2009 FIFA Confederations Cup [P+R]

[Rocky]

Apparently, you weren't, as you deemed it necessary to have a go at him.

 

[Xifio]

Yeah, I would be all for a Lippi sacking, the only problem is who we would hire to replace him and start all over again(Italy's best manager currently manages England).

I'd like to see the FIGC go for someone who has not managed the national team before; someone who looks upon it as a privilege and honour ... Capello fits the bill, and it would be hilarious if Capello was approached and he accepted, but it won't happen ... he's too professional for that ... so he's definitely out ...

if we're looking at managers who are "available", then (off the top of my head) I'd have to choose between Walter Mazzarri and Roberto Mancini ... they both have had an excellent exposure to the Serie A and the local talent due to their recent involvement in club management ... I prefer Mazzarri, because I like his team's playing style and his personal attitude better than Mancio's ...

of those who are currently employed, I know that Carletto's been eyeing the post for a while -- I wouldn't be surprised if he had a clause inserted into his Chelsea contract that would allow him to leave Chelsea if he got offered the Azzurri job ...

then there's Luciano Spalletti, and I personally like his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation, which would work well for the national squad that I envision ... he looked like he was on the verge of leaving Roma (for Juve, at one point), and so I can certainly seeing him accepting the post ...

Cesare Prandelli too, I'm sure, can resign from Fiorentina for the national cause ...

Luigi Del Neri could also be considered ...

last but not least, there's the obvious possibility of promoting Pierluigi Casiraghi after the U21 EUROs finish ...

simply put: there's no shortage of options ...

 

[Rocky]

How 'bout Gasperini? He would be the perfect guy to lead a sort of revolution of the Italian national team. Brilliant tactician, very attack minded coach. It'd be great to see Italy lining up in his trademark 3-4-3. We'd probably be a joy to watch. Maybe he's an option to coach in 2014. As for the other options you mentioned:

Mazzari: very young and talented manager, but he's still got much to prove. Pretty disappointing season with Samp, no fault of his though as Samp were lacking a striker and flirting with relegation before Pazzini arrived.

Prandelli and Spalletti: Both still have something to prove at the club level before they make a leap to the international level.

Mancini: not impressed by him, won only because he managed a stacked Inter team in a weak Serie A

Carletto: an excellent choice, shame he's got a commitment with Chelsea now

Gigi Nel Neri: no, good coach, but not national team material

Casiraghi: if he doesn't win the u21 championship with the stacked team he's been given he should just quit coaching. Certainly an option for the future.

 

[MaestroZidane]

Apparently, you weren't, as you deemed it necessary to have a go at him.

Guess I should have added the "now" in that one.''

By the way, The italy defence was shocking. And cannavaros attempt of delfecting the ball before the second goal, left much to be desired. It's one of the reasons that I'm not sad that he is leaving madrid. He just isn't the same guy that was part of the world cup winning squad.

 

[vitu]

I don't know about you guys but if I was Italian I would be mad as hell to see Andrea Pirlo out there...that man is soooooooooo slow...I believe Del Piero would have done better than him...Yeah Del Piero plays in a diff position but if I'm not mistaken he has played in the position Pirlo played in this tournament...I might be wrong...I think Pirlo is done..He is too slow for a competitive tournament like that. I was surprised that Lippi didn't call Del Piero since they are friends and knowing about Lippi's calls it wouldn't have surprised...I'm not saying Del Piero should have been called I was just comparing.

 

[vitu]

PS...I forgot to mention Cannavaro...Legrottaglie did better than him in the first game...he is done too.

 

[Rocky]

I don't know about you guys but if I was Italian I would be mad as hell to see Andrea Pirlo out there...that man is soooooooooo slow...I believe Del Piero would have done better than him...Yeah Del Piero plays in a diff position but if I'm not mistaken he has played in the position Pirlo played in this tournament...I might be wrong...I think Pirlo is done..He is too slow for a competitive tournament like that. I was surprised that Lippi didn't call Del Piero since they are friends and knowing about Lippi's calls it wouldn't have surprised...I'm not saying Del Piero should have been called I was just comparing.

Pirlo was never fast to begin with. And I'm not mad at Pirlo. He's one of the very few Italian players who shouldn't be criticized. He was our only creative attacking threat besides Rossi. He look exposed because he had to do defensive work to make up for the lack of ball wining from our DMs, something Pirlo never has to do with a competent DM, and something you don't want Pirlo to do to begin with. As for DP, Pirlo is a DM, Del Piero a secondary striker, they never played the same position. Del Piero is great, but he's old, and doesn't have the energy to play at this level anymore. As a Juve fan I love DP, but you have to remove the Juventus blinders every once in a while and be objective. DP has to make way for younger players.

 

[vitu]

Iaquinta really disappointed me on this tournament...he didn't seem to be able to finish..he had very clear chances and missed..I know what you mean about Del Piero...I enjoy myself watching Del Piero play with Italy and I'm afraid it won't happen again I was wrong about the positions...I thought I would be For some reason I felt like I had seen it happen before...don't you think DP would have done better with all the fk chances Pirlo had? I believe he would have put at least 1 in the net.

 

[Back Door Skip]

when is the match? i rate USA as a very irregular team, they can make the best and the worse.

It's the CONCACAF schizophrenic syndrome. Mexico has it, the US have it, hell, even Costa Rica has it.

 

[vitu]

It's the CONCACAF schizophrenic syndrome. Mexico has it, the US have it, hell, even Costa Rica has it.

Costa Rica has been consistent since the 1st group phase

 

[Bobby]

They nearly shat on themselves in Trinidad.

 

[footballfan]

A point well made bobby



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[gasper000]

I said it before and I'm saying it again.

People wonder how come Egypt -African Champions- who defeated Italy and outplayed Brazil, could be struggling with teams like Rwanda, Zambia and Algeria. This is why. They don't play seriously unless it's a big game.

Congrats USA, well deserved win. I knew the USA would win.

It's not because they didn't play seriously .. they looked completely exhausted after the 2 tough games against Brazil & Italy. Egypt were amazing .. I'm satisfied with what they did. As for Zambia & Algeria games .. it's an old Egyptian problem .. players need to train together for longer time before each match. I think Egypt will reach the world cup.

 

[MaestroZidane]

For those that think that Spain will tear the U.S a new one, just on a side note. The last time the U.S played Spain, was last year before the Euros, and we only lost 1-0 with a long shot goal by Xavi.

Now my belief that we may beat them is not that high, but anything is possible in this beautiful game of football. If the US plays their hearts out, then they just may pull it off. Then again, we are going against the best team in the world...

 

[vitu]

They nearly shat on themselves in Trinidad.

lol I don't have any sympathy for the Costa Rican team. I was just going by facts...They have had consistency in results. They will sh!t themselves in Honduras this August!!

 

[Tawalkana]

For those that think that Spain will tear the U.S a new one, just on a side note. The last time the U.S played Spain, was last year before the Euros, and we only lost 1-0 with a long shot goal by Xavi.

Now my belief that we may beat them is not that high, but anything is possible in this beautiful game of football. If the US plays their hearts out, then they just may pull it off. Then again, we are going against the best team in the world...

I see 3 issues this game

Injuries
Bocanegra, Hejduk, Dolo, Edu, Ching
Spain can field a full stating lineup

Bob's ability to put out a good lineup
So far I rate him at 40% chance to being competent enough to give us a lineup. He continues to go back to his love child's Beasley and Sasha.

Adu
You probably won't see Adu, even thought the fans have been crying for Adu to see minutes. I don't know why he hasn't cause he is a beast at attacking players and was making Puyol look stupid in the friendly. The only reason I can see not playing Adu is because currently Donovan is afraid to pull the trigger so we don't really need 2 CAM who just wanna pass.

 

[MaestroZidane]

Personally , not having Ching or bocanegra is a good thing. Also, it was a good showing of him for not bringing on Beasley in the entire game. It would be good if he repeats that move. As for Adu, It would be great to see him play, yet I'm torn on whether it would be a good move bringing him in so far into the tournament

 

[Arnau]

Injuries
Bocanegra, Hejduk, Dolo, Edu, Ching
Spain can field a full stating lineup

senna and INIESTA

 

[Tawalkana]

OK, Bradley can keep his job.

Unbelievable. Heading into today's games, it seemed that there was literally a 0.01% chance of the US going through. Just stunning.

My player ratings:

Guzan - 7 (he was solid filling in for Howard; poor Tim will probably be back in the net against Spain - he only plays against the big teams)

Bornstein - 6 (actually not that bad today, although I lost track of how many crosses Egypt sent in from their right side of the field)
Onyewu - 8 (it was a losing strategy for Egypt to keep crossing, though, as the Gooch gets everything in the air)
DeMerit - 8 (some great tackles)
Spector - 8 (great cross on Dempsey's goal, good passing out of the back, excellent defensively)

Clark - 6 (quietly had a solid game)
Bradley - 7 (tremendous work on the second goal)
Donovan - 8 (best player on the field, hands down)
Dempsey - 6 (redeemed himself by getting the decisive goal)

Davies - 6 (good effort, lots of running)
Altidore - 5 (I still think he can be much, much better than this)

Donovan MOTM, but I think Spector also deserves a lot of credit.

You are nuts.... Your ratings are completely retarded also and Bob should lose his job. It took him almost 5 matches to go with a ST next to Altidore to relieve pressure. Not to mention the complete lack of competence to remember that Beasley is not ready, Sasha should be on the Bench/Reserve.

Guzan - 6 (Poor Positioning but didn't allow a goal)

Bornstein - 5 (How many times are they going to get crosses in from the wing because the LB is inside)
Gooch - 9 (Another Great Game but was almost perfect, still would like him to pass rather then clear)
DeMeritt - 8 (Great Job Comming Up with Clark was behind, Good Tackles just proves my point that Boca needs to play L
Specter - 9 (Another great game and needs to be the starter come 2010 he is at WHU for a reason)

Clark - 7 (Needs to Stop shooting but filled the holes when needed to deny long shots unlike Ita when he was Straight Red Carded)
Bradley - 7 (Still needs more talking with the holding Mid to see who is staying back did good with some tackles but lost a few balls)
Dempsey - 6 (Needs to be benched for a game to get the message that he needs to hustle)
Donovan - 8 (Great job attacking the defense but he needs to learn to pull the trigger, to many passes, needs to be more selfish)

Altidore - 8 (Had a Goal denied by a handball, did a good job holding up)
Davies - 8 (Relieved the pressure of Altidore being the only ST. His Long runs stretched Egypt back 4. Hustle play got Davies a Goal)

 

[Tawalkana]

senna and INIESTA

OMG heaven forbid you have to play Xavi Alonso... Logic kick in yet?