Agreed 1000% i wish i could be this concise in my words.

Sweden deserves respect, i'd take them in World Cup ahead of Switzland, Greece or any of the 2 Irelands. Just not to the detriment of Italy.

Can we stop talking about Italy as if they are Argentina or prime Netherlands? If this team gets in somehow they'll get knocked out of group stages again.

M99 wrote:Can we stop talking about Italy as if they are Argentina or prime Netherlands? If this team gets in somehow they'll get knocked out of group stages again.

Put some respect on our name

Luca wrote:

M99 wrote:Can we stop talking about Italy as if they are Argentina or prime Netherlands? If this team gets in somehow they'll get knocked out of group stages again.

Put some respect on our name

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DOYJ0dHU8AACEKs.jpg

Kaladin wrote:

Luca wrote:

M99 wrote:Can we stop talking about Italy as if they are Argentina or prime Netherlands? If this team gets in somehow they'll get knocked out of group stages again.

Put some respect on our name

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DOYJ0dHU8AACEKs.jpg

SAD!

Our team is slightly better than that now. Still did well enough in the Euro with a similar 11 though

- 6 out of 11 are good players
- 1 is currently in J-Rehab, will be international level soon enough
- 2 are decent at best
- 2 are absolute jokes, not even worthy subs for AS Bidonese

I've seen worse to be honest, and the squad has improved since 2016. Intrinsically this current Nazionale is certified top 5 in Europe.

Ventura is on a hot seat, could he be fired even if Italy beats Sweden ? Would be the best of both worlds

I want Italy to fail bad, imagine Buffon retires without making the WC. Heck even Chiellini (lul) and Barzagli probably would retire the NT. The only person i have a sentimental feeling with is DDR and thats because he's been an unsung hero for the NT for years. Unlike Buffon who's holding a stranglehold on the team, San Iker-ing his way for years with his wife working at Sky (?) or some publication. Thank god his tyrrany is coming to an end.

Just hope the next NT manager picks on merit and not marketing

Perin should inherit Buffon's spot, keep that hypejob Donnarumma on the bench.

Future Italy XI
WATTBA

I don't think Ventura is picking based on marketing either.

So in fact, this thread is nothing but a new chapter in the Anti-Juve agenda ?

Who would have thought really

Subs: ES, Berardi, Romagnoli, Conti, Gagliardini, Darmian, Cutrone, Bonaventura

Warrior wrote:So in fact, this thread is nothing but a new chapter in the Anti-Juve agenda ?

Who would have thought really

Who said anything about Juve?

We are criticizing players for the NT, but you have to spin it into an anti-Juve agenda

This is how Ventura choose the starting XI

Kaladin wrote:

Warrior wrote:So in fact, this thread is nothing but a new chapter in the Anti-Juve agenda ?

Who would have thought really

Who said anything about Juve?

We are criticizing players for the NT, but you have to spin it into an anti-Juve agenda

I respect you as a smart Milang general, you wouldn't attack us from the front. But i am not blind, i know how to read between the lines

Firenze wrote:Just hope the next NT manager picks on merit and not marketing

Perin should inherit Buffon's spot, keep that hypejob Donnarumma on the bench.

Perin

0/10 attempt, stick to convincing yourself Harry Potter spell defenders will stop you from being a rich West Brom

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:How many times have we seen a big team struggle to qualify and then do very well in a tournament?

Happens all the *bleep* time, i'd rather that happen then see some new countries who ultimately are boring AF.

In fairness though, i don't particularly consider Sweden that but in general i think it's better these big nations qualify.

It would have been utter shite if Argentina didn't qualify for example.

I agree about Argentina, they are a team full of stars and it would've been a shame if the greatest footballer in history missed a World Cup but I don't see how this is a comparable team with Italy. Argentina absolutely can step it up and win the World Cup, Italy can't.

They are just a name right now, no better than the Netherlands.

Its kind of ironic coming from a Newcastle fan who wants to see his team in the CL.

ES going through that hate trip this season harder than prime Anakin.

@urban what is this super Argentina full of "stars" thats so different from Italy? Messi carried them all the way through to qualify and they still almost failed and couldn't beat Peru or Venezuela. In every position except for forward Italy is considerably better. 8/11 players. Look who is behind Messi and you'll see the Acuña's, Mercado's and Biglia's.

About stepping it up? Literally 1 year ago we stepped it up and beat Italy and Spain and took Germany to pks. The only problem now is Ventura clowning around. The squad itself is a top one.

Don't see why anyone would be happy to see historic sides like the NL or Italy missing out. Beyond the 2 minutes of banter the WC will be less magical without them.

Anyways they will do it on the 2nd leg

Tbh I'm not sure. The team looks like they all just met  (except the backline) and are playing their first game together. Its how its supposed to look on the first week of Ventura's tenure but instead he has regressed immensely since the Spain loss.

A 2-1 win would kick us out and it doesn't seem unlikely. The pressure is immense and that might be the problem. Hopefully it has the opposite effect.

Obviously it will suck for me if Italy miss out, but it sucks too that the NL aren't gonna be there.

Last WC qualifiers playoffs when France was down 2-0 to Ukraine it was great banter, but I still in the end preferred that France went through.

rincon wrote:Tbh I'm not sure. The team looks like they all just met  (except the backline) and are playing their first game together. Its how its supposed to look on the first week of Ventura's tenure but instead he has regressed immensely since the Spain loss.

A 2-1 win would kick us out and it doesn't seem unlikely. The pressure is immense and that might be the problem. Hopefully it has the opposite effect.

Obviously it will suck for me if Italy miss out, but it sucks too that the NL aren't gonna be there.

Last WC qualifiers playoffs when France was down 2-0 to Ukraine it was great banter, but I still in the end preferred that France went through.

Player selection doesn't bother me, Conte had "poor" player selection but he knew what he wanted and how he wanted the team to play, and there lies the difference with Ventura. I don't like mentioning Conte like he's a God among men, but compared with Ventura it quite quickly becomes the case.

It's tough to imagine us scoring twice tomorrow

I don’t understand this team!
Last year in Euros, Italy was a far superior team to us (Spain). This year in group qualifying we were very even and certainly there was huge cause for concern going into the match in Spain. It seems since that game, Italy has collapsed! However it is the same coach and players.

I keep in mind that for decades, Italy has always just put in enough effort to advance. It always has been, they put it all together in latter rounds of tournaments.

So although, I don’t know much about this current team nor coach, I fully expect them to qualify in The return match on home soil. It is only a 1 goal difference.

As to the WC not being there, it would be a tragedy. We are talking about one of the best NTs in history. Only Germany and Brasil have comparable history.

I get the wish of smaller countries competing, that afterall is the reason the number of participants have increased. But we all know the real tournament begins when Germany, Italy, Brasil, Argentina, Spain, France, maybe Netherlands, Portugal are left.

We changed managers after the Euro @futbol_bill, and not for the better but CConte joined Chelsea which was already decided prior to the Euro kicking off, if memory serves right

Spain also got better while we did in fact get worse, much worse. The Spain game in Madrid was us being found out with Ventura and his 4-2-4 being shredded by Isco and co.

This current team is carrying a pretty weak mentality and the belief in the team from the public not apparent

Kaladin wrote:Its kind of ironic coming from a Newcastle fan who wants to see his team in the CL.

In fairness i would expect neutrals to find us boring lol, i'm obviously speaking from a neutral POV that i'd rather see the likes of Italy and Argentina other lesser known countries that are worse than Sweden ( i don't consider them part of that as they are pretty big themselves)

If it's your country it's a different story tbh.