Italy-Greece Review

Not a friendly that’s gonna go down in the record books- hell, I wouldn’t advise you to watch it unless you need a good nap. But let’s break down the performance.

The Good:

The Bad:

The Surprising:

Overall, it was a meh game. There were some bright sparks but really, we should’ve beaten Greece. I’m not entirely happy with the team as it is. We were exploited too much on the counterattack, and on the left flank in particular. We need more creativity and potency up front, and we especially need a forward who can dribble his way through defenses. Finally, without Pirlo, we need someone to orchestrate moves from the back, and Monto isn’t that guy.

But the result speaks for itself. Congrats to Lippi, who deserves nothing less. Let’s go kick Brazil’s ass in February and have him set another record.

Rossi to Start Against Greece; Breaking down the Midfield

Lippi knows that Guiseppe Rossi is a hugely talented lad and could go on to be a great striker. So much so, in fact, that he’s going to start him against Greece. And you guys thought Lippi hated youth.

This is really good news. Considering the suckitude that Toni’s been in, we haven’t really had a world class striker starting for us in a while. But I’m really confident Rossi can fill that gap. He’s got the scoring prowess and the creativity.

But let’s take a look at the guy who will be playing behind Rossi. Yesterday was an overview of the defense; today will be an overview of the midfield.

Midfielders:

Camoranesi (Juventus), D’Agostino (Udinese), De Rossi (Roma), Gattuso (Milan), Maggio (Napoli), Montolivo (Fiorentina), Perrotta (Roma)

Camo: I don’t even expect him to make a cameo (heh, get it? Camo..CamEo?). He was a questionable call up to begin with, seeing as he literally just got back from injury a few days ago. I don’t think he’s even played for Juve yet since becoming fully fit again. I’m not sure why Lippi called him up for this, to be honest.

D’Agostino has been putting in solid performaces for Udinese this season. He’s part of the reason why they’re doing so well this campaign, so expect him to be subbed in with 10 minutes or so to go- earlier if we’re doing well, and maybe not at all if the game’s not really going in our favor.

DDR. A few days ago I called him a guaranteed starter, but I’m not so sure anymore. Lippi will most likely start him, but it’s clear that his wrist injury is preventing him from playing to his 100%. He didn’t have a stellar derby against Lazio, and his FKs especially were awful. Yet a non-fit DDR is still a better holding midfielder than most players out there, so he will probably get the nod.

Gattuso’s having an odd season. He seemed to be back to his old tackling self, but recently he’s kinda tailed off. Lippi loves the guy though, so expect him to get the nod as well.

Maggio has been relatively solid for the past year now. He’s great on the flanks and gives that extra somethin’ going forward. Lippi’s not a huge fan of his position, though, claiming that Maggio’s natural place on the field isn’t really part of the Azzurri. But I do expect him to play some part in tomorrow’s game, even if he doesn’t start.

Monto will probably start in Pirlo’s absence. Hey, somebody’s gotta do the creative stuff and without Pirlo, there’s not too many other guys. Monto is solid- perhaps not the world class guy we need to replace Pirlo, but he’s not half bad either.

Perrotta- controversial choice. He runs and runs and runs but can’t shoot. He provides balance to the midfield, but he’s pushing 31 and his best years may be behind him. He was part of the old guard that won the WC though, and Lippi seems to be sticking close to them. May feature as a sub if we’re losing the midfield battle.

Guys out injured who would’ve probably been called up: Aquilani, Pirlo

DDR may be injured. But he’s still terrifyingly badass.

Expected lineup:

DDR- Pirlo-lite - Gattuso

Fun Number Crunching Stats (and they’re not from Wiki this time. Well, not all of them):

Breaking Down the Greece Squad: Goalies and Defenders

There’s been a fair amount of criticism thrown at Lippi for this round of call ups. I personally think they’re pretty good, but some people seem to think he’s too slow to change things. But how true is that? Let’s look at each position and the guys that were called up.

Goalies

Curci (Siena), De Sanctis (Galatasaray)

Most people who aren’t hardcore Italy fans will look at these two and scracth thier chins. For years, Italy’s goalie and Buffon have been synonymous. I doubt most people outside of Italy even know who our backup goalie is. But, alas, both Buffon and Amelia are injured. So Lippi called up these two guys.

Out of the two of them, I’d give Curci the nod. De Sanctis is older and has more experience, and that’s exactly why he shouldn’t play. As long as Gigi and Amelia are fit, they’ll always be the #1 and 2. Once Buffon retires, though, the spot is up for grabs. Curci is 6 or 7 years younger than Buffon, and he could mature into quite the goalie. By letting him play, Lippi is not only investing in youth but getting ready for the future of the national team. It’s a win-win.

Defenders:

Bonera (Milan), Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Chiellini (Juventus), Dossena (Liverpool), Gamberini (Fiorentina), Grosso (Lyon), Legrottaglie (Juventus)

Without a doubt, this is the oldest area of our lineup. The problem is that we’re just not cranking out defenders like we used to.

Bonera is an iffy inclusion. He’s not really world class, but then again, I don’t expect him to start. I would’ve rathered Lippi called up Santacroce. Yes, the guy has anger issues and he gets more cards than Bond in Casino Royale, but he’s young. He’s probably the future of the backline. Gotta get him ready sooner or later. Why waste a call up on Bonera, who’ll probably make a late cameo, if that?

Canna… The man who was once the rock and soul of our defense. His positional sense is still second to none, but it’s clear that age has caught up with him. When a 34 year old ADP can outrun you, chances are your position is probably under threat. But he’s still our captain, and he tends to perform much better on the Azzurri than on his club. Until he screws up while playing for us, I see no reason to get rid of him, despite his torrid Real Madrid form.

GC. A guaranteed starter, and oddly enough, probably the least controversial call up. He exploded onto the big scene last year with Juve and hasn’t turned back. He’s turning into quite the remarkable defender, and he’s pretty young.

Dossena and Grosso. I’ll put these two together because they’re both vying for the left side of our defense. Grosso has proven to be huge for us, especially back in Germany. He’s still got it, and he’s pretty dangerous down the left flank. The only problem is that age may be catching up to him, and that’s where Dossena comes in. He’s not quite as good as Grosso, and his time at Liverpool hasn’t been the greatest. I’m not sure who Lippi will give the nod to to start against Greece. EIther way, this is a pretty interesting area of our squad.

Legrottaglie. Legro is another guy who deserves to be called up, after proving himself to be great on Juve along with GC. Again, though, he’s 32 so age could be factor. Then again, 32 in Azzurri Defense Years ™ isn’t all that old. But it makes you wonder where our young world class guys are…

Finally, Gamberini. Never really a fan but we don’t really have too many other guys we can call up.

Predicted lineup:

Curci

Dossena GC Canna Bonera

Notable exclusions: Buffon, Amelia, Zambro- all out injured

Number Crunching Stats:

Oldest Player: Cannavaro (35)

Youngest Player: Curci (23)

Average age: 28.44

Average caps: 22

Most Caps: Canna with 120

Least Caps: De Sanctis with 0.

What do you guys think? Who should start against Greece?

Call Ups for the Greece Friendly Announced

We’ve got a friendly away in Greece on this upcoming Wednesday. Lippi announced the boys that will be rep’in Italy:

GK: Curci (Siena), De Sanctis (Galatasaray)

Defenders: Bonera (Milan), Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Chiellini (Juventus), Dossena (Liverpool), Gamberini (Fiorentina), Grosso (Lyon), Legrottaglie (Juventus)

Midfielders: Camoranesi (Juventus), D’Agostino (Udinese), De Rossi (Roma), Gattuso (Milan), Maggio (Napoli), Montolivo (Fiorentina), Perrotta (Roma)

Forwards: Gilardino (Fiorentina), Iaquinta (Juventus), Pepe (Udinese), Quagliarella (Udinese), Rossi (Villarreal), Toni (Bayern Munich)

This is from channel4, and right off the bat I noticed something is off. Did Lippi really only call up 2 goalies and not Amelia? I thought it was probably an omission on Channel 4’s part… but goal.com is saying the same thing. I guess Lippi wants to try out Curci/De Sanctis, but if this friendly was about trying different goalkeepers, why not throw Abbiati in there? In any case, if he really did leave out Amelia, I hope that means he wants to give Curci a shot. He’s been solid for Siena and he’s pretty young, and we have to find someone to replace Buffon (eventually)

Other than that, it’s a pretty predictable call up. Most of these guys were called up before- the only new face is D’Agostino, and once Pirlo is back I expect him to be dropped again. No Cassano or ADP, but again, that was to be expected. Zambro is out but I think he’s injured, and ditto for Aqui.

So Toni, Camo, and Iaquinta are back in, while Buffon, Pirlo, Aqui and Christmas are all out injured.

The Rome Derby, and What it Means for the Azzurri

The big game of this weekend is undoubtedly the Roma derby. It’s not quite the massive derby that Inter-AC Milan or Barca-Madrid is, but for fans of the two teams, it’s huge. Roma and Lazio fans would like nothing more than for thier opponents team to cease to exist.

But the derby also has some implications for the national team. Tomorrow night, we’ll see quite a few Italian internationals playing, and this game could have big implications for the next round of call ups. Don’t be too surprised if Lippi is in the stands at the Olympico.

Let’s take a look at the two squads, starting with Roma:

Predicted starting 11: Doni; Panucci, Juan, Mexes, Cassetti; Perrotta, De Rossi, Brighi, Menez; Vucinic, Totti

Cassetti is back from injury, and this’ll be a baptism by fire for him. Not only is this his first game in a long time, but it’s in a derby. Of course, these are projected starting 11s and not confirmed, but given Rise’s and Cicinho’s knack for scoring own goals, I wouldn’t be too shocked to see Cassetti back there.

Impact game will have on his chances for being called up: Slimmer than Ally McBeal. We have the fullbacks on the national team already- Grosso, Dossenna and Zambro are pretty much locks. The only way Cassetti could get in is if one of those guys is injured. Cassetti’s good, but I don’t see him getting called up.

Panuch has been one of Roma’s most consistent performers this campaign. He’s the highest goalscorer, which either speaks volumes about him or about Roma’s attack (depending on how harsh you want to be on Roma). Either way, along with ADP, he’s been defying age. Despite being 35, he hasn’t really looked that old and scored a huge goal against Chelsea this campaign.

Impact game will have on his chances for being called up: Even slimmer than Cassetti’s. Lippi and Panuch don’t seem to get along at all, and I’d be shocked if he was called up. Given his age I can see Lippi’s side of this, but Canna is just about as old and he’s been dreadful for Real recently. I’d call him up as a backup.

Perotta is one of those players who gets a lot of flak for what he does. I like to think of him as Roma’s Sissoko. He runs like crazy and tries to set things up for the attack. On the other hand, he’s pushing 31 and he has a horrible, horrible shot. I think chris over at the Roma offside has a minor heart attack every time this guy scores, because his conversion ratio is roughly 1:699.

Impact game will have on his chances for being called up: Pretty decent. He was part of the squad that won the world cup in 06 and Lippi seems to like him. If he plays well this game could go a long way in determining if he gets called up next time.

At this point, it isn’t an exaggeration to say that Roma have one of, if not the best DM in all of Europe. De Rossi is a colossal player for them and could easily walk into just about any team he wants to. Thing is, he loves Roma and I don’t see him leaving anytime soon. He’s the future captain of the club and maybe even of the Azzurri.

Impact game will have on his chances for being called up: Yeah, he’s getting called up next time. Unless he’s injured or insults Lippi’s family. He’s the only guy on the pitch who basically has a starting spot on the national team locked down.

Brighi’s got an interesting past. A couple years ago when he was with Juve, people tipped him to be the next big thing. He hasn’t really been that great for Roma though until this year. Thanks to Roma’s medical team sucking worse than a Jenna Jameson porno, he was able to gain a starting spot and has proven to be relatively solid. He’s a very good midfielder who works well patrolling the park with DDR.

Impact game will have on his chances for being called up: Crapshoot. He’s good but out midfield is stacked as it is. If the injury list stays as is though (With Aqui and Camo being out), he may have a chance of getting called up if he plays well here.

Just kidding. Wanted to see how many people I could get angry while reading this :P

Now, onto Lazio:

Carrizo; Lichtsteiner, Siviglia, Rozehnal, Radu; Dabo, Ledesma, Brocchi; Pandev, Rocchi, Zarate

Brocchi’s a pretty solid DM, 32 years young. He was actually with Milan until this year, when he transferred to Lazio. To be honest, he could have the game of his life and I don’t think he’d get called up. For one, he has a total of 1 cap in his whole career. And two, we’re not quite that desperate for midfielders yet. So…

Impact game will have on his chances for being called up: Very, very little.

Readers of this blog might know Rocchi as the one overage guy we took the the Olympics. And he broke his leg there so he’s been out of action until a couple weeks ago. He came back and has scored some goals, so he’s looking pretty solid.

Impact game will have on his chances for being called up: Decent. He’s 31 but he’s still a pretty good striker. I’d prefer if we focused on younger guys like Cassano, Rossi and Quags but Lippi only really seems to like Rossi. So if he has a good game here, who knows. We could see his name on the sheet next time call ups go out.

Now when I looked him up on Wikipedia, I understood why I had never heard of him before. He’s 35 and has 0 caps to his name.

Impact game will have on his chances for being called up: Could have the game of his life and the Loch Ness Monster would still be called up before him.

Overall, that’s 8 Italians that should be on the pitch tomorrow night, and a majority of them have a decent shot of getting onto the national team next time Lippi calls up his members. Should be a great game.

Finally, Some Real News

I know you guys have been waiting for some actual news as much as I have, so let’s jump right into it.

First things first- we’ve got a friendly against Brazil at the Emirates on February 10th. I’m hoping that this’ll be broadcasted on TV considering it’s at the Emirates. On the other hand, I’m pretty sure England is playing and considering the hard on that ESPN has for England, expect that to be on TV instead. Either way, it should be a cracking game. It’ll be interesting to see if Amauri plays- and which side of the picth he shows up on.

And the Azzurrini have a friendly next week on Tuesday against Germany. Should be a good game and good practice for the Championships next year. Here’s the squad that was called up:

Goalkeepers: Consigli (Atalanta), Sirigu (Ancona)
Defenders: Andreolli (Sassuolo), Bocchetti (Genoa), Criscito (Genoa), De Ceglie (Juventus), De Silvestri (Lazio), Motta (Udinese), Santacroce (Napoli)
Midfielders: Bolzoni (Inter), Candreva (Livorno), Dessena (Sampdoria), Giovinco (Juventus), Morosini (Vicenza), Cerci (Atalanta)
Strikers: Acquafresca (Cagliari), Balotelli (Inter), Lanzafame (Palermo), Osvaldo (Fiorentina)

Absolutely stacked. Our future’s in good hands with a team like that.

New FIFA rankings are out and we’re down to third. Spain and Germany are above us. I don’t really see the point in these things but 3rd’s not bad. This month’s ranking actually took into account recent results, so the drop is probably because of the 0-0 draw with Bulgaria.

Maybe most importantly, my schedule is finally freeing up a bit so I’ll be back to blogging daily from now on. Thanks for all the great tips on what to blog about when news is slow.

Help Me to Help You

Now, it’s no secret that I haven’t been the best blogger. I haven’t blogged too frequently, but…It’s not that I lost my passion for soccer or the Azzurri. It’s just that the national team plays so rarely most of the time, that there really isn’t anything to blog about. But I really like blogging. And based on the comments, you guys really like reading and replying. So let’s make a deal.

You give post in the comments section what you’d like to see me blog about during these dry spells. When there isn’t any Azzurri news/games going on, what should I post? That means, what would you like to read?

Serie A news? How the national team players are doing at thier respective clubs? Profiles on upcoming players/legends? Any/all of the above? Should I turn this blog into a Playstation 3 Fanpage when the Azzurri aren’t playing?

Let me know down below. So I can improve the experience for all of us.

The Del Piero Debate

Alessandro Del Piero is like The Office. That show became famous after a hilarious first couple of seasons. Recently, though, it’s been arguably wearing the same formula thin and some people even argue it should be canceled. Yet every once in a while, there’ll be a hilarious episode that reminds us of why we loved it in the first place.

That’s kinda what Del Piero is like, pardon the crappy analogy. He’ll disappoint for long stretches at a time, leaving fans and pundits alike to wonder if he’s finally lost his touch. Maye, just maybe, he’s finally too old and maybe it’s time to usher in a new era, and let go of Del Piero. Then with his back against the wall, he comes out roaring and proves nearly everyone wrong.

Last year, Del Piero was written off early into the Serie A campaign. He looked slow, lethargic, and maybe even a little chubby. He was dropped from Raineri’s starting XI, and again we all wondered whether the legendary career of the fantastic captain was finally over. How did he respond? In the typical manner that’s made him so legendary- he forced his way back into the starting 11 looking leaner and fitter than ever. He finished top goalscorer last year, earning himself Capoconnaire with 21 goals.

As a reward for his fantastic campaign, he was taken by Donadoni into the Euros. Truth be told, he didn’t play fantastically, but no one did besides Buffon and GC. He’s continued his stunning club form into the new campaign, as evidenced by 3 goals against Real Madrid over the course of 2 legs. That’s all the more impressive when you consider that they’ve got the second best goalie in the world defending their net.

Which brings us to our current dilemma- what is Del Piero’s role in the national team? Based on club form alone, it seems like he should be a starter. However, like fellow club icon Francesco Totti, he has a reputation for not playing as well on the national team as he does for his club. Age may be another factor against allowing Del Peiro to start- he turns 34 this weekend, and by the time the world cup rolls around, he’ll be pushing 36.

So where should he play? As a substitute? Should we drop him altogether to make room for new young strikers, like Guiseppe Rossi?

Whatever you may think, let’s not forget all that Del Piero has contributed to the etam. One image in particular-his finish against Germany in the World Cup which just screamed “class”- will stick in my mind forever.

I still get chills when watching that today.

s Give Youth a Chance

Linky

Italy Coach Marcello Lippi wants to refresh the look of La Nazionale by bringing in a couple of new faces for upcoming internationals.

The Azzurri and Italian football in general has been criticised recently for not giving young footballers enough opportunities.

When asked whether he would call up Juventus veteran Alessandro Del Piero, Lippi replied: “He’ll now stay at home because, by now he is a player everyone knows about.

“Instead, I want to renew this team a little. I want see a few new players. I want to discover new people a little.

“Then, when it’ll be the right moment, those players will have an important condition. They will be taken into consideration again.”

Speaking on Sky Italia, Lippi also addressed the question of Juventus’ Brazilian striker Amauri who has applied for an Italian passport and could play for Italy if it is granted.

“I have spoken only once with Amauri, this summer in Turin at the TIM Trophy,” revealed Lippi. “I said to him, among many things, not to consider anything that he read in the newspapers as attributed to me.

“Because the only things I have said that regard him, I have also said to him. In the moment, he becomes Italian and only then will I take into consideration the possibility of calling you up.”

Returning to the future composition of the Azzurri, Lippi does not see Francesco Totti and Alessandro Nesta coming out of retirement to play for La Nazionale again.

The World Cup winning tactician went on to talk about Mario Balotelli, Inter’s headstrong 18-year-old striker who recently performed exceptionally for the Azzurrini.

“I don’t want to put pressure on him,” said Lippi. “There are a lot of people who already think we put too much on him.”

Lippi then tackled the issue that has troubled many a Coach of Italy over the last 10 years. What does he plan to do with Antonio Cassano?

“He is like every one of the other players in Serie A. I always like to say that all players from 18 to 40 should dream of La Nazionale.

“They should not be angry if once, twice or five times even, they do not come to be selected. Evidently, whoever makes the choices has different ideas in his head.”

That’s quite an interview from the coach. Let’s break it down.

First and foremost, Lippi is open to adding youth to the team. In fact, based on what he says above, the next call ups should have quite a few younger players at the expense of older guys. We know what Del Piero and Materazzi have done for the team in the past, and they may still have some role to play, but it’s time to make way for the new prodigies. Guys like Rossi, Santacroce, Maggio.


On the subject of Amauri, Lippi claims he’ll only consider calling him up when he gets citizenship. Amauri’s been in stunning form for Juve, but I really don’t want him on the Azzurri. One, as I’ve said previously, he considers us a backup to Brazil. Now if he was about to get citizenship to the Faroe Islands and waiting for Dunga to call him up first, I’d understand. Sorry Amauri, but the Azzurri is no one’s second choice. You either want it or you don’t. And the second reason is because I think we have the strikers anyway. Quags, Pepe, Rossi, Gio, Gila, Cassano… we’re at no shortage for talent in this area. None of those guys are prima puntos in quite the sense that Amauri is, but all of those guys have something that he doesn’t: loyalty.

Totti and Nesta: still retired

Finally, Lippi discusses 2 extremely skilled strikers, Cassano and Balotelli. He doesn’t want to put pressure on Balotelli (and let’s not forget, the kid is only 18. He’s still Azzurrini material) and claims Cassano still has a shot of making the team. Nice claim. Now get him on there.

As a side note, sorry for the lack of posts, but there’s been almost zilch news on the international front. As soon as there is, I’ll be posting and commenting on it though.