Armenia vs Italy Thoughts

De Rossi and Osvaldo scored for Italy along with
Andrea Pirlo in a 3-1 victory at Armenia today.

The trip to Armenia was another one of those games for Italy that you just knew seemed easier than it was going to be. Armenia thought to be a minnow among the general soccer population was not at all an easy victory for the Italians. As usual the Azzurri played down to their opponents, for whatever reason they cannot get up for these games. The difference between Italy vs Germany in the Euro tournament and Italy now is about the size of the Grand Canyon it would seem. However we must try to stay calm and cheer on the Azzurri no matter what.

This is still an experimental period for Cesare Prandelli and as we have seen he continues to test out many different players. Its a luxury Italy has that many other nations do not, which is they can test out a lot of different things and still come away with victories without the 'A' team of the moment. Prandelli is looking at the bigger picture and who might be his 'A' squad in 2014.

I hate to say it but the more I watch Sebastian Giovinco the more I lose faith in him. He is an incredibly talented player but he just can't get the job done on the big stage, whether it be with Juventus or the Nazionale. He started out well today vs Armenia, but they adjusted to him and he became a non-factor along with fellow striking partner Pablo Osvaldo for much of the match. One thing the Atomic Ant does extremely well though, is win fouls.

Domenico Criscito made his return to the squad and the masked man was one of the better players on the pitch, attacking the down the left flank and somehow getting back in defense as well. He may not have made a difference against Spain in the final of the Euro, but he would have made the team better overall, will be an integral part of the 2014 squad.

Chiellini was left out of Italy's starting XI
vs Armenia.

Italy however showed many holes in defense, they bent but didn't break .. although Gigi Buffon made an incredible stop on a Davit Manoyan volley which was set up by the man who was the best player on the pitch Henrikh Mkhirtanyan. The midfielder who plays with Ukrainian club Shakhtar took the game to Andrea Barzagli and Leonardo Bonucci for the second time in as many weeks, the first being in the Juventus-Shakhtar Champions League match a week ago. But back to the Azzurri defense, the first question I ask is why Bonucci and Barzagli? Has Bonucci overtaken Giorgio Chiellini in the eyes of Prandelli? In my eyes the best central defense Italy can offer right now is Barzagli and Chiellini in a four man defense. Bonucci still has a lot of questions to answer as a young defender. Even if Prandelli is looking to the future, the most likely to be left out of the 2014 squad would be Barzagli as he will be 33 by then. However I still believe Italy's central defense is in good shape for the future as it usually is.

I still question Francesco Lodi not being given a chance at the Azzurri squad, dude can flat out play, is the best set-piece taker in Italy aside from Andrea Pirlo and has led Catania to successful Serie A seasons (by their standards) for quite some time now. So what gives? If your going to give Alberto Gilardino a call-up because he is in form, then Lodi deserves one also.

Riccardo Montolivo does nothing for me.

Tuesday will be a much more difficult match-up against Denmark, and hopefully the Azzurri will get some extra motivation from the home fans because they are going to need it. Hopefully Mario Balotelli is ready and able to play, and I'm willing to give Giovinco one more chance, mainly because I think the best complement for him is Super Mario. We shall see but expect another exploratory attack from the Azzurri.

GROUP B

Team	MP	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
Italy	3	2	1	0	7	3	7
Bulgaria	3	1	2	0	4	3	5
Czech Republic	2	1	1	0	3	1	4
Armenia	3	1	0	2	2	4	3
Denmark	2	0	2	0	1	1	2
Malta	3	0	0	3	1	6	0