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Thunderball · 06-18-2009, 03:14 PM

Wow... what a piss poor effort. Someone get Lippi a cigar, because he seems to be a moron without one.

Before I rip into the wops, I dont think anyone can accuse the Italians of being divers after watching the Egyptians in the second half. It was pretty blatant and pathetic.

Even with that, Italy don't deserve to be in this tournament, and this is coming from one of their biggest supporters. I'm actually really concerned with their future. Cannavaro was heads and tails the best defender... at 35. Chiellini had an off night, but still. Gattuso is so brutal nowadays its not even funny. In the Italian system, the defensive midfielder is critical. Speed, power, precision. They don't have it with him.

Offensively, Rossi is the only one there that has any real top end skills, and he's being treated like a red headed stepchild. Azzurri fans better pray Juventus signs this guy to get him high profile attention, because if he spends another year at Villareal, he'll continue to be marginalized to Italy's detriment.

Iaquinta doesn't belong in that system and is very hot/cold. Toni is useless. Quagliarella is beyond useless. Gilardino is inconsistent. Pepe is junk. The thing Italy is missing is a true #10 to carry the offensive play. Cassano, Del Piero, Totti, Giovinco. Someone like that is missing. Totti is done, Cassano is a head case, Del Piero is a fraction of his Juventus form when with Italy. Giovinco is untested against top end competition. Bad news.

Their 25-30 crowd is well below average, and that's going to be disasterous for Italy. Unless enough of the U21s can step up, with the few actual star 30+ guys holding on long enough to make WC2010 in decent form (Pirlo, Cannavaro, Buffon).

There is a theory floating around Italy that Lippi is intentionally gassing this tournament to show that the old guard is pretty much finished so he can slash most of them without having any fallout from the media. You have to wonder why the NT coach would let all the U21s (aside from Rossi) go into a lesser tournament when his own team has gaping holes. You also have to wonder why younger players like D'Agostino, Pazzini and Foggia were utilized quite well against Northern Ireland, and then omitted from the CC roster for guys like Gattuso, Toni and Camoranesi.

06-18-2009, 03:14 PM	#107
Thunderball Franchise Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Calgary, AB Exp:	Wow... what a piss poor effort. Someone get Lippi a cigar, because he seems to be a moron without one. Before I rip into the wops, I dont think anyone can accuse the Italians of being divers after watching the Egyptians in the second half. It was pretty blatant and pathetic. Even with that, Italy don't deserve to be in this tournament, and this is coming from one of their biggest supporters. I'm actually really concerned with their future. Cannavaro was heads and tails the best defender... at 35. Chiellini had an off night, but still. Gattuso is so brutal nowadays its not even funny. In the Italian system, the defensive midfielder is critical. Speed, power, precision. They don't have it with him. Offensively, Rossi is the only one there that has any real top end skills, and he's being treated like a red headed stepchild. Azzurri fans better pray Juventus signs this guy to get him high profile attention, because if he spends another year at Villareal, he'll continue to be marginalized to Italy's detriment. Iaquinta doesn't belong in that system and is very hot/cold. Toni is useless. Quagliarella is beyond useless. Gilardino is inconsistent. Pepe is junk. The thing Italy is missing is a true #10 to carry the offensive play. Cassano, Del Piero, Totti, Giovinco. Someone like that is missing. Totti is done, Cassano is a head case, Del Piero is a fraction of his Juventus form when with Italy. Giovinco is untested against top end competition. Bad news. Their 25-30 crowd is well below average, and that's going to be disasterous for Italy. Unless enough of the U21s can step up, with the few actual star 30+ guys holding on long enough to make WC2010 in decent form (Pirlo, Cannavaro, Buffon). There is a theory floating around Italy that Lippi is intentionally gassing this tournament to show that the old guard is pretty much finished so he can slash most of them without having any fallout from the media. You have to wonder why the NT coach would let all the U21s (aside from Rossi) go into a lesser tournament when his own team has gaping holes. You also have to wonder why younger players like D'Agostino, Pazzini and Foggia were utilized quite well against Northern Ireland, and then omitted from the CC roster for guys like Gattuso, Toni and Camoranesi. Last edited by Thunderball; 06-18-2009 at 03:22 PM.