Italy- Euro 2020 discussion

FootballHQ

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Surprised no thread on them so far. Properly going under the radar given I've looked at their squad and they've genuinely got some exciting young players who'll be pushing for starting spots.

Don't think they've even lost a competitive match yet under Mancini and he's given chances to many players below the elite clubs in Serie A, Raspadori who scored loads for Sassuolo in last two months of season got a late call up so could be a Paulo Rossi moment here!

Inter duo Bastoni in defence and Barella in midfield played big parts in their title win, Verrati is fit for once in major tournament so overall strong in defence and midfield and Cheisa hitting some excellent form in last few weeks was a big reason for Juve making top 4 in the end.

Only reservation I have is actually upfront. Everyone knows Immobile's Serie A scoring record but it hasn't quite translated to international level, 12 goals in 45 appearances isn't anything amazing given Belotti has scored the same amount in just 33 games. And rest of their forward options are either untested at highest level or ridiculous inconsistant.

Still can see them making SFs, should win their group and really Italy are the ultimate boom or bust team nowadays, 1st round exit in 2004, win the next world cup, then mediocre showings in 2008 and 10 then make final of euro 2012 then go out of world cup 2014 in first round.....so overdue another good run. I think it happens at this euros.
 

FootballHQ

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Who will be their starting CBs? Still Bonucci and Chiellini?
I would guess at Bonucci + Bastoni but tough to say. In the March WCQ they went with three different combinations over the three games including a back 3 of Bastoni, Mancini and Toloi away to Lithuania.

For the recent San Marino friendly they played with Mancini and Ferrari although one of those hasn't made the cut.
 

izec

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Surprised no thread on them so far. Properly going under the radar given I've looked at their squad and they've genuinely got some exciting young players who'll be pushing for starting spots.

Don't think they've even lost a competitive match yet under Mancini and he's given chances to many players below the elite clubs in Serie A, Raspadori who scored loads for Sassuolo in last two months of season got a late call up so could be a Paulo Rossi moment here!

Inter duo Bastoni in defence and Barella in midfield played big parts in their title win, Verrati is fit for once in major tournament so overall strong in defence and midfield and Cheisa hitting some excellent form in last few weeks was a big reason for Juve making top 4 in the end.

Only reservation I have is actually upfront. Everyone knows Immobile's Serie A scoring record but it hasn't quite translated to international level, 12 goals in 45 appearances isn't anything amazing given Belotti has scored the same amount in just 33 games. And rest of their forward options are either untested at highest level or ridiculous inconsistant.

Still can see them making SFs, should win their group and really Italy are the ultimate boom or bust team nowadays, 1st round exit in 2004, win the next world cup, then mediocre showings in 2008 and 10 then make final of euro 2012 then go out of world cup 2014 in first round.....so overdue another good run. I think it happens at this euros.
Verratti is injured :lol: Since beginning of May. Will miss the group phase probably.
 

Bastian

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Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Milan), Alex Meret (Napoli), Salvatore Sirigu (Torino)

Defenders: Francesco Acerbi (Lazio), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Emerson Palmieri (Chelsea), Alessandro Florenzi (Paris Saint-Germain), Leonardo Spinazzola (Roma), Rafael Toloi (Atalanta)

Midfielders: Nicolo Barella (Inter), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Frello Jorge Luiz Jorginho (Chelsea), Manuel Locatelli (Sassuolo), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Stefano Sensi (Inter), Marco Verratti (Paris Saint Germain)

Forwards: Andrea Belotti (Torino), Domenico Berardi (Sassuolo), Federico Bernardeschi (Juventus), Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Ciro Immobile (Lazio), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), Giacomo Raspadori (Sassuolo)

Zaniolo is injured, but wonder why Tonali didn't make it. Raspadori at 21 is the surprise selection. "He has extraordinary qualities, that was the only motivation behind calling him up. I hope he can come in and be like Paolo Rossi, but I did not bring him along just for this.” - Mancini

It will suit them having low (external) expectations.
 

FrankDrebin

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Everybody's going to be talking about Barrela after the euros.
Bastoni is also a new upcoming CB to keep an eye out for and I think Belotti upfront will surprise a few people too.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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They have very interesting and promising squad, a team to watch. Mix of experience and talent in CB, Quality option in midfield like Veratti, Barella, Jorginho, Locatelli, Pellegrini. Goal scorer Immobile.
 

FrankDrebin

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They have very interesting and promising squad, a team to watch. Mix of experience and talent in CB, Quality option in midfield like Veratti, Barella, Jorginho, Locatelli, Pellegrini. Goal scorer Immobile.
Yep.
You start to think they could be one of the dark horse's of the tournament. That midfield for example looks potentially world class.
 

VorZakone

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I don't find their squad that interesting at all honestly.
 

Wolf1992

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Italy is always hard to beat no matter if they are favorites or not.
I think they are going to do well.

I'd trust them to upset France over England, even if England arrived in this Euro with more hype than Italy.
France always have hard games against Italy, even if they come as favorites.
 

anant

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They actually have a pretty straight forward task till QF. And I do fancy them to beat Belgium as well considering the current Belgian side is nowhere near their 2018 side
 

JuveGER

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It's pretty good squad. Good goalkeeper, good mix of players in central defense, full-backs are solid but could be better, midfield is very good without Verratti and excellent with him. On the wings, Insigne is a very good player, Chiesa is about to explode and then there is also Berardi who is a good player, too. Bellotti and Immobile are not really setting the world on fire, but are solid.

Overall, there is a lot of quality, a good mix of youth and experience, a good mix of characteristics and a lot of technical ability in this squad. It's also coached very well by Mancini who has a fantastic record with the Azzurri.

I think the only weakness and the reason why the squad is a bit underrated is that there are few undisputed world class players and household names in the squad, but some of the names may get there soon (e.g. Barella, Chiesa). This is a team on an upward trajectory. And they will be even better next year.
 

InfiniteBoredom

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The main issue with this squad as far as I can see is no obvious, reliable source of goal. Wouldn’t be surprised to see them out at QF 1-2 or sth like that, just as it wouldn’t be a shock to see them make the final after a few hard fought victories.
 

11101

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I think this will be a tournament too far for their centre backs and Immobile struggles outside Italy.

They've got a strong midfield and some very good attackers though, enough to reach the quarters for sure. It's a shame Zaniolo is out too.
 

Markolan

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I think we've easily been the best European NT in the last 2.5 years imho:

- 26 games in a row undefeated; 70 goals scored and 7 goals conceded
- 10/10 wins in the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifiying
- Topped our 2020/21 UEFA Nations League group
- 3/3 wins in the 2022 FIFA World Cup group so far

Not gonna lie, I have GREAT expectations for EURO2020 especially given that we will most likely not have to face France, Germany, Portugal, England and Spain until the SF.. If we don't reach AT LEAST the QF then it would be a failure and "All These Things That We've Done" in the last 30 months would have been pointless..
 

11101

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I think we've easily been the best European NT in the last 2.5 years imho:

- 26 games in a row undefeated; 70 goals scored and 7 goals conceded
- 10/10 wins in the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifiying
- Topped our 2020/21 UEFA Nations League group
- 3/3 wins in the 2022 FIFA World Cup group so far

Not gonna lie, I have GREAT expectations for EURO2020 especially given that we will most likely not have to face France, Germany, Portugal, England and Spain until the SF.. If we don't reach AT LEAST the QF then it would be a failure and "All These Things That We've Done" in the last 30 months would have been pointless..
Look at the opposition though. The only remotely good teams have been Poland and Netherlands and they were hardly convincing there.

Strangely considering it starts in a week i've seen virtually no build up here.
 

anant

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I think we've easily been the best European NT in the last 2.5 years imho:

- 26 games in a row undefeated; 70 goals scored and 7 goals conceded
- 10/10 wins in the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifiying
- Topped our 2020/21 UEFA Nations League group
- 3/3 wins in the 2022 FIFA World Cup group so far

Not gonna lie, I have GREAT expectations for EURO2020 especially given that we will most likely not have to face France, Germany, Portugal, England and Spain until the SF.. If we don't reach AT LEAST the QF then it would be a failure and "All These Things That We've Done" in the last 30 months would have been pointless..
Agreed. If things go as expected, you face Belgium in QF, who aren't as strong as they were 3 years ago, face France in Semis who have a terrible draw and might be having some tired legs. FInal - again potentially POrtugal/Spain/England all of whom have had a much tougher route.

The only weakness is lack of a proper goalscorer, but I think in Insigne, Immobile, Berardi (Chiesa, Belotti among others) - its a pretty decent forward line
 

Wolf1992

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They have Bastoni,Chiesa,Barella,Verrati, Pellegrini, and Insgine.

That's enough to reach QF at least, and i believe they can eliminate Belgium.
 

Peyroteo

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They have a top team with no major weaknesses.

Barella and Chiesa will be two of the best players in the tournament and they’ll reach the semis at the very minimum imo as Mancini clearly knows what he’s doing. They’re definitely getting underrated by many.
 

giorno

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Look at the opposition though. The only remotely good teams have been Poland and Netherlands and they were hardly convincing there.
Because we don't have a reliable truly world class forward. Second game against netherlands was pretty even, granted, but the other 3 games we absolutely battered them and just struggled to finish our chances

Big expectations on Chiesa, who had a breakout season and might just be that X factor we need up top

Our midfield is the best in the competition, by far, the gk is great and the defence is solid...if we can actually score, i'd rate us as the 4th or 5th best team in the competition...with luck we could win this thing. Expectations are lower than that though, so long as we don't crap the bad against an inferior side it will be fine
 

KC91

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Immobile and Insigne linked up very well tonight, rolling back to the Pescara years. If Italy can get any consistency whatsoever out of their strikers than they have a real shot of winning the tournament.

This team may not have as much star power as some of the other big squads, but Mancini has them playing great football at a high technical level, and there are very few teams in this tournament, if any, who have the chemistry/belief that this group does right now.
 

Bepi

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This squad is hot air, at the moment, with an embellished CV and an elegant coach. Turkey could make a stern intro to adult footballing life for many of our inexperienced / too much protected kids: they are thugs, they are good, they have stronger inner drive.

I am expecting QFs with a number of twists, also in the starting eleven: Florenzi, Bonucci, Jorginho, Insigne, Immobile are disposable imho. Semifinal would be a neat achievement for Mancini, also helping him separate reliable prospects from the dross, for the WC22 campaign (the important target, after three shameful exits).
 

KC91

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Since September 2020 Turkey have played 9 competitive matches and won 3 of them, scoring 16 and conceding 13 in those 9 matches. They can be a dangerous attacking side no doubt, and they have some quality players, but they will get punished if they try to play so open against this Italy side.
 

SCP

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Wouldn't go so far as saying they have the best midfielders of the competition individually speaking, but as a unit certainly Italy, Spain, France have the best ones, don't know what to expect from Germany or England midfield combination on this tournament tbh. From what I saw on recent games of Portugal unless he changes those lineups we're really going to suffer. But would say it's not stupid to say Italy is a top 5 team in this competition for sure.
 

kthanksbye

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I have hopes with this squad and Mancini, he's got players that fit the system he's trying to play.
Remains to be seen if the players can lift their game for a big tournament but the team looks like they will be a solid collective unit.

Will need a couple of stand out players though. Verratti has to be one of them, he makes the team look unplayable when he turs it on, someone at CB will have to have a solid tournament, I don't know who. Given the lack of an out and out goal scorer, all of the front 3 will have to contribute.

Hoping Barella and Cheisa can have big tournaments that they're capable of.
 

the_cliff

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I think we've easily been the best European NT in the last 2.5 years imho:

- 26 games in a row undefeated; 70 goals scored and 7 goals conceded
- 10/10 wins in the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifiying
- Topped our 2020/21 UEFA Nations League group
- 3/3 wins in the 2022 FIFA World Cup group so far

Not gonna lie, I have GREAT expectations for EURO2020 especially given that we will most likely not have to face France, Germany, Portugal, England and Spain until the SF.. If we don't reach AT LEAST the QF then it would be a failure and "All These Things That We've Done" in the last 30 months would have been pointless..
I actually think a lot of people are wrongly looking down at Italy, and think you're the dark horse for the Euros. There's a lot of quality throughout and the system Mancini plays fits the team really well. People also underestimate your attack, but with players like Chiesa, Immobile, Insigne and Belotti you're definitely in with a shout. Also curious how Raspadori will do cos he seems like a kid with a huge future.
 

JJ12

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I’ve got Italy winning it and Immobile top scorer.

For a team that won every qualifier and the general form they are in they are going under the radar to say the least.

Barella will be a massive name after this tournament too.
 

NoPace

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I’ve got Italy winning it and Immobile top scorer.

For a team that won every qualifier and the general form they are in they are going under the radar to say the least.

Barella will be a massive name after this tournament too.
Will he start every game? Seems like he might have enough flaws as a lone striker that they'll give Belotti some time since he's more of a physical nuisance for CBs and a threat if Chiesa is getting crosses in from the right.
 

marktan

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It's a better squad than they've had for quite a few years but the attacking options aren't as good as France, England, Portugal and Germany.

If they had to face those teams multiple times I would say they would on average lose more than they win, so they'll need favourable draws and luck in the knockouts.
 

ti vu

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This Italy squad has so much potential in term of tactical flexibility. In this period where there is no team that can impose its style on opposition like the dominant Spain, being tactical flexible can be a nuisance at this time. Question on Mancini ability to perform in the tournament, so I don't rank Italy as a favorite, but an exciting to look out for.
 
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RobinLFC

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Will he start every game? Seems like he might have enough flaws as a lone striker that they'll give Belotti some time since he's more of a physical nuisance for CBs and a threat if Chiesa is getting crosses in from the right.
Isn't Berardi their main option from the right side (Insigne - Immobile - Berardi is what I thought they'd line up if everyone is available).
 

devil in me

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The Italians are where I've put my money. Apart from France there aren't any exceptional teams, and Italy are definitely up there as the best of the rest. Solid side with some excellent players, I think they'll do very well.
 

NoPace

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Isn't Berardi their main option from the right side (Insigne - Immobile - Berardi is what I thought they'd line up if everyone is available).
From all I've read, Chiesa is still ahead for the RW job but Berardi is gaining on him.
 

FootballHQ

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Isn't Berardi their main option from the right side (Insigne - Immobile - Berardi is what I thought they'd line up if everyone is available).
Think Cheisa has to start with way he ended the season for Juve, big part of how they got in top 4 in the end.