Ventura blends youth and experience for first Italy squad

Date: 31st August 2016 at 5:04pm
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On Saturday, the new Azzurri coach picked his team for a friendly against France and World Cup qualifier against Israel, which contains some emerging talent as well as some seasoned campaigners at international level.

ventura

Giampiero Ventura has chosen his first squad as Italy coach and the players selected provide an intriguing blend of youth and experience.

There are some new faces in the team that might have been good enough to play under previous coach Antonio Conte and finally, they have their opportunity to represent the Azzurri.

Although the starlets chosen for this squad are worthwhile selections, questions have to be raised about some of the veterans that were included by the former Torino coach. Despite the wealth of experience that they bring, some of them might be too old or out of form when the 2018 World Cup commences.

Andrea Barzagli has been convinced to postpone his international retirement but he will be 37 years old in 2018. Daniele De Rossi will be 35 in two years time while fellow midfielders Riccardo Montolivo and Marco Parolo will both be 33.

barzagli de rossi parolo italy

Nobody can predict what their form will be like in 2018 but Barzagli is still playing well for club and country. In comparison to the Juventus defender, De Rossi and Parolo performed admirably at Euro 2016 but their club form has been patchy and Montolivo has never been an outstanding performer for Italy despite collecting 62 caps.

Another player who will turn 33 in 2018 is centre-forward Graziano Pelle. Although he was a regular starter under Conte and scored seven goals in 17 matches for the Azzurri, he is now playing for Shandong Luneng in China and playing in a league that isn’t as competitive as those in Europe could be detrimental to his international career in the long term.

The obvious exception to the rule is Gianluigi Buffon, who will be 40 when the next World Cup starts, but the Juventus goalkeeper remains a key player despite being in the twilight of his career.

buffon donnarumma italy

Hopefully, the veterans can provide the right guidance to the youngsters and help them adapt to the 3-5-2 formation that Ventura is expected to implement because the potential debutants can have bright futures with the Italian national team.

AC Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma is only 17, but he has become the youngest player to have been selected for the Azzurri in over a century and he has already been lauded as the heir to Buffon at international level.

Defenders Alessio Romagnoli and Daniele Rugani, as well as forward Andrea Belotti, have made the senior squad after years in the Under-21 side and 22-year-old winger Federico Bernardeschi keeps his spot in the team after playing at the European Championship under Conte.

andrea belotti torino

Also joining the starlets in the Italy side is late bloomer and 27-year-old striker Leonardo Pavoletti, who scored 14 goals in 25 Serie A matches for Genoa in 2015-16 and has found the back of the net twice in the opening two rounds of this season.

Probably the most notable absentee is Sassuolo sensation, Domenico Berardi. Although he will miss the international break due to injury, Ventura refused to pick the 22-year-old, who would have remained in the Under-21 squad.

With some of the selections raising eyebrows across the peninsula, Italy will play their first game of the Ventura era on Thursday evening against France in Bari with a team that is in transition.

Instead of going through a great generational change, the new tactician seems to be opting for a slow evolution instead of a great revolution of the Azzurri.

 

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