Tomwin Lannister]

Strange. Pirlo obviously gives no shits he's done it all and he's 50 years old now.

But Conte would not stfu about Giovinco, defending him from fans 24/7 said some shit like we should be proud that players of his caliber are playing for us which pissed many people off. Now he's neglecting his lovechild after his lovechild has been rinsing the MLS as opposed to flopping for Juve (Albeit in a stupid role suited for somebody twice the size in the 3-5-2 with his back to goal half the time)

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