It’s never easy for azzurri fans to watch the nazionale simply outclassed for large portions of any match, even in friendlies.
The same narrative of Antonio Conte’s side struggling to control the match and dictate play showed again against Belgium, which is surely an unwelcome sign heading into the European finals next summer.
THE GOOD – The Wingers
Two players in particular stood out, Antonio Candreva and Alessandro Florenzi. The wingers who switched interchangeably from right to left caused all sorts of chaos for the Belgian defense and the lone Azzurri goal can be credited to the duo 90%.
A total switch across field from Candreva to Florenzi resulted in a good chance on goal. Florenzi crossed the ball into the box where it was met by Southampton striker Graziano Pelle, who would have scored there had it not been for a tremendous save from Simon Mignolet. The Belgian keeper parried the ball into the path of the oncoming Antonio Candreva who slotted the ball home. It would not be the last piece of excellent play by the Lazio winger Candreva, as later in the first half he rounded former club teammate Luis Cavanda and narrowly scored his second of the night.
Both teams had an equal 14 attempts with 9 coming in on goal. Eder nearly gave the Italians the lead, but his effort went off the crossbar. Had a few things gone differently, Italy may have come out of Brussels with an impressive victory. Alas, things did not go in their favor.
THE BAD – The Defense
An absolute horror show from Juventus duo Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini. The problems from their club team have transpired into bad form for their country. Juventus have managed to concede most of their goals from the first shot on target. Tonight was no different, as poor marking from Chiellini on a corner gave Jan Vertonghen almost a walk in toward the goal.
1 – Juventus have conceded with the 1st shot on target they faced tonight, like on 6 other occasions also in Serie A this term. Handicap.
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) November 3, 2015
Later in the game, Leonardo Bonucci practically handed a goal to Belgium as he routinely misplaced a pass into the path Ferreira Carrasco , who laid off to Kevin De Bruyne, leaving Buffon in no mans land.
A horror show for Italy in defense, and this demonstrates that certain tactics on the back-line must not be repeated come the group stage, or Italy’s stay in the tournament will be short lived.
THE UGLY – The Strategy
As bad as the defense was, Antonio Conte has simply lost the plot. The team sheet was missing several extraordinary players and several mediocre players were added. If this was truly a 100% experimental match, then hopefully we never see a few players, or this system, the 4-4-2 formation in the near future.
Italy has many excellent central midfielders at their disposal to play with two in the middle. It also goes to show that on the counter Italy looked exposed and sluggish. The formation allows wingers to get into the box and create havoc for the opposing team, but there’s a lot of concern for the overall organization of the team.
Simply put, Conte was able to dominate Serie A for three seasons because his ‘soldatini‘ were able to overrun anybody in the midfield and attack. In European play, Juventus were not so fortunate and the same mistakes and bad assumptions are being made by the Lecce born tactician. Given the current crop of players at his disposal, there has to be another way forward for Italy, and it is not relying on ‘grinta‘ without properly preparing the team tactically.
Conte’s second defeat of his tenure comes again in a friendly against a top European side, the other previously came back in June against Portugal. There is no excuse for the poor performances, the azzurri faithful deserve better than this.
The post The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Italy fall to Belgium 1-3 appeared first on IFD.
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