In the first of the three part series, Forza Italian Football takes a look at the Italy defence ahead of Euro 2012. Look out for an assessment of the midfield and attack shortly.
Love them or loathe them but stereotypes will undoubtedly exist forever and a day. The angry Scot always thrifty with his money, the Frenchman in his stripy t-shirt, pencil thin moustache carrying a baguette and the austere German that enjoys drinking beer and eating sausages. We don’t condone these images, as they can border on the offensive, but no one can deny that they exist in the minds of many people.
Much the same can be said about football. Those ‘silky’ Brazilians that have skill and technique in abundance, the bulldog spirit of the English that fight for a result till the final moments of a match and then there are those Italians. These southern Europeans, the masters of defending, the best at holding onto a one nil lead and the kings of catenaccio. Analogies that are constantly rolled out for every major international tournament by learned pundits and commentators alike. And as much as they can sometimes offend or annoy, on this occasion many fans of the Italian national team can only wish they were still relevant today.
A nation that gave birth to Gaetano Scirea, Claudio Gentile, Franco Baresi, Paolo Maldini, Fabio Cannavaro and Alessandro Nesta is without doubt the Mecca of the defender. All these players masters of their art form and the envy of all other national sides. However, those names no longer exist in the Italian game. Defending has, incredibly, become the weakest area of the Azzurri as we analyse those who have been rewarded with a ticket to Poland and the Ukraine.
Cesare Prandelli has selected the following players to protect the goal of Gianluigi Buffon throughout the impending Euro 2012 tournament – Ignazio Abate, Federico Balzaretti, Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini, Christian Maggio and Angelo Ogbonna. Anyone unfamiliar with Serie A may well be thinking to themselves at this moment, ‘who?!?!’.
Juventus centre back Chiellini is potentially the closest Italy have to a world renowned defender. But he is currently carrying an injury suffered during the final of the Coppa Italia and is battling to be ready for the first game with Spain. Plus there are doubts over Andrea Barzagli’s fitness, thus leaving Leonardo Bonucci, who after an indifferent season with the Bianconeri, is now sweating on a possible summons by the courts investigating the current betting scandal in Italy.
Then there is the likely hood that Daniele De Rossi will come into the centre of defence. Nesta or Cannavaro these two most certainly are not. Buffon will need to be at his very best we suspect when Fernando Torres and Santi Cazorla take to the field.
Either side of the stoppers, La Nazionale has plenty of pedigree with players like Fabio Grosso, Gianluca Zambrotta, Antonio Cabrini and Paolo Maldini, all etched into the annuals of calcio history. These stars could attack as well as they could defend, the perfect overlapping full-back some might say.
The current team is likely to start with Federico Balzaretti and Christian Maggio. Balzaretti has had a poor season with Palermo as have many of the Rosaneri, having missed much of the last part with fitness issues. In contrast, the Napoli wing-back has been in excellent form all year, but his role for his club side is vastly different to the one he will play for Prandelli.
Both players have great ability in the offensive stage but when it comes to defending, there are concerns that they have positional problems, having more desire to join the forwards then protect the keeper. How very un-Italian, we hear you all cry – and you would not be far from the truth.
Our remaining two players, Abate and Ogbonna bring little crumbs of comfort. Abate has been cleverly converted from a winger to a right back (and here ends any comparison with Gianluca Zambrotta) by AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri with some success, but any Inter fan will tell you that his defensive frailties are all too apparent. The young Angelo Ogbonna plays for Torino, in Serie B.
That it has come to this…
Perhaps Prandelli, in his quest for turning Italy into an attractive and attack minded team, the area that has always been the building block of previous Italian successful national teams, has now become its Achilles heel. The country that made the defender glamorous, sexy even has to look to its second tier to find defenders good enough to wear the famous blue jersey.
Worryingly, it is difficult to criticise the coach for his selections. Having cut Domenico Criscito, Andrea Ranocchia and Davide Astori from his initial squad, would any of those three added much more in terms of defensive guarantees? The answer to that is almost certainly, no.
The obsession with attacking trends and a new philosophy that has infiltrated Serie A has, possibly, watered down the desire to become a great defender. Young players have no ambition to play at the back and this has ultimately manifested itself in what we see now as Italy’s weakest area of the team. The era of the great Italian defender it appears is no more than a distant memory.
Stereotypical perhaps and maybe a little late in asking, but can we have our old defensive Italy back, please?
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Nesta and cannas brilliance allowed no opportunities for others to come through. It will take time to see. Chiellini proved his worth at last euros. Hoping we get a new baresi soon who happens to be Italian not Brazilian.
I agree with the main point here.
Would the 3-man backline that Juventus rolled out for an undefeated season pay off here and allay many of the fears mentioned?
If the defense worked for the unbeaten Italian champion, can it work for the European champ as well?