Talking points - Scolari, Italy and that Austrian penalty. What do you think?
We all like a bit of a discussion and debate at the start of the week so I thought I’d take a look at some the talking points from the last week, say what I think about them and ask you to get involved.
I’ll take three things of note from the last seven days and see if we can agree on any of them! I bet we can’t!
Talking point 1
Well, after all the names being linked with the Chelsea job we finally found at that big Phil Scolari is taking over at the end of the Euros.
It won’t be Mourinho, Ancelotti, Mancini, Hughes, Hiddink, Rijkaard or any of the other forty or fifty names that the press had told us were almost certainly going to get the job, but it will be the Brazilian legend who has achieved so much in South America and internationally, but has never managed a club side in Europe.
Will he be a success? On the plus side, he has pretty much been successful wherever he has been, the players who play for him are loyal to him and it is likely that Deco and maybe others will go with him to Stamford Bridge. On the minus side, he doesn’t know Premier League or Champions League football and speaks little English.
Do we think that his advice to Cristiano Ronaldo to leave Manchester United was ‘out of order’ in the light of the fact that he probably knew he was going to take over at their main rivals when he said it?
The problem for Scolari is that he will only be judged a success if he wins either or both of the big tournaments in which Chelsea were runners-up this season. On that basis, and the fact that Scolari will probably struggle with the tabloid press intrusion in England I believe that Scolari won’t achieve what he needs to.
What do you think?
Talking point 2
I am loathe to get involved in the debate on that Austrian penalty, as feelings have run very high since the incident. I totally and utterly condemn the disgraceful death threats and images circulating around the internet and have no desire to stir up any more trouble around what has happened.
I am looking at this purely from a football point of view and not commenting on the conspiracy theories. The question to look at is, was it a foul? I think we would all answer that question with a word somewhere between possibly and definitely.
Would it have been a free-kick in any other part of the pitch? Again, somewhere between possibly and definitely.
Should it have been awarded as a penalty? That is where the answers will vary from absolutely definitely not to totally right decision.
In such a simple game with so few rules, how can we have an incident that splits followers of football so divisively? It would seem pretty simple really. If it was a foul, it was a penalty. The problem is that we have allowed players to get away with that sort of marking at corners and free-kicks for so long that to suddenly award one at that stage of such a crucial game was bound to cause controversy.
My view is that it was a foul, but the award of the penalty was extremely harsh in the circumstances. If penalties are going to be given for such incidents then the game must change totally and not just for the odd incident here and there.
What do you think? No ridiculous personal criticism of the ref please, just honest football opinions.
Talking point 3
Like Milan before them, have the current Italian team become too old and too predictable to reach their previous heights? The likes of Zambrotta, Guttuso, Pirlo, Del Pierro, Camoranesi, Ambrosini and Buffon have all been there and done it. In their two games so far in the Euros they have looked somewhat devoid of ideas and a shadow of their former selves.
Even Toni up front does not look like much of a threat despite his fine scoring record and glowing reputation.
Buffon made a fine save from the Mutu penalty but in the first game against the Dutch he looked hesitant and indecisive. Zambrotta gave away a goal with a careless back header, Pirlo has failed to influence games and the others have been totally anonymous.
Is this a temporary blip? Will they beat France, qualify and go on to do well in the tournament? Is Donadoni the right man to get the best out of the team? Is this old Italian team finished as a major world force?
My opinion is that Italy need a total change of manager and playing staff. Don’t get me wrong, I’d swap most of England’s players for Italy’s, but I think they need a major change if they are to maintain their position as one of the top teams.
What do you think?
Graham Fisher writes for Soccerlens and Soccer News.
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Well yeah…you look at Italy..they have probably the most complete team in the Euros. But they seem to be lacking hunger. There’s no young blood coming up…except Cassano and everyone’s been there and done that. Del Piero was magnificent when he came off the bench in the first game but in the second game…they did nothing. I think Italy have persisted with the same system too long and its gone a little wrong for them.Donadoni is a good coach..but they probably need a complete overhaul.They ideally shouldn’t be making it past the quaters..but france have such a poor coach that they might just do it
I agree. The Italy team is definitely getting on a bit (although to be fair, they’ve has some shocking decisions go against them).
The area of most concern is the defence. Ever since I can remember they have had a conveyor belt of defensive talent. First world cup I can remember, in 1978, they had Gentile, Scirea and Cabrini, adding Bergomi and Baresi in 1982. By 1988 the backline included Maldini and by 1994 it was the Milan defence. Cannavaro and Nesta were in place by the next world cup. This year they find themselves very short in central defence and as we all know, good teams are built on a solid foundation at the back. Zambrotta and Grosso are excellent wing backs but Italy are being opened up far too easily through the middle. But for Buffon they could have already been bundled out of the tournamnet
Don’t take the Italians so lightly. They always come up with some trick at the end of the day. Their goalkeeper single-handedly wins matches for them. F**ker always manages to save his team’s ass
Hoping for France to demolish Italy 3-0 or more
Can there be a article on who will be the top scorer with like how many goals?
Or who will be in the finals after group stages games have been played?
Manager: there’s one here. Haven’t done the one about top scorers and all that, my money’s on Ronaldo / Villa.
how about a topic on the 08/09 fixtures?
All I know is that I really like the pic of the girl
yea, that one’s coming up tomm.
Just a few comments with a bit of time now passed…
If it would have a free kick anywhere else on the pitch then it has *got* to be a penalty. A penalty is a ‘free kick’ that just happens to be from twelve yards and the spot. There can be no real argument with it, and the claims from the Polish PM that he wanted to murder Howard Webb just shows how far behind the UK the majority of the world is in many respects; although I’m not sure that Ref. from Euro 2004 would agree with me. Not only should the Polish PM have better things to do with his time than commenting on a football tournament, but I am almost sure that if an eqv. event had happened with England and a eqv. remark would have been made then FIFA and or UEFA would have had something to do with it. This just further highlights the double standards that we put up with in regards to football politics. However, I do agree with you that this must be a coherant rule enforcement in every game at every level. Boris Johnson-esque tackling is not permitted, and shouldn’t be, be it in the last minute of the EURO 2008 final or in the third minute of the mighty Wrexham against Northwich Vics or whichever other pap we will be playing in the Blue Square this coming season.
Italy: I am a fan of Italian football personally, but I find most of it increasingly mystifying. Donadoni is almost a McClaren with regards to his record, no European experience never mind success, and was so-so with Livorno in the past. He does look a bit like my pops though, so I have to give that to him. He doesn’t seem to have much tactical awareness, although playing three defensivly minded midfielders will tend to cause a bit of a problem. As to the players; yes they are old, but I think that we have a nack of writing players off before they are even thirty, which in my opinion is a mistake. However, there is very little invention in the side, no real number ten, with the exception perhaps of A. Del Piero. Its all well and good to have Pirlo dictating play from the back whilst being minded by Rino Gattusso, but what was it the IRA said to Maggie T? You have to be lucky everyday? Apart from Pirlo (who I must say is a fantastic player) they seem to have no plan B; and in common with the tempo of the game in Italy traditionally there is very little to suggest that they could force a result; but I think it is a mindset rather than a manager or the players. EURO 2004 showed this insistence on defensive play to be very dangerous, and the World Cup showed that a more attacking approach could work; now I’m not sure where they Italians are, or even if they know.