Post by FutbolmetrixPost by GoldmundSince 1990 Italy was ousted 3 times from WC at penalties and one on
golden goal.
Isn't that exactly the point? Out of our last 4 WC eliminations, how many
times did we really try to win? By this I mean pressing high in midfield,
attacking with 6 or 7 men as a rule and not an exception, trying to dominate
ball possession, etc. Against Argentina in 1990, and that only because we
were playing at home. In 1994 and 1998 we never seriously tried to go beyond
0-0 and penalties. In 2002 we choked: we had several good chances to close
the match and choked, and that's got nothing to do with linesmen and
referees.
It's in the Italian mentality to play the way they do and nothing is
going to change that, they pride themselves in producing great
defenders and once they're 1-0 up against any team, they're a sure bet
to win. In 94, they played counter-attacking football and reached the
final, in 96, they choked and didn't even get out of the group stage,
in 98, they were unlucky to go out in penalties against the French, in
2000, again unlucky in the final against teh French, 2002, they
chocked against Korea, although you have to admit they had made
decisions go against them, 2004, we'll see. Considering they play
such a negative style of football and still reached 2 finals over the
last 12 years or so is excellent when compared to great attacking
teams that don't even get to a single final. It's only a matter of
time before they do win one again.
Post by FutbolmetrixWe don't really have a counterfactual, but maybe things would have turned
out differently if in those crucial knockouot matches we hadn't pulled the
baricenter of the team 20 meters back, and instead tried to keep control of
the midfield and played a more possession-based football instead of relying
exclusively on counterattacks.
Impossible. Italy have got world class keepers, world class
defenders, average midfielders, world class strikers. Beside Gattuso
and maybe Pirlo (both of whom aren't 1st choice), they seriously lack
quality to keep possession.