Euro 2008

Roberto Donadoni: Criticised

Whilst the Dutch turned it on and the Don got it wrong, Italy still have enough quality to qualify writes Ravin Sampat.

The best team performance of the European Championships so far could be a tight call between Germany’s win over Poland, Spain’s over Russia, or Portugal’s triumph against Turkey. But as Round One drew to a end on Tuesday, only one performance stands out - the Dutch crushing of Italy on Monday night.

Now, I prefer not to take anything away from the Dutch; they looked composed, professional, and dangerous, but that’s not to say that Italy did not either.

The Italian press is knocking on Donadoni’s door as to how and why the Azzurri, the World Champions, got beaten by a Dutch team that has already had its usual training ground bust-up (Van Persie and Sneijder), has had the outspoken ex-squad member (Clarence Seedorf) whilst at the same time has been criticised by a former player (Frank De Boer). But Italy’s 3-0 defeat was as much down to Holland as it was Roberto Donadoni’s selection. His tactics were spot on, but his selection was not.

Italy created enough chances to win - that’s probably what made this game so special. Toni, Di Natale, Del Piero and Ambrosini all had clear opportunities, but luck was with the Dutch side.

That said, why did the Italian Job falter so badly?

De Rossi factor

Leaving out Daniele De Rossi was a big move and a brave one by Donadoni. Had De Rossi started, then Andrea Pirlo would have been able to influence the game more from midfield as De Rossi would have acted as the anchor and engine of the midfield. With Ambrosini starting, Italy (or rather Milan) looked less penetrating through the middle, and Ambrosini is not exactly known for his dynamic midfield performances, rather pragmatic ones. The Dutch on the other hand, employing a similar formation to the Italians, had both Van Der Vaart and Sneijder penetrating through the middle, giving Van Nistelrooy the support when needed.

Gross miscalculation

Fabio Grosso has not had the best season with Lyon but the man who scored Italy’s winning penalty in the World Cup final two years ago still has all the attributes to be in the starting eleven.

With Zambrotta being the only full-back able to get forward competently, Donadoni made the mistake of playing Panucci, who has played mostly at centre-back this season, as right-back.

With a narrow midfield, Italy lacked any width as Mauro Camaronesi came inside whilst Di Natale hogged the touchline but tended to cut in. When Grosso came on, Italy had more width - and hopefully this is a sign that against Romania, Grosso will start at left-back with Zambrotta on the right.

Donadoni had miscalculated the value of having two able full-backs in a narrow 4-3-3 system; even though the formation is quite attacking, his choice of midfielders meant that any crosses were highly unlikely to find their target, and with only Zambrotta pushing up one wing, Ambrosini or Gattuso were hardly going to do that on the other side.

Del Piero must start

Despite his little cameo for 30 minutes when he came on, Italy’s little magician must start the next game as for the 90 minutes against the Dutch, Luca Toni seemed isolated.

Toni has bagged 31 goals this season for Bayern Munich, but he was so isolated up front that by the time the ball was played to him, he had to waste priceless seconds for Di Natale to move in from the touchline, or for any of the trident midfielders to join him in attack. If Del Piero starts, Italy will of course lose a defensive outlet as Del Piero will not come back to follow a full-back. But that’s the risk worth taking.

Donadoni must realise that by employing Del Piero as the second striker, he gives Toni more room to manoeuvre and an outlet like Del Piero can link up play intelligently. Luca Toni’s gain is Italy’s gain, for the front man will not feel so isolated.

Italy can still come top of the group, and despite their inauspicious start, I believe they will reach the last four at worst. But Donadoni must not change his tactics - Italy had enough opportunities to at least earn a draw with the Dutch.

Instead, they must change things around in terms of personnel, because on his bench he has more talented individuals at his disposal than he may care to think.

Likely Italy team to face Romania:
Buffon; Zambrotta, Barzagli, Chielli, Grosso; Pirlo, De Rossi, Perrotta or Gattuso; Del Piero, Toni, Di Natale or Caromanesi

Italy v Romania: ITV1, 5pm

Tags: Alessandro Del Piero, Daniele De Rossi, Euro 2008, Fabio Grosso, Holland 3-0 Italy, Luca Toni, Roberto Donadoni, Romania

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