QuoteNo Cannavaro or Nesta but that Italian team looks old and slow.
Definitely not a team to be afraid of anyway.
Holland hammered them 3-0 tonight. So maybe the Italians are'nt as good as made out to be and wont have it all their own way in Group 8 of the WC qualifiers.
No Cannavaro or Nesta but that Italian team looks old and slow.
Definitely not a team to be afraid of anyway.
And Trapatonni will know them inside out
theyll still beat us.
Don't write them off yet. I don't think Donadoni knows what hes doing. No De Rossi in midfield is a Stanesque type decision. With him back the Italian's are a different team. I still expect the Italian's to get to the semi's at least.
still long way go in competition. remember USA 94?? But have say was encouraged by that a little they can play better and have few players not playing.
I think Holland proved that Italy are no worldbeaters at present but would not jump with joy just yet. There bound too be a backlash too from Italy
to be honest, whether italy have a nightmare of a tournament or whether they wn it, I have no doubt that they will have a completely different teamsheet come september.
there are some outstanding young italian talents coming through and still enough top class old pros for them to be one of the best teams in the world in the next campaign.
I do see them dropping points, even at home. however, that is nothing new with italy, even with their great teams.
Itally will have a new manager and team when we play them. Only 2 players under 30 started tonight and Del Piero was brought on and he is 33 so they are an ageing team and the manager will be gone so I would not look into it too much. By the time we play them they will be settled in nicely with a new manager and new look team.
In Trap we trust
Italy - (Cannavaro + Nesta) = F*cked
No further analysis needed
Nesta is retired so shouldnt come into the equation.
Italy have a shocking record in the Euros compared to the World Cup they dont seem to treat it the same.
If an over-rated French team dont beat them, Spain will in the QFs.
That said, they are an old team and not many of them will be around come next April (?) when we play them.
They WILL win our WC2010 qualifying group.
"Football is a game you play with your brain".
On the other hand they were terribly unlucky, an offside goal, then a ball cleared off the line results in the second goal. Toni's 1 v 1 miss and Grosso making a mess of that shot before the Dutch got the 3rd, it was'nt a normal 3-0 by any means!!
Still hope they lose there 3 games, can only help our cause!
There's the right way, the wrong way.... and the Max Power way!! :-D
The '82 Italy team would probably beat our team.
Maybe Italy have a poor young crop (by standards) who were not deemed better that the older lads.
As first seeds go, as it looks now, Italy are looking slightly more vulnerable than when the draw was made.
What does that mean? 1-4 out from 1-6 to top our group.
Ive thought for a while that we have nothing to be afraid of in our group and if we have a bit of luck with injuries we are in with a great chance of topping the group and I seen nothing tonight to make me change my opinion.Most of the players in the Italy team are past it and they will be in transition for the next qualifiers.Scotland ran them very close in the qualifiers for this tournament and we have a better side than the Scots have.Also Serie A is going through a poor period at the moment and I dont think the next generation of Italian players that will replace some of these players are of the same standard.They will be by no means a push over but if Trapattoni can get a belief into our lot I am very confident
Its really not that complicated!!!
italy were undone by two great counter attacking goals. If McGeady and Duff are on song then we could cause some damage. I think alot depends on how the new lads coming into the Italian side gel and also the spirit within the Italian camp. We will need alot of luck to get a result away (Holland got their fare share today)
In fairness while Italy don't look any great shakes they'll probably still be good enough to win our group but certainly it may be possible to nick a couple of points off them along the way which could come in useful to us.
Ciaran,
Do you not think that Luca Toni is a stocking. I do.
And while you can mention all the goals he has scored in Serie A, I happen to think that Ibrahimovic and Trezequet are stockings aswell.
Not a patch on past Serie A strikers like Rossi, Batistuta, Del Piero (at his peak), Vialli, Ravanelli, van Basten, Careca, Signori, Inzaghi, Crespo, Shevchenko etc
"Football is a game you play with your brain".
You definately seem to rate Serie A a bit higher than I do at the moment, their player pool isnt a patch on what it has been in past yearsOriginally Posted by Ciaran
Someone is soaking up the RTE commentary nicely.
As a denizen of Italian soccer let me enlighten you. First of all the basics. Italy are not "missing" Totti or Nesta as so many people seem to be reporting. They're retired and have been for 2 years.
Next this whole "Italy are too old" debate is relatively worthless since they don't play a fast tempo game. Although if you're trying to use this as a pro for our chances look to their reserves. While the AC MIlan midfield trio are ageing the Roma midfield trio are youthful, in form and more than ready to take their place. De Rossi at the very least should have been playing instead of Ambrosini tonight.
And on tonight, the Dutch were lucky in the manner in which they scored. Italy had some dazzling moments which the commentary team felt it'd be too embarassing to highlight it would seem but on several occasions in the 2nd half Pirlo tore Holland apart, and he's in my opinion far and away the best passer of the ball in the world, and not far off best player in the world. The only real weak link in that team is the Matrix, who was rightfully taken off for Grosso.
The main problem they had tonight was that Camo and Di Natale didn't fire and that took the link out for Toni. It was a great idea on paper, but didn't work. But hey, look at their player pool. They can quit comfortably resort to Quag / Cassano next game behind Del Piero and qualify easily. I wouldn't bandwagon against this side, they're far too talented.
Its really not that complicated!!!
Didn't actually watch the game on RTE. Keep forgetting Nesta has retired though. He seemed to be injured for ages so I always think he's injured rather than retired.Someone is soaking up the RTE commentary nicely.
As a denizen of Italian soccer let me enlighten you. First of all the basics. Italy are not "missing" Totti or Nesta as so many people seem to be reporting. They're retired and have been for 2 years.
Next this whole "Italy are too old" debate is relatively worthless since they don't play a fast tempo game. Although if you're trying to use this as a pro for our chances look to their reserves. While the AC MIlan midfield trio are ageing the Roma midfield trio are youthful, in form and more than ready to take their place. De Rossi at the very least should have been playing instead of Ambrosini tonight.
And on tonight, the Dutch were lucky in the manner in which they scored. Italy had some dazzling moments which the commentary team felt it'd be too embarassing to highlight it would seem but on several occasions in the 2nd half Pirlo tore Holland apart, and he's in my opinion far and away the best passer of the ball in the world, and not far off best player in the world. The only real weak link in that team is the Matrix, who was rightfully taken off for Grosso.
The main problem they had tonight was that Camo and Di Natale didn't fire and that took the link out for Toni. It was a great idea on paper, but didn't work. But hey, look at their player pool. They can quit comfortably resort to Quag / Cassano next game behind Del Piero and qualify easily. I wouldn't bandwagon against this side, they're far too talented.
Bit OTT to say Italy had some glorious moments though. Their best moment was probably Pirlo's free-kick. Dutch were fairly comfortable after they went 2-0 up and seemed content to let the Italians have the ball in front of them. Italy didn't really look like scoring apart from Toni's chance which he made a horlicks of.
That said they will still be strong enough to win our group as ourselves and the Bulgarians just won't be good enough over the course of the group to top it but they are not to be feared.
Last edited by Maroon 7; 09/06/2008 at 10:25 PM.
I was surprised how average the Dutch team looked on paper anyway, particularly at the back, boulharouz, oojer?? But they played very well and were definitely the better team. Although Italy did have their chances. I still would fancy Italy to get out of the group, France were brutal.
I think people are reading too much in to the result last night. It was a relatively even game and the Dutch were just very clinical. Italy are still an excellent side and they could still win the tournament. I'd still rate their chances of doing so as better than the Dutch's.
My concerns are global. I reject absolutely revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a method, is love. I love you Sheriff Truman.
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks