Still Del Piero has moments to remember with Italian NT. In 1998 WC, he was preferred to Baggio if I am not mistaken. In 2002 WC, his goal against Mexico save Italy from group stage elimination. His goal against Germany in WC semi final is an all time classic thing to remember and the celebrations afterwards were incredible & of course, how about the penalty he too in the final itself ..... the memories of that Baggio miss must have been in his mind and this season we saw time after time that how diffcult it is to score from PK when it really matters ... Ask Robben, Cristinao, Kaka, Bastian and some others ....
I will miss ADP in Italian national team, even if he is a Juve icon 
Argentina will win the World Cup 2022
Formerly mzk57
ADP is with no doubt whatsoever a great player, but just on club level. His achievement and particularly, loyalty is simply legendary, despite being a Jube player he has my respect.
On NT level, however, it is fair to say that his contribution is next to zero. You may be the only one missing him in Italian NT.
aka xudong
(05-30-2012, 09:17 PM)xudong Wrote: ADP is with no doubt whatsoever a great player, but just on club level. His achievement and particularly, loyalty is simply legendary, despite being a Jube player he has my respect.
On NT level, however, it is fair to say that his contribution is next to zero. You may be the only one missing him in Italian NT. In that way same could be said about Inzaghi and Totti. Totti might have been preferred to ADP in NT, but I don't really think so he ever lead Italian NT like Baggio or like Zidane with France. Only real attacking leader of Italy that I have seen was Vieiri from 1998 WC - 2002 WC.
Argentina will win the World Cup 2022
Formerly mzk57
Totti did more at NT level than ADP, but he has not lived up to his expectation either. As for Inzaghi, it is a totally different case. Inzaghi was never really trusted by any Italian NT coach, but ADP always was. In WC98, he was preferred to Baggio but could not show anything; in EC2000, we all know the story of how ADP was perhaps the biggest culprit why Italy didn't win the trophy. I guess that you could say Totti has a similar story to ADP, but at least he was not remembered for losing the trophy for Italy; if anything, he scored the last-minute contraversial penalty against Australia in 2006. To me, Inzaghi was like Ambrosini, and they didn't get the trust from the coaches.
There are "big players" and "big chokers" on NT levels also. Maybe ADP and Ibrahimovic are not different after all. 
aka xudong
Italy lost 0-3 to Russia in their final friendly before Euro2012. Their defense was atrocious with the likes of Maggio, Bonucci, and De Sanctis. It was embarrassing to watch.
aka xudong
(06-01-2012, 09:51 PM)xudong Wrote: Italy lost 0-3 to Russia in their final friendly before Euro2012. Their defense was atrocious with the likes of Maggio, Bonucci, and De Sanctis. It was embarrassing to watch.
Final and first friendly game ...
I watched the game, the whole team was horrible, not only Maggio and Bonucci for example, but also the midfield (no pressing to help the defence, no support to the strikers), the attack (nothing good in what happened yesterday). De Sanctis was ... De Sanctis, just a nervous GK able to make some save but unable to take any ball being more than 1 meter in front of his goal. I don't understand why Prandelli has taken him as the third GK (second GK as he played yesterday ?!).
The team for sure will play better during the Euro, but Prandelli will have to make some changes too.
The team I'd send on the pitch with the players he has taken is the following :
Buffon
Abate - Barzagli - Bonucci - Chiellini
Pirlo
De Rossi - Montolivo - Marchisio
Cassano - Balotelli
The defence : Abate doesn't go forward as often as Maggio, so he will tend to stay in the half of Italy and help the defence. Barzagli and Bonucci can work, like in Juventus, if they are protected by hard-working players. It's why Chiellini has to be put on the left IF the other two play together in the centre. Chiellini runs a lot, and he can play as a central defender, so he would be useful, in some moments, that would allow Italy to play with 3 central defenders. The fact they know each other is a good thing too.
Midfield : Classical ... Pirlo in his usual role, De Rossi being a box to box player (defensive minded), Montolivo the link between Pirlo and the attack if needed, and Marchisio being another box to box player (attacking minded). Nocerino can replace Marchisio too.
Attack : There is no real choice to make actually with the players Prandelli chose ...
One should not speak ill of the dead.
So stop laughing at Juventus !
I would have a defense of Abate, Bonnucci, Cheillini and Balzeretti. They might not be great in attacks but they can sure defend. Honestly, IT just needs to play tough defense and hope to hit a goal or two in counter to advance.
De Rossi will be the DM, with Maggio, Pirlo and Nocerino with Mario and Cassano up front. Nocerino might not cross like Maggio but his pressing is important.
Personally, I think Spain will probably win again despite pundits kept saying they are not as good and people figured them out.... From all the friendlies over the past two weeks, only Spanish players got the beliefs and confidences that they can win. While I don't see that in Dutch and Germany, as both squads are missing that killer instinct. England, France, and Italy will need huge luck and great individual display to win. Portugal and Sweden will depends on their stars, if their stars are on fire, anyone can happen.
06-02-2012, 04:30 PM
(This post was last modified: 06-02-2012, 04:31 PM by ACM2023.)
(06-02-2012, 11:57 AM)GeoTav Wrote: (06-01-2012, 09:51 PM)xudong Wrote: Italy lost 0-3 to Russia in their final friendly before Euro2012. Their defense was atrocious with the likes of Maggio, Bonucci, and De Sanctis. It was embarrassing to watch.
Final and first friendly game ...
I watched the game, the whole team was horrible, not only Maggio and Bonucci for example, but also the midfield (no pressing to help the defence, no support to the strikers), the attack (nothing good in what happened yesterday). De Sanctis was ... De Sanctis, just a nervous GK able to make some save but unable to take any ball being more than 1 meter in front of his goal. I don't understand why Prandelli has taken him as the third GK (second GK as he played yesterday ?!).
The team for sure will play better during the Euro, but Prandelli will have to make some changes too.
The team I'd send on the pitch with the players he has taken is the following :
Buffon
Abate - Barzagli - Bonucci - Chiellini
Pirlo
De Rossi - Montolivo - Marchisio
Cassano - Balotelli
The defence : Abate doesn't go forward as often as Maggio, so he will tend to stay in the half of Italy and help the defence. Barzagli and Bonucci can work, like in Juventus, if they are protected by hard-working players. It's why Chiellini has to be put on the left IF the other two play together in the centre. Chiellini runs a lot, and he can play as a central defender, so he would be useful, in some moments, that would allow Italy to play with 3 central defenders. The fact they know each other is a good thing too.
Midfield : Classical ... Pirlo in his usual role, De Rossi being a box to box player (defensive minded), Montolivo the link between Pirlo and the attack if needed, and Marchisio being another box to box player (attacking minded). Nocerino can replace Marchisio too.
Attack : There is no real choice to make actually with the players Prandelli chose ...
Between Maggio and Abate, I personally think Maggio is still the better choice, as Abate is inferior offensively, but I would like to see Abate taking over for two reasons: (1) He is a Milan player and more international games (particularly this kind of big games) will benefit him; (2) Abate should fit Italian NT's 4-man defense system better than Maggio, as it is the same at Milan.
I largely agree with your picks on the lineup, except that I would move Chiellini to the center and use Balzaretti as LB. Bonucci is just a time bomb waiting to explode, and the culprit is his low confidence. Just like De Sanctis, nervous players should be left out and I honestly don't know why Prandelli even included them in the 23-man squad to start with. On LB position, I would even start Ogbonna. He seems very active and has good physique, and is certainly something fun to watch.
Also, Montolivo was quite lousy in that game. It seems to me that it could be the position that he didn't feel comfortable, but I don't really know him well enough to put him at where he should "belong". I just hope that he gets to play for the benefit of Milan.
Lastly, you said that there is no real choice to make on attack with the players Prandelli chose. I think maybe I could change "on attack" to "on anything" and change "with the players Prandelli chose" to "with the players Italy has". 
aka xudong
Apparently, Prandelli may have to switch to a 3 man back line with the injury of Barzagli...
-------------Cassano----------Balotelli-----------------
----------------------------------------------------------
Balzaretti----Marchisio---De Rossi-------Maggio------
-------------------------Pirlo-------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
-----------Chiellini----Bonucci-----Astori-----------------
------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------Buffon------------------------------
Not sure how good that would be either...Italy could have some problems this tournament unfortunately.
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