Today, Italy travelled to Munich to take on Germany at the Allianz Arena and suffered a heavy 4-1 defeat.
A trip to Germany is likely one of the hardest international fixtures there are at the moment. Factor in a completely wrong tactical setup and you’ve already lost the game before it started. Simply put, Antonio Conte got his lineup and formation totally wrong today and it cost his side dearly. While it is only a friendly, this performance poses more questions than it answers and serves as a truly worrying sign for the Azzurri faithful going into Euro 2016. But where exactly did it go wrong for Buffon and co. tonight?
How they lined up –
Italy (3-4-3): Buffon; Darmian, Bonucci, Acerbi; Florenzi, Montolivo, Thiago Motta, Giaccherini; Bernardeschi, Zaza, Insigne.
Germany (3-4-3): Ter Stegen; Rüdiger, Mustafi, Hummels; Rudy, Özil, Kroos, Hector; Müller, Götze, Draxler.
Result (4-1)
1) The 3-4-3 CLEARLY doesn’t work.
It’s clear to see that the 3-4-3 will never work with the personnel at Conte’s disposal. Outside of a decent performance against Spain’s B team, the 3-4-3 has no place on the international stage with this crop of Azzurri players. Tonight against Germany, Conte fielded two of Italy’s least mobile midfielders in Riccardo Montolivo and Thiago Motta and paid the consequences. Germany’s superior midfielders were cutting through them like a hot knife through butter and were finding their front three with ease between the lines. Gli Azzurri’s flat midfield four looked all over the place and left more gaps between themselves and the defence than Milan under Pippo Inzaghi. Under the right circumstances, Thiago Motta could work in the starting eleven while Montolivo, on the other hand, belongs at home.
At the Euros, the best solution for Conte is to go with a 4-3-3. A midfield three of Claudio Marchisio, Marco Verratti and Thiago Motta (or Jorginho) is able to maintain possession nicely and shield the back four. As a result, the opposition wouldn’t be able to bypass them at will like Germany did tonight. The 4-3-3 also means that Italy’s best player in the final third *cough Insigne *cough can be at his best on the left wing. While question marks remain over who will act as Italy’s right winger (Berardi/Bernardeschi/Candreva?) or #9 (Pellè/Zaza/Immobile), this setup, at the very least, gives Italy a chance to make the most of their quality centre midfielders and wingers. Oh, and it means Montolivo is nowhere near the pitch in a meaningful game. All in all, this was arguably one of Conte’s most shocking displays as a manager.
2) The 3-4-3 clearly doesn’t work. Uh, I mean, the attack must be built around Insigne.
Let’s forget about the 3-4-3 for a second and take a look at Insigne. With each passing game, it’s clear to see that Italy’s forwards are bang-on mediocre. That said, there is a certain Neapolitan winger that has given Italy some hope to cling on to. Every time Insigne touches the ball, Italy or Napoli for that matter, look dangerous. As Italy’s average forwards move in and out of the eleven, Insigne has to be a mainstay and should be the centrepiece of the attack. Today against Germany, he was Italy’s best player (not that it was hard to be this) and almost got an assist in the first half after playing through Bernardeschi. With the Euros around the corner and Conte looking devoid of any real ideas in the final third, he must turn to Insigne.
In recent times it seems that the former Juventus man has acknowledged this and handed the Napoli man the reigns of the team in attack. Against Germany, Insigne drifted centrally often and played off of Zaza every time a long ball would come into the Juventus striker. By doing this, Insigne picked up a number of knockdowns from the striker and was able to run directly at the German defence. In France this summer, expect a similar tactic to be employed in order to get Insigne the ball as much as possible. If not, Italy will find it increasingly difficult to find the back of the net.
3) Italy must press the opposition high up the pitch.
Tonight against Germany, Conte had his men sit back and soak the German pressure instead of pressing them high. At times, Italy did push their men up the pitch and troubled the World Cup champions but didn’t sustain it throughout the entire ninety minutes. With Italy sitting back, Germany’s quality midfielders were able to pick them apart at will and create a number of top drawer scoring chances.
One of the major strengths of Conte’s Juve was their ability to press the opponent like hounds despite not necessarily having as much quality as them. This Italy side is similar in the fact that they won’t always measure up to their opponents’ quality and must put them under pressure. When Italy employed a higher line tonight against Germany, they were able to keep the ball and get into the game. Once they sat back, however, the game got out of hand. At the Euros, Conte’s men have to press as a team up the pitch if they are to have any chance at stifling the better sides.
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