Red, Black, and Blue…a very abysmal Blue…

By: Gianfranco | June 22nd, 2009

I didn’t even want to acknowledge the current Azzurri setup or their run in the Confederations Cup, frankly I approached these games as a USMNT fan and at this point I am pleasantly surprised. But reading blogs, comments, and articles today has made it impossible to remain silent on the issue.

First and foremost I will say this outright, I don’t like Lippi, I never have and I never will. Juventus fans defend him and that is OK, he is their Cappello and I respect that but as a tactician he has always been a bit behind in my book. He has always had good teams, and in the case of WC 06 he was playing with a passionate team who were very willing to work for him and with him, again not saying he is a bad coach, but he is not a revolutionary tactician, and he was lucky to get what he got out of those boys with many of them being consistently average players before the cup.

Regarding those boys, they were a great team in 2006, World Class in fact, but what happens when a World Class team is still kicking around in 2009? They are three years older, three years slower, and plainly figured out by just about everyone. We all know very well with our beloved Milan that a team that does not adapt and move forward is always stuck standing still, and now Italy is in the same boat. Sure Lippi subs in the occasional GRossi, Pepe, or Montolivo, but these subs are done within the structure of the old guard, that is just plain old. Now remember as a Milan fan I say this with full knowledge that a new Azzurri squad would mean ZERO Milan players. Am I happy about that fact? No not at all, Inter will surely have more, but for the good of the team it is time to be done!

Formation wise, many of you here and across the Offside crucified the Don for his 4-3-3, not a sole has done the same for Lippi, HYPOCRITES. Not to mention no one noticed that he took arguably the same set of players as the Don, save a few here and there, HYPOCRITES. Anyone can see that Italy are loaded with creative around the box type strikers like a GRossi, and midfield hardmen like Palombo, why not employ Spalletti’s 4-2-3-1?? Now if you read this blog you know how hard it is for me to credit those Roma tossers, but again this is for the good of the team and to fit the personnel. We as club fans need cohesion, and frankly, a new boss. But we all know Lippi won’t use it, it isn’t his formation, he won’t employ anything that is prevalent in Serie A, because he is stubborn, sure a World Champ, but a stubborn bastard to boot.

Finally I am going to end with a lambasting of players that may cause my lambasting in return, but the following players were awful in this tournament: DDR, Toni, Camo, Dossena, Captain Canna, Montolivo, Pepe, and FabQuags…Rino was recovering and Pirlo was inconsistent, his best game against a ten men USA, but they too are not far from this shit list. Now Roma fans will cry, and some Fiorentina fans who still love Luca and think Montolivo is producing will bitch as well, but go back and look at those games and then we can discuss. DDR was horrific in all three games, his goal was pure luck, and his play was phantasmal. Montolivo was much the same, but for me Toni takes the cakes as the World’s worse fall from grace, save Ronaldinho. He is finished!! If he is going to play in WC10 so are the Azzurri…