Boring Boring Boring Italy

Views: 5417 Posts: 33
DAMIEN
wrote on 27-Jun-06 09:04

The first half was really all italy and i think if they hadnt had a player sent off, we would of seen much of the same. Toni was a menace, was glad to see him come off. Once they went down to 10, australia lacked any real firepower to win the game. CRUEL WORLD! CRUEL!

Disapointed
wrote on 27-Jun-06 09:05

Italy, What a boring football team! They played like poop. Australia, once again, deserved better and by all accounts, and should have got better. When will the spotlight come off the referee!....I suppose the Italian defence deserves credit but to lose like that is really heartbreaking. Until Totti came on, Italy had nothing in attack...Won't be wathing them again.

Juice
wrote on 27-Jun-06 09:07

Italians sh#t themselves when players run at them. Bresciano proved that when he was chopped. Aust were content on pinging them in which suited the tall Italian defence. Perhaps if Kewell was fit, there may have been a bit more incisive running at the italian defence. As for Viduka, he has done little to impress this tournament. Why is it he plays well for club put rarely fires for his country? Very ordinary. Penalty?... clumsy by Neill , great theatrics ala italians and played for by Grosso given a simple ball to Totti standing unmarked on the 6 yard box would have had the same result, but if you can't beat a ten man Italy for nearly half the game, then perhaps you don't deserve to progress. A pity to, because I think both the Aussies and Italians could take care of the Ukraine. Looks like a nice passage for the azuri through to the last four.

Batts'
wrote on 27-Jun-06 12:02

Just how bad a coach is "The Guus". Today's game shows he got it wrong again. To win a game of football/soccer you need to score goals. Clearly Viduka couldn't score in a brothel with $1000 cash. So if he is up front on his own to hold the ball up and bring others into the game, he failed miserably. With a success rate of 10% he should have been hooked anytime after half-time. He got points for Italy in their player of match ratings. If you are gonna play 1 lone striker he has to be having a decent game or you need to change him or play 2 up front. Why did he give Aloisi so little time when EVERY time he gets on the field he creates/scores a goal (ala Japan & Croatia etc). Josh Kennedy has played only what ?? 15 odd minutes of gametime. In that time he created absolute havoc and we scored 3. Those stats don't lie. With Materazzi off he would have made mincemeat of Cannavaro's lack of height. And talk about incisive running. Juice you are spot on. why then is Sterjovski & Wilkshire playing. Wouldn't Stan Laza do a better job of that down the left ?? Oh and doesn't he play 3 divisions higher than Wilkshire ?? What with playing Harry & Emerton through the middle instead of wide and Wilkshire out wide instead of his normal central role (in the other game) and other gaffs (don't even mention putting Calamity Kalac in place of Swarzer) Guus has provided an invaluable lesson to coaches of how to muck up tactics & formations & play players out of position.

Nutta
wrote on 27-Jun-06 12:03

The most successful coaches in most sports are not the msot technically minded or focused. They are the ones who seem to motivate the team the best and focus their efforts the best. In rugby Rod Macqueen was not technical at all but focuses on leading etc and we were at our peak in that period. Eddie jones was so obsessed with detail yet we sucked under him. I feel Guus is like that. He motivates and that brings his team success. More than motivates, he seems to bring the best out of all the players. Pat Riley in the NAB recently won the title with the Miami Heat and he is known for his ability to motivate players. So Guus is not so mucha technical mastermind as Batts pointed out. He is a leader and a great one at that.

PB
wrote on 27-Jun-06 12:05

I disagree with your thoughts on Viduka. Look at the role he plays for us compared to what he plays for Boro. For us he is often isolated and used as a battering ram and someone to hold the ball up and bring others in. For Boro he is a second striker who has half the work to do. He did alot of selfless running and realistically had the best defenders up his bum all tournament. I think he deserves a bit of credit, play someone else next to him and it may have been different. Batts not sure how you can knock Guus, what he has done to this team is nothing short of amazing, imagine if we had Farina in charge still, we would not have been at this tournament. Look at the way Italy played and have played throughout the years. They defend 1st and foremost then break, as soon as they went down to 10 men they were never going to go forward. Everytime we got the ball up fron there were 3 Italians surrounding our guys...very hard to break down 10 men around the 18 yard box. Another point also, Italy have only had 1 goal scored against them in 4 matches now, and that was an own goal. As boring as they are it is very effective.

Juice
wrote on 27-Jun-06 13:03

Nutta, Whilst Batts is venting at Guus' strategy, I agree with you that he is a motivator, but I also believe he is a supreme tactician and I would take that over a coach who merely motivates any day.

Gaz
wrote on 27-Jun-06 13:04

I agree with Batts on some of his comments about Viduka. He had an average tournament all round. In saying that, it was the tactics that Australia played that made him look average. Everytime he got the ball he was swamped by 2-3 defenders. The problem was exaserbated this morning as kewell wasnt there to run off him. Why Guus stuck with only 1 striker when italy went down to 10 men beats me. Aus needed to take advantage of their numerical superiority. Lobbing balls into the box for 90 mins just got us home against croatia but italy is a far better drilled defensive side (plus we had about 4 strikers in the end against croatia). Lippi was dumb to take of Toni, he was a menace in the first half, but his hand was forced by the red card. Australia panicked a bit in the final 5 minutes and that cost them the game. Italy was never going to conceed, but we wouldve had em in a shootout! Unfortunate way for Aus to go out, pretty soft penalty, but we've seen em be given before.

DAMIEN
wrote on 27-Jun-06 14:05

Nutta Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Maybe soccer requires more technically minded > coaches than other sports. I mean once you are a > professional in a sport how much technical advice > does a team need? It's pretty hard to tell top > level players how to play. They are opportunistic > in games. Play the situation. In rugby for example > they aren't gonna change how they play that much. > Maybe in soccer they will. Professional usually dont need technical advise at all. They learn this in their developing years. Professional need tactical advise (as do park footballers), and this is where Hiddink excelled in my opinion. Sometimes we were left scratching our heads with the selection of Wilkshire and to a lesser extent, Sterjovski, but these players fit into the Hiddink mould (or tactics)-ie. players who run all day and can play a few positions. Its why Emerton was rated so highly by Hiddink when most ppl think he is a hack. Anyway, tactical expertise is needed at the highest level of sport, and hiddink knew his stuff.

Nutta
wrote on 27-Jun-06 14:08

Maybe soccer requires more technically minded coaches than other sports. I mean once you are a professional in a sport how much technical advice does a team need? It's pretty hard to tell top level players how to play. They are opportunistic in games. Play the situation. In rugby for example they aren't gonna change how they play that much. Maybe in soccer they will.

tottie
wrote on 27-Jun-06 14:09

Guus really fcked up big time.. if you have 11 v 10 you don't play long ball into the box u attacked the flanks. australia didn't look like scoring in the whole 90 minutes. what is the basic rule of thumb when defending? u stay on your foot especially inside your own box. more so when u play against tricky dickies like italians or spaniards or argies. when u like flat like that you are sure to invite the opposition to fall on you and milk a penalty.

skoko
wrote on 27-Jun-06 15:02

oei, how come i never got a minute of play? everytime some one ran down the flank - he pulled back again giving more time for the italians to regroup. just no urgency in attack. we only play well when we are a goal down. maybe the italians should have takena goal lead in the first half.

Harry (ouch my foot hurts!)
wrote on 27-Jun-06 16:06

If i was playing i would have created havoc down that left side..We look a better team with me in the side - after all I am the glamour boy of Aussie Soccer!

Nutta
wrote on 27-Jun-06 16:09

Would it help if we ran a frustration release session tonight? Set up some punching bags and other stress/frustration release aids. Then go nuts for 2 hours. It's the only way I can let go of what happenned last night. So close but so far. Another 4 years to wait. I hope we have the talent then to go just as far, because expectations will be higher. I see a large gap though between our currect team and the reserves. I hope it can be filled in years to come where players like Lucas Neill come out of the woodwork. Especially someone who can score.

DR
wrote on 27-Jun-06 17:06

harry, thats stupid. gout is a serious ailment champ. you can barely walk with it. little own put a boot on and compete at a contact sport at the highest level. id say pull your head in but it is already in - your arse. and we are a better team with your namesake in the side.

Anonymous User
wrote on 27-Jun-06 18:04

Defence is an art just like anything else in football, might not be that entertaining but is just as effective as Brazils attacking style and what matters at the end of the day is how many stars you have on your shirt. In Italys case thats three. Even though, they played very attacking football until Materazzi was sent off but i havnt heard anybody say how bad a call that was by the ref. Australia are quality and should be proud and probably would of made the semis at the cost of Ukraine which would of easily have been one of the easier matches for the socceroos.

Anonymous User
wrote on 27-Jun-06 23:01

Here is a match report from a neutral supporter. (TSG analysis by Alvin CORNEAL) (TRI) Football was the big winner in a game that had all that is best about the world’s favourite sport. It was a match of contrasting footballing philosophies that pitted the hard-running and hard-tackling Australians against the sophisticated and experienced Italians. The Socceroos impressed with their collective play and enjoyed the advantage in several areas of the field, although they were never able to convert this into clear-cut scoring opportunities. They also had the lion’s share of possession, especially after the sending-off of Marco Materazzi. For their part, the Azzurri demonstrated their traditional strengths. In addition to a highly organised defence, their individual technical skill again shone out. The match began cautiously but soon burst into life. The ‘Aussies’ were visibly superior, although the better scoring opportunities went to Marcello Lippi’s side, with five clear-cut chances in the first half alone. Though Australia gave their all, it quickly became apparent that they lacked the individual technical proficiency of the Italians. Following the red card, coach Lippi demonstrated that he is a master of his trade. He made decisive substitutions, changed his team’s tactics and posed the Australians problems that they were unable to solve. His faultless strategy formed the basis for Italy’s eventual victory. A further crucial factor was the form of Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. The 28-year-old exuded remarkable composure, made no mistakes and nipped a number of potential Australian chances in the bud. That the Italian goal remained impregnable throughout was down in no small measure to the Juventus shot-stopper, and it was a logical decision to choose the 1.90m-keeper as the Budweiser Man of the Match. Overall the Azzurri were deserved winners. Although at a numerical disadvantage they followed their tactical game to perfection and created the crucial breakthrough with the penalty award. In this nerve-wracking situation Francesco Totti kept his head and scored the winning goal. Italy thus won through to the quarter-finals thanks to a masterful tactical performance by coach Lippi. But Australia can go home with their heads high. They had a great tournament and can be proud of both their performances in Germany and their terrific fans.

DMilligan
wrote on 28-Jun-06 09:00

Gallo, As the forum's resident Italian, can you please explain the Totti's gesture of sucking his thumb? I don't understand this. Was he taking the piss out of us, his own countrymen who don't like him, or the Italian Press that have been on his back? ...and I agree, Materazzi didn't deserve a Red.

Batts'
wrote on 28-Jun-06 12:05

I'm back lads, sorry about the delay. No don't get me wrong, which happens when you try to be brief on this site, but I wasn't bagging Guus totally. With Franky F. we would have been beaten by Uruguay still playing 4,4,2 and never really believing we could ever beat anyone decent. How times have changed & it is totally thanks to Guus. However when I screw up coaching the NERds (happens regularly) I expect to hear about it and face the consequences. I just felt many of Guus' team selections & player positions were well wrong. He made a big deal of hooking players when they are not performing or for tactical reasons, no matter what their reputation is, eg. Harry, Bresciano & Viduka against Holland. However Viduka stank against Italy. Granted the system is fine and I agreed with its implementation, but when it isn't working you need to change the sytem by adding another striker next to him or remove him and replace with someone who may perform (& has every time seen). Kennedy would have done well on his own or bring Aoisi on earlier to partner Dukes. I would have been happy with either but got nuffink. My preference = Kennedy + Aloisi, and that is because you cannot win often unless you have goal scorers near the goal let alone on the field. We need all the goal poachers we can get on the field. When a team plays that formation with lone central striker and 2 wingers, the wingers simply HAVE TO supply crosses or get behind their fullbacks and deliver. Also the striker HAS TO be able to convert chances on his own. We simply did neither. Emerton does well as he 'gets at 'em' & runs at defenses at pace, but he wasn't there. So does Chipperfield but he was playing in the back 3. Sterjovski didn't do it once. His crosses were hopefull at best & Juice has scored more with his head than Dukes. The Dutch also play this system but with their wingers subdued somewhat by doubling up on Robin & Persie, the supply is stymied. Then to make matters worse Van Nistlerooy is left off with Kuyt copying Dukes. At least Van Basten added another striker, but he again choose the wrong one & is coping grief. Portugal also plays this system but their wingers are too tricky and give plenty of service, even with Ronaldo butchered as Simao goes very well. Maybe I am so worked up as we will never get a better chance of getting to the World Cup semis (yes we would have spanked Ukraine) but the ultimate buck stops at the coach and I just think he could have performed much better. In saying that he would be arguably 1 of the top 3 coaches in the world behind myself & Mourinho (in that order). Did mention brefity on this site ??

Mystikal
wrote on 28-Jun-06 13:01

"An Australian man has been arrested in Italy for an assault on a local man following the football match between Australia and Italy. Witnesses say the Australian man was 20m away when the incident happened. The victim suffered a fractured skull, a cardiac arrest and has developed diabetes as a result of the incident. He is expected to recover in a few minutes."

Aussie Guus
wrote on 28-Jun-06 16:01

Seriously, you would think that we were the only country that suffered from a bad call in the history of the World Cup. It’s obvious that we perform at our best when we are in the position of underdog (i.e. vs. Uruguay, vs. Japan, vs. Brazil, vs. Croatia). I think some of our players panicked when Italy were reduced to 10, it was the first time that they had to break down another team and not rely on counter attacks. Italy were always going to play for penalties or hope for a counter attack after the red card, and we simply weren’t good enough to beat them.

Anonymous User
wrote on 28-Jun-06 19:04

DMilligan, I have no idea what the "sucking of the thumb" means but i did see Marquez from Mexico who is one of the backs for barcelona do it when he scored against Argentina. It probably is some sought of piss take.

PB
wrote on 28-Jun-06 22:04

Luis Garcia started sucking his thumb a while back at Liverpool during their CL run...

Miben
wrote on 29-Jun-06 08:09

Apparently it was in tribute to his son.

Know It all
wrote on 29-Jun-06 09:06

I was listening to the radio yesterday about all the world cup talk. When the DJ asked what it meant, This italian lady came on to say it means "Kiss my Ar..." She was really peeved off that he did it and now hates the Italian footbal team!

Mystikal
wrote on 29-Jun-06 09:07

I can't wait to see Italy's players fall victim to criminal cases over the match fixing allegations.

Anonymous User
wrote on 29-Jun-06 17:09

Know it all, How could the sucking of a thumb mean kiss my arse??? Mystical, So your saying you cant wait to see peoples lives and careers ruined just because Italy beat Australia. Look into the facts first. Get over it you idiot.

Mystikal
wrote on 29-Jun-06 22:08

Calm down. I'm saying yes I want to see people who cheated in matches met with the full force of the law.

wrote on 30-Jun-06 08:02

Isn't Totti known as the 'baby' or 'babyface' in Italy, this goes the same for Garcia... but that doesn't seem to work for Marquez.

n00b
wrote on 30-Jun-06 13:07

I read in the news the sucking of the thumb was a dedication to his wife and new born baby.

grosso
wrote on 03-Jul-06 15:06

all these b.s comments about the italian diver -- if batts was lying down with his whole wide body all stretched inside the box - and you're just centimetres from him - would you be tempted to trip over him for a penalty? (not that u can missed him , all 6.1 and 96 kg) easy question really.

Anonymous User
wrote on 03-Jul-06 21:07

According to the official Fifa World Cup Stats the Italians are the 4th most attacking team in the competition, cant be that boring... Mystical and Juice, I forgot to add, no players are on trial for the match fixing allegations.

Juice
wrote on 04-Jul-06 07:09

That's why I hope they will finish fourth Gallo :) No players in the squad are up for corruption just the rest of the league? - oh thank God...

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