Five conclusions about…Italy
Italy's starting line-up in the 1-1 draw with Germany
Ball retention
Cesare Prandelli has brought in a style of play that is suited well to modern football – in South Africa last year Italy lacked any kind of cohesive gameplan.
Despite the World Cup victory, you could say that was the situation throughout Marcello Lippi’s two tenures – Italy triumphed in 2006 because of a combination of (a) having a collection of superb footballers and (b) Lippi getting his tactical decisions correct every time. When the heroes of 2006 faded and Lippi got things wrong (most obviously against New Zealand), Italy were a very poor side – not creative, not threatening on the break, not good at keeping the ball.
Prandelli sides have always played an attractive brand of football, and last night was an impressive showing in terms of ball retention. By using four central midfielders – Stefano Mauri slightly ahead of the other three – Italy competed in the centre of the park very well, even when allowing for the fact that Germany were looking to play on the break. There was movement from Mauri and Antonio Cassano, plus energy from the full-backs which always giving the midfield an option, and every outfield player looked comfortable on the ball.
Cassano-Pazzini
Despite not finding a goal between them in their 45 minutes together, Antonio Cassano and Giampaolo Pazzini is a very good partnership upfront. Having played the best football of their respective careers so far when paired at Sampdoria until midway through this season (both have now departed), the two have a understanding that has been built up through dozens of games playing alongside each other.
Spain’s Barcelona-dominated side taught us how important it is to have players comfortable with each other, and you could make a similar case with Italy’s 2006 side if breaking the side down into separate departments, where Buffon-Cannavaro-Zambrotta at the back, Zambrotta-Camoranesi down the right, Pirlo-Gattuso in the middle and Totti-Perrotta further forward all played together at club level. Cassano plays as both a withdrawn central forward and as a striker cutting in from the left, whilst Pazzini is a great ‘traditional’ striker. The two are the perfect combination.
Montolivo
Despite managing him for years at Fiorentina, Cesare Prandelli has never quite figured out the best role for Riccardo Montolivo. In Florence his attacking game was hampered when used as one of the holders in a 4-2-3-1 (partly because he was never paired with a truly reliable tackler) and against Germany he constantly chose the wrong option, and the formation lacked the width that he likes to send diagonal passes to the flanks, similar to how lost Paul Scholes was against Southampton in the first half.
Montolivo’s best role is probably in a 4-3-3 with a holder supporting him and one another more attacking midfielder. It would be a shame not to get the best out of such a talented passer of the ball, but Montolivo’s lack of consistency, especially at international level, means it’s impossible for Prandelli to consider rejigging his shape simply to suit his former captain.
Rossi
Giuseppe Rossi deserves a chance in the starting XI. Despite Prandelli’s surprising decision to give the Villarreal forward the captain’s armband in the game against Romania, he has used Rossi relatively little: around 180 minutes of action in the 630 minutes Italy have played under Prandelli. Here, his substitute appearance gave Italy pace and movement, and was coupled with a goal to round off a good all-round display.
Whether Rossi can be fitted into a side with the Pazzini-Cassano partnership intact remains to be seen. That would probably require a mixture of a 4-3-3 / 4-3-2-1 formation, but with Italy lacking any true top-class wingers, it might be the best solution.
Thiago Motta
Thiago Motta is a good player, but not one that will transform Italy overnight. His main benefit to Italy will be that he’s probably their best ‘all-round’ midfielder, and in a sense (like Marcos Senna with Spain) the Brazilian-born player provides Italy with something they are currently lacking. He should be fitted around the other players Prandelli has in central midfield, however: Montolivo, Alberto Aquilani, Andrea Pirlo and Daniele De Rossi are all potentially more valuable to Italy – Prandelli must make sure Motta’s role is to help emphasise their quality, rather than take away from it.
Five conclusions about…Italy
Hi ZM hope you’re ok, nice article.
I just wanted to ask about Aquilani – why wasn’t he played by Benitez at Liverpool last season? – I know when he went there he had an injury, but that healed after a couple of months (I remember seeing his first performance as a sub against Arsenal in around Novemberish time – I thought he looked good and would solve Liverpool’s creative midfield problems). Surely he didn’t then get injured AGAIN, and was then out for most of the season (after making that first appearence against Arsenal he hardly played again for the whole season)? or is that exactly what happened….?
just thought I’d ask……also, I haven’t posted on here for quite a while cos last time I posted was on a Newcastle game where they were denied a stone-wall penalty, and in a huff I declared that any analysis of the game is null and void cos the score should have been different if Newcastle had been awarded the penalty. You quite rightly shot me down for that, and out of shame and embarrassment (I knew it was a ridiculous thing to say when I made it, but I was so incensed that I threw it out there anyway) I havn’t brung myself to post since, so, sorry……
Truth – unfortunately Aquilani seemed to suffer from Benitez’s desperation to prove that he was right about Lucas, and consequent refusal to drop the team, regardless of his individual performances or how the team was performing as a collective around him. Aquilani’s apparent refusal to play through some pain early on was another strike against the player and Benitez had shown himself to be a manager very capable of holding a grudge.
The stuff about Aquilani being unable to handle the physically of the Premiers is a nonsense that has nothing to do with his few appearances on the pitch
Thanks Jay, thinking about it now, I do remember seeing a lot of Lucas last season, so I’m sure you must be right. The whole regime at Liverpool was doomed to fail, once the Americans refused to buy Gareth Barry and bought Keane instead – Benitez subsequently went on a long, drawn-out process of spitting his dummy out (or thowing his toys out of the pram – whichever you prefer) and alienating the whole squad (first, Xabi Alonso which then lead to other players becoming disgruntled – i.e. Mascherano). You could blame the Americans (and the Chief Executive, Parry – which Benitez frequently did) in the first place for not backing the manager and giving him the player he wanted, but really, thinking about it now, I look at Benitez as stupid for wanting Barry in the first place. Why would you need Gareth Barry in your midfield when you’ve already got Alonso, Mascherano and Gerrard – three of the best midfielders in the world – at your disposal? Maybe the Liverpool Board could see that as well and wanted Benitez to strengthen the top end of the pitch instead (maybe they weren’t so stupid in this regard, apart from their decision to make Keane their man was clearly a stupid one – he definitely can’t play as a Left-Sided-Forward which Benitez was trying to get him to do as part of the front three).
Anyways, Jay, thanks for your insight.
TruthandInsight.
I think you are talking nonsense. Your ‘observations’ about Aquilani/Lucas/Benitez demonstrate a basic ignorance of the team last season.
Aqua is a creative midfielder. Lucas was and is mostly deployed as a defensive midfielder. Hence, Aquilani was competing against Gerrard for the attacking midfield spot – when he was ‘fit’
Now he is fit he looks like someone who could push Gerrard for the AM slot. Shame the idiot Purslow loaned him out just as soon as he found his feet in England.
Alienating the WHOLE squad? – Are you being serious or just regurgitating what the Sun tells you?
A little knowledge is dangerous.
PassMove – fair enough, perhaps he didn’t alienate the WHOLE squad (I’m sure Lucas and Insua were in love with him with the amount of game time they were getting), but he definitely pushed Alonso out of the door once he decided that he wanted to bring Barry in, and Mascherano has been quoted very recently that he felt let down in various ways by Liverpool, leading him to want to leave (basically, he felt he needed to jump off what he thought was a sinking ship – Torres as well).
Your point about Aquilani competing with Gerrard – if that’s the case then the Italian boy never had a chance and shouldn’t have been brought in at all on that basis. The facts are, that Liverpool sold Alonso to Madrid, and brought in Aquilani as a POTENTIAL replacement for him.
Perhaps it would be more accurate if we were to agree that Aquilani was to compete with Lucas for the other Midfield spot(why would Benitez be happy picking both Gerrard and Alonso in the same team – which always happened – they were both nailed-on first-team starters – to then sell Alonso and then bring in someone that was only going to play INSTEAD of Gerrard – which is what you’re suggesting – so long as he was better than Gerrard? – that doesn’t make any sense whatsover – Aquilani was bought as a replacement for Alonso) – obviously Aquilani’s injury problems (which McAlvis’ comment – see below – seems to suggest that those injury problems were more serious than even Roma – let alone Liverpool – knew about before Liverpool signed him, meaning he missed far more of the season than what Liverpool were expecting) meant that Lucas got a long run in the side and Aquilani’s chances of cementing a place in the side went from bad to worse.
I definitely agree that Liverpol have made a massive mistake in letting him go to Juve on the deal they’ve done with them – Juve must be rubbing their hands with glee…..
What complete and utter rubbish Jay. Aquilani suffered from injuries throughout his time with Liverpool except for in the final few weeks of the season where he put in some impressive performances. The Liverpool medical team’s poor handling of Aquilani was probably one of the factors that made Benitez decide to overhaul the medical staff at Anfield and recruit Peter Brukner and his team (who have done a very good job this season) just before he was sacked.
Aquilani came to the club injured, and with a bad history of injuries, it didn’t help that Roma medical staff were apparently unaware of the severity of his ankle injury, when Aquilani came to have his medical at Liverpool, Roma estimated his ankle would keep him out for a few weeks, the medical showed that it would probably keep him out for months (which proved to be correct, he didn’t start a first team match until December). Despite this long lay off, there were still further complications and as I wrote, it wasn’t until very late in the season that Aquilani got fit enough to have a decent run in the team.
To think that Benitez sacrificed Aquilani for Lucas is just bizarre, Benitez always maintained that Lucas was a good player and he was right, but Aquilani was Benitez’s big signing of the summer, a player he had spent almost £20 million on. Why on earth would he then keep hold him back for no reason other than he likes Lucas?
Of course when Benitez was sacked, Purslow brought in the incompetent Hodgson, who promptly let a now fit Aquilani go on effectively a free loan to Juventus with an option to buy at the end of the season for a bargain price. Aquilani has proven he has gotten over the worst of his injuries this season by playing 22 league games for Juve, starting 20 of them. This was the season he should have truly started repaying the price Liverpool paid for him, instead utter mismanagement by Hodgson and Purslow mean he is doing it for another club who haven’t had to pay anything but his wages.
Wow! maybe you’re right then, McAlvis. I am certainly aware that Benitez overhauled his medical team before he was sacked, I remember seeing reports about it at the time…..whatever the case, we know that there was mismanagement going on at Liverpool right the way through the club. I’m pleased they’re on a much sounder footing now and think that they’ve done well out of the Torres sale – Carroll should become a top player – as for Torres’ current level of ability….I think the jury is still very much out on that one……
Maybe you’re right, Jay, but unless you provide some sources for these claims, I’d say you’re basically just making sh*t up. I don’t think anyone really knows why Aquilani got so little game time, and my Rafa really did have a problem with him, but don’t you think, considering how critical the media were of the Aquilani signing, that he would have tried to use him and justify it if he could have? That it was about proving himself right about Lucas (which, by the way, he was) is *completely* made up. That’s not to say that he handled the situation well (last season, Rafa got just about everything wrong, and probably needed to be replaced), nor is it to say that Aquilani can’t handle the physicality of the PL, but I think you’re being unfair, and at least Rafa didn’t give Aqua away for free just to rid the club of the memory of the transfer.
*maybe Rafa really had a problem
Sam – it was a widespread rumour at the time and if you think I’m going to be trawling through the net for comments from over a year ago, then u really must have me mistaken for somebody else! if u want to believe or not, that’s up to you, but my statements make a lot more sense than the ones about Aquilani’s ‘failure’ in the prem.
In regards to being ‘right’ about Lucas, the guy clearly wasn’t ready for the role he was handed at the time so how can the decision have been right?? Lucas’ promotion was the most significant change from a team that came 2nd to a team that came 7th – doesn’t look to successful to me…
‘We bought him for 5 seasons not 5 months.’
He was being eased into a more physical league with well documented injury problems.
“The stuff about Aquilani being unable to handle the physically of the Premiers is a nonsense that has nothing to do with his few appearances on the pitch.”
What esoteric knowledge do you possess to be able to make such a wild claim?
None. Just another 14 year old boy arrogantly spouting nonsense.
PassAndMove – the only knowledge that I need to make such a ‘wild claim’ is the memory of actually seeing Aquilani on the pitch in the prem, and also seeing other players with even less physically thriving in the same league. None of his injuries had anything to do with him being incapable of handling the physically of the league.
Don’t worry yourself with my age or background, just worry about your weak argument.
I think Thiago Motta was misused in the bottom midfield position. Much like you said in the Inter x Roma article, he’s not a real destroyer.
In that game, I’d make Motta and Esteban Cambiasso exchange positions. In this one, I’d make him exchange positions with Daniele De Rossi, who’s probably better at tackling.
Interestingly, ESPN Brasil commentator Leonardo Bertozzi said something similar in his Twitter just after the game. He also mentioned that, when Pirlo comes back to the squad, it’d be nice to put together the trio Pirlo-De Rossi-Motta, with Pirlo in his original “Pirlo position” (in his words), ie bottom of midfield four, with Motta and De Rossi as the carilleros.
The bad thing about it, I think, is that the team will probably lack some width. Problem that could be solved by pitching Rossi in the place of Mauri, an then changing the formation to the 4-3-3/4-3-2-1 as you suggested. We’d have the trio Pazzini-Cassano-Rossi and Montolivo (who’s really having a hard time adjusting his gameplay to the Italy system) could be then benched.
In another picture, with the 4-3-3/4-3-2-1, Montolivo could be used as one carillero (the team would have enough width to favour his gameplay), with De Rossi as the holding player and Pirlo on the other side.
I like your line of thought here, but I’d go with:
ST: Pazzini
LW: Cassano
RW: Rossi
MF: De Rossi, Montolivo, Aquilani
with the midfielders playing in a triangle with one advanced and two deeper, but taking it in turns to move forward so that the opposition don’t know who to focus on. and then you have Motta, Balotelli, Giovinco, Matri ready to come off the bench. of course, you have the option of giving it more of a 4231 flavor if you make the advanced midfielder more of an attack and have the line of 3 read something like Cassano Rossi Giovinco…
As for the defense – maybe we keep it as it was in this game, though I could also see a part for Criscito or Santon (I have a soft spot for Mantovani, but I don’t get the sense he’s an option) if Chiellini takes back a CB spot from Bonucci.
in any event, I think that the long-term and 2014 has to be the focus here – building up a style and a core group of players who can fuse into a machine like the 2006 team did. This is why I don’t include Pirlo, who (as a huge fan of the mid-2000s Milan I love and who) might still be useful for euro 2012 but will almost certainly be to old to be effective in 2014.
forza azzurri
I watched the Germany-Italy game last night. You say Germany were looking to play on the break. I agree that, when the chance for a break came along, they would go for it. But I didn’t feel they played for counter attacks in the sense of sitting very deep when defending or only committing men forwards when on a quick counter. Especially not in the first half.
In particular I thought that, during their good spells in yesterdays game, Germany themselves played a very good passing and build up game, committing a lot of men forward. Even Mertesacker (central defender) got quite far forward quite regularly.
I sometimes get the impression that because Germany were good at playing out their counter attacks during the last World Cup, we get the impression that this is their main strategy when maybe it isn’t.
Aside from all the substitutions, can anyone see the reason why Germany were on top in the first half and Italy in the second?
Germany were defending well in the final third in the first half. Italy lacked the determination to get the good final ball. How many times did they go to ground in the penalty area, trying to draw the penalty instead of working the keeper?
The tempo also died a bit for 20-25 minutes in the second half, which favored the Azzurri play style in my opinion. Rossi’s pace certainly made a big difference, as he popped up in good positions and looked to work the keeper.
Rossi, for sure, will be Italy’s star player in the future. Hes an excellent player with great technique. I always have felt, he is the player Barca should go for, if they will let Bojan to leave.
Yea, him and Santi would fit into the team straight away.
Who’s better, Cazorla, Rossi or Pedro? I can’t decide.
I think he has a talent for something more than a bench.
funny, I’ve always felt that Barca have quite enough players and it would be better if (1) other teams held on to their best players so that (2) those players cold actually play instead of sitting on the bench.
I was quite pleased with Italy’s performance last night. With a bit of luck and better refereeing decisions, we could even have won.
A few points:
- THE MIDFIELD PROBLEM
I agree that Thiago Motta is a valuable addition, but not a game changer for us. Once again, the problem with Italy is that we have no wingers/players comfortable out wide. However, I really feel we finally have a few players to choose from – De Rossi, Pirlo, Montolivo, Thiago Motta, Aquilani (good to see him back) and Marchisio isn’t bad at all. The way we should play is clearly either a 3-man midfield or a diamond. The question is who should play where. Before he got injured, Pirlo had started playing in a sort of a centre-left ‘mezzala’ role for Milan, which I thought was interesting. It might be interesting to see him try it for Italy, alongside De Rossi and Thiago Motta. Or you could have Marchisio on the left, as he’s a bit more comfortable playing wide and making runs.
- ROSSI
He clearly needs to start, he’s improving all the time. I think Cassano/Rossi/Pazzini can work, but needs a lot of work from the midfield. And what about Balotelli? I guess he could take Cassano’s place, but then you really have a problem linking midfield with the strikers.
- DEFENCE
It’s great to see Ranocchia and Bonucci start – both under 23 and playing vey well.
ZM – what did you think of Chiellini on the left? Prandelli after the game said something like ‘he’ll grow into the role’ which I thought was slightly harsh – he played quite well, and could be very useful when facing a very strong right winger. I would also be happy with Criscito on the left and Chiellini taking Bonucci’s place – but Ranocchia needs to stay in the team, he could become the new Nesta.
Overall, there’s genuine potential and youth in the Italy team, for which Prandelli deserves credit. I initially thought he should forget 2012 and work to the next World Cup, but if we continue like this, I don’t see why we can’t have a decent 2012 – we definitely won’t be as good as Spain, but we could give everyone else a game.
I agree that a midfield 3 of De Rossi, Pirlo and Motta is probably the best midfield for Italy at the moment. All 3 are comfortable holding and can also push forward. I would like to see them play fluidly and not constantly in their fixed positions, which is one of the reasons Pirlo was becoming easy to mark recently for Milan. That said though, that midfield trio lacks a truly dynamic player to add some drive to the team, so it needs to come from somewhere else. I think Rossi is the player to add that dynamism to the team and add a counter attacking threat. He would take up trequartista positions when defending and push up when attacking while Cassano drops deep.
As an American, I don’t harbor any grudge against Rossi, but if he doesn’t get significant, significant time with Italy I’d be really disappointed that he didn’t choose to sign with the United States. If he isn’t getting time because of that conflict of loyalties (which has happened before- Heinze), it’s not fair to him at all.
What conflict of loyalties are you referring to with regards to Heinze? I’m assuming you mean Gabriel Heinze? Or is there another Heinze out there?
Chiellini has played a lot at left back – in fact, during his first season at Fiorentina (way back in 04-05), he was used mostly as a left wing back:
http://www.football-lineups.com/footballer/137/?t=242&s=129
so I’m sure if Prandelli wants to use him at left back in the future, he won’t have too much problem re-adapting to the role.
Yeah, I know he used to play there, which is why Prandelli’s comment surprised me.
I thought he had an excellent game.
Enrico, I think you’re reading Prandelli’s comment backwards – to me, it’s an investiture.
Chiellini has past experience as LB, but he rarely played there since he came back to Juve and is generally regarded as a better fit for CB, both physically and technically.
By saying “he’ll grow into the role” Prandelli is just making clear that using him as LB was not a makeshift solution – instead the coach thinks Giorgio’s qualities can add value to our defense at LB too and he’s going to deploy him there quite often in the near future.
Hello, I am a big Italy fan and have been following them since 1994.
Football has changed alot since those days, it is much quicker these days but Italian football is slower by nature we all know this. I think Italy suffered in the last world cup because you emphasized in a seperate article how the no.10 playmaker role is fading away in football and Italy depends greatly on this type of player but lately Italy has not been producing anyone worthy of holding a starting place. Instead, Italy boasts very good all round central midfielders who are good passers and set a nice tempo but the problem is that they are all stationary players (Pirlo, Aquilani, De Rossi, Montolivio even Motta) none can hunt down the ball the way Perrotta or Gattuso would do, no one can rush the opponents to make the wrong decisions.
This problem can also be felt going forward, these players dont pop up behind the opponents defensive line very often, sometimes you see the front pair very isolated in the attack, and too much dependence is on the fantasy player (cassano) since the striker is useless in possesion.
Basically, Italys problems is not talent, they lack speed in their play or they lack a link up player between midfield and attack (e.g. Totti). therefore since the winger system is obviously not suited to Italy, I think Italy have the choice of going chosing between two styles.
The first option is for a player like Giovinco to step up and claim that no.10 role. Giovinco is the closest thing to Ozil, he is mobile, he is a good passer and he can be dangerous but I think he needs to move to a big club, something like Roma would do him well.
The second option is to play with 3 forwards, Pazzini is my favorite ‘finisher’, and Cassano is the best assist man so Rossi and Quagliarela can fight for the final spot since they are similar in the sense that they are very mobile and are good in linking up the attacks (very much like Robinho at Milan). I think a midfield of De Rossi, Motta, and Aquilani behind these three is enough.
defensively, thank god for Ranocchia, he is a very composed defender who allows Chiellini to play in a more dangerous LB role. I think De Silvestre or Abate can become other good candidates for the RB role also.
I’d actually prefer Chiellini to be paired with Ranocchia in the middle of the defense. Balzaretti is a superb left back, and was only out of the team due to injury.
I agree, I think Montolivo would be a great fit for a team like Chelsea, he can spread the ball to their forwards while Ramires/Essien/Mikel do the tackling and pressing.
Has Di Natale retired? Nice to see green shoots of recovery…
Balotelli was used as a winger by Mourinho at Inter.
Wouldn’t he fit better and move Cassano left ?!
Balotelli and Cassano up front together would be absolute banter! Both total class acts but mad as a bag of snakes.
I, for one, hope Aquilani gets back into the team on a regular basis. I’d like to see him back at LFC but I’m fairly certain it won’t happen.
RCM
http://leftbackinthechangingroom.blogspot.com