I’m right up there with the most passionate of Azzurri supporters. I bleed that cool, classy blue. After Italy won the World Cup in 2006, I decorated my entire room with Campione Del Mondo memorabilia. I bought jackets and jerseys; created a scrapbook of the games; and debated getting a 4 star Italia tattoo. To say I was happy...would be an understatement.
We were on top of the world four years ago in Germany. But boy oh boy, have things changed in four years. Now, Italy and all supporters are the laughing stock of the soccer world. I can’t eat, I can barely sleep and I haven’t been able to look at all those soccer posters in my room.
Whatever, we lost...it happens. But it shouldn’t happen like this! This World Cup was a nightmare for Italy and all its fans. Yet, I can’t say I’m totally surprised. I saw this happening. I knew the team and saw the weaknesses.
So without further fluffing about, here are the 5 reasons why Italy had such a horrible World Cup campaign:
1. Fabio Cannavaro
To say Fabio Cannavaro is still a world-class centre back would be a blatant lie. At 36, he proved to be too old to keep up with the quicker, younger strikers from Paraguay, New Zealand and Slovakia. He was sluggish and timid. It’s almost like he knew he wasn’t capable of stopping any through-ball or speedy striker. His man-marking was brutal and he couldn’t command the back four like he once did. He had his worst season ever with Juventus this year and clearly, wasn’t able to return to ‘Cannavaro form’ in this World Cup.
The main problem was that the Italian defence relied too heavily on him. Cannavaro should never have seen the pitch in this World Cup; he just wasn’t capable of leading the defence. Salvatore Bocchetti had an amazing year with Genoa in Serie A this past season and should have replaced Cannavaro after the first game against Paraguay. And don’t even get me started on Chiellini’s play.
2. Poor offence
Italy has never been an offensive power-house, but this year’s offense was just plain garbage. Alberto Gilardino was a waste of jersey in this tournament. He was slow, lacked creativity and showed no passion. Vincenzo Iaquinta was old and slow. Antonio Di Natale tried his best, but he just didn’t have the strength to carry this offense. The one bright spark in the offense was Fabio Quagliarella who only played the second half in the last game against Slovakia. He had the speed, creativity and desire to carry the offense, but his skill and value was realized far too late in the tournament.
Further, Italy missed Andrea Pirlo (who missed the first two games with a calf injury). He is the quarter-back to the Italian attack and without him, Italy had no skill or creativity in the offensive zone. Riccardo Montolivo, coined as Pirlo’s future replacement, was too inexperienced to make a difference. Overall, the offense let the team down.
3. Mix of young and old players didn’t work
The critics said Italy was too old to do anything in this World Cup and they may have been right. But the real problem was that Lippi mixed the old with the young and didn’t have a set game-plan for them to work together. Through-balls constantly rolled out of bounds and nobody knew what the others were doing; there was no chemistry between the players. Lippi should have brought Grosso, Materazzi, Perrotta and Totti to South Africa. Even though these players are old, they are proven champions and at least we would have had experience on our side. Instead, Lippi mixed some experience with some youth and the results weren’t pretty; the two never meshed.
4. No dynamic game-plan
Whether you’re playing a young, fast team or an experienced, tactical team, you need to set out a game-plan that counters your opponent’s skill set. At times, Italy was working the ball wide and attacked the flanks. At other times, they attacked the middle and tried cheeky one-two passes. But the problem was that there was no method to this madness. Clearly, Italy didn’t do their homework or watch enough opponent game footage. They never looked dangerous in the offensive zone or dominant in their own. They needed to understand their opponent and adjust their game-plan accordingly. But with the same formation from game to game, Italy never knew how to beat their opponents. And going a goal down in each of their three games was their demise. They didn’t have the creativity or fortitude to battle back and win a game.
5. Losing Gianluigi Buffon
He’s arguably the best keeper in the world and once he went down with an injury, Italy never looked confident in their backup goalie. Federico Marchetti (the backup) never looked comfortable or capable in goal. He let an easy, wobbly shot get through him against New Zealand and looked tired and tentative in the three goals from Slovaki; two of which he should have saved. You can’t replace Buffon, but still, you should have a capable backup, ready to step in and make the easy saves. Marchetti failed...miserably.
All in all, it was a brutal World Cup for Italy. It’ll be interesting to see how Italian media handle this debauchery... and for me, I’ll have to find solace in my old videos from the 2006 World Cup.
Go Argentina Go!
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