Cesare Prandelli knew that days like this would come, days when there’d be nostalgia for the past, for what Italy were and not what they’ve become. Reading the country’s papers after Sunday’s 4-2 defeat to Brazil at the Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador, a wistfulness was discernible.
Our defence, they wrote, was once the envy of all nations. Remember when Italy’s backline was breached just twice in runs to the semi-final of the World Cup in 1990 and to glory in 2006? They called it the “bunker”. Alas, it is no longer, the alarmists claim.
Never before has Italy conceded so many goals in the group stages of a major tournament: if, that is, you count the Confederations Cup among them. Captain Gigi Buffon has been beaten eight times.
La Gazzetta dello Sport went so far as to claim that anyone who still dares to call Italy the country of catenaccio risks being taken to court for libel. “We are no longer catenacciari,” wrote Sebastiano Vernazza. “Prandelli has taken the stereotype of difensivismo away from the national team.”
La Repubblica seemed to lament the cynicism of old. The ‘dirtiest’ team at the Confederations Cup isn’t Italy. Rather it’s Brazil with 67 fouls to their 50. The ‘dirtiest’ player isn’t Italian either. He’s Brazilian too. Neymar has committed more fouls than anyone else in the competition - 14 in all, an average of 4.7 per game. Just ask Ignazio Abate whose shoulder he put out on Sunday.
Claudio Gentile, the rugged defender who man-marked Diego Maradona in 1982 - famously not waiting until after the game to swap shirts with him - must struggle to identify with this Italy.
He might feel closer to Brazil, which ironically enough, is his legacy. Because after that great side of Zico, Falcão and Sócrates lost to his Italy in 1982, Brazil adapted their mentality. They adjusted their priorities.
Winning ugly for winning’s sake became preferable to losing beautifully. They moved away from their purest identity. The debate Brazil had then is the one Italy is kind of having now except it’s the other way around. It’s about moving back. Not all the way, but perhaps a little. The discussion, though, is happening outside the camp, not inside.
Prandelli isn’t about to renege on his promise to change the way Italy play football. Results are important, sure. But the game isn’t just about them. It’s about how it makes you feel, the emotions it can convey, the memories a performance leaves. So be courageous, take risks, go for it, don’t be afraid, chase your dreams. That way if you win, it’s more satisfying and if you lose, you can leave with your head held high.
The players have bought into it. You get the feeling it’s a relief for them, a breath of fresh air, something totally different from what they’re used to. The supporters fell in love with Italy again at Euro 2012 and the team won many people over across the world. That has continued at the Confederations Cup.
“Our games are the most entertaining ones,” insisted Buffon. “There hasn’t been an Italy side like this since 1978.”
Italy have played the ball into the attacking third of the pitch 181 times at the Confederations Cup. The other members of their group, Mexico, Japan and Brazil have done so 170, 165 and 153 times, respectively. Only Spain and Uruguay have made more final third entries [220 and 197 respectively], but the two highest such tallies for single matches [86 and 96] at the tournament came in their wins over Tahiti, thus swelling their overall records.
And anyway, reports of Italy’s demise as a defensive nation have been greatly exaggerated. Sure, in their last four tournament matches - including the Euro 2012 final against Spain, who, incidentally Italy face next in the Confederations Cup semi-final - they have let in 12 goals, a rate of 3 per game.
But let’s focus on the eight they’ve conceded in the Confederations Cup. Four have come from dead-ball situations: Javier Hernandez’s [legitimate] penalty for Mexico, Keisuke Honda’s [harsh] one for Japan, Shinji Okazaki’s header from an Yasuhito Endo set-piece and Neymar’s free-kick which, though procured with a dive and brilliantly struck, Buffon admits he should have got to.
Dante’s goal might also be considered in this category too. Again Italy failed to deal with a set-piece. Unmarked, Fred forced a save from Buffon with a header and Dante swept in the rebound. Replays showed he was ever so slightly offside. As was Fred when he followed up a Marcelo shot that Buffon let get away from him late in the second half.
So the argument for the defence is that one penalty shouldn’t have been awarded, a free-kick that should have been saved shouldn’t have been given and as for set-pieces, well, they can be worked on in training and should be isolated from how Italy - with the exception of their match against Japan when Buffon was peppered with 23 shots, 9 of which hit the target - have generally defended well in open-play.
Individual mistakes have been made of course. Buffon in particular has come under fire. Some have even gone so far as to claim that, at 35, he’s finished at the highest level. Critics have said Sunday was his latest haphazard performance, recalling the first leg of Juventus’ Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich. He has made more errors leading to a goal (3) than any other player at the tournament, while Italy have made 6 overall. The other 7 teams have committed 6 such errors between them, and Tahitians have made 5 of those.
What’s amazing is how short some people’s memories are. Buffon was Italy’s Man of the Match in their last World Cup qualifier away to the Czech Republic in Prague earlier this month keeping the score at 0-0 with a trio of huge saves.
His Juventus teammates, in particular centre-backs Giorgio Chiellini and Andrea Barzagli, have also been at fault and look tired, which has been a concern given that they’re the spine of the team. Both have been at fault for the concession of a single goal. Along with Pirlo and Claudio Marchisio the five of them have played 316 games in total this season. Is it any wonder that Emanuele Giaccherini, the Juventino used the least by Antonio Conte, has looked the brightest and freshest for Italy at the Confederations Cup?
Fatigue, an element of rustiness - remember Serie A finished three weeks before Italy’s first summer friendly - and a difficulty getting up for a tournament that players know is to be taken seriously but at the end of the day counts for little in posterity have also impacted on the collective. As has a change of system.
Italy’s default formation under Prandelli has been a 4-3-1-2 with a rotating midfield square. But he does like to experiment. In the build up to the Confederations Cup, Italy played 4-3-3. Once the tournament started they debuted a 4-3-2-1 and then ended the group stages in a 4-2-3-1. The alterations in configuration and composition [Prandelli hasn’t always started the same XI] has, on the whole, brought the desired results - Italy are in the semi-finals after two wins and a defeat - but the lack of stability is perhaps another reason why the defence has been so porous.
They haven’t been able to keep possession as well as they have done in the past either. After enjoying 59% of the ball against Mexico, their share of it dropped to 42% against Japan, who got about them and hustled their midfield. Against Brazil it fell further to 41%, though Italy, it must be remembered, were without Pirlo, an underrated recoverer of the ball in addition to being a sublime organiser of play, not to mention Daniele De Rossi.
Another change of formation looks on the cards ahead of Thursday’s encounter with Spain. The 3-5-1-1 Italy used against them in the group stage of Euro 2012 is expected to make a return and a welcome one too. They drew 1-1 playing it and were better than Spain for long periods of that match. The Juventus players are very familiar with it and you feel that Italy’s full-backs, in particular Christian Maggio, are actually a lot more comfortable and effective as wing-backs.
So before proclaiming Italy’s defensive solidity a thing of the past, think about the context and the circumstances mentioned above. Their backline might not be as good as in yesteryear but it’s still by no means bad. This isn’t to say Italy will shut out Spain. Expect Buffon to have another long evening. But, as Barzagli, his Juventus teammate, insists, “our defensive school isn’t dead. We just need to concentrate a little more."
