Italy U-21

[Burgnich]

I watched 1 half. Italy 1-0, Sweden down to 10 men, Italy totally dominated, they looked quite solid, didn't even bother watching 2nd half. I thought it was a done deal. Obviously not. Their mentality could not have been the best in 2nd half. Inexperienced players and wrong speech from the coach?

If Italy keeps on like half 1 vs Sweden they might make it, but they must win the next two.



I would like to see Berardi in the middle, in the striker position. (Actually in my opinion he should also be the Italy senior team striker)
Battocchio the LW, Berardi mobile striker, and Bernadeschi or Verdi the RW.

 

[iimilito]

italy's U21 line up against Portugal : Bardi; Zappacosta, Rugani, Romagnoli, Biraghi; Benassi,Crisetig,Cataldi; Berardi, Belotti, Battocchio.

 

[Y&h]

Says he fielded the best squad against Sweden then changes 5 players.


Bardi's long distributions are irritating.

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These commentators are fucking annoying.

It's like listening to two buddies laughing every 5 minutes.

 

[Burgnich]

0-0

Italy so unlucky. They really deserved a win today. Belotti should have netted a couple of goals, Berardi also. Italy were more solid today, yes, wrong lineup vs Sweden.

Too bad, Italy- the 2nd best team in the tournament does not progress to next round....now Germany gonna take this. Barca inspired Germany with lots of technical midgets in their lineup.

 

[Y&h]

It's over.

0-0

England won over Sweden leaving the group like this:


Portugal 4
England 3
Sweden 3
Italy 1


Next is Italy vs England.


Tomorrow I'll post a video of Lorenzo's participation in his thread.

 

[bandiera]

Watched the Italy Portugal game. Few thoughts:

Bardi can't pass for shit. I was waiting for him to fuck up, luckily Portugal only had one shot on target. Batocchio, Viviani, Trotta, Bernardeschi shouldn't be on the team. Belotti barely touched the ball the entire game, he is at best a new Gilardino. Biraghi made a lot of runs but defensively he was poor and his crossing was awkward.

Berardi had a great first half but faded out in the second, its pretty understandable he would be tired after also playing the 90 mins vs Sweden two days ago. Rugani also did well. Italy lose the ball soon after they win it back, Di Biagio is doing a very bad job. It's clear they prefer to sit deep and counterattack, but they have enough quality to create opportunities with the ball.

I really liked Benassi, dude had an impressive first half. showed some great technique and a few really dangerous long shots. right off the bat he dribbled one player and made one of the most dangerous chances of the game in the first minute. his energy was also invaluable. reminds me of a young marchisio and he should be starting over sturaro on merit. one problem in his game is that he can be defensively out of position or too eager to make a tackle. hes really developed well over the past few years.

crisetig is class. added a lot of patience to italy's play and he passed the ball well, defensively he was solid and positioned himself well. made an amazing pass near the end of the game. however, he is quite slow and i can see why di biagio thinks he is too patient. i see a lot in him.

 

[Y&h]

Portugal were disciplined too and their keeper had a very good game.

 

[Shaun]

Yeah, Bardi is a terrible passer. He had the worst passing percentage of any player last season in Serie A

 

[Burgnich]

Yesterday Germany didn't impress, but sure they advance to the semis. Today Italy gonna need help from Portugal to advance. Win for Portugal and Italy only way for Italy to reach the semi. Fingers crossed.

 

[thatdude]

Y&H, where's that Crisiteg footage your promised?

If you got any time for Benassi I wouldn't be mad at that either.

 

[Y&h]

I'd like to apologize for the delay.

Aside from the boring social calls in Ramadan, it took me two days to find a good quality of the match after 4 downloads that were not good enough for anyone to differentiate between the players.


Last night I uploaded the video to dailymotion but it was removed for copyright infringements so I'm trying with another one.

I included a little of Benassi's involvement in the video.

 

[thatdude]

Maybe YouTube would be better? I saw a couple of match comps for William Carvalho on there against Italy U21 and England U21 from this tournament. Perhaps they're less strict?

 

[Y&h]

During the season I tried YouTube but they were like hawks.

The kept sending me emails and complaints every 3 minutes so I switched to dailymotion.

 

[thatdude]

Interesting I wonder how people are getting away with it. Either way I'm just happy to be able to watch the videos. Thanks for your work.

 

[Y&h]

Done, check his thread.


Also, Di Biagio came out and said he's going to make major changes again.

Today I will have to consider several situations before choosing my team for tomorrow. We're able to play either with two strikers or with our usual 4-3-3. How many players will I change? The day before the last game I was thinking of changing only three but in the end I changed more. But for sure I will make some changes.

It is an extremely important game and the boys know it. The presence of some big figures from the federation [including senior coach Antonio Conte] is a spur but not an added pressure – these are mature boys. Having Antonio Conte here every day is great for us.

[Domenico] Berardi is very tired but he will play. England have top-level players and Harry Kane is the diamond in their team. I think if we play as we did against Portugal, we have a great chance of winning this game.

We've showed we always want to play our football, and we succeeded in doing that against Portugal and in parts against Sweden. We are ready to impose our style of play. Tomorrow we have no choice – we have to win. Then we'll see [what happens]. I am convinced the other game will not end in a draw but we have to think only about ourselves, otherwise we risk losing our game here.

For those in the Middle East, Italy vs England will be aired on beIN 6 tonight on 9:45

That's one hour and 40 minutes from now.

 

[Y&h]

Official Formations:


Italia: Bardi, Zappacosta, Rugani, Romagnoli, Biraghi, Benassi, Crisetig, Cataldi, Berardi, Belotti, Trotta.


Inghilterra: Butland, Jenkinson, Stones, Gibson, Garbutt, Chalobah, Forster-Caskey, Redmond, Ings, Lingard, Kane.



Portugal & Sweden are playing at the same time.

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BELOTTI GOAL!! :slick:

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Finally!

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GOAL BENASSI!

CRISETIG ASSIST! :fap:

 

[Burgnich]

Excellent assists from Berardi on first goal. Player of the tournament. Can't believe Conte is picking Pelle over him.

 

[Demokritos]

Just hope Mancini is watching this game....

 

[bandiera]

Half time, England Italy 0-2

So far I think Crisetig and Benassi were better vs Portugal. Crisetig is playing with a lot of urgency and taking a lot of risks, he was out of position a lot. He's definitely feeling the pressure of the game.

Still, Benassi has been pretty good so far. It's really frustrating how Italy loses the ball so quickly, and again, it comes down to Di Biagio who probably asked for a more direct approach from his midfielders. Also, Bardi has surprisingly made a few good saves.

 

[Inter7]

I love benassi such a hard working player! deserved the goal!