Italy Update: Azzurri to play a 4-3-3 formation
Italian national team coach Cesare Prandelli has revealed his starting line up for tomorrow’s fixture against Northern Ireland. The tactician has decided to field the Azzurri in a 4-3-3 formation.
The Italians have been trying to work with a 4-3-3 formation for quite some time now without much success and the coach’s decision to field the team in a similar formation would disappoint many. Emiliano Viviano will get the nod ahead of Salvatore Sirigu
for the goalkeeping role. Mattia Cassani and Domenico Criscito will line up on the full back positions while Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini will form a reliable pairing in the heart of the defence. Giorgio Chiellini’s availability was in doubt but
he seems to have recovered from a minor knock.
Andrea Pirlo will be given the playmaking duties in the centre of the midfield while Roma’s Daniele De Rossi and Lazio’s Stefano Mauri will provide cover to the Milan magician. Simone Pepe and Antonio Cassano will line up on the flanks and will look to provide
ample support to AC Milan’s Marco Borriello who will be playing as the lone striker.
De Rossi and Borriello had suffered training ground injures but seem to have recovered in time for the match against Northern Ireland. The coach said, “Borriello and De Rossi are doing fine. Cassano is very important to us but in the end it’s the team that
counts”
Prandelli is likely to receive a lot of criticism from the press for the inclusion of Simone Pepe in the Azzurri line-up. The Bianconeri forward clearly lacks the quality to compete at the International level as his appearances in the Azzurri jersey have
been far from impressive. Marco Borriello on the other hand is painfully inconsistent as the former Milan forward is capable of producing the extraordinary and the ugly in equal measure.
With just two qualifiers played, Prandelli has time on his hands and the Italy faithful will hope the talented manager finds a strong enough squad that will erase the bitter memories of the disastrous World Cup in South Africa.
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