Squad due to be announced soon for our pre-qualifying friendly against England. Verratti, Borini, Destro and El Sharaawy have all been omitted from the u-21 squad so it’s likely they will be called up.
Italy squad to play England
Goalkeepers: Andrea Consigli (Atalanta), Mattia Perin (Pescara), Salvatore Sirigu (Paris Saint Germain)
Defenders: Ignazio Abate (Milan), Francesco Acerbi (Milan), Davide Astori (Cagliari), Federico Balzaretti (Roma), Mattia De Sciglio (Milan), Daniele Gastaldello (Sampdoria), Angelo Obinze Ogbonna (Torino), Federico Peluso (Atalanta)
Midfielders: Alberto Aquilani (Fiorentina), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Alessandro Diamanti (Bologna), Antonio Nocerino (Milan), Andrea Poli (Sampdoria), Ezequiel Schelotto (Atalanta), Marco Verratti (Paris Saint Germain)
Attackers: Mario Barwuha Balotelli (Manchester City), Mattia Destro (Roma), Stephan El Sharawy (Milan), Manolo Gabbiadini (Atalanta).
Great, another thread where Totti can talk to himself.
[font=“arial”]not too sure about el sharawy totti[/font]
what [font=arial]do you reckon of veratti- potential worlds best?[/font]
I like El Sharaawy and he impressed me last season with Milan, really felt Allegri should have given him more game time. Verratti does look like a star in the making but he has to prove himself yet - I’m looking forward to seeing him do just that. No Juventus or Napoli players in the squad due to the Super Cup taking place in China today. It’s actually in extra time now, 2-2 and Napoli down to nine men.
The biggest surprise for me was the inclusion of De Sciglio.
[Soccer][gk]Sirigu[/gk] [rb]Abate[/rb] [rcb]Ogbonna[/rcb] [lcb]Astori[/lcb] [lb]Balzaretti[/lb] [cdm]De Rossi[/cdm] [rcm]Nocerino[/rcm] [lcm]Aquilani[/lcm] [cam]Diamanti[/cam] [rst]Destro[/rst] [lcf]El Shaarawy[/lcf][/Soccer]
It will be interesting to see if it’s a 4-3-3 or a 4-3-1-2. I don’t think 4-3-3 will ever fully suit an Italian side, looking forward to seeing how Destro and El Sharaawy get on tonight. Balotelli has withdrawn from the squad. Fabbrini has been called up to replace him.
I found the headline extremely funny.
:lol:
Great to see three Roma players in the Italian starting XI.
Seems to be a 4-3-3 with Diamanti on the right and El Sharaawy on the left.
Destro, Diamanti, Ogbonna and De Rossi impressive early on for us.
Daniele gives us the lead. 
Balzaretti is extremely cumbersome, I can see myself getting irked at him throughout the summer. Destro’s movement is outstanding.
Jagielka equalises, 1-1. Poor marking from Balzaretti. I think Sirigu is very uninspiring in goal, looks very nervous in general and he’s not very commanding at all. Been a mixed bag from us tonight, some of the fringe players have done really well while the more established players (barring De Rossi) have been very poor. Balzaretti has had a nightmare and Aquilani and Nocerino have been very poor.
If Balzaretti plays for Roma like he has tonight he will be getting pelters from me. Embarrassing. :shakefist:
Oh how I wish Alex Kolarov was Italian.
Italia wearing the 1982 retro jerseys tonight, Totti?
Seem to be, balbec. Game started out brightly but we’ve lost our way. Aquilani, Nocerino and Balzaretti have been abysmal. We look good up front, the front three of Diamanti, Destro and El Shaarawy have all done well individually bit I don’t like the attacking shape, one of the problems of 4-3-3 is that I feel the attackers play too wide apart and get isolated and crowded out by defenders. I’d like to see us switch to a 4-3-1-2 and think it would suit us much better. I hope I get to see Verratti from the start, Aquilani has cowered away from the ball and Nocerino isn’t the most technically gifted so our midfield hasn’t got going. Hopefully Verratti, Poli and Peluso on in the second half with Nocerino, Balzaretti and Aquilani on. I have been extremely impressed with Ogbonna, looks like he’s going to establish himself as one of the top defenders in Europe this season.
Peluso on for Balzaretti for the second half.
Destro should have had the penalty there after being wrestled down by Jagielka. Both the English centre halves have looked hapless tonight in dealing with Destro, just a shame about our final ball.
Aquilani is such a disappointment, I had really high hopes for him when he burst on to the scene and he has great ability but he just lacks the mentality to really make it.