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I’m almost 40, I rarely remember Italy playing that bad as this Euro. Maybe the WC 2010. These players are not our best generation but there is material to do much much better.
It's the worst I've seen. I've been following Italian football since the mid-90s. Just slow, no ideas vision or game-changers.
A lot has changed in 3 years 🙁🇮🇹
>Already changed your flair to England 😭
Haha no I haven't just changed it, don't worry. I'm English and England are my first team. Italy are my second team but I'm very passionate about them.
I think bringing in Spalletti was a massive mistake. The man is stuck in a time capsule and the younger generation will not respond to his old approach of mental tricks.
It's funny because at the club level he plays very complimentary to the Mancini team that won 3 years ago, most recently with Napoli last year. No idea why he threw away all of his principles during this tournament
I was talking more about his out dated ideas of playing mind games. He had Scamacca sit for playing computer games. He had strict rules about the players and their phones. To this generation that is dinosaur stuff. I’m 41 so I’m not a gen z kid, but I know you can’t turn them back to the 20th century and expect it to work.
>No idea why he threw away all of his principles during this tournament
His principles were all there and that's why we sucked. All the players called up play with the 3-man defense while he was stubborn in where to try to play like Spain despite not having the right players and the result was in fact a horrible thing
EURO 2008 was awful, WC2010 was bad. WC 2014 was average, no WC in 2018 or 2022 and now this year. EURO 2020 was an aberration. Yall been bad for over 15 years now.
Crazy if true, I wouldn't pay 700 euro for the whole bunch, that's how bad they were today (excluding Donnarumma, and Chiesa who at least showed some resolve, but the rest are not worth a penny).
I don’t think Spalletti had the room, tbh. He consistently put players out of position and benched others that had a better chance at changing the pace of the game.
This Italy team was beaten by a well organized Swiss team that has some key players playing in the Serie A.
I'm so embarassed, I have no idea what is going on with them, like if you don't wanna be there just don't be, I don't know why they decided to even show up since they obviously don't even care about playing
Not quite as bad as England because there was nothing to play for I guess.
There's definitely a nervous shaky sentiment right now but it's more like a haha... Are we in danger?
That said, Antonio Silva is getting dragged pretty hard even if it is a little deserved you gotta feel for him
I'm double embarrassed ha. Im a scot and used to live in italia so they're my 2nd team.
There's no cutting edge to azzurri now, no recognised striker.
There usually has been an embarrassment of riches in that department in the past but now nothing.
It's ironically the exact same problem scotland have atm. We both fanny about on the ball with a lot of possession and it comes to nothing.
Just horrible to watch Italy performing like this, gutless, heartless performance. They’ve been poor the whole tournament but today is really embarrassing!
I feel bad for the Italian fans actually, they deserve better. I knew Italians were in trouble when at the 2 minute mark the players started complaining. Good grief
i keep telling myself the same ... I saw the WC2006 and EURO2020, so I'm lucky enough. I'm actually sad for the Netherlands (no shade here), everytime people hope it's the time, but ...
They've been one of the most boring, uncreative teams to watch the entire euro (maybe scotland or hungary, or the group C tops them) so I don't get what people expected against an in-form Switzerland
Don't have particularly good players and haven't been playing well. If they weren't a recognised "big" footballing nation nobody would have been expecting anything from them.
Really there's only Donnarumma who's a top player at international level, then there are Chiesa and Calafiori who are decent and Barella who's also good on paper, but played dismally today. Rest would really be 3rd choice in any of the big clubs in Europe.
The team that won the cup last time around was just much much better, Chiellini, Bonucci, Spinazzola, Verratti, and players who were just determined to carry the team on their shoulders if needed like Acerbi.
i actually dont think the players are the reason, and they should not be blamed. the constant change of formation, lineup, and no gameplan like at all, how can the players know what to do considered they have so little time to play together? most of the team is used to play with 3-5-2, or 3-2-3-1, but Spalletti insisted to play 4-3-3.
Yep. This sub is full of platitudes and wild speculations. The average footballing knowledge isn't great. Italy have been mediocre since winning Euro 2020. I fancied the Swiss to win today. It shouldn't come as a big shock.
Probably because most people on here don't watch football outside major tournaments anyone that follows football knew they'd be wank 😂 didn't expect them to be this bad though looked like a pub side
England just unconviningly beat/draw teams worse than them in each group match. Expect them to repeat this against Slovakia.
England have been bad but not that bad.
I said so myself and one of the reasons the Swiss team dominated was because they did exactly this: They didn't underestimated the Italian team, which is why they didn't even really had a chance of a lucky punch. (Besides that one header from their best attacker Schär, which is a swiss player too 😆)
Only positive I can find in our performance in this tournament is seeing how much people have underrated Donnarumma for the past couple years. He was absolutely outstanding and I think people are far too harsh on him as a keeper.
Donnarumma has always been rightly insulted. In the last 3 years it has not been great, this last season a little better but in general characterized by many mistakes in many fundamental games with both Italy and PSG
Not been especially good for a while. Obviously in the middle of all this they won Euro 2020, but missed the last two World and weren't especially impressive in qualifying for this Euros.
No doubt they'll produce future generations of talent, but the current lot just just aren't that good by by their historical standards.
watching Italy throughout the 90s, 00s and even part of 10s they always had some striker that would cause fear on the opposition : Giuseppe Signori, Di Natale ,Inzaghi, Gianfraco Zola, Christian Vieri, Del Piero, Baggio, Totti
This team now has 0 quality on the attack. It's really the decay era of Italian football
Don’t feel bad, we have seen our country win something. I’d take that over qualifying repeatedly or getting close a few times but never actually winning
I am Italian living abroad, I played in college in the US, they support your education and your sport if you are good. Not saying other nations don't but italy definitely does not. Lack of youth development and engagement in the sport is what i see as the main fault.
It is impossible to play sports competitively in high school or university, there is not a model for that in Italia. So we are left with a terrible roster. Also you are not allowed to play in public places, for fun. How are you supposed to foster a passion for the sport?!
The average age of Croatia's squad was 52.
At least with them they tried but didn't have the legs. This Italy team was both shit and didn't give a fuck.
Italy smashed the [record](https://www.givemesport.com/football-soccer-fastest-goals-euros-history/) for the fastest goal conceded in tournament history in their first group stage game against Albania.
Albania scored against Italy in the first 23 seconds of the game (the previous fastest goal in tournament history was scored at Euro 2004 by some guy from Russia in the first 1 minute and 7 seconds of Russia’s group stage match against Greece).
There’s a variety of problems. While Bastoni is quite good, replacing the spine of Chiellini and Bonnuci was always going to be an issue. Not just from skill but from a leadership perspective.
The midfield seems disjointed, and devoid of work rate. Not bringing Veratti seems to have been a mistake. Jorginho was good from a match control perspective, but beyond him and Barella they’re just not as dynamic or incisive.
And then there’s the attack. They just don’t have a goal scorer. Scammaca has been less than lethargic this entire tournament. In the last Euro’s, Chiesa’s emergence really carried them (helped by the fact that they didn’t have to score much because of Donnarumma and the defensive line). Since his ACL injury he’s not been the same, and literally no one else has been able to produce up front.
Based take. Defence is, imo, the least of their concerns. With some experience, Calafiori and Bastoni can be a good long-term pair, with Scalvini and Buongiornio stepping up when needed. The worst part is the midfield, since they don't have any good playmakers OR defensive midfielders at the moment.
Agree. Italy has always has built from spine up. Those two are going to be world class. I meant more from a leadership perspective. Bastoni and Calafiori are not quite at the level of some of the greats in terms of leading an entire team vocally.
They've looked like shit the entire time. Why have people been whining about England and France and not even mentioning Italy.
Playing a 47 year old shawaary as your first choice winger lol
Perhaps Italy isn't facing high expectations because their squad is comprised mostly of youngsters with potential but limited experience.
In contrast, both France and England boast a mix of talented youth and seasoned players, which should translate to superior performance.
Nah, it's a whole different team. Can you imagine if Chiellini/Gattuso/etc was in the team what would have happened in the break in the locker rooms?
Can you imagine it with Mancini/Conte/Capello as the coach?
Players during the second half would have played to the death, because they would have been genuinely convinced that their *life* was on the line
As a swiss, Italy played like switzerland used to play. Focus on defending, kick ball from you own half and hope it lands on the foot of a friendly. There was little to no build up play, and what they tried was half backed
No creative midfielder and no decent forwards. Hopefully just in “transition” and we see a better Italy in the next few tournaments. Do they have any decent u21s?
This is the correct answer. Tons of starters and veteran leaders that are out. And it showed. Guys like Spinazolla, Acerbi, and Berardi would’ve picked them up and kept morale up.
They’re all too young and inexperienced and they all looked defeated and overwhelmed as soon as the first goal went in. It was over right then and there.
Almost none of these guys were on the Euro Cup Championship team of just a few years ago. Injuries were a big part of that, but Spalletti still had some veterans he could’ve called up and didn’t. Experience matters.
*I said it before*
*Italia is just a Bad Team with*
*Chiesa in a Bad form*
\- Flyhigh422
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They have a ton of starters that are out. Acerbi, Spinazolla, Scalvini, and Berardi weren’t able to be called up because of injuries.
And then DiMarco and Calafiore were out due to injury and suspension.
Not making excuses for them, but any team with 6 starters out isn’t gonna stand a chance against every country’s best players.
They’re a very young team with no real older veteran leaders like Bonucci or Chielini that have international winning experience. Having those veteran guys out hurt them here, as well.
Italy’s youth teams are well-oiled machines and are winning championship-after-championship. They’ll be fine.
Every team goes through a phase where they need to rebuild and I think Italy is at that point now.
That said, Switzerland were incredible and played out their skins.
Spain take a 16 year old to the Euros. Why not Camarda ? He would have done so much more in one half than Scamacca had ‘not done’ in the whole tournament. The fulcrum of the winning U17 squad need to be drafted into the senior squad now. If you are good enough you are old enough. These boys already play for top Italian (mostly) Serie A sides. I could go on, but this current Italian team are void of ideas, they do not apply themselves and certainly do not have the pace, guile or talent to trouble most teams - they have no fear factor! One last point and this is on squad selection, where was Veratti or Locatelli? Both are younger than Modric, know how to win, have big stage experience and are champion players.
Great assessment. In my opinion, one of Spalletti’s biggest blunders was not taking at least 3 or 4 veteran guys.
Granted, a lot of them are out injured, but he could’ve taken the two you mentioned, plus Insigne.
Hell, even take Ciro Immobile for simple leadership on the squad. You don’t even have to play him.
This squad that he took had almost no one from the previous Euro Cup Championship team of 2021.
For the World Cup, I would load the team up with the young u-21 talent that is constantly winning championships left and right and then take at least 6 or 7 veterans.
And Scamacca needs to never be called up again. He is absolutely abysmal in international play. 1 goal in 19 games. Oof.
I’m pretty sure I could put at least a few goals in, and I’m twice his age and haven’t played football in 22 years.
Agree, some experienced ‘been there got the t shirt’ players like some you mentioned would have had a great impact on this squad!
Lastly, why was Camarda not taken ? Puzzling considering how much talent and goal scoring ability he has 🤔
As a Greek, at the friendly Germany vs Greece, we put more pressure and effort than any Italian player today 😅
Did they even realize that they play in Euro?
We need Gigi Buffon as the new coach so our players will give a shit again. I feel like even our best players were upset with tactical and starting choices made by our confused coach Spaletti. We’ve had less than perfect rosters in the past but we locked it up in the back and gave it all for Italia
I don’t blame the players at all, it is the manager…Italy have always had extremely passionate defending, fantastic counter attacks. They had neither, just pointless deep defending from minute 1
It looks like a squad of players that are not happy with the current set up, we all know that Spaletti has had issues with his disciplinary ways at multiple clubs, even at Napoli where he won the league so impressively and left at end of the season
I think that factor with a young squad and no leaders like Chiellini or Bonucci has affected them throughout the tournament & the qualifying process
And btw what happened to the great Italian No.10’s like Totti, Del Piero, Baggio etc….. 🤷🏾♂️
They shouldn’t be here. They got lucky Albania was shell shocked after that first 22 second goal and that last second goal against Croatia was great shot but shouldn’t have happened. They are who we thought they were a team with to many injuries that hobbled into the euros
Italy sucks because there are too many foreigners in serial A. Young kids don't get chances. In this Euro Spalletti sucked. He won at Naples because of osimeh and krava played out of their minds. Mancini had all the same players in 2021 pretty much and it was toyally different. All games except Albania they played like ass. And if Albania would have played instead of parking the bus they would have been already at the beach.
I'm embarrassed to be an Italian fan today.....
Not Italy's year. I usually have a soft spot for Italia but they got outplayed by the Swiss. This is what happens when you've got as much firepower as... I won't mention the country because I don't want to offend.
If you don't have men to play a 4 men defence, you don't play a 4 men defence.
No attacking idea, no group, Di Lorenzo turning into Paletta.
Gotta Say It, Italy was pretty bad
I have been an Italy fan for years now (but I’m not from there), and match against Swiss was my first ever seen live… it was a dream come true, but turned out to be a nightmare. 😂😂
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I’m almost 40, I rarely remember Italy playing that bad as this Euro. Maybe the WC 2010. These players are not our best generation but there is material to do much much better.
I am 50, I have never seen such a lifeless Italian team. They just whimpered out.
I am 60, not ever have I been this disappointed….maybe baggio
I'm 70 and am shocked at this Italy side, never seen before
I am 80 and…what were we talking about again?
I'm 90.. Who am I? Where am I? Who are you?!
i am 100 and plan to run as the president of the united states
I am 110 and I like big boobs!
I’m 120. Italy sucked this year!
I'm 130 and I like all boobs!
Well, according to what you've shared about yourself it appears you're exactly what the US is looking for! The right man for the job!
Congratulations! You are qualified running as president /s
No italiano
It's the worst I've seen. I've been following Italian football since the mid-90s. Just slow, no ideas vision or game-changers. A lot has changed in 3 years 🙁🇮🇹
Already changed your flair to England 😭
>Already changed your flair to England 😭 Haha no I haven't just changed it, don't worry. I'm English and England are my first team. Italy are my second team but I'm very passionate about them.
I think bringing in Spalletti was a massive mistake. The man is stuck in a time capsule and the younger generation will not respond to his old approach of mental tricks.
It's funny because at the club level he plays very complimentary to the Mancini team that won 3 years ago, most recently with Napoli last year. No idea why he threw away all of his principles during this tournament
I was talking more about his out dated ideas of playing mind games. He had Scamacca sit for playing computer games. He had strict rules about the players and their phones. To this generation that is dinosaur stuff. I’m 41 so I’m not a gen z kid, but I know you can’t turn them back to the 20th century and expect it to work.
Lmao no wonder the team underperformed. What a boomer
>No idea why he threw away all of his principles during this tournament His principles were all there and that's why we sucked. All the players called up play with the 3-man defense while he was stubborn in where to try to play like Spain despite not having the right players and the result was in fact a horrible thing
You can forgetti Spalletti. It’s his fault imo. No game plan at all (or a bad one at least)
Game plan: wear blue on the field and run aimlessly.
EURO 2008 was awful, WC2010 was bad. WC 2014 was average, no WC in 2018 or 2022 and now this year. EURO 2020 was an aberration. Yall been bad for over 15 years now.
Still a 700million squad. Bad mentality and/or coach.
Crazy if true, I wouldn't pay 700 euro for the whole bunch, that's how bad they were today (excluding Donnarumma, and Chiesa who at least showed some resolve, but the rest are not worth a penny).
Of course its true.
At least they qualified, unlike the last two WCs...
With this team and coach it will be 3 non qualifying in a row
I don't think Spaletti is going to move out... at least not by his own will.
i think football in general has fallen a bit 😢
It's definitely the worst I've ever seen Italy. I had to check the calendar, thought it might have been the England game.
I am from Italy 🇮🇹 I sporte Italy foodball
It's like they don't care at all
8 men out…? Just slow to everything..
Switzerland is a better team
I don’t think Spalletti had the room, tbh. He consistently put players out of position and benched others that had a better chance at changing the pace of the game. This Italy team was beaten by a well organized Swiss team that has some key players playing in the Serie A.
Right??
I'm so embarassed, I have no idea what is going on with them, like if you don't wanna be there just don't be, I don't know why they decided to even show up since they obviously don't even care about playing
Don't be embarrassed. Switzerland is always solid. Lose to Georgia. THEN you can be embarrassed 🤦♂️
I wouldn’t really minimize georgia as if theyre some garbage team, portugal played their second team anyways.
Not saying they're garbage but that was painful to watch from us
I just think they were probably careful not To injure themselves knowing they went through. Win-win for both sides (imo).
I appreciate it my swiss brother. You succeeded in making me feel better lol
England fan here. If that had happened to us, second team or not, the media would be baying for a new manager. What's it like in Portugal?
Not quite as bad as England because there was nothing to play for I guess. There's definitely a nervous shaky sentiment right now but it's more like a haha... Are we in danger? That said, Antonio Silva is getting dragged pretty hard even if it is a little deserved you gotta feel for him
I'm double embarrassed ha. Im a scot and used to live in italia so they're my 2nd team. There's no cutting edge to azzurri now, no recognised striker. There usually has been an embarrassment of riches in that department in the past but now nothing. It's ironically the exact same problem scotland have atm. We both fanny about on the ball with a lot of possession and it comes to nothing.
Just horrible to watch Italy performing like this, gutless, heartless performance. They’ve been poor the whole tournament but today is really embarrassing!
Can we give Switzerland some credit here? They played with intensity, imagination, and kept pushing even when 2-0.
Totally agree!!!!
I feel bad for the Italian fans actually, they deserve better. I knew Italians were in trouble when at the 2 minute mark the players started complaining. Good grief
Don’t feel bad, we have seen our country win something in our lifetime. More than a lot of fans can say
i keep telling myself the same ... I saw the WC2006 and EURO2020, so I'm lucky enough. I'm actually sad for the Netherlands (no shade here), everytime people hope it's the time, but ...
I was only 5 during the WC win so I don’t remember it. But I sure do remember Euro 2020, best month of my life.
WC was won against France, made it even sweeter, lol
They've been one of the most boring, uncreative teams to watch the entire euro (maybe scotland or hungary, or the group C tops them) so I don't get what people expected against an in-form Switzerland
Don't have particularly good players and haven't been playing well. If they weren't a recognised "big" footballing nation nobody would have been expecting anything from them.
Its not the best Squad but its still a great Squad with top players on every position
Really there's only Donnarumma who's a top player at international level, then there are Chiesa and Calafiori who are decent and Barella who's also good on paper, but played dismally today. Rest would really be 3rd choice in any of the big clubs in Europe. The team that won the cup last time around was just much much better, Chiellini, Bonucci, Spinazzola, Verratti, and players who were just determined to carry the team on their shoulders if needed like Acerbi.
All trash except donnorumma lol
I'm confused as to what you consider a "top player" but I'd say in most positions they don't have a single top player let alone 2.
Thats not the problem, their players were good enough to even win it, problem is they showed 0 charachter, 0 will to win , they were a walking corpse
i actually dont think the players are the reason, and they should not be blamed. the constant change of formation, lineup, and no gameplan like at all, how can the players know what to do considered they have so little time to play together? most of the team is used to play with 3-5-2, or 3-2-3-1, but Spalletti insisted to play 4-3-3.
"Never underestimate Italy" people kept saying on this subreddit, lmao
Kept getting told this, but I'm Italian, I watch all our games, I wasn't underestimating, I was accurately estimating lmao
They’re lucky to have even made it out of group stages
Yep. This sub is full of platitudes and wild speculations. The average footballing knowledge isn't great. Italy have been mediocre since winning Euro 2020. I fancied the Swiss to win today. It shouldn't come as a big shock.
“Germany played only bad teams in the group stage.“
I mean bro you haven’t played yet I wouldn’t get ahead of yourself yet
Probably because most people on here don't watch football outside major tournaments anyone that follows football knew they'd be wank 😂 didn't expect them to be this bad though looked like a pub side
Italy has been trash but careful throwing stones living in that England glasshouse 😂
Game recognize game
Don't worry I know we've been shit but in general though never had any expectations for Italy this tournament with the players they've got
Hahaha as a reluctant England fan we really have zero room to talk 😂 expect Slovakia to beat us tomorrow
England just unconviningly beat/draw teams worse than them in each group match. Expect them to repeat this against Slovakia. England have been bad but not that bad.
Regardless of how bad we've been we still have good players, Italy have about 3.
I said so myself and one of the reasons the Swiss team dominated was because they did exactly this: They didn't underestimated the Italian team, which is why they didn't even really had a chance of a lucky punch. (Besides that one header from their best attacker Schär, which is a swiss player too 😆)
Hopp schwiiz!
They have been completely dreadful
Only positive I can find in our performance in this tournament is seeing how much people have underrated Donnarumma for the past couple years. He was absolutely outstanding and I think people are far too harsh on him as a keeper.
Donnarumma has always been rightly insulted. In the last 3 years it has not been great, this last season a little better but in general characterized by many mistakes in many fundamental games with both Italy and PSG
I feel like Spaletti is to blame for this Euros Italy performance
The players as well, let's be honest. If they have no game between them it's the coach's fault tho.
Lol. 11 awful guys on the pitch and the coach is to blame? Take Scamacca. 48 tattos on his face and not a single good scene…
Not been especially good for a while. Obviously in the middle of all this they won Euro 2020, but missed the last two World and weren't especially impressive in qualifying for this Euros. No doubt they'll produce future generations of talent, but the current lot just just aren't that good by by their historical standards.
watching Italy throughout the 90s, 00s and even part of 10s they always had some striker that would cause fear on the opposition : Giuseppe Signori, Di Natale ,Inzaghi, Gianfraco Zola, Christian Vieri, Del Piero, Baggio, Totti This team now has 0 quality on the attack. It's really the decay era of Italian football
Best striker in Serie A is Argentinian followed by a Serb and a Frenchman lol. No Italian striker is top 10 in goals
I feel bad for italy, ngl :/
Thank u
Thanks 🇮🇹❤️🇩🇪
I feel bad for the Italian fans who missed euro 2020/21 but are in the stadium for this crap. Unless a miracle happens now…
Don’t feel bad, we have seen our country win something. I’d take that over qualifying repeatedly or getting close a few times but never actually winning
Oh no doubt man. We (Scotland) have qualified 4 times and never made it out of the groups…
Don't feel bad for them at least they've experienced their nation winning something 😂
They look like they were playing friendly. There was no sense of urgency with two goals down and plenty of time to go.
I am Italian living abroad, I played in college in the US, they support your education and your sport if you are good. Not saying other nations don't but italy definitely does not. Lack of youth development and engagement in the sport is what i see as the main fault. It is impossible to play sports competitively in high school or university, there is not a model for that in Italia. So we are left with a terrible roster. Also you are not allowed to play in public places, for fun. How are you supposed to foster a passion for the sport?!
Been shit from game one, what do you mean what's going on with them?
Yeah I don't get why people are surprised.
Same as Croatia 😂
The average age of Croatia's squad was 52. At least with them they tried but didn't have the legs. This Italy team was both shit and didn't give a fuck.
Naah, not that bad, we got 2 goals in last minute. We didnt played great but got really unlucky.
As a half Croat/Serb both nations really sucked this tournament.
Italy smashed the [record](https://www.givemesport.com/football-soccer-fastest-goals-euros-history/) for the fastest goal conceded in tournament history in their first group stage game against Albania. Albania scored against Italy in the first 23 seconds of the game (the previous fastest goal in tournament history was scored at Euro 2004 by some guy from Russia in the first 1 minute and 7 seconds of Russia’s group stage match against Greece).
Well in fairness that was an individual mistake. They still sucked tho lol
Italy very poor performance, lack of passion in attacks
There’s a variety of problems. While Bastoni is quite good, replacing the spine of Chiellini and Bonnuci was always going to be an issue. Not just from skill but from a leadership perspective. The midfield seems disjointed, and devoid of work rate. Not bringing Veratti seems to have been a mistake. Jorginho was good from a match control perspective, but beyond him and Barella they’re just not as dynamic or incisive. And then there’s the attack. They just don’t have a goal scorer. Scammaca has been less than lethargic this entire tournament. In the last Euro’s, Chiesa’s emergence really carried them (helped by the fact that they didn’t have to score much because of Donnarumma and the defensive line). Since his ACL injury he’s not been the same, and literally no one else has been able to produce up front.
Based take. Defence is, imo, the least of their concerns. With some experience, Calafiori and Bastoni can be a good long-term pair, with Scalvini and Buongiornio stepping up when needed. The worst part is the midfield, since they don't have any good playmakers OR defensive midfielders at the moment.
Agree. Italy has always has built from spine up. Those two are going to be world class. I meant more from a leadership perspective. Bastoni and Calafiori are not quite at the level of some of the greats in terms of leading an entire team vocally.
They've looked like shit the entire time. Why have people been whining about England and France and not even mentioning Italy. Playing a 47 year old shawaary as your first choice winger lol
Perhaps Italy isn't facing high expectations because their squad is comprised mostly of youngsters with potential but limited experience. In contrast, both France and England boast a mix of talented youth and seasoned players, which should translate to superior performance.
It's because us and France got the strongest side on paper Italy's squad is bang average
Because Italy aren’t good on paper and people know they aren’t good. England and France are supposed to be the 2 best teams at the tournament lol
And darmian
They are playing like they are a man down.
They're a shell of the 2020 team that were so hungry and ran themselves into the ground.
Nah, it's a whole different team. Can you imagine if Chiellini/Gattuso/etc was in the team what would have happened in the break in the locker rooms? Can you imagine it with Mancini/Conte/Capello as the coach? Players during the second half would have played to the death, because they would have been genuinely convinced that their *life* was on the line
Exactly this. They didn’t care enough and they didn’t have anyone there to motivate them.
🇮🇹4-3-3 against a 🇨🇭3-4-3 Switzerland able to outnumber them all over the park and 2-0 showed. Good tactical play by Switzerland coach.
They ain’t been good since 2021
As a swiss, Italy played like switzerland used to play. Focus on defending, kick ball from you own half and hope it lands on the foot of a friendly. There was little to no build up play, and what they tried was half backed
Only player that shown anything except no idea passing and long balls, doesn‘t play due to yellow cards. For me this was expected.
Not surprised their losing ..just surprised to see the lack of any sort of compete..they should be embarrassed
I’ve been asking myself that same exact question ……. they should have soccer ⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️ in their blood. They’ve been shit all tournament.
Poor attack + them dropping two of their best players = this result
Spalletti can only pick the players available but he's not helped himself has he. Some absolute dross in that squad.
🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭
Looked like comparing watches Rolex vs Gucci
Nothing, that's the problem
No creative midfielder and no decent forwards. Hopefully just in “transition” and we see a better Italy in the next few tournaments. Do they have any decent u21s?
they're missing their key players so they lost belief they could win probably before the game or soon after it had started
This is the correct answer. Tons of starters and veteran leaders that are out. And it showed. Guys like Spinazolla, Acerbi, and Berardi would’ve picked them up and kept morale up. They’re all too young and inexperienced and they all looked defeated and overwhelmed as soon as the first goal went in. It was over right then and there. Almost none of these guys were on the Euro Cup Championship team of just a few years ago. Injuries were a big part of that, but Spalletti still had some veterans he could’ve called up and didn’t. Experience matters.
Let’s not forget that Switzerland were really good too. Really organised pressing and great running off the ball.
Switzerland have a very good team that compliments each others strengths. Would not surprise me if them or Austria win it this year.
Fagioli probably made a killing betting against Italy.
I said it before Italia is just a Bad Team with chiesa in a Bad form
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They made England look like vintage Zico Brazil. Truly dire.
They got in in a very lucky manner and it shows
They’ve been shit because now they can’t rely on their defence to save them games. Chiellini and bonucci are very big misses.
I am surprised they even made it through the group phase. I am not surprised they lost here, they sucked so bad every game.
I think theyre at passport control
They won two cups in the last 18 years. They will be better in a couple of years.
Blatant lack of quality. Nothing else.
They have a ton of starters that are out. Acerbi, Spinazolla, Scalvini, and Berardi weren’t able to be called up because of injuries. And then DiMarco and Calafiore were out due to injury and suspension. Not making excuses for them, but any team with 6 starters out isn’t gonna stand a chance against every country’s best players. They’re a very young team with no real older veteran leaders like Bonucci or Chielini that have international winning experience. Having those veteran guys out hurt them here, as well. Italy’s youth teams are well-oiled machines and are winning championship-after-championship. They’ll be fine.
It's not coming Rome ...
I miss 2020 Spinnazzola
It's sad, really. They crashed out earlier than England. Now I need Germany to win. If not, any one will do except England.
Every team goes through a phase where they need to rebuild and I think Italy is at that point now. That said, Switzerland were incredible and played out their skins.
Spain take a 16 year old to the Euros. Why not Camarda ? He would have done so much more in one half than Scamacca had ‘not done’ in the whole tournament. The fulcrum of the winning U17 squad need to be drafted into the senior squad now. If you are good enough you are old enough. These boys already play for top Italian (mostly) Serie A sides. I could go on, but this current Italian team are void of ideas, they do not apply themselves and certainly do not have the pace, guile or talent to trouble most teams - they have no fear factor! One last point and this is on squad selection, where was Veratti or Locatelli? Both are younger than Modric, know how to win, have big stage experience and are champion players.
Great assessment. In my opinion, one of Spalletti’s biggest blunders was not taking at least 3 or 4 veteran guys. Granted, a lot of them are out injured, but he could’ve taken the two you mentioned, plus Insigne. Hell, even take Ciro Immobile for simple leadership on the squad. You don’t even have to play him. This squad that he took had almost no one from the previous Euro Cup Championship team of 2021. For the World Cup, I would load the team up with the young u-21 talent that is constantly winning championships left and right and then take at least 6 or 7 veterans. And Scamacca needs to never be called up again. He is absolutely abysmal in international play. 1 goal in 19 games. Oof. I’m pretty sure I could put at least a few goals in, and I’m twice his age and haven’t played football in 22 years.
Agree, some experienced ‘been there got the t shirt’ players like some you mentioned would have had a great impact on this squad! Lastly, why was Camarda not taken ? Puzzling considering how much talent and goal scoring ability he has 🤔
As a Greek, at the friendly Germany vs Greece, we put more pressure and effort than any Italian player today 😅 Did they even realize that they play in Euro?
Scamacca and Di Lorenzo must be executed next to the "Altare Della Patria"
don't get why Spalletti insisted on making them play. they just made everything worse
Fagioli was abysmal, Barella as well ... they all were tbf, only Donnarumma and Chiesa seemed to care
And Calafiori, but he wasn't here tonight. I completely agree
Ever thought the Swiss played well? This sub is stupid. A big name doesn’t get a result and assumes they played shit
“Wop Wop Wop Wop Swiss fucked em up”
How come they don’t have any good football players considering they are so much bigger than Switzerland and have a massive pro league in Serie A
Singers National (Nazionale dei Cantanti, an Italian thing) would have played better FFS.
We need Gigi Buffon as the new coach so our players will give a shit again. I feel like even our best players were upset with tactical and starting choices made by our confused coach Spaletti. We’ve had less than perfect rosters in the past but we locked it up in the back and gave it all for Italia
That ishowspeed curse is real
Aurelio De Laurentis will now post a big dickpick on his Twitter account. Just to taunt that traitor of Spalletti!
Damn..
The further the Swiss get the better Scotland look 😂. Silver linings
Their fans were doing the Mexican wave in the second half. If this was England and their fans they’d be giving the Mexican finger
oh maybe they just placed a bet
Spaletti just fuck off with your son Di Lorenzo.
Winning me some money is what they’re doing! How were they favored in this game
bet on 2:0 Switzerland. after seeing Italy play against Spain it was absolutely clear they go nowhere
I cried more than these suckers
Why 8 changes?
I don’t blame the players at all, it is the manager…Italy have always had extremely passionate defending, fantastic counter attacks. They had neither, just pointless deep defending from minute 1
That squad is garbage I don’t what they expect
reality...
They are just like Ferrari in F1.
It looks like a squad of players that are not happy with the current set up, we all know that Spaletti has had issues with his disciplinary ways at multiple clubs, even at Napoli where he won the league so impressively and left at end of the season I think that factor with a young squad and no leaders like Chiellini or Bonucci has affected them throughout the tournament & the qualifying process And btw what happened to the great Italian No.10’s like Totti, Del Piero, Baggio etc….. 🤷🏾♂️
They are shitte
This generation sucks. That's all.
Too much fiat not enough ferrari
I fear for my Spain. They did not have a real test in the group stage despite being in the “death” group…
They shouldn’t be here. They got lucky Albania was shell shocked after that first 22 second goal and that last second goal against Croatia was great shot but shouldn’t have happened. They are who we thought they were a team with to many injuries that hobbled into the euros
Italy sucks because there are too many foreigners in serial A. Young kids don't get chances. In this Euro Spalletti sucked. He won at Naples because of osimeh and krava played out of their minds. Mancini had all the same players in 2021 pretty much and it was toyally different. All games except Albania they played like ass. And if Albania would have played instead of parking the bus they would have been already at the beach. I'm embarrassed to be an Italian fan today.....
I'm italian and I can honestly say that we played incredibly bad, no creativity, no energy, nothing
Croatia being knocked out so we can watch this shite
Not Italy's year. I usually have a soft spot for Italia but they got outplayed by the Swiss. This is what happens when you've got as much firepower as... I won't mention the country because I don't want to offend.
If you don't have men to play a 4 men defence, you don't play a 4 men defence. No attacking idea, no group, Di Lorenzo turning into Paletta. Gotta Say It, Italy was pretty bad
This was a poor Italy side. The one thing you could rely on Italy to do was defend well but this team couldn't even do that.
It’s coming Rome! 🔥🔥
What are the Italian press and Joe public saying about it over there?
Worst Italian side I’ve ever seen. Where was verratti?
I have been an Italy fan for years now (but I’m not from there), and match against Swiss was my first ever seen live… it was a dream come true, but turned out to be a nightmare. 😂😂
whats going on? the same as always just that now they cant defend. its over with the endless 1-0 wins and park the bus games