Belgium must be thanking heavens for not topping this group

Italy now have by far the toughest road to the final(that is if they get there)

Croatia-Ro16,Germany-QF,France-SF

Germany still trying to come 2nd though, to avoid Italy.

So Belgium strung 27 passes together for witsel goal. What is the highest no. Of passes made for goal?

Didn't see the game but not surprised to see Dembele enter the team and Belgium immediately turn around their performance.

CBarca wrote:Didn't see the game but not surprised to see Dembele enter the team and Belgium immediately turn around their performance.

Dembele was good but its De Bruyne that really set the tone for them by creating dangerous chances in the first few minutes or so which got Belgium to play more confidently. He was their best player this game.

VivaStPauli wrote:Germany still trying to come 2nd though, to avoid Italy.

Take out Spain for us and we'll meet you in the final.

In all seriousness though, Italy have procured two excellent results without inspiring any confidence that we can go all the way. As @Luca stated earlier, I'm concerned that we'll struggle if we're no longer able to play the game on Conte's terms if we concede first, which is something that can happen justly or unjustly, regardless of our defensive qualities.

From what we've seen in Italy's first two games, it is evident that we are a good defensive side yet we're a poor counter-attacking side. Often, the terms are considered synonymous yet there is a clear gulf in the quality and detail of our defensive and offensive movements. We're a cohesive unit without the ball and despite the individual failings of certain first team members, we're excellent at recovering the ball. We are by a large margin however the most ineffective at using it of all the major teams at the tournament.

Our poor performance on the ball isn't about talent. Even with the absence of Marchisio and Verratti, we could easily have fielded a side of significant technical ability. We're giving the ball away almost constantly because of Conte's refusal to alter his system and his insistence on playing long, low percentage balls. My issue is not with the idea of such a vertical game. There is a great deal of truth in the statement that you risk much less when you turn the ball over playing the ball vertically rather than horizontally. We are making errors in possession so often however that we are at times under almost constant bombardment at the back. This has been fine thus far against sides who have lacked the movement and quality to take advantage of the lion's share of the ball. Granting them meaningless possession is a discerning move. Not everyone we meet in the competition however is averse to being given control of the midfield, indeed they thrive on it.

Thus far it has been adequate to simply be a good defensive side but our counter-attacking mechanisms must be improved if we're to advance past the quarter-finals. I've spoken previously about my dislike of employing Candreva as a RWB. Against Sweden he was taken advantage of far too many times. Given the ability of our central defenders and the limited delivery of Ollson, this wasn't a huge issue but against the likes of Perisic, Draxler and Payet, we cannot afford to take such a frivolous view, nor can we afford to waste Candreva so deep in our own half. Against more capable attacks, we're going to need to give our defenders a rest from constant bombardment, but it's not going to happen if we're giving the ball up almost instantly.

My hope is that Conte realises that a slightly different approach will be necessary in the knock-out stages. This isn't about abandoning a defence first approach but about lessening the burden on a few out-numbered individuals in attack to provide a moment of magic and allowing us to test our opposition goalkeeper more frequently. Perhaps he didn't want to risk more than was absolutely necessary during the group stages, perhaps not. I've some more gripes about our opening two games but given this is quite a lengthy post, I shan't go into more detail unless anyone is interested.

We are fortunate now that first place is secure and we have a highly unusual opportunity to not only rest players but experiment at a major tournament without fear of consequences. I would personally like to see all players on yellow cards rested against Ireland - barring Motta, who hasn't played much and who should give De Rossi a well earned rest. To that end, I'd prefer to see the following line-up:

Sirigu
Darmian---Barzagli---Ogbonna---De Sciglio
Bernadeschi---Motta---Sturaro---Insigne
Zaza---El Shaarawy

I doubt Conte would do something so seemingly drastic however given the high age of our squad and the physical exertions of the opening two matches, we'd be wise to take this opportunity to allow our first team to recuperate. Plus, who knows, if we put some actual attackers on the field, we might even be almost entertaining.

Great post Dost but I do feel the reason for Italy to be poor on the ball is lack of quality in midfield. No one to control the tempo or recycle the ball so the first chance they get they hoof it to the forwards leading to the lose of possession which in turn leads to attack after attack by the opposition. Teams like Germany thrive on this, they like to continuously Knock on the door and they have a quality that can make life very hard for even the best defence in tournament.We would definitely have seen different scenario had there been Verratti and Marchisio in midfield. In a nutshell Italy is missing a pirloesque player.

S wrote:

CBarca wrote:Didn't see the game but not surprised to see Dembele enter the team and Belgium immediately turn around their performance.

Dembele was good but its De Bruyne that really set the tone for them by creating dangerous chances in the first few minutes or so which got Belgium to play more confidently. He was their best player this game.

He was garbage.

dostoevsky wrote:

VivaStPauli wrote:Germany still trying to come 2nd though, to avoid Italy.

Take out Spain for us and we'll meet you in the final.

TBH before the tournament I was banking us on meeting England rather than Spain, but now I'm not too sure.

halamadrid2 wrote:The defence and goalie is basically Juve. Motta at PSG, Roma, Lazio and Inter are hardly poor teams either. That team should be able to dominate a Swedish team that aside from Ibra only have 1 player at a semi-top European club who happens to be a defender. This game felt like two teams on similar level playing against eachother. No offence but the first half of Ireland was better than the whole game of Italy against us. Maybe you got cocky and decided to coast past this game but it didnt look like that

Eder (Inter) was almost always our worst player when he played with us though

Anyway Italy was bad and the match was overally awful , but I believe this format doesn't incentive the show.
Italy spent many energies to win against Belgium , if you get 4 points after 2 matches you get over the tournament ( 16 teams on 24 go on ) , and in case of Italy the 1st place is even   less convenient than the 2nd , so I believe the calculating attitude is prevailed on match. Need to get the most gain with the least pain, and we got it

About the lineup , hardly I believe Conte will bench   Eder -it's enough clear he loves him . He was the first to call him , despite oriundo. He called up in Euro , despite the bad 2hd half of season with us - scored just 1 goal with Inter since January. And insisted on him for 180' . And at the end he was right.
And same thing for the system defence with 3 men. Italy' s solidity is our best force, so no real reasons to give up this and generally our compactness.
Won ,nay outclassed, Belgium because we are a squad , not for the names.

Belgium will troll us all and reach the finals.

Wait and watch. Its happening.

Wholesale changes from Italy as expected.

Sirigu; Barzagli, Bonucci, Ogbonna; Florenzi, Sturaro, Thiago Motta, Bernardeschi, De Sciglio; Zaza, Immobile

8 new players from last game, same 3-5-2. Bernardeschi will carry most of the creative burden from the mid.

Surely you have to give Insigne and or SES a chance ffs.

Thought we might see SES/Insigne, just because
Nice to see Florenzi

Still no El Shaarawy and Insigne Conte

Conte is a complete and utter buffoon.

Zaza and Immobile instead of SES and Insigne
3-5-2

Italy will never achieve anything with Conte.

Cruijf wrote:Conte is a complete and utter buffoon.

Zaza and Immobile instead of SES and Insigne
3-5-2

Italy will never achieve anything with Conte.

Well he's leaving anyways. 2 games left at best.

Will NEVER, EVER forgive Lindelof for how badly he *bleep* up the last couple of Lost seasons and especially that finale

Very good match between Sweden and Belgium

Ireland dominating. Get Stuaro, Zaza and immobile out of there, this is embarrassing

Italy for 74 minutes without Insigne: not a single chance created
Insigne for 3 minutes: cuts apart the Irish defense and hits the post

(:

Conte is an idiot. Bring on SES. Ffs

Based Bonera wrote:Conte is an idiot. Bring on SES. Ffs

Now he comes on, with 10 minutes left (:

Conte

IRELANDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Glad Italy lost. I didnt want them to go undefeated in the group. Conte is still an idiot though. Horrific game by italy. Only created chances when insigne and ses came on in the last minutes. Stuaro and immobile should be sent back home to enjoy the euros from their hdtvs.