Reminder: SIGN UP to the official website http://www.thepathismadebywalking.com ‘s newsletter to receive notification of release date and all other information when it becomes available. Many thanks, Jed
CONTENT MOVED TO:
http://www.thepathismadebywalking.com/002%20Journal/GREATEST-XI.html
Note: see Italy’s EURO 2012 preview for context
The kings of two footballing philosophies locked horns in the opening Group C game of Euro 2012: Catenaccio and Tiki-Taka; Italy and Spain.
The Catenaccio philosophy is one associated with a highly organised and effective defensive tactic that focuses on taming the opponent’s attacks and in turn preventing any credible goal scoring opportunities. In Catenaccio, it is typical that the role of a sweeper, libero or verrouilleur is given a pivotal role in both defensive organisation and playing the ball out from the back – a commanding general.
In truth, the profession of a libero or verrouilleur is a dying role in modern-day football tactics – the likes of Franz Beckenbauer, Gaetano Scirea and Franco Baresi are now widely regarded as football antiquity. So eye brows should have been raised when Cesare Prandelli opted to move away from his preferred 4-3-1-2 to an italian suited 3-5-2, made using two wing backs and a libero(Danielle De Rossi), while instructing Juventus attacking midfielder Giaccherini to play out of position on his international début at left wing-back (a player who only four years a go was fighting relegation in Serie C2). Much of the prematch attention should have been directed towards Prandelli’s courage to employ such a tactic against the world champions.
Italy (3-5-2): Buffon, Maggio, Chiellini, Bonucci, Motta, Marchisio, Giaccherini, De Rossi, Pirlo, Balotelli, Cassano
Yet Vincente del Bosque had other ideas. La Furia Roja looked set to take the rule book of formations and simply tear it up, by announcing a team that seemingly was set up to play a 4-6-0 formation:
“When we got into the locker room we were joking around looking at the team sheet, as we couldn’t find a striker” reveals the Azzurri’s newly appointed Libero, Danielle De Rossi.
Guillem Balague (spanish football expert) argued that del Bosque had simply taken inspiration from an already widely praised and accepted Barcelona tactic:
“How many strikers do you think Barcelona use? No strikers means that there’s not one referent point, but five different mobile reference points…set formations are an obsolete way to look at football …centre backs prefer a number 9 due to familiarity of being able to mark them”
Balague went on to claim that del Bosque had set the team up like so, as a tactical response to both Italy’s likelihood of employing a Catenaccio strategy:
“Spain will find a team that will kill spaces. You combat that with dynamism, 2v1’s, short passing and involvement, hence no striker – [this is the] logical progression of style”
Spain looked to be playing to their own strengths, as a response to both their opponent’s set up, their own abilities and as a response to a lack of David Villa. With much of the attack built around a successful Barcelona team and the influence of the Barca-influenced infamous ‘rondo’ it seemed as if it was only a natural progression of formation in a bid to force what they do best: keep ball. The Rondo is essentially a fiercely competitive game of ‘piggy in the middle’ that has become tradition at Barca’s training ground and is often used to intimidate any new arrivals at the club.
However, it seems that there was actually less preparation for this tactic than one would expect, as Javi Matallanas revealed to Guillem Balague that Cesc Fabregas was only made aware of his role as a ‘false number 9’ three hours before kick off.
With a throw-back libero, a false number 9, a Balotelli-Cassano strike partnership, the battle of the regista’s (Xavi and Pirlo) and the clash of the two polar footballing philosophies this match up was beginning to look more and more like it was going to be one of the classics of Euro history.
Spain (4-6-0?): Casillas, Arbeloa, Piqué, Ramos, Alba; Busquets, Xabi Alonso, Xavi; Silva, Iniesta, Fàbregas
As expected the spanish dominated possession (65.8%) and played 646 passes to Italy’s 292 passes. Xavi, whom Gary Breen said would “keep the ball off you in a phone box”, was involved in 197 of Spain’s passes (played or received) and created 8 goal scoring opportunities for the striker-less tiki-taka side. Busquets was another player central to La Roja’s possession play as he was involved in 183 passes and boasted a 92% pass rate (the highest of anyone on the field).
Spain’s unnamed formation allowed the spanish to play 172 passes in the final third compared to Italy’s 48, a theme than ran throughout the game.
However, Italy pressed high, boasted a 100% tackling rate (15/15) and provided Spain with a problem as they didn’t begin the game with many players who could run in behind Italy’s back line. The libero role was played well by De Rossi who relieved Pirlo of the play-making pressure, with De Rossi deciding the direction of play more often than not.
It was noted that while Pirlo played the majority of his passes to the centralised players, De Rossi focused much of his passes down the flanks, into wider positions – this seemed to be an obvious tactical employment.
Half time came with the score at 0-0, but as one of the most technical and interesting duels of the competition so far.
The second half started, promising more of the same, only this time the first real opportunity came early in the half. A frustrated Mario Balotelli, pressing high up the field managed to steal the ball from Sergio Ramos and began the charge towards Casillas on his goal line. All of Spain and Italy held their breath as Balotelli’s charge towards the goal began to turn into a casual stroll towards Casillas as if a Playstation controller was running out of battery. As Balotelli began to see the world around him in slow motion Ramos had caught up with him to put in a last-ditch tackle. What just happened?!
Prandelli, clearly not happy with Balotelli’s performance and perhaps concerned about the booking Mario had received earlier on in the first half, decided to bring on Di Natale in his place, leaving Balotelli to think over how on earth he hadn’t had a shot moments before.
Up stepped Andrea Pirlo to stake his claim as one of the world’s best – skipping past his Spanish marker on the half way line and changing the pace of the game to feed through Di Natale, who put away his first shot of the game and made his mark immediately.
But the action packed opening to the second half was not finished just yet. Three minutes later Spain managed to get in behind De Rossi with a clever run from Cesc Fabregas who finished cooly – to complete the curse commentator Jon Champion had put on the game where he opened the game with the words “there is no striker, there’s only Fabregas” much like Tim Lovejoy’s cursed words of “Don’t worry, it’s only Ray Parlour”, moments before the midfielder hit an unstoppable shot from 30 yards in the 2002 FA Cup final win against Chelsea.
Di Natale had one more undeniable opportunity with an agonisingly missed volley inside the box from a clever Giovinco ball before the game returned to it’s status quo of Spanish control in the final third, in a duel that looked destined for a testing draw there after – aside from the two missed Torres one on one opportunities to put the game to rest, a ‘nearly-impact’ after his introduction to the spanish front line. The final score Italy 1 Spain 1.
Claudio Marchisio, Antonio Cassano, Danielle De Rossi and Gianluigi Buffon all put forward their claim for Azzurri of the match. Iniesta continued to ‘wow’ plaudits for the Spanish, as others put in a nothing more than expected performance from the world champions.
Uefa named Marchisio (9.15) as their man of the match for both teams via their statistical method ahead of followers Fabregas, Iniesta, Xavi, Alonso and Busquets. The Juventus midfielder created balance in a robust midfield trio of Pirlo, himself and Thiago Motta. Marchisio showcased all aspects of his game and was unlucky not to score after unlocking the spanish control in the second half: dribbling through the open space from the half way line towards the spanish box to play a one-two, receive the ball back within the box only to hit a tame shot at Casillas. The Turin-born midfielder also recovered possession well throughout and made a key block to a goal bound Xavi effort.
Pirlo showed glimpses of mesmerising brilliance, including his assist, however was not consistent throughout the game with his passing – hopefully not a sign of tiredness after a long season with Juventus. While Danielle De Rossi had an excellent first half, the introduction of Torres showed a weakness in the player as a defender as Spain found Torres in a good position on more than one occasion:
“I did better in the first half and suffered more against Fernando Torres, who is physically strong and intelligent”
Danielle De Rossi: “It was natural to lose a little confidence after the Russia performance and some expected a catastrophe but that wasn’t the case”
Cesare Prandelli: “The important thing is that they did what I asked, playing well when passing vertically and gave our all. This is Italy.”
James Horncastle on Cesare Prandelli: “Nothing but admiration for Prandelli. Humble enough to put own system aside in recognition of what works here and now”
Post match the President of Italy, Napolitano went into in the locker room to congratulate many of the players on an optimistic outcome and embraced Buffon after his performance (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGi0hiAyGy4).
The draw concluded a 14 match winning streak for the Spanish in competitive matches and leaves an air of optimism amongst the italians again after a recent pessimistic outlook on the Azzurri’s chances of winning Euro 2012. Both Italy and Spain showed glimpses of why they should be considered favourites for the tournament, upstaging any of the performances from early favourites in Group B.
While most of the Azzurri came out of the duel playing well, Mario Balotelli put in a below par performance in a promising Balo-Cassa striker force. The only positive to take from the game is that hopefully Balotelli will use that miss as fire for the rest of the tournament presuming Cesare Prandelli provides him with another opportunity in the next game, one that hopefully this time, he’ll take.
Using PDO to analyse how lucky a team may have been in the outcome of a game is a concept @11tegen11 and @jameswgrayson have employed in a bid to “separate the two entities that determine who wins a football match: luck and skill” (@11tegen11). The PDO concept was first used as analysis for Ice Hockey and has revolutionised the way in which teams are assessed.
The PDO is simply a number that determines how lucky each team has been. The PDO is set as a norm at 1000 and always combines with the opponents in a total of 2000 – is calculated as:
[Shooting Percentage (sh%) + Saving Percentage (sv%)] x 10 = PDO
Where sh% is calculated as ‘total number of goals’/’total number of shots’ x 100, and;
sv% is calculated as ‘total number of shots that missed’/‘total number of shots’ x 100
A PDO of 1001 would suggest that the team have been luckier than the norm of 1000 and a PDO of 999 would suggest a team have been unlucky compared to the norm. The combined value must always add up to 2000, since there are two teams each playing each with 1000 norm worth of luck-skill.
For example, take the Denmark v Netherlands game in Group B
Denmark: 1 goal, 8 shots. 32 ‘saves’ from 32 shots.
Netherlands: 0 goals, 32 shots, 7 ‘saves’ from 8.
Denmark PDO = 10 (12.5 + 100) = 1125
Netherlands PDO = 10 (0 + 87.5) = 875
Leaving Denmark with a PDO of 1125 and the Netherlands with a PDO of 875. Meaning that the Netherlands were 12.5% ‘unluckier’ (less efficient) than the norm, Denmark were 12.5% ‘luckier’ than the norm and a differential of 28.6% more luck to the Danes. Literally taken, Denmark won their game with a degree of luck and Netherlands lost by being unlucky.
Italy: 1 goal, 11 shots. 18 ‘saves’ from 19 shots
Spain: 1 goal, 19 shots. 10 ‘saves’ from 11 shots
Italy PDO = 10 (9+94.7) = 1038
Spain PDO = 10 (5.3+90.9) = 962
A minor differential of 76, or 38 more/less lucky for each side. Italy were 7.9% ‘luckier’ (more efficient) than the Spanish.
So to conclude were Italy lucky to draw against Spain? – In short, Yes… but only marginally, in relation to the Denmark and Netherlands game.
If Mario Balotelli had actually managed to get his shot away this would have evened this statistic up further still, providing Casillas had made the resultant save. This would have bought the totals to 972 and 1028 in the same balance of luck and a 5.7% luck differential.
SEE LINKS AND COMMENTS BELOW (click speech bubble top right) for a more comprehensive understanding behind the rationale and analysis of PDO on the Dutch Eredivisie and English Premier League using the same analysis method with additional outcomes such as futuristic prediction:
@11tegen11 http://11tegen11.net/?p=1731
@jameswgrayson http://jameswgrayson.wordpress.com
TikiTaka Football www.thepathismadebywalking.wordpress.com
All statistics taken from FourFourTwo Euro 2012 Stats Zone
Ben Wilson [ Twitter: @BenWilson000] examines Laurent Blanc and France’s chances of winning Euro 2012 – a team who boast a real quality team ethos – a far cry from the recent World Cup.
Two years go in South Africa, France crashed out of the World Cup bottom of the group, without winning a single game. Raymond Domenech’s team were divided, big egos collided, and a mutiny erupted – the result being a disastrous campaign. Most of the blame was laid out at Domenech’s feet. Their qualifying campaign wasn’t smooth either, with Eric Cantona calling him the “worst coach in French football since Louis XVI”. The only French monarch to be guillotined – not the most endearing observation. Euro 2012 is chance for the French to forget 2010!
On 26th June 2010, two weeks after their World Cup exit Laurent Blanc took the reins of “Les Bleus” and they haven’t looked back since. France are now unbeaten in 21 matches, the longest unbeaten run out of all team participating at the Euros in Poland and Ukraine. The woes of the last major tournament seem to be banished, forgotten. The squad is now more harmonious, and it shows. The recent 4-0 victory over Estonia produced a free flowing attacking performance, one played with enjoyment and smiles on the faces of the players. Blanc has installed a team spirit within the French camp that was so evidently missing two years ago in South Africa. Blaise Matuidi, the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder said “We’re not invincible, but the coach has helped us and we’ve got a lot of confidence…We have talented players who can play together. What makes us strong is our team spirit. If we keep that, we can achieve great things together in the future.”
Qualification
Les Bleus topped their group in qualifying with 6 wins, 3 Draws and 1 loss. Scoring 15 goals and only conceding 4, the third lowest in qualifying; only Italy and Russia conceded less. Although not the rampant campaign that some may have predicted considering their group, the job was still completed to good effect. At international level being unbeaten for 21 games is no easy feat and February’s victory over Euro hopefuls Germany proved that this French squad has real quality. They seem to be slight underdogs coming into this tournament, the memories of 2010 still fresh in football’s mind, but Im sure that suits Blanc and Les Tricolores just fine. Expectation is low and even Blanc stated that “Our objective is to win one match.” This isn’t the old French pomp and arrogance that we have come to expect. This time, the tone is underplayed, one of diligence and meticulous preparation. However, the Euro 2000 winners might just be able to go all the way 2012.
The Squad
Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Olympique Lyon) – Born: 26.12.86 Caps: 32
Steve Mandanda (Olympique Marseille) – Born: 28.03.85 Caps: 15
Cedric Carrasso (Girondins Bordeaux) – Born: 30.12.81 Caps: 1
Defenders: Gael Clichy (Manchester City) – Born: 26.07.85 Caps: 12 Goals: 0
Patrice Evra (Manchester United) – Born: 15.03.81 Caps: 40. Goals: 0
Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal) – Born: 10.09.85 Caps: 2 Goals: 0
Philippe Mexes (AC Milan) – Born: 30.03.82 Caps: 25 Goals: 1
Adil Rami (Valencia) – Born: 27.12.85 Caps: 19 Goals: 1
Mathieu Debuchy (Lille) – Born: 28.07.85 Caps: 4. Goals: 1
Anthony Reveillere (Olympique Lyon) – Born: 10.11.79 Caps: 17 Goals: 1
Midfielders: Yohan Cabaye (Newcastle United) – Born: 14.01.86 Caps: 12 Goals: 0
Florent Malouda (Chelsea) – Born: 13.06.80 Caps: 76 Goals: 9
Samir Nasri (Manchester City) – Born: 26.06.87 Caps: 30 Goals: 3
Alou Diarra (Olympique Marseille) – 15.07.81 Caps: 40 Goals: 0
Yann M’Vila (Stade Rennes) – Born: 26.06.90 Caps: 19 Goals: 1
Marvin Martin (Sochaux) – Born: 10.01.88 Caps: 11 Goals: 2
Blaise Matuidi (Paris St Germain) – Born: 09.04.87 Caps: 4 Goals: 0
Forwards: Hatem Ben Arfa (Newcastle United) – Born 07.03.87 Caps: 10 Goals: 2
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) – Born: 19.12.87 Caps: 44 Goals: 13
Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich) – Born: 07.04.83 Caps: 59 Goals: 9
Olivier Giroud (Montpellier) – Born: 30.09.86 Caps: 5 Goals: 1
Jeremy Menez (Paris St Germain) – Born: 07.05.87 Caps: 12 Goals: 0
Mathieu Valbuena (Olympique Marseille) – Born: 28.09.84 Caps: 11 Goals: 2
Individually players have been in top form. Franck Ribery, who is so often criticised for not living up to his hype at international level, has had a fantastic season. Ribery has scored 17 goals this season for Bayern Munich and produced 17 assists. He also completed the most dribbles out of players in the top 5 leagues playing at Euro 2012 with 129; 56 more than Cristiano Ronaldo. Ribery could have a great tournament if he can transfer his club form to Poland and Ukraine, and is definitely a player I will be keeping an eye on, not least because I have him in my fantasy football team! And the signs are good; he’s scored 3 goals in 3 games in the recent warm up games, after not scoring at international level for over 2 years.
Samir Nasri will play a big role, floating higher up the pitch, the link between midfield and attack. His club form was good if slightly indifferent at times, but he’ll definitely be buoyed by winning the Premier League on the last day of the season. That winning mentality will be useful, as well as his eye for a pass he has a 91.1% pass accuracy, the 5th best at the tournament.
Karim Benzema also brings that winning mentality after scooping the La Liga prize. He’s had an excellent season too, scoring 32 goals for Real Madrid, producing 12 assists. Benzema will lead the French line, and finally this one time wonderkid may be able to fulfill his potential. He may have moved too soon to Madrid from Lyon, but he’s at long last found his feet and is certain to be one to watch in Poland and Ukraine, who knows he could be top goal scorer? However, waiting to take his chance if Benzema doesn’t produce is Oliver Giroud. A fantastic player, a real striker. Good in the air, he won the second most aerial duels (132) in the top 5 leagues, just behind Andy Carrol (152). Giroud was also the joint top scorer in Ligue 1 with 21 goals and he propelled Montpellier to the league title. He scored in the recent victory over Germany which will give great confidence to this young striker.
Jeremy Menez completes their attacking starting four. One of the biggest talents in French football, a mazy inside forward with electric pace, who has had a great season after moving from AS Roma to PSG. Unlucky to miss out on the championship, Menez finished with the most assists after Chelsea bound Eden hazard, with 13 and scoring 7 goals.
Yohan Cabaye will be the midfield general, deep-lying playmaker, one of my favourite players to watch this season in the Premier League. Some people were surprised by his move to Newcastle last year, with many thought that he was destined to cut his teeth in the Champions League, be at Lille after winning the title or at another club with Champions League football. However, Yohan moved to the North East of England, and what a success it has been. Cabaye ran the show up in the toon! Helping Newcastle on their way to a 5th placed finish and narrowly missing out on a Champions League place. Cabaye goes to the Euros with the most successful tackles in the top 5 leagues with 117. Yohan Cabaye or “Le Dreamboat” as they call him in Newcastle capped off a wonderful end to the season playing a key role in Newcastle’s six wins in a row scoring twice and assisting 4 times in 6 games. Expect Cabaye to play a major part in any success France may have at the Euros, an exquisite passer off the ball with the eye for a shot. He has started in all 3 warm up games so expect him to start against England on Monday night. Cabaye’s midfield partner should be Yan M’Vila, but injured recently in the 2-0 victory against Serbia he is a big doubt for the first game. M’Vila, if unfit, will leave a huge gap in a strong French midfield, one Alou Diarra must fill.
Yann M’Vila, although young, possesses great maturity and authority on the pitch. This season M’Vila won back possession 202 times in 36 games and yet only picked up 2 yellow cards, giving away 0.8 fouls a game, he’s disciplined as well. His role will be to guard the back four, an enforcer and let Cabaye push on slightly and Nasri roam. This role is of great importance to teams in this footballing era, and France is no different. The attacking flair of France need to play with confidence, a confidence that can stem from the trust Ribery, Nasri, Benzema, and Menez place in players such as Cabaye, M’Vila, Diarra.
Looking at the defence, Les Bleus conceded only 4 goals in the whole qualifying campaign, a sterling effort, and have conceded 2 goals in the three warm up games. The starting right back Mathieu Debuchy is probably one of Europe’s best up and coming right backs. Debuchy possess’s great technique, and likes to push forward and give support, merging defence with attack, he scored recently in one of the warm up games. The centre back pairing of Adil Rami and Phillip Mexes have played 3 times together out of the 4 games played in 2012 so hopefully an understanding is maturing between them. They only have three centre backs in the squad, with Laurent Koscielny as backup who is more than capable. There is a worry though with only 3 centre backs in case of injury! The left back spot is a potential weakness for France; Patrice Evra hasn’t had a great season and was shown up for a lack of pace and bad decision making on a few occasions for Manchester United. Many believe club rival Gael Clichy should be ahead of him, who would be able to cap of a great season if he was to play a major role in any French success after winning the title with Manchester City. If opposing teams can get at Evra down that right hand side, expect questions to be asked. England may see that as a point of attack and use the pace of Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain to expose the French defence.
With the gloves France have a top goalkeeper in Hugo Lloris, one of the best in Europe, young but commanding! He’ll ensure confidence in the rest of the team I am sure. In back-up they have Steve Mandanda and Cedric Carasso. Mandanda lost his place to Lloris just before the 2010 World Cup, but he is a great shot stopper. Carasso will be there for practice, third choice keepers rarely make an appearance in tournaments.
Les Bleus have a host of talented players waiting to grab their chance of the bench. Hatem Ben Arfa, seems to have grown up and matured this season, his move to Newcastle has allowed him to repair his reputation and he really showcased his talent in the second half of the season. His inclusion in the squad is a great personal achievement for a man who suffered a horrendous double leg break not so long ago. Ben Arfa is a hero on Tyneside, but the Euros will give him a chance to show the French public that he’s a reformed character and not the “Enfant Terrible” he was once labeled. Any team with a player of his ability is a team better off, could make a big impact of the bench and even steal a starting berth.
Mathieu Valbuena is another player that could make an impact. This season for Marseille he made the second most key passes (105) out of any player in the top five leagues playing at the Euros, more than Silva (104), Ozil (103) and Mata (102). The quick attacking midfielder come winger has the ability to thread the ball through and create chances that players like Benzema, Ribery and Giroud will gladly put away. Valbuena is a favourite of Blanc, so expect his involvement to be a formality. The most experienced player in the squad is Florent Malouda, its very close who starts between him and Menez, but Im going for Menez. Malouda will be very useful off the bench, and great to have around with his experience. Marvin Martin and Blaise Matuidi are both young and very talented players. Martin burst on to the international scene scoring two late goals on his debut, and has an unbelievable range of passing. Hasn’t had the best of seasons for Sochaux and he’s rumored to be joining Lille after the tournament. Matuidi has played well at PSG this season and managed to hold down starting spot despite great competition there. But he may have not been picked if it wasn’t for the notable absences of Abou Diaby and Lassana Diarra.
Probable XI: 4 – 2 – 3 – 1
Prediction
They have a great squad full of players who are bang in form. They have gelled well together, the warm up games suggest that. The likes of Spain, Germany and Netherlands are favourites yes, but France are quietly going about their business, maybe even under the radar. They’ll win their group with ease and put in some fine performances Im sure, expect them to get to the Semi-Finals and by that time it’s anyone’s game:
ALLEZ LES BLEUS!!!!!
Fixtures
Monday 11th June France v England; Ukraine v Sweden
Friday 15th June Ukraine v France; Sweden v England
Tuesday 19th June England v Ukraine; France v Sweden
Statistics courtesy of Who Scored www.whoscored.com
Author: Ben Wilson @BenWilson000
A volte ritornano: sometimes they return – a popular italian phrase that typifies italian football. In recent years the italian fans have witnessed everything: players going on strike, allegations surrounding corruption, champions stripped of a title then relegated and a national team that can only be described as spectacularly inconsistent. Yet, despite the apparent ‘great fall of football italia’ they’ve also encountered three different Champions League winners, the 2006 World Cup as well as runners up medals in Euro 2000 and two more Champions League finals. Even in 1968 when the Azzurri won their only European Cup to date, the Azzurri failed to even qualify for the preceding and succeeding European Cup finals. The 2010 World Cup saw an all new low – bottom of a group which drew Italy against the minor nations of New Zealand, Slovakia and Paraguay – they failed to win a single game.
The last time Italy failed to make it out of their group (Euro 2004), the Azzurri would go on to win the subsequent international tournament. The last time mass allegations of corruption came to the surface, Italy would go on to become the world’s best. A volte ritornano.
The Azzurri qualified undefeated, scoring 17 goals and only conceding 2 (excluding the 3-0 win awarded by Uefa against Serbia for a crowd troubled match abandonment) and were in full command on the pitch: against Estonia the Azzurri completing a remarkable 829 passes – putting that into perspective, Barcelona completed an average of 747 passes per game during their La Liga and Champions League winning season of 2010/11 – so that really was quite the performance.
The italian proverb il diavolo fa le pentole ma non i coperchi – ‘the devil makes the pots but not the lids to cover them up’ was written for such events. A.S.Roma midfielder Daniele De Rossi believes the most recent fiasco to be worse than the Moggiopoli Scandal of 2006 after Bari’s Andrea Masiello admitted to match-fixing and scoring an own goal in the 2-0 defeat to Lecce [see this youtube video for ‘that’ rather convincing own-goal]. Azzurri defender Domencio Criscito was withdrawn from the Italy Selezione after police swarmed into the italian team’s training camp to arrest Criscito days before the announcement of the 23 man Euro 2012 squad. A further 17 suspects were arrested in connection to match-fixing, 11 of which were professional football players – along with Antonio Conte, the current Juventus Scudetto winning manager, but for enquiries about his previous club, Siena.
“From my personal point of view, this is worse than 2006. Back then club directors were involved, now I’m seeing friends and teammates. We woke up yesterday to see police there and we instantly understood the seriousness of the situation…I don’t know what to think. I tried to put myself in the place of those involved and it won’t be easy for them. My biggest fear is that there is something horrible underneath all of this.” (Daniele De Rossi, 2012)
The most notable omission from the 23 man squad is that of Guiseppe Rossi of Villareal. Rossi is out for up to 12 months after rupturing his right anterior cruciate ligament in his knee during training, only weeks after recovering from the same injury sustained in October 2011.
Aside from this, Italy appears to have a near full strength squad to choose from. However, with Antonio Cassano only to feature for A.C. Milan in April, after minor heart surgery, and Mario Balotelli only playing 15 minutes in the last six matches of Manchester City’s title run-in (albeit the most important 15 minutes and providing the vital assist to Aguero’s last gasp title winning goal) – a lack of match fitness may hinder the Azzurri’s goal scoring potential.
Other notable omissions from the squad include those of Alessandro Matri and Giampaolo Pazzini, both widely considered international quality forwards. Both players lost their places in the starting line ups of Juventus and Inter Milan :
“The potential of the side has been cut by 50 percent, whether it’s because of injuries that we’ve had in the last six or seven months or because so many players have lost their place,” (Cesare Prandelli, cited in the Corriere della sera newspaper, 2012)
However, Azzurri legend Dino Zoff highlights that the majority of the italian public back Prandelli’s 23 man selection:
“He made the best choices in squad selection.Everyone talked about no Matri/Osvaldo,but they weren’t playing at the end of the season”
On paper the 23 man squad is one of the most complete squads named from any of the nations. However, while there may not be any real omissions in terms of players available, an absence of two player types is worth noting when understanding the Italy of 2012: a mediano (Gattuso) and an attaccante di peso (Luca Toni). Both Gattuso and Toni played important roles in Marcello Lippi’s World Cup winning sides and were key components to the way in which the Azzurri played.
The mediano is a player who masters both tackling and interceptions. While Pirlo may be considered a defensive midfielder, he is not a mediano, but a Regista – a forward thinking deep-lying playmaker who consistently looks to change the pace of the game.
While an attaccante di peso refers to the type of target man most English Premier League fans will relate to: a big, strong Duncan Ferguson, Didier Drogba or Andy Carroll. Prandelli however, is keen to move away from the reliance of an attaccante di peso:
“For us there is no longer a static player in attack. Mario Balotelli can be used in that role, but also on the flanks. It’s the same for Di Natale and Giovinco who have scored a lot without being a reference point for defenders. I wanted to pick a team that plays fluid football.”
The coach went on to stress the importance of his hard working team ethic and the intention to transform Italy into an attacking side – something they’ve not been for many years:
“We may not be packed with individual world class players, but we can do well. We are a good squad. I expect the team to be able to build the move, not passively wait for their opponents. We will attack, albeit with a great sense of balance between the various departments.”
That said, the Azzurri do have some world-class players – key players, who will need to be at their best for Italy to win their second European Cup this summer: Gianluca Buffon, Giorgio Chiellini, Daniele De Rossi, Antonio Cassano, Mario Balotelli and last but certainly not least, the brilliant Andrea Pirlo.
Andrea Pirlo enjoyed one of his best seasons in 2011/12 – winning the Scudetto with Juventus and was central to everything for the Bianconeri. Pirlo topped the Serie A assist table (13) and dominated passing stats: the highest number of key passes per game (3.4), highest number of passes per game (86.4), most accurate long balls per game (11.4) and most total passes for the season (3194). Andrea Pirlo is Italy’s very own, and equally as good, Xavi – a player who creates something now and then that even those who can see everything from the top stand didn’t see:
“There are three classes of people: those who see, those who see when they are shown, those who do not see” (Leonardo da Vinci)
Daniele De Rossi is another player who also arguably enjoyed his best season of his career to date. A.S. Roma spent the season frustrated in failing to adopt Barcelona’s Tiki-Taka philosophy under ex-Barcelona B manager Luis Enrique. De Rossi acted as the heartbeat to possession for A.S.Roma and unlike the recently unemployed Luis Enrique, won over every critic in Italy. De Rossi consistently put on world-class performances for A.S.Roma as a box to box midfielder – both breaking up the opposition and matching the more dynamic running and attacking vitality of Juventus’ Claudio Marchisio.
One of the two Prandelli approaches to the Azzurri’s attack has the potential to match the destruction and excitement of Napoli’s 1987-88 ‘Ma-Gi-Ca’: the celebrated Maradona, Giordano and Careca strike force with Balotelli, Cassano and the goal scoring Di Natale:
“a trident attack – with two wide forwards and a small centre-forward” (Cesare Prandelli, 2012)
Similarly to Diego Maradona, the adopted Neapolitan, both Cassano and Balotelli have been labelled Italian football’s enfant terrible. However, Cassano has in recent years shown signs of maturity and has moved away from his Cassanata neologism label given to him by former coach, Fabio Capello. The beginning of Cassano’s career provided fans with moments of extraordinary skill – from the moment we all witnessed his wondergoal: the first touch and meandering dribble, scoring his first goal and winner for Bari against Inter as a teenager [see this youtube video if you’ve yet to see it!] – yet Cassano was equally as likely to infuriate a plethora of referees, coaches and team mates. Sound like anyone?
While Cassano admits to believing his own hype as the ‘next Maradona’ he has now learnt the value of team work, hard work and the ability to be humble in moments of success:
“I haven’t given up on trying to magic up those out-of-the-blue moments, but I know now that there are ten other players on the pitch there to help me,”
The ‘next Cassanata’ is a label that Balotelli won’t like to hear, but an undeniable similarity to Cassano at his age is clear – even to those who don’t watch football.
“Nothing can be loved or hated unless it is first understood.” (Leonardo da Vinci)
Prandelli and Buffon have both said of the friendship between Cassano and Balotelli, it’s clear that Mr “Why Always Me” looks up to Cassano with admiration. Prandelli even had to reject Balotelli’s request to share a room with Cassano during the Euro’s – Prandelli’s response…”We didn’t want to overdo it!”
Mario has statistically, enjoyed one of his most successful seasons to date: 13 goals in 23 games and won the title with Manchester City. However, if he cannot find it within himself or learn from Cassano’s mistakes, it might just take a miracle for Mario to even stay on the field during the tournament. Aside from the threat of the red cards the outspoken forward has also found support from his team and coaching staff in any ‘walk off’ if there is to be any racist abuse towards him. Hopefully, Mario’s threat wont lead to any unnecessary opposition racist attacks – nobody wants to see that, no matter how much you hate the man. Personally I’m a huge Balotelli fan – Marmite.
Other than the obvious key players mentioned – Fabio Borini, Antonio Nocerino and Sebastian Giovinco have the potential to break into the first team if they are given the opportunity to impress. Borini, an ex-Swansea striker has been likened to Fillipo Inzaghi and this is one of the more accurate of the media’s comparisons: quick, intelligent and his 9 goals in 20 games this season shows that he is more than capable if called up on. Nocerino cemented himself as one of the top midfielders in Italy this year and is seen as the long term replacement for Gattuso. However, Nocerino is keen to rid of the comparison and considers himself as a ‘striker trapped in a midfielder’s body’, a forward thinking and charging box to box midfielder.
Lastly, Giovinco has too had the best season of his career to date in Serie A – a different player from his Juventus days and is now fulfilling the promise he showed at an early age. The 5ft4” (he really is that small!) attacker scored 15 goals, 11 assists and 9 man of the match awards in his 36 game-long season.
Prandelli has yet to decide exactly what formation Italy are going to play – although it is widely thought that he will stick with his 4-3-2-1 ‘Ma-Gi-Co’ style attack and if Di Natale, Balotelli and Cassano can recreate that Napoli legendary attack, Italy will be the ones to watch – competing fiercely with Spain, Germany and the Netherlands.
Alternative approaches could be that Prandelli sets his team up with a diamond midfield in a 4-3-1-2 formation and plays a trequartista behind the front pairing of Balotelli and Cassano. For which Montolivo has been training as the player in the attacking hole.
The last option would involve replicating the Serie A favourite of 3-5-2 with the two wing backs Maggio and Balzaretti along with the three Juventus centre backs: Chiellini, Bonucci and Barzagli – a combination that boasted the best defensive record in Serie A during their undefeated season.
The chances of the Azzurri winning Euro 2012 depends on key players turning up; If Balotelli and Cassano can produce anything near what they are capable of, Italy may have one of the best strike partnership’s any country has had for many years – so much character, so much talent, so much hope rests on their shoulders. Pirlo, Chiellini, Buffon and De Rossi are far more consistent and will no doubt ensure Italy at the very least make it out of the group stages.
The recent friendly against a fast paced and dangerous Russia (the dark horses of Euro 2012) showed nothing like the form or potential Italy are capable of – Russia found it so easy to create goal scoring chances. If that same team turns up in the first game against Spain, Italy are in big trouble.
However, predicting Cassano and Balotelli’s turn out is something no man can do. You can dream and scheme, plot and plan – but fate will decide the outcome: L’uomo propone – ma Dio dispone.
Strangely enough, despite the qualification and domestic Serie A success – the latest scandal investigations and friendly loss against Russia has injected an air of pessimism amongst Italians… a feeling amongst italians that can be summed up in a vein of a defenceless domino set….
but remember, and don’t forget… A volte ritornano
The 23 man squad:
Goalkeepers
1 Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)
14 Morgan De Sanctis (Napoli)
12 Salvatore Sirigu (Paris Saint-Germain)
Defenders
2 Christian Maggio (Napoli)
3 Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus)
4 Angelo Ogbonna (Torino)
6 Federico Balzaretti (Palermo)
7 Ignazio Abate (A.C. Milan)
15 Andrea Barzagli (Juventus)
19 Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus)
Midfielders
5 Thiago Motta (Paris Saint-Germain)
8 Claudio Marchisio (Juventus)
13 Emmanuele Giaccherini (Juventus)
16 Danielle De Rossi (A.S. Roma)
18 Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina)
21 Andrea Pirlo (Juventus)
22 Alessandro Diamanti (Bologna)
23 Antonio Nocerino (A.C. Milan)
Strikers
9 Mario Balotelli (Manchester City)
10 Antonio Cassano (A.C. Milan)
11 Antonio Di Natale (Udinese)
17 Fabio Borini (A.S. Roma)
20 Sebastian Giovinco (Parma)
Manager
Cesare Prandelli
[4-3-2-1] Buffon; Maggio, Chiellini, Barzagli, Balzaretti; Pirlo, Marchisio, De Rossi; Cassano, Balotelli, Di Natale
Sunday 10th June;
Italy v Spain, Croatia v Republic of Ireland
Thursday 14th June;
Italy v Croatia, Republic of Ireland v Spain
Monday 18th June;
Italy v Republic of Ireland, Croatia v Spain
(All stats courtesy of whoscored.com)
Author: TPiMBW, Jed Davies
First Published on EPLIndex.com
There are an infinite number of forever ongoing debates about the failures of the ‘golden generation’ of Gerrard, Terry, Lampard through to Beckham, Neville and Owen et al. for the England team over the last ten to fifteen years.
An interview with David James, before his 900th appearance in football last weekend highlighted another issue pertinent to England’s recent and pass failures
James pointed out that much of the England team over the last decade has been largely made up of players who are not only the best players available but also more often than not play for the best teams in English football. On the surface of this, there doesn’t appear to be anything that shouldn’t be in the mixture within the ‘chemistry of success’. However, James talks about how the Man Utd team of the late 90’s did things differently (while James himself was a Liverpool player) and the same players who played for these two teams were divided in personality within the England camp and rarely mixed with one another before or after training. Even during training there were obvious differences between the players; the only thing gelling them was professionalism. The fierce rivalries between players at club level was simply put to one side for the sake of doing a professional job at international level.
In more recent years the problems seem to have escalated. Capello was never one who was an expert at gelling players together and let players do there own thing outside of training hours, while many players complained about boredom at the World Cup and Euro camps during the competitions. James himself would often spend much of that time alone painting (a very talented painter may I add) or reading to avoid the differences of personalities.
John Terry, the England captain up until recently, represents everything that was wrong and right at England level – its worth remembering the manager and much of the public backed him as the captain. Sure, he along with most of the England players were extremely professional on the field, but along with Capello he never was never one for taking players under his wing and forming the necessary team spirit to win titles. Jon Terry is the prime example of a player who hasn’t won many friends within the game over the decade (Wayne Bridge, Anton Ferdinand et al) and even Craig Bellamy commented that he wasn’t surprised about the press’ view on Terry as he commented that “everyone in football knows what Terry is like”.
Here’s where the comparative problem lies: the winnings sides of Spain and Brazil over the years have not had the same problem. Their players play in different leagues and mostly not within any run-deep fierce rivalries as much of the Spanish team is made up of one philosophy and team: Barcelona. Brazil on the other hand has been a collective mix of multi cultural experience and styles of play.
As pointed out, Fabio Capello has always been a tactician who based his approach on professionalism. No England manager over the last ten to fifteen years has really made huge errors in selection responsibilities, but all of them have made the same mistakes in their broken paths to failure. Not one of the managers has found success in merging the players to find that ‘chemistry of success’, in finding full immersion of team spirit (Zambia 2012). Professionalism is no replacement for unity in team spirit and thats why so many lower league clubs and lesser sides often provide the ‘shock of the round’ in cup football.
What England need is a manager who is first and foremost a great man manager, a manager who can find the team spirit, build bridges and relations between the players and uniting what ‘England’ means to each and every one of them. The expert level of tactical knowledge of Capello, the favouritism (towards a select few – Owen, Beckham etc) and experimental style of Sven Göran Eriksson and professional enforcement of McLaren have all failed.
Therefore who is the right man for the job? A man who can not only tick the boxes above but also emphasise the passion of club football in England, eradicate the so called ‘Ego’ of particular players, grounding players and helping players find one and another in times of greatness.
It’s inexorable, all roads lead to one man and one man only. This article almost seems pointlessly long as the answer is so obvious. He is not only the people’s choice but also the player’s choice.
It’s time to step up Harry Redknapp and unite the broken side of the current England side.
The only question that arises is whether or not the current ageing players in the England side have a relationship that is broken beyond repair and offer nothing but bad role models for the younger players breaking through.
Being Welsh myself, I have found myself following the England team over the years because of the failure of my own team – thats not to say I haven’t supported my country through the best and worst of times. I even travelled to watch Wales v Azerbaijan in 2008, while it seems no one else did as the attendance in the Millennium stadium along with the atmosphere hit an all time low compared to the Mark Hughes era.
One man that represented everything Wales needed, like England, was Gary Speed. While Wales started playing a style of football many wouldn’t ever think they’d see (after Toshack’s failure to keep both fans and players happy), I don’t believe for one second that Speed’s tactical approach was what won him his praises but his affectionateness of passion, team spirit and pride in not only putting on a Wales shirt but in turning up to watch the team. I fully believed that within a few years Speed would have had that Millennium stadium in full capacity again a lot sooner than many would believe. A stark contrast to Rooneys “nice to see your own fans booing ya” comments.
Gary Speed, Zambia (Herve Renard went through great lengths to understand the history of the country’s football) and Spain represent what England need. It was never about learning from the french (and then the spanish) about what was wrong with youth football in England (although worldwide, youth football in my opinion needs a wake up. see future article).
Its so easy to analyse in hindsight, but really finding the truth and learning from that truth is hard to come by. If more like David James could come forward and not point fingers at individuals but at wider problems we would find the roots to the problems.
David James is an absolute credit to the sport and I hugely regret ever cursing his name after his many mistakes as Calamity James. His drive and passion for the sport at the age of 41 is undeniable, I for one hope that he gets the opportunity to realise his next career goal of once again appearing in the Premiership and thank him for his useful, honest and level-headed insight on his career.
The Path is Made By Walking 