That France-Italy crunch match

[g force]

Yep...Pirlo is a big loss, Ambrosini isn't of the same class.

 

[goldenecitrone]

Spain are gonna piss all over Italy in the quarters. Hopefully, though not literally.

 

[Maggot]

It'll be even worse without the deep-lying pair of Gattusso and Pirlo. Whilst they're evidently older than two years ago, it was them who I thought were the basis for Italy winning in Germany. I also think they're going to have to give Toni a proper partner, because the midfield really aren't supporting him and he has got very tired long legs. Perhaps Del Piero linking with the midfield, or Quaglierela (sp?) and/or Di Natale who've formed an excellent partnership at Udinese this season.

So far, the only Italian who's really impressed me has been Buffon, but we already knew he was excellent.

Why not drop Toni, he's been rubbish? Have they got anyone who can replace him? Del Piero?

I have thought that Gattuso and Zambrotta have been pretty impressive, apart from the mistake by Zambrotta which led to the Romania goal.

The Italy/Spain game will be much closer than people think.

 

[Sunray]

The manager tried to rest on the laurels of a team that had lost its heart. Zidan's do not come often.

Should have used this tournament to bring in the best young players France have than rely on players that are clearly not as good as they were. They are going to have to do that at the next world cup, barring miracles its lost to them already.

I wanted France to win, I've watched far too many 1-0 defended wins from Italy to want them to lose every single game for eternity.

 

[stavros]

Why not drop Toni, he's been rubbish? Have they got anyone who can replace him? Del Piero?

I'm not sure Toni's been rubbish, but he doesn't look sharp and doesn't seem to have the necessary pace and movement to play the lone front man like, say, Van Nistelrooy. As I said, Di Natale and Quagliarella have been very good together for Udinese this season so they might be worth a punt. Del Piero still has the touch of old but never really had lightening pace, and the Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese have shown that speed is a virtue in attack this tournament.