Cronky Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 Lovely one touch football from Italy. They've got to be contenders. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collage Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 Liked what I saw from Italy, very good performance. Spinazzola, lovely LB. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oregon_Geordie Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 Contender Ratings: Italy 7 Turkey -10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeyt Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 Maybe one for @ponsaeliusto answer but was surprised at how many Sassuolo players were involved last night. Assume players in the national team playing at 'smaller clubs' would have been hoovered up by Juventus or one one of the other bigger teams. That Berardi looks to have played for Sassuolo his whole career which is nice to see, must be quite rare these days Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeyt Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 Also remember Immobile saying we were going to try and buy him if we got taken over Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
duo Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 12 hours ago, Collage said: Liked what I saw from Italy, very good performance. Spinazzola, lovely LB. He looks class - was constantly in the box Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponsaelius Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 (edited) Berardi hasn't really stayed at Sassuolo his whole career technically. He burst through at Sassuolo very young and was bought by Juve on a co-ownership in 2013 after they were promoted to Serie A. He scored 16 and 15 goals in his first two seasons, hit four against Milan at San Siro. I think everybody expected him to either go to Juve or be bought outright and sold on to somebody else. But Juve didn't need him and his early goalscoring form wavered with injury problems so he just seemed to settle at Sassuolo with nobody making the jump to sign him despite endless rumours. Eventually Sassuolo bought him back outright when the co-ownership system ended. Last two seasons under De Zerbi he has finally seemed to fulfil his potential again and scored for fun in a side that plays good and entertaining passing football. But I'm not sure if he will move on as he is comfortable there and playing for the national team now. Sassuolo are a very small club with a local industrialist benefactor ala Villarreal (although he has passed away now). They are a rare example in Italian football of being just a well ran club. They have a borderline uncomfortable buy/sell/loan relationship with Juve which has probably worked to their benefit overall. But they are good at scouting players and investing in their academy. Berardi and Raspadori came through their youth academy. Locatelli was given a platform to shine after leaving Milan - as were Lorenzo Pellegrini and Matteo Politano from Roma. Sensi who missed out on the squad with injury is another they gave a platform to from the lower leagues. Edited June 12, 2021 by ponsaelius Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponsaelius Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 Also worth noting Demiral, Italy's other goalscorer last night, was scouted and signed by Sassuolo and sold onto Juventus. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cronky Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 (edited) Italy played the sort of football that I'd love to see an England team play. The way they improvised moves by one-touch passing through the midfield was great to watch. We may just have the players to do that for once, but it depends on Southgate having the nerve in his selection. As others on here have said, too often over the years, we've seen England teams qualify for the later rounds, and then come unstuck the minute they're up against a good side. We seem to run out of ideas (as against Croatia 3 years ago) and fail to break down quality opposition. The only times we've done well is when we're the host country (1966, 1996) or we've had the benefit of a favourable draw (1990, 2018). Home advantage will kick in, but we'll need to be bold as well because the opposition looks tough. Edited June 12, 2021 by Cronky Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HTT II Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 (edited) Italy looked sharp and played some decent stuff, Turkey looked flat and didn’t seem to have any real idea of how to play going forward. Good game and opener IMO, bodes well for the tournament. Edited June 12, 2021 by HTT II Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalmintheChaos Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 (edited) Going to take some beating Italy. Very impressed. So well coached and look a real unit.Was great and funny to see Chiellini charging about him and Bonucci seem to be the last of a dying breed of old school Italian centre halves. Nessun dorma to open as well amazing opening. Proud passionate men as well belting their anthem out and standing tall unlike England’s mumblers. Definitely my team for this Euros. Mancini is one suave bastard as well. 100x the manager and man Southgate is and people think England have any chance of winning it Edited June 12, 2021 by CalmintheChaos Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponsaelius Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 (edited) England are basically reverse Italy. Keeper is dodgy, CBs are unreliable, and lack central midfielders who can control a game. But we're absolutely overloaded in attack, with pacey wide players and fullbacks to the point where it's hard to actually pick who to play. We also seem likely to change system game to game. Italy have a top goalkeeper, experience and depth at CB, and technical passers in midfield. But limited options up front that more or less pick themselves in this system (Chiesa vs Berardi is the only real question mark). They have a very set system that won't change much game to game. I'm really excited to see how England get on because I honestly don't know what to expect. Edited June 12, 2021 by ponsaelius Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanj Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 Finding myself liking this Italian team too Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HTT II Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 Aye Nessun Dorma was class, the Italy kit though is arguably their worst in decades, they usually do class kits. Really like the look of this Italy team having not seen them play before and Mancini for me is a top manager who I’ve always rated, would love someone like him at the Toon one day. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fantail Breeze Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 I liked that Italian team last night but not sure they’ll be able to break down some of the better teams. They absolutely controlled it but Turkey were diabolical. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HTT II Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 (edited) 18 minutes ago, Fantail Breeze said: I liked that Italian team last night but not sure they’ll be able to break down some of the better teams. They absolutely controlled it but Turkey were diabolical. Aye they lack real real quality up front in key areas, but as a team they seem to be one of those more than the sum of their part type teams which - maybe might not be as good as the top teams overall - but gives them that ability to still more than compete with such teams. Turkey were very poor I thought, they looked like a basic nothing team with nowt to offer at all. Edited June 12, 2021 by HTT II Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanj Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, HTT II said: Aye Nessun Dorma was class, the Italy kit though is arguably their worst in decades, they usually do class kits. Really like the look of this Italy team having not seen them play before and Mancini for me is a top manager who I’ve always rated, would love someone like him at the Toon one day. Puma having a mare with these templated kits - they used to make some pure class kits for Italy too. Italy could use a switch to a better supplier IMO. Their 94 World Cup Diadora kit was an all time great. Even the Euro 96 Nike and 98 World Cup kits were class. Edited June 12, 2021 by Kanji Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanj Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 Like the Swiss team too, hope Schar gets a goal today! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
black_n_white Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 About as strong as wales lineup that we can put out. Lack of match fitness might be a factor for wales though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smal Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 (edited) Looking forward to watching Schar being either amazing or terrible. There is no in between. Edited June 12, 2021 by Smal Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeyt Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 14 minutes ago, Smal said: Looking forward to watching Schar being either amazing or terrible. There is no in between. Mbabu playing too. Have a feeling it's going to be a honking game but here's hoping it won't be Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smal Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 The Swiss side feels like it has several red cards in it. I think it'll be fun. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeyt Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 Is Kieffer Moore's middle names really Roberto Francisco Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
samptime29 Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 Going to watch the full game at gym. Going 1-1 draw. Vital Wales don't lose this game. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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