Now that the mission is accomplished, now that Italy has achieved qualification for the round of 16 with another great match, once again scoring three goals without conceding, retouching the amazing numbers of a streak that has lasted for many months now – tenth victory in a row without conceding a goal, twenty-nine games without defeat – it’s hard to hide. Maybe the Azzurri are not the strongest and the Europeans are just starting, but it is impossible not to be enthusiastic about the ease with which Italy wins, crushing their opponents and conceding very little: only one shot on goal immediately in two games.
We are not used to this abundance, and many still look at this national team with some suspicion, waiting for higher level opponents who show the real value of the team built by Roberto Mancini. Turkey and Switzerland are certainly not the best teams of the tournament, but it was not obvious to beat them in such a clear, brilliant way either. Before this year, Italy had never managed to score three goals in a match at the European Championships, even in more generous periods in terms of talent. She did it twice in five days, and it must mean something.
On the tactical level, Switzerland posed different problems compared to Turkey, and in a certain sense they have prepared Italy for the matches that await them from the round of 16 onwards, in which it will not be so easy to do what the Azzurri do best: keep the ball, raise the center of gravity and immediately regain possession. Even the unusual change of system decided by Mancini for the last twenty minutes, a 3-5-2 with the forwards lined up asymmetrically, with Immobile in the center and Chiesa more open on the left, seems to go in that direction. In other words, it is a move that can be useful when the level of the opponents will rise and maybe Italy will have to spend more time without the ball, lowering the lines and attacking more often in transition.
Already with Switzerland, the Azzurri did not dominate possession and had many opportunities to attack in transition. The most significant was the action that ended with Locatelli’s second goal, a restart that started in the blue area but found Switzerland unbalanced, with only Akanji and Schär protecting the half field. Going back a few moments, Akanji himself had found Mbabu on the right side of the Italian area with a long ball, but the Swiss winger had hit the ball badly in an attempt to pass it on the fly and had returned it to Acerbi.
It is also due to the speed with which it had arrived in the Italy area, with a long ball from midfield that had not given the team time to position itself to retake a turnover, that Switzerland was unable to hinder the possession of the Azzurri. . After the recovery, Acerbi leaned left on Insigne, in the space freed by Mbabu, and on the Neapolitan exterior Freuler expanded, which in turn discovered the space in the center next to Xhaka, immediately occupied with intelligence by Locatelli . Insigne then turned back on Jorginho, free to receive because Shaqiri was too far away to press him, and the blue playmaker easily found Locatelli vertically, who with a touch of first made the action flow forward anticipating Elvedi, the defensive center. right of Switzerland, released in an attempt to counter the Sassuolo midfielder.
At that point the Swiss were left with two defenders in their own half, while Italy attacked with three players. Immobile and Barella near the center in the midfield circle, which for a moment seemed to hinder Locatelli’s passage, and Berardi on the right. In the end, Immobile came first on the ball and moved the action to the right from Berardi. Once inside the area, the Sassuolo winger tried to serve Barella’s insertion, but his horizontal pass was intercepted by Rodríguez.
It seemed like another action destined to end in nothing due to an imprecision in the last pass, and instead the ball, after Rodríguez’s interception, landed again on Berardi’s feet, and from there backwards on those of Di Lorenzo, who rose to give a comfortable option to his partner. The Napoli full-back took the ball to the edge of the area, waiting for Barella to return from offside, asked him for the exchange but was blocked by Rodríguez. Barella then turned towards the center and chose the easy passage for Locatelli, only near the bezel of the area. Locatelli fixed the ball with the first touch of his left and with the second he threw hard to cross, sending the ball to the corner.
???? LOCATELLI‼ ️ Double for the midfielder
✅ Italy beats Switzerland and flies to the second round
???? The HLs ➡ https://t.co/Ey7QQCWG4g#SkySport #SkyEuro2020 #EURO2020 #Locatelli #ItalySwiss pic.twitter.com/NsAhzeFvG9– skysport (@SkySport) June 17, 2021
It was not a linear restart, concluded in a few seconds, nor did it create a clear opportunity, since it was above all the quality of Locatelli that transformed that shot from outside the area into the 2-0 goal. In this case Italy had a second chance after the wrong pass from Berardi, on other occasions the shares simply ended badly, even in very favorable conditions. It may seem like a minutia in a 3-0 game, but certain inaccuracies against higher-level opponents, in more balanced contexts and with less margin for error, can make a difference.
Below at minute 33, for example, Rodríguez’s pass intercepted by Acerbi’s header turned into a restart with an unbalanced Switzerland, which brought Immobile into the area, in isolation with Schär on the left. It was a favorable situation, but the blue striker was unable to kick on goal, stretching the ball after pretending to concentrate and then swerving and taking the ball to the left. Sommer closed it with a low exit, and Insigne’s next attempt, halfway between a shot at the far post and a cross, was headed away by Akanji.
A few minutes later Italy had another chance on the left side of the Swiss area, this time with Spinazzola after Insigne had intercepted a change of play by Xhaka and launched the Roma full-back behind Elvedi. Spinazzola entered the box accompanied to his right by Schär, but seemed undecided about what to do, and eventually kicked out weakly, with his right toe, after a barely sketchy dribble with a small swerve to the left.
In the second half, shortly after the 2-0 goal, Italy created another very advantageous situation, after a splendid maneuver in transition, but once again they did not even manage to shoot on goal. The ball was recovered by Spinazzola in the defensive trocar, right on the left sideline, winning a duel with Mbabu, and with four passes, between Jorginho, Insigne and Immobile, the blues unbalanced the Swiss lines and created a possible situation of numerical superiority to the center, with Barella and Berardi against only Akanji. Insigne, however, did not measure well the last pass for Barella and the ball was intercepted by Akanji, who sent it back to the Inter midfielder.
In short, it was a different game than the one against Turkey, more open, with more space to attack in transition. Switzerland pressed more and with its possession kept the blue lines lower, but Italy found itself well in this context as well. She didn’t dominate possession by pushing opponents down and dribbling in their half of the pitch, but she went vertically more easily, building from behind and often managing to defeat the pressing of Switzerland.
He did it for example on the occasion of the first goal, a long action in which Italy took a while to get out of the half court, but always letting the ball circulate with tranquility, and when he punctured the opposing lines, with a launch from the left towards the center of Spinazzola, which generated a couple of seconds of confusion resolved by a splendid change of play by Locatelli, flying with the left for Berardi to the right, arrived comfortably in the area.
Berardi advanced the ball to the right side of the area, not focusing on his best foot, the left, but instead chose to reach the bottom, to put the ball in the area with his right. Locatelli received the cross, who after the change of game had accompanied the action by entering the area, and found himself in the right place to put the ball on the net with the door wide open.
Switzerland has begun to test the solidity of the Azzurri construction against more aggressive teams, more used to contending for possession by pressing, and the responses have been encouraging. In the second half, Italy came out of the defense several times with quality and safety, breaking the lineup of Switzerland and finding large spaces in midfield, where in turn they went to receive Jorginho and Locatelli.
The two midfielders played a splendid game: Locatelli took the stage with the brace that addressed the challenge, a rare event – he is the third blue to score two goals in a European championship match, after Casiraghi and Balotelli – who shown the depth of his talent, his adaptability even in contexts where he is less present in construction, which ask him to accompany the action more and assert his qualities even in advanced areas.
Jorginho was masterful, skilled in ordinary things, which are most recognized to him – the tranquility with which he moves the maneuver, the intelligence with which he unmasks himself – and perhaps even more so in the defensive phase. Italy defended itself a little lower, there were fewer pressures and fewer re-aggressions, because the context suggested to the blues to be more vertical, not to dominate possession by remaining in the opposing half, but did not lose. effectiveness. He conceded very little – only one shot on goal – and created many opportunities in transition after the recapture, an aspect to which Jorginho has decisively contributed, exceptional in protecting the space in front of the defense without making too much effort, simply choosing the position. right and reading the passing lines in advance.
There were uncertainties in the first releases under pressure, and at times too much freedom was granted to the two Swiss medians (especially Xhaka), but Italy has not lost solidity, recovering further back on the field the aggression lost in advanced areas. When she then found herself maneuvering in the opponent’s half, raising the center of gravity, she always managed the lost ball transitions well, even finding the 3-0 goal after a re-attack by Tolói – the normality for a defender accustomed to the game of Gasperini – who sent the ball to Immobile in the center just beyond the bezel of the area. The Lazio striker was quick to finish and scored the fourth goal (plus two assists) in his last four matches for the national team, another fact that makes us look forward to the next matches with optimism.
Italy is certainly not perfect and it is true that stronger opponents can take advantage of some limits that have emerged anyway, even in two dominated matches such as those against Turkey and Switzerland. The way of playing also has something to do with the characteristics of the team built by Mancini, who have no shortage of players to bring the ball forward if the spaces open up (Spinazzola, Barella, Immobile), but who arrived in the last meters struggling to beat the direct opponents, to find the starting point to win duels and create dangers. Italy creates and has fun only if it maintains the level seen in the first two games, if it is so intense and maneuvers with the usual ease, and cannot afford to lower the pace and rely on individual duels.
However, if we look at the progress made, the situation from which this cycle started, we can only be happy to find ourselves now looking for a defect at all costs, to cling to superstition and fatalism, waiting for the moment in which things they will start to go wrong, to try to hide the truth: we are strong and we can go far.
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