Bright Start For Antonio Conteai??i??s Italy But Caution Is To Be Observed

Gli Azzurri have reacted well so far under their new head coach Antonio Conte after a dismal showing in the World Cup in Brazil. Italy should work hard to carry on this trend and Conte himself has to deal with some unanswered problems.

Italy needed a fresh start following their humiliating group stage exit in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Cesare Prandelli accepted responsibility for the failure and subsequently stepped down from his position as the head coach of the national team. Antonio Conte, who surprisingly left his job at Juventus after three consecutive Scudetto wins, took the job of restoring the pride back in the Italian national team.

Antonio Conte has started his tenure as Italy manager with three impressive victories, seeing off Holland in a friendly match before claiming victories over Norway and Azerbaijan in the Euro 2016 qualifiers. They have scored six goals and conceded one so far. Still early days but the hallmarks of Conteai??i??s Juventus side are visibly evident here. Italy have looked compact, they have pressed well; movement, ball circulation and the build-up play have striking similarities. Set-piece defending was one of the weak points of Conteai??i??s reign at Juventus and the only goal Italy have conceded so far was from a corner which was not properly dealt. Conte would surely look to improve on this department.

It was a big surprise that Conte accepted this job as the national team coach. He is a man who loves to work on minute details in the training ground, enjoys the pleasure of training a team every week and thrives on the pressures of daily football life. Conte brought back the image of Juventus after two successive seventh place finishes and his achievement was nothing short of phenomenal. His intoxicating desire for success creates an atmosphere full of hungry professionals who settle for nothing less than victory. He instilled this desire in Juventus and it was visible how the players reacted on the field.

Cesare Prandelli was by no means a total failure. He had his own philosophy and mainly focused on the technical aspects of the team. He encouraged a fluid style of football but made some grave tactical errors in crucial games. In Brazil the team looked unfit and clueless throughout the tournament. It was a humiliating exit from the group stages just like in 2010.

Conte is doing his best to keep the dressing room united

Stories of a divided dressing room emerged soon after that. Conte may not promote the most eye-catching brand of football but he is a strict disciplinarian who prioritizes hard work over flashy skills. He wants to form a side which is incredibly fit, tactically disciplined and united in every way. His reaction to Leonardo Bonucciai??i??s provocative tweet after the controversial Juventus-Roma tie was an example of how much he values the unity of the dressing room.

Conte wants an atmosphere where the players are willing to sacrifice for each other and collective strength is preferred over individual brilliance. The players who have been called up have been based solely on merit and form which explains why Graziano Pelle was selected ahead of Mario Balotelli for the qualifying games against Azerbaijan and Malta. Another point to be highlighted in Conteai??i??s team is the fitness level. Conte does not like his team moving the ball around patiently or unnecessarily holding on to possession. He creates a side that plays at a high tempo, pressing the opponents high up the pitch and expends high energy on the pitch.

There have been reports that Conte might move away from the tried and tested 3-5-2 formation to a much more cavalier 4-2-4 or 3-3-4 modules which he previously used during his time with Bari and Siena. At this moment 3-5-2 is the preferred formation because he can use Juventus players like Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini, Claudio Marchisio and Andrea Pirlo who are familiar to this module and also Ciro Immobile who was part of Giampiero Venturaai??i??s 3-5-2 in Torino. Most of the clubs in peninsula use this formation so it was a safe decision from Conteai??i??s point of view. But keeping in mind the long term project, Conte would be wise to have other options in mind. Christian Maggio and Manuel Pasqual are all above 30s and despite being in the squad recently, they should not be considered long term options. Mattia De Sciglio and Matteo Darmian started as fullbacks against Azerbaijan but they seem fit for the 4man backline. Even the senators such as Andrea Pirlo and Andrea Barzagli should be phased out slowly for the likes of Marco Veratti and Daniele Rugani to make an impact.

Berardi, Belotti, Zappacosta and Rugani have been impressive so far with Di Biagio's Azzurrini — Berardi, Belotti, Zappacosta and Rugani have been impressive so far with Di Biagio’s Azzurrini

A shift from 3-5-2 will not only benefit the likes of De Sciglio but also midfielders like Alessandro Florenzi, Marco Veratti and forwards like Mattia Destro, Simone Zaza who are accustomed to 4-3-3 formation. Apart from this, the Azzurrini have used four man backline in recent years under Ciro Ferrara, Devis Mangia and most recently with Luigi Di Biagio and some exciting prospects might be of interest to Antonio Conte. Youngsters like Davide Zappacosta, Daniele Baselli, Manolo Gabbiadini and Domenico Berardi have been doing well for both club and country in a different system from the 3-5-2.

It will be a bit naA?ve to entirely blame the 3-5-2 formation for the struggles of Juventus in Europe under Conte but the fact cannot be denied that the Bianconeri were ruthlessly exposed by Bayern Munich in 2012 and last year he shifted to a makeshift 4-3-3 for the games against Real Madrid. Maybe he never had the players to switch to a 4-3-3 in Turin even though he used it in his first year with Mirko Vucinic and Simone Pepe flanking Alessandro Matri in the middle. Italy did shift to a 4-2-4 after Azerbaijanai??i??s equalizer on Friday when Sebastian Giovinco and Antonio Candreva came on as substitutes. In an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, Conte claimed he preferred playing with wingers and at Juventus he had a defender(Stephan Lichtsteiner) and a midfielder(Kwado Asamoah) as wingers/wing-backs. It seems Conte is shifting his thoughts to a 4-3-3 or maybe even a 4-2-4.

A potential problem which could arise is that Conte as the coach of the Nazionale will not be able to transmit his ideas on a daily basis and design conditioning process for helping the players maintain the desired level of fitness. To bridge this potential gap, Conte has put forward his request to create some programs which will help improve the physical fitness of his players, monitor their recovery time should they suffer any injury. He has also planned weekly interviews with club managers to work closely together to ensure that his chosen players are in an optimum condition when the time will come to represent the national team.

The pressure to perform after two consecutive group stage exits in the World Cup is a big task. With Italy taking on rather weak opponents in the qualifying phase, this is perhaps not the right time to make an accurate assessment. The judgment on whether Conteai??i??s physical and psychological demands have a positive impact on the players can be made only during a competitive tournament where pressure to deliver will be huge. Until then, the Azzurri fans can enjoy the development of a squad looking to bring back their identity. Italian football is at a crucial juncture at this moment and the national team must rebound. A disciplined hard-working setup can be an effective way to begin this tough journey forward.

Tags: Antonio Conte Italy

Bright Start For Antonio Conteai??i??s Italy But Caution Is To Be Observed

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