ponsaelius Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 Obviously they should still be qualifying in theory, but it's a lopsided team lacking in key positions and severely lacking depth. You're always then at risk - particularly with an unlucky draw (IE getting Norway from the second pot) and then one loss means you're in a ropey play off route where one red card away from home means you're out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramirez Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 4 minutes ago, Jaqen said: Just heard Italy's all time top scorer has 35 goals. That seems really low considering the talent they've had over the years? They’ve not had a decent striker for ages, and the likes of Rossi/schillachi etc were very streaky. They’ve 90s strikers were unbelievable and perhaps they all cancelled each other out a bit. Baggio was dropped from 96 for example. Signori, zola, casaraghi, ravanelli, del piero, vieri, totti, inzaghi all way better than what they have now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jewel Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 6 minutes ago, ponsaelius said: Italy in 2021 were good though. They went on a 30+ match winning run post the 2018 play off loss up to Wembley and fully deserved to win the tournament. It was the first time a manager had properly trusted the Verratti/Insigne/Immobile generation of players in their best positions, still had the old guard of Chiellini/Bonucci, and young talent in Donnarumma and Barella breaking through. There's only really the last two left from that side, so it's not really comparable to this team. Teams change quickly at international level. The core problem is such an abject lack of depth in player production which means if you don't strike it with a group and system that works, or there is key injuries, you're badly exposed. Something needs to be seriously done ala Das Reboot in Germany post Euro 04 or the St George's Park project and everything England have done right since then. And clubs need to start playing more Italian players at 17/18/19, even if they're not world-beaters, and suffering the consequences of doing so for the greater benefit. Frederick Chiesa was also fantastic in that side. Italy were very good in 2021. Don't know why they can't qualify for the World Cup. Should have more than enough talent coming through. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramirez Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 Italy have always been a bit shit or bust in my lifetime of watching football since 1990. Didn’t make Euro 92, good in 94 despite coming third in group, group stage 96, unlucky in 98/2000 to lose to winners France, farce in 02/04. Winners 06, out on pens 08. Group stage 2010 etc Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moose Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 An hour gone and it's still 0-0 between fatty boom boom's Dr. Congo and Isaac Hayden's Jamaica. I hope Jamaica win, cause I know that's what Ainsley Harriott would want. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponsaelius Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 2 minutes ago, ramirez said: Italy have always been a bit shit or bust in my lifetime of watching football since 1990. Didn’t make Euro 92, good in 94 despite coming third in group, group stage 96, unlucky in 98/2000 to lose to winners France, farce in 02/04. Winners 06, out on pens 08. Group stage 2010 etc I suppose if you look at it like that you take it over never winning anything. Four finals and two wins in the 20th century despite so many disasters too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramirez Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 3 minutes ago, ponsaelius said: I suppose if you look at it like that you take it over never winning anything. Four finals and two wins in the 20th century despite so many disasters too. Defo just lacked the consistency of other elite sides like Germany/brazil, at least until recent years when Germany have went a bit shit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimbo Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 Not qualifying for this WC is some feat. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toon25 Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 22 minutes ago, ramirez said: They’ve not had a decent striker for ages, and the likes of Rossi/schillachi etc were very streaky. They’ve 90s strikers were unbelievable and perhaps they all cancelled each other out a bit. Baggio was dropped from 96 for example. Signori, zola, casaraghi, ravanelli, del piero, vieri, totti, inzaghi all way better than what they have now. I reckon Esposito has potential Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toon25 Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 9 minutes ago, Moose said: An hour gone and it's still 0-0 between fatty boom boom's Dr. Congo and Isaac Hayden's Jamaica. I hope Jamaica win, cause I know that's what Ainsley Harriott would want. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponsaelius Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 (edited) 9 minutes ago, Kimbo said: Not qualifying for this WC is some feat. Tbh it's become much easier to qualify for every other confederation but not really that much different in UEFA. You still have to either win your group or get through the play-offs if you finish second. Your group draw has a higher chance of being slightly easier than previously but the play offs are more of a lottery than they used to be once upon a time as rather than a single two legged tie you've got to play two single leg ties, the final of which could be away regardless of your group stage performance. I'm all for spreading football around the globe and the WC should be a global tournament but UEFA only getting 3 of the additional 16 spaces they've added is probably a stretch too far. This is going to be a significantly watered down WC quality wise. Edited March 31 by ponsaelius Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponsaelius Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 8 minutes ago, ramirez said: Defo just lacked the consistency of other elite sides like Germany/brazil, at least until recent years when Germany have went a bit shit. Germany have had the odd stinker too mind - 04, 18, 22. But they would never fail to qualify in the way Netherlands and Italy have done. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mayubeproud Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 16 minutes ago, ponsaelius said: Tbh it's become much easier to qualify for every other confederation but not really that much different in UEFA. You still have to either win your group or get through the play-offs if you finish second. Your group draw has a higher chance of being slightly easier than previously but the play offs are more of a lottery than they used to be once upon a time as rather than a single two legged tie you've got to play two single leg ties, the final of which could be away regardless of your group stage performance. I'm all for spreading football around the globe and the WC should be a global tournament but UEFA only getting 3 of the additional 16 spaces they've added is probably a stretch too far. This is going to be a significantly watered down WC quality wise. As a lad with Asian background I'm quite sure one of the motivation of this new format is to make it easier for China to qualify. China has a population of 1.4 billion so FIFA would probably earn more through TV broadcasts etc if China qualifies. Yet China is also too rubbish to qualify even with this format (sorry in advance if any Chinese feels unhappy about this comment) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moose Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 (edited) 11 minutes ago, mayubeproud said: As a lad with Asian background I'm quite sure one of the motivation of this new format is to make it easier for China to qualify. China has a population of 1.4 billion so FIFA would probably earn more through TV broadcasts etc if China qualifies. Yet China is also too rubbish to qualify even with this format (sorry in advance if any Chinese feels unhappy about this comment) That certainly plausible, I'd be astonished if the true reason for expanding the tournament was because FIFA genuinely thought this was absolutely the best way to improve the sporting competition and wasn't something as cynical as 'get more teams, get more viewers and we get more money'. The populations of India and China alone account for just over a third of the world's population, FIFA will be sick of not being able to fully capitalise on that. That before we mentiom other nations in Asia with huge populations like Pakistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh. Although hilariously it looks like Jordan, Uzbekistan and possibly Iraq have taken the extra spots allocated to Asia 😆 Edited March 31 by Moose Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astroblack Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 DR Congo winning against Jamaica in ET, Wissa currently going to WC. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mayubeproud Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 9 minutes ago, Moose said: That certainly plausible, I'd be astonished if the true reason for expanding the tournament was because FIFA genuinely thought this was absolutely the best way to improve the sporting competition and wasn't something as cynical as 'get more teams, get more viewers and we get more money'. The populations of India and China alone account for just over a third of the world's population, FIFA will be sick of not being able to fully capitalise on that. That before we mentiom other nations in Asia with huge populations like Pakistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh. Although hilariously it looks like Jordan, Uzbekistan and possibly Iraq have taken the extra spots allocated to Asia 😆 Tbf India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are never too interested about football. I think they like cricket more. China has a very large football fan base. A lot of Chinese follows the Premier League & Champions League week in, week out. They were once a powerhouse in Asian football but they have declined pretty badly in recent decades. Indonesia was mediocre in the past but they are catching up quickly in recent years. I think they are trying to lure talents from Netherlands to their NT due to some historical ties. Reijnders' brother is actually also playing for Indonesia's NT. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
triggs Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 (edited) 1 hour ago, ponsaelius said: Italy in 2021 were good though. They went on a 30+ match winning run post the 2018 play off loss up to Wembley and fully deserved to win the tournament. It was the first time a manager had properly trusted the Verratti/Insigne/Immobile generation of players in their best positions, still had the old guard of Chiellini/Bonucci, and young talent in Donnarumma and Barella breaking through. There's only really the last two left from that side, so it's not really comparable to this team. Teams change quickly at international level. The core problem is such an abject lack of depth in player production which means if you don't strike it with a group and system that works, or there is key injuries, you're badly exposed. Something needs to be seriously done ala Das Reboot in Germany post Euro 04 or the St George's Park project and everything England have done right since then. And clubs need to start playing more Italian players at 17/18/19, even if they're not world-beaters, and suffering the consequences of doing so for the greater benefit. The thing with England/France/Germany/Spain now is they have so much depth in players they're basically bulletproof in qualifying. Italy don't have that. It's also harder to qualify every time as you're dropping down in the rankings. Like their qualification performance was about par this time but they had Spain in their group so were only ever going to finish 2nd at best which makes it all come down to 2 games where it's never going to be a cakewalk Edit: Not sure why I thought they had Spain in their group Edited March 31 by triggs Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilko Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 46 minutes ago, Astroblack said: DR Congo winning against Jamaica in ET, Wissa currently going to WC. He'll be delighted with that, what with the size of the portions you get and the bait over in the US. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 Chuffed for the Chancellor Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jewel Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 1 hour ago, triggs said: It's also harder to qualify every time as you're dropping down in the rankings. Like their qualification performance was about par this time but they had Spain in their group so were only ever going to finish 2nd at best which makes it all come down to 2 games where it's never going to be a cakewalk Edit: Not sure why I thought they had Spain in their group You were thinking of the 2022 World Cup qualification when they did have Spain in their group. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teslact Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 Iraq v Bolivia has been a crap fest, but quite fun to watch in a Championship / MLS kind of way. Currently 2-1 to Iraq with about 35 mins left. BBC must have everyone asleep as they are just showing the game is "In Play" and they don't even have the score up: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stifler Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 Iraq qualify for the World Cup. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lush Vlad Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 8 hours ago, ponsaelius said: Italy will probably find lightning in a bottle again with a group of players and a quality manager like they did in 2021 (and to some extent 2016) and it will again gloss over the major need for reform to start producing better players at youth level and trusting them to play in the top flight. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toon25 Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 It's the bloody FA Cup this weekend, FFS. Honestly don't think I could give any less of a shit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 On 30/03/2026 at 03:20, TRC said: Spain are far better imo. Definitely not. And nowhere near the depth. Like nowhere near the depth. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now