“ A casa con vergogna “ was the
headline in Gazzetta dello Sport after the Slovakian game in 2010 World Cup –
meaning “ going home with shame “ . Azzurri never failed to make it out of the
group stages since 1974 World cup . They lacked a style of play and ideas . It was worse than “ Korean Nightmare “
where a certain Mr.Moreno had a shocker of a game . Even before the world cup began Cesare Prandelli taking over the mantle from Lippi was made public , Italy were not expected to repeat their 2006 feat in South Africa but getting out as early as group stages was unexpected . The onus was on Prandelli to salvage the pride and drive them back to the force they were at International tournaments .
In steps Prandelli
The soft spoken , virtuous tactician hails from the same province as
Andrea Pirlo and Mario Balotelli . His
only managerial honor - winning the Serie B title with Verona the same year Sinisa Mihajlovic won the scudetto with Lazio as
a player - he who replaced Prandelli at Artemio Franchi when Prandelli left for
Nazionale . After a series of successful spells at Hellas Verona and
Parma – Prandelli got his shot at a big
club when Roma appointed him as their manager , but only months in he had to
quit due to personal reasons .
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| Cesare Prandelli |
In 2005 Viola came calling ,
where he enjoyed a very successful five year spell . Over-achieving with a
mediocre squad year in year out – that too by playing a good brand of football
. It was quite surprising that he took over the Nazionale managerial post – he was
still in his early fifties , Juventus were also linked with their former
player . Now that he has signed a
contract extension till 2016 with the national side – my dream of seeing him manage a top European club
is still a distant dream .
This is one of the much talked
about aspects of Prandelli’s Azzurri .
Some feel it lacks consistency – none
the less it has brought a positive outlook to the overall set up . When a player gets carded for a violent behavior
on the pitch – he doesn’t get to wear the national team jersey for a certain
number of games determined by the coach himself . The idea is to have a pool of
players who are temperamentally strong enough to handle high pressure match
situations .
One incident where Prandelli won me over was – Simone Farina call up . Simone farina was not a Angelo Ogbonna or a Bernardeschi who was tearing up opponents in Serie B . He was asked to join the senior side in training cause he said no – no to 200,000 bribe for fixing a match . That’s more than what he will earn in two years of his playing career .
" People need to like us as a team " - Cesare Prandelli
More than 10,000 fans attended the last open training session at Perugia’s Renato Curi stadium , Send off game against Luxembourg was sold out . That’s the change Prandelii has managed to bring in 4 years .
Progress
The progress made under
Prandelli is more than commendable . Qualified to Euro 2012 with ease – ended up
being the losing finalists . Still Prandelli regrets the decision on taking an
extra flight – which reduced their recovery time after the tough Semi-finals .
More than the results – the manner in which they got there had many heads
turning . Away from the usual “ Italian way “ – sharing equal amounts of
possession and goals in the very first game were signs of new Italy . The good
run continued in the confederations cup where they finished 3rd ,
only to lose the semi-finals against Spain on penalties . Prandelli has only lost two competitive games inside
the regular playing time as Azzurri manager .
Prandelli in this span on four
years has called up more players and has had more debutants than any other
World Cup participating nation . The spine of the side still consists of old
guards – very subtly he has managed to incorporate youths without disrupting
the core . You can build a squad like how Loew did with Germany – handling the
mantle completely to the younger generation or like Uruguay – keeping same core
for years . In a spectrum with Germany at one end and Uruguay at other – Italy find
themselves right at the centre .
Playing the confederation cup
last summer in Brasil was a big learning curve for the side . Azzurri are set
to start their campaign against England in the jungle city –
Manaus . The temperatures might get as high as 40 degrees with a humidity of 90
plus . Relatively late start ( 11 pm AMT ) might help a little .
" Never in my career 8 out of 11 players asked to be substituted " - Cesare Prandelli
Travel and staying arrangements
were planned in accordance with schedule
keeping in mind the recovery period – so
that they are well prepared this time around and did not want to make the Euro
mistake again .
Tactical Analysis
Prandelli has been very keen on
camouflaging how his side will play . We are within a week ahead of World cup –
yet no one can guess who will start ( atleast on the offensive side ) .
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| Probable starting line up |
Their send off game to Brasil
saw Prandelli using Pirlo in a new role ( Allegri was the first one to try it )
– he was played in the left side of midfield . There is a theory that If you
shut down Pirlo - you are hampering his side’s creativity ( let it be Juventus
or Italy ) . But by playing Pirlo on the left side of midfield with Verratti on
the right and De Rossi as regista – a) It makes it difficult for opponents to
close him down b) Gives Italy three quality passers in the midfield to exert dominance
c) verratti can be as good as Pirlo when it comes to playmaking .
With De Rossi now as the deep
lying midfielder – he can drop between the centre backs and help Italy assert
numerical advantage and possession dominance , the flexibility in play which
Prandelli talked about . Triangulations and clever positional play with this
midfield can get Pirlo into spots where he would love to deliver the killer
blow . There are cons to this method to – on the ball it sounds like a master
stroke , when Italy lose Possession against a quick counter attacking side this
could cause problems .
The other variant Prandelli
tried against Luxembourg was Cassano as lone striker ( or to say a false 9 ) –
with Insigne and Cerci on either side in a 4-3-3 . This was very late in the
game – which lasted for the final ten minutes of the game . Then there is the
diamond midfield Italians love to emulate with two strikers .
With this squad he has players
for all formations , versatility is the strength of this side – and also the
weakness .
Key Players
Andrea Pirlo
Even at 35 Pirlo is still very
much the heart beat of Azzurri . Just to have a look back – Pirlo only played
the final 35 minutes of the 2010 world cup , he was suspended for the game
against Spain in 2008 . When he plays Italy always do well – key member of 2006
world cup winning side , lead the team into the finals of 2012 Euro . He was struggling
for form at the start of the season – since January his form has picked up .
Which is a very good sign for the Azzurri .
Mario Balotelli
Prandelli gave him his Italy
debut , Balotelli's pace / strength is important for Azzurri . Tactically he is immense – he
is the vital piece for transition from midfield to attack . His form this
season is very much similar to that of Milan’s , but he always seems to play
well for Italy . That might be largely due to the fact that he has a quality
midfield to play infront of .
one to watch out for
Marco Verratti
He is one of the top young
talents right now in world football . There were speculations that he may not
make it to Brasil , that was put to rest with a MOTM performance against the
Irish in craven cottage . With Montolivo’s injury he might well find himself in the
starting eleven . His composure and verve on the ball is admirable
. He is seen as Pirlo’s deputy when Mozart hangs up his boots for Italy . Verratti at 22 is the heart beat of PSG side which
managed to reach the quarter finals of champions league . He has managed to
keep Yohan Cabaye on the bench ( who is supposed to carry French hopes in Brasil ) .
His Velcro like first touch , audacious confidence in his ability to shield the
ball and to pick inch perfect passes even from his own half – surely the one to
watch out for .
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| Marco Verratti |
Predictions
Anything less than a Quarter
final will be seen as a failure . When FIFA decided to take one European side
from pot 4 to join another European heavyweight – everyone knew it would be
Italy . People in the peninsula love their pizza and conspiracy theories . If
Italy manage to top their group they will avoid the likes of Spain and find
their route to final a lot simpler . A top four finish is likely – they are
22/1 to win the World Cup
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