One of the most bizarre selections made by Antonio Conte for Italy’s up-and-coming international fixtures against Croatia and Albania was the choice of Emiliano Moretti.
The Torino defender is one of the five centre-backs that Conte has selected, which is probably due to the absences of Leonardo Bonucci, Davide Astori and Gabriel Paletta as well as his familiarity with the 3-5-2 formation.
If Conte had to call-up an uncapped 33-year-old to the Italy squad though, perhaps the Azzurri coach should consider switching to a back-four as opposed to fitting players into his trusted system.
When Conte won Serie A titles with the Bianconeri, his backline consisted of Bonucci, Andrea Barzagli and Giorgio Chiellini and the 3-5-2 suited them very well.
Barzagli has been struggling with injury this year and Bonucci is ineligible for the Euro 2016 qualifier against the Croats because of the red card he received against Malta.
Juventus have also switched to a back four in the last couple of matches, and since the Bianconeri have been a regular contributor of players for the Italian national team, this is one reason for Conte to ditch the back-three.
It is not just Juventus who have switched to a back-four in Italy. Out of all the teams currently in the top half of the Serie A table, only Genoa and Inter use a three-man defence.
Despite the lack of world-class defenders in Serie A, there are still some promising centre-backs in Italy such as Daniele Rugani, Luca Antei and Alessio Romagnoli. Although Antei has played in three-man defence with Sassuolo occasionally, those youngsters have been used in back-fours for their respective clubs and for Luigi Di Biagio’s Azzurrini side.
Implementing a four-man defence would not only benefit the centre-backs but it would be ideal for the full-backs as well. For instance, full-backs Ignazio Abate and Mattia De Sciglio have always played in a back-four at AC Milan.
Abate is not in the current Italian squad but in future squads he would thrive in the right-back position. Matteo Darmian from Torino has been selected by Conte and he was one of Italy’s bright spots in the Azzurri’s ill-fated 2014 World Cup campaign when he played as a right-back instead of his regular wing-back role.
Besides Juventus, Sampdoria is the highest-ranked team in Serie A which has Italian defenders starting regularly for them. Lorenzo De Silvestri and Vasco Regini were wing-backs under Delio Rossi last season but Sinisa Mihajlovic has frequently used a back-four and both players are better suited to full-back roles.
Switching to a back four is also ideal for Italy’s emerging full-backs. Although Davide Zappacosta has recently played as a wing-back for Atalanta, he has usually played as a right-back, and the likes of Cristiano Biraghi and Nicola Murru are more familiar with the four-man defence as well.
With the current options available to Conte now and in the future, he must not assess players like Moretti and try and fit them into the back-three. He should perhaps consider a shift in his blueprint instead. The Azzurri’s future is in the back-four.
Follow Vito Doria on Twitter: @VitoCDoria
