| |
|
| Tuesday 10 June, 2008 |
| Blog: Glass half full |
| The fans and Press might be on the Azzurri's back after the 3-0 defeat against Holland, but Richard Godden looks on the bright side |
 |
 |
|
As far as opening defeats go, they don't come much worse than Italy's hammering at the hands of Holland. A three-goal deficit, question marks over the Coach after a few selection mishaps and, worse still, knowing that a positive result will definitely be needed in the final group game against your biggest rival. Put like that, Roberto Donadoni's men might as well head back to the peninsula now.
Yet it really isn't as bad as the fans and Press are making out. I know it's easy for me to say, seeing as I'm English and have no real link with Italy other than my job, but the group is still wide open. Next up for the Azzurri is a tricky test with Romania, and a win against Adrian Mutu and Cristian Chivu's side will put them in a great position to qualify. Given the defensive nature of Victor Piturca's side, seeing off the Romanians won't be as easy as many may have expected before the tournament. But Italy are the world champions - and you don't earn that title because you can't beat a side ranked just the 12th best on the planet.
Predicting a winner from the Holland v France clash is a trickier prospect, but as long as Italy do the business in their game then the chances are that they will have their future in their own hands. Then it leaves what could effectively become a play-off match against Les Bleus for a spot in the quarter-finals. You wouldn't put money on Italy winning, but at the same time you wouldn't bet against it. Surely any Azzurro would take that scenario in a heartbeat?
Now back to last night's game. While I was shocked and disappointed to learn that Daniele De Rossi did not make the starting XI, let's not forget that Massimo Ambrosini has just had an excellent season with Milan and would be linking up in the midfield with two Rossonero colleagues. And as for the central-defensive pairing of Marco Materazzi and Andrea Barzagli… It's easy for me to blog about Giorgio Chiellini deserving one of those berths, but think of the stick Don would be getting now if he'd made that call and the end result was the same.
So the former Livorno boss' big selection blunders weren't actually that bad, although I agree with my colleague Antonio Labbate's assessment that Alessandro Del Piero and Antonio Cassano needed more time to have an impact on proceedings. The Juventus skipper, in particular, looked a major threat after he came on and before Holland bagged their third, it looked almost certain that the Azzurri would set up a grand-stand finale.
Lastly, there is the nature of the goals scored by the Dutch. The first was clearly offside. Forget this stupid rule which has been put forward, Christian Panucci left the pitch involuntarily after a collision with Gigi Buffon. He wasn't looking to seek an advantage - so no goal. Then the following two strikes were both perfect examples of counter-attacking. Perhaps Italy should have been more cautious, but let us not forget that they were chasing the game when risks needed to be taken.
In conclusion, a 3-0 result might have been just about the worst Italy could have hoped for, but the performance and circumstances mean that it's not all doom and gloom for the Azzurri. If they can get a result against Romania, that is…
|
|
|
|
|
I almost agree with you in the whole article. you are right, it is not the end of the world. The thing is, we were hoping to win this opening game and then win the next one against Romania so we can comfortably face France where we have 6 points and maybe already qualified. But this lose made it all hard and to win against both Romania at this point who are high with thier draw against France and then face the old rival France for the final ticket where we absoulotly have to win is almost a mission impossible. The team needs to be shuffled and 3-4 players that had the chance to start in the first game need to be replaced and those are ofcourse Materazzi, Barzagli, Ambrosini and Camoranesi and maybe change the Di Natale even though I still have some trust in this guy. The players need to realise what shirt they are wearing and need to feel the pressure of the game. It is not a picnic and they really need to fight hard for the next couple of games and give thier all in trainings otherwise they will be kicked out of the group stages. I really hope they win against Romania and I am sure they will do it but the match against France is what worries me the most. Let's hope for the best.
Mohammed Ahmed Al Nuaimi
You make some good points, i am italian and i do not enjoy watching italy until we are winning and the final whistle has blown i am to nervous. I believe donadoni was not the right man for the job however i will back him 100% of the way. I believe the selection was wrong we should have gone possibly 4-5-1 knowing that the dutch are a good attacking team. Grosso should have started from the off, you could see when he changed the full backs, we had more of a threat going forward, i am sorry but panucci is no zambrotta going forward, however panucci was better at centre back.
I also believe that we should in the last 20 minutes the frailties that holland have at the back, and i think that france will beat them (that's if they turn up of course, for our sake i hope not), I have also been reading that holland destroyed italia, obviously i am going to have a biased view, but i think that the offside goal should not have counted, and if it had not then we would not of pushed so many people forward but hey hey that's my point, also that all they seemed to do was put men behind the goal and hit us on the counter, how many decent changes did we create.
I have one argument with this rule that allowed van's goal, when a player is behind the goal line and his team scores, why isn't he given offside? or are the substitutes that are warming up playing him on side? I am not going to enjoy these next two games, it reminds me of euro 2004 again and the disappointment of that tournament. I know we always start slow but that's not the point, i hate the fact that people seem to think that cannavaro is our only top defender, we are italy for goodness sake we are born to defend!
So lets just see if we can turn it around i pray that we do.
Giuseppe (a passionate italia fan)
After watching the highlights of the Italy v Holland game there was no doubt in my mind that Italy can recover from this. The squad is good enough but Donadoni needs to make the right selection and not be stubborn by defending the team he fielded against Holland. Grosso needs to start and De Rossi needs to replace Gattuso who this season as not achieved the heights of 2006-07. Aqualani to replace Ambrosini as this young lad can strike a ball from distance and can link up with the strikers, Cassano as strike partner for Luca Toni who is hanging on to the Azzurri jersey by a thread. Del Piero to replace Toni if it’s not happening, Perrotta to replace Aqualani and Quagliarella to put on if we need a goal in the last 10mins.
Davide Longo
I am a big fan of the Azzurri, but I have to say the result the other night was a total joke. Italy where poor, the strikers got NO support from midfield at all, because they are all to slow. Defence was even slower than midfield. Donadoni should drop some of the older players, the team badly needs to be freshened up a bit. When is Donadoni going to wake up and see that Camronesi is actually useless.
Del Piero and Grosso done well when they came on. For me players like Chellini, De Rossi, Aqualiani (who was outstanding for Roma in the Champions League) should have started against Holland. Ambrosini is finished , he offered nothing in the match. Luca Toni thrives on Crosses(hence the reason he scored bags of goals this season).
Overall I think the Italian Squad is poor, Donadoni should have been a bit more ruthless in picking it , with players such as Maggio, Rosina, Legrotteglia and Montolivo all had excellent season’s and fully deserved a place in the Squad.
Come on Don, drop the old guys , against Romania we need brains to pick out passes and crosses. My Team would be:
GK. Buffon
LB. Chellini
CB. Brazagli
CB. Gamberini
RB. Zambrotta
MD. De Rossi
MD. Gattuso
MD. Pirlo
AMD. Del Piero
STK. Toni
STK. Cassano
Sean
At this point in time, Monday's disaster of a 3-0 reversal to the Dutch is now behind the Azzurri. However, unless they can progress form beyond the group stage, which impressive displays against both Romania & France, then I would suggest that Donadoni's contract be rescinded & the Italian FA invite Marcello Lippi to return to the helm.
Certainly when Donadoni was appointed way back in mid-summer 2006, there was considerable doubt as to whether he had the experience and/or aptitude for this post. It is now up to him, along with the players, to show their true mettle.
Arnold Tortorella, Glasgow |
|
| |
| |
