The Azzurri kicked off the new season in disappointing fashion as a disjointed performance allowed Argentina to leave the Stadio Olimpico as winners of this prestigious friendly.
The Italians only really delivered in the last 15 minutes of each period as Antonio Candreva and Lorenzo Insigne starred in each half.
Cesare Prandelli will still have many issues to resolve as he tries to guide his team to next year’s World Cup in Brazil.
Gianluigi Buffon – 5.5 – Helpless
The Juventus shot stopper had no real chance with either goal and was not asked to do anything other than pick the ball out of the net…twice.
Christian Maggio – 5 – Frustrating
Made all the right runs, used his pace and ability to get into excellent crossing positions but failed miserably on every occasion to deliver a worthwhile ball. His inclusion in the side is primarily for his attacking attributes, but tonight the right back failed spectacularly.
Luca Antonelli – 5.5 – Mediocre
Faired marginally better than Maggio and did grow into the game linking up with Insigne, but not in a convincing fashion. Italy need a much better option in this position.
Giorgio Chiellini – 5.5 – Leggy
Looked slightly off the pace and almost gave away a penalty after tangling with Gonazalo Higuain in the first half. Not as secure as Prandelli would have liked and maybe just a couple of weeks away from full match fitness.
Daniele De Rossi – 6 – Versatile
Give De Rossi a pair of gloves and he could probably do a decent job between the sticks. The midfielder was the best defender in the team and his rating would have been far higher had he not made the one error that gifted Higuain the opening goal.
Riccardo Montolivo – 6.5 – Experienced
The AC Milan skipper started slowly but began to dominate central areas in the last 20 minutes of the first half. Box to box runs showed that the Montolivo of last season is not so far away.
Marco Verratti – 6 – Improving
Error strewn performance but one that also had glimpses of enough quality to suggest the PSG player will be in the team for years to come. Must stop sliding into tackles when his side is being hit on the counter attack.
Antonio Candreva – 7 – Lightning
Was completely unplayable in the final 20 minutes of the first half, destroying the Argentinean left side with his pace and trickery. Alongside Insigne, the best outfield player in a blue shirt.
Claudio Marchisio – 5– Transparent
Destined to be a great club player that fails to replicate his undoubted class at international level. Another non-existent performance for the Bianconero. A problem for Prandelli.
Emanuele Giaccherini – 5.5 – Nervous
Too many mistakes, gave the ball away far too much and other than one or two good runs his display tonight was a million miles away from his recent Confederations Cup exploits.
Pablo Osvaldo – 5.5– Worrying
Maybe the issues with his current club are weighing heavy on Osvaldo’s mind as his efforts this evening were lack-lustre. An assist for the Insigne goal aside, Italy’s only real alternative to Mario Balotelli was lethargic and looked disinterested.
Lorenzo Insigne (after 45mins) – 7.5 – Firebrand
Sparked Italy’s second half fightback and was one of the minor highlights of the game. Tricked and jinked his way past defenders and scored a peach of goal to breathe life back into La Nazionale. Worthy of a start next time out.
Alessandro Florenzi (after 45mins) – 5 – Weak
A game to forget for the Roma player. Careless in possession and did not look in any kind of international form.
Alberto Aquilani (after 45mins) – 5 – Missing
Had the whole of the second half to make a difference but made no difference whatsoever. Why?
Alessandro Diamanti (after 53mins) – 6.5 – Class
Love him or loathe him, Diamanti has something in his left boot that no other Italy player can offer. Rattled the bar with a free kick and helped the side become much more dangerous in the last quarter of an hour giving fans some hope of a recovery.
Federico Marchetti (after 53mins) – 7 – Epic
Made two miracle stops on Angel Di Maria and Maxi Rodriguez and looked hugely confident after replacing Buffon. On this display, by far Italy’s best alternative to Gigi and beyond.
Alessandro Cerci (after 72mins) – No Vote
Cesare Prandelli – 5.5
It’s still very much pre-season for the majority of the Azzurri players and though that did not help the performance it can explain some of the lethargy in the build up play. However, the real point to be addressed is the speed at which the opponent was allowed to get the ball into dangerous areas with little resistance from the midfield.
Italy suffered greatly on the counter attack and only came to life when Antonio Candreva and Lorenzo Insigne began to play towards the end of each half. A reliance on individuals is a dangerous situation to be in and that will only be compounded when Balotelli returns.
The full backs are also of concern and better options need to be found.
The absence of De Sicilio and Abatti was obvious, regarding to Marchisio & Veratti they were without taste, sometimes I forget they were playing, Veratti needs time to replace Pirlo.
The best player was Diamanti, also Canderva, Marchetti and Insigne was very good, the others forget.
That bad performance was Prandelli fault:
1- You have Astori, Ranochia, Banotchi in the defense why using De Rossi instead.
2- When you play without Ballotli you need to play with 2 forwards at least to help each other, you can play 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 you can’t play 4-5-1, we all see that Osvaldo was surrounded by 3 defenders powerless.
At the end this friendly match it can be useful to try new things and new players.