@'Uaglio More of the same as I wrote last week. At best, get to the final 3rd. Pass. Pass. Pass. 1-2 doesn't work. More passing. No Chiesa to take a player on. ********ing Weekend at Bernie's look-a-like, Guintoli.
An English team, Newcastle, had more Italian starters, 1, than Udinese. Eff that disgraceful club, and hope they drop down to Serie Z.
patience ...Vlahovic now joint top scorer Juve with their best defensive start in history in a league where the team with the fewest goals conceded usually wins. Motta is going to want possession and to control the game. It can be frustrating but like Pep and like Spain it is a defensive tactic to control the game and take your opponent out of the match. And then you hope your talented players can pick the other team apart. It's working. Juve sit first with only Napoli and Torino able to jump them this weekend.
Looking at Arsenal fans comments on social media, they are liking what Calafiori is doing. "Box to Box Defender" "We are going to have to create a new role name for what Calafiori is doing" "Calafiori is jokes. He’s one of them Alaba types that would be randomly playing #10 if he played for an obscure national team." "Reinventing the Inverted FB role" "A #8 playing Defence" However some taking issue with his Defence. Could be a coincidence because Martinelli is a fine player in his own right but seems like his 2 starts has really allowed his bromance with Martinelli to flourish. Witness the 2nd Arsenal goal where Richy left it for Martinelli despite being in a good spot and Martinelli with the Assist. Calafiori off to celebrate with Martinelli and not the scorer. Maybe less so Gatti/ Scalvini but between Bastoni and Calafiori, Italy currently have some Defenders that on their day are attack-minded. Even if the former 2 have contributed in Attack before for club.
@AGomes: If I recall correctly, Gasperini encouraged Scalvini to push way up, at every available moment, last season. He has a lot in common with Bastoni and Calafiori. The notion that Buongiorno should hold the center is probably correct. Someone has to relish staying back. I think Buongiorno is quite capable of moving up and overloading the box--he nearly bagged a goal a couple weeks ago, but instead smashed a one-time volley off the crossbar at the far post. Buongiorno definitely shows less pure creativity with his feet than Bastoni and Calafiori, although he isn't lacking creativity. Likewise for Gatti, who has less pure athleticism than Buongiorno. I do hope we see Gatti in the upcoming fixtures. Unfortunately, Gatti is sitting the bench at the moment, but he's right-footed, and he's been very good, so far. Too many reliable centerbacks with offensive capabilities. What a good problem to have.
All true but all I see is either 3-nil Wins versus modest teams and 0-0's versus teams mid and above.
Yeah, Gatti makes up for it with tenacity, borderline dark arts, shirt and hair pulling all the while insisting he was innocent. LOL. Between the 2 of them, Scalvini will join the Attack and shoot on net, more refined, elegant, whereas Gatti is more likely to tap one in from 2M on a broken play off a corner. Both are definitely attack-minded when the opportunity presents itself, just not like Basto and Richy.
Fans today are too young or don’t remember that it was very common in the olden days for the libero (sweeper) to break out of the defensive line and join the attack. I posted a vid a couple of months ago of Sammer who IMO was the best I ever saw in the role. But if you also look at highlights of Baresi he was also known to do this.
I'm old enough to barely remember him but he didn't do it that often. Baresi never found himself more forward than MF or Forward players.
I remember Baresi scoring a goal or two. At one point, I recall as a kid, Enzo Bearzot had him playing in midfield during 1984 Summer Olympics at Stanford and he looked good.
Not often, but he did do it. It wasn’t out of the ordinary to see Baresi win the ball and launch the counter attacks.
Two different types of players. Scirea was clean as a libero but then sadly, Juve phased him out for Tricella at the end. Baresi would call the offside trap but Scirea relied on tough defenders like Gentile, Brio , Cucureddu , Tardelli and Cabrini. Scirea had better Gk’s in the back. Dino Zoff followed by Stefano Tacconi. Franco Baresi also had great defenders in Maldini, Galli -Costacurta and Tassotti. Giovanni Galli and Sebastiano Rossi were good goalkeepers but most defenders would be with that defense. That was the best defense of the late 80’s to mid 90’s. I know Gaetano was never red carded but I think I also read he was never yellow carded either. Baresi was left off the national team by Enzo Bearzot and he was not picked again until Azeglio Vicini took over. Enzo’s fixations were Pruzzo, Giordano and Baresi. He never cared for their style of play. Speaking of Franco Baresi, here is a bit of trivia…. Does anyone know the real reason why Frank Rijkaard left AC Milan for Ajax?
Quick search on Google gives me: 1) Falvo from big soccer writing that Baresi's wife cheated on Baresi with Rijkaard. 2) They adapted a child from Mexico. Picture shown. Mexico can be diverse but this guy does look Mexican.
Actually, Franco Baresi and his wife Maura Lari have two kids. One is adopted and one is Frank’s kid. Of course they all denied it but I heard it from an insider at Mediaset. That is why Frank Rijkaard left AC Milan for Ajax and eventually won the Champions League in his last games against the Rossoneri. When George Weah went to Milan , (mostly opposing but also hometown) fans chanted the following: "E' ARRIVATO WEAH E' ARRIVATO WEAH E BARESI E' DI NUOVO PAPA'." This was a reference to the son she had with Rijkaard. There was another situation where Maura Lari was arrested on a car sales ring but not sure what happened there. I am surprised Baresi stayed with her all these years.
There is another story involving Roberto Mancini , Beppe Dossena and Luca Vialli but let's leave that for another day. Meanwhile, Torino loses to Lazio at home 2-3 but no Italians scored....
Everyone likes to shit on Lecce but at least they consistently start 3 Italians every week. Gallo, Baschirotto and Falcone. That’s more then Torino can say
Torino traditionally anyway, used to have a great vivaio or youth sector. Honestly, I blame Inter for starting this non-Italian player trend in the mid 2000's.
I blame not following the Viareggio Charter of 1926. (I'm reading Calcio: A History of Italiab Football and very early on they talk about the issue of foreign players, as well the issue of discerning who exactly is a foreign player, and the acceptance of oriundi, etc.)