Conte throwing non needed shots at the MLS

Maybe WM72 can help us out here, but even playing in MLS is Giovinco really no better than their other forward options? He has shown that he can ball out, and he was good for Italy during Euro qualifying.

surely he's not blaming the MLS for leaving Pirlo off the roster. No one is going to believe that.

quote:

---

Immobile for sure is when he's not being a prick.

---

Which is never these days.

He's also eligible for the US and I would love to see him get a cap. I don't think Jurgen goes for it though.

Yes, this was really unnecessary. Everyone knows that it is a long way down to MLS from Serie A or any other leading European league. Still, there is usually an expected level of decorum and class that a national manager should adhere to when discussing the soccer world and the components that make it up.

Conte is manager of the Italian national team. I am merely an amateur soccer player and follower of the sport. I am a mere speck to his enormous stature. That being said, arrogance and ignorance can affect the judgment and statements of the most powerful managers. They are not infallible.

I would argue with his statements regarding both Giovinco and Pirlo. With Giovinco, the technical skill, the speed, the vision and creativity, all of that is still there. It has not gone away or even diminished. Further, I actually believe that he has developed more as a player since he arrived in MLS. Not in terms of technical ability; that has been ingrained, nurtured, and developed since his youth and MLS is clearly not a highly technical league. What I am referring to is his growth as a player in terms of being a leader and playmaker and the responsibility that he must shoulder. With Juventus he was merely a squad player. With Toronto he must be a goal scorer and a leader. He has to put the team on his back and carry them at times. He has to be THE guy. And every opponent has a top singular goal: stop Giovinco. With all of this, he has excelled in magnificent form.

With Pirlo, his last game before arriving in MLS less than a year ago was starting for Juventus against Barcelona in CL Final. I do not believe that his technical skill, vision, and creativity have massively declined in less than a year. I have watched him play often over the past few months and he is still exemplary.

So when I hear Conte essentially say that MLS sucks, Giovinco and Pirlo went to MLS, therefore they will not play, I tend to believe that his statement lends itself to his own pre-conceived notions, prejudice, and arrogance over objective analysis of the individual player.

All of this being said, what is most objectionable is not deciding to leave Giovinco and Pirlo off the team. Giovinco was always a fringe player for Italy. Without looking up the info, I think he has around 20 appearances for the team. And Pirlo is in his late 30s. What is most objectionable is what Conte said relative to leaving them off. In my view, it is debatable and ignorant. Yet even if he is right, there is still no need to say it and to do so is arrogant. Everyone knows MLS is a young growing league trying to establish itself in the soccer world. There was no need to smack it down nor the players that decided to come to it.

quote:

---

There are not 5 forwards in better form than Giovonco right now.

---

Surely you just mean Italian forwards?

quote:

---

Maybe WM72 can help us out here, but even playing in MLS is Giovinco really no better than their other forward options? He has shown that he can ball out, and he was good for Italy during Euro qualifying.

---

While there's a good argument for him including Giovinco, there's not much chance he'd be more than a possible late match sub. Giovinco has been called up and played pretty well recently but he hasn't really been eye-opening either.

The very similar forward who's ahead of Giovinco by a mile is Insigne. Insigne has been just as good for the 2nd place club in Serie A as Giovinco this past season. Insigne looked like the only absolute world class attacking talent Italy has available -- Giovinco included -- in recent friendlies and qualifiers.


Otherwise, Conte has Pelle, Immobile and Zaza in the 30 man group but all three have more #9 center forward skills and aren't really in competition with Giovinco.

El Sharaawy and Bernadeschi are players than can play wide in a 4-3-3 but also put in good enough defensive shifts to play wingback in a 3-5-2. So they're not really head to head competition for Giovinco either.


The only real debatable call up may be Eder, who was excellent last year at Sampdoria but struggled this season at INTER.

However, he has continued to look good for the NT. He's also a much more physical player who has shown he can be pretty dangerous playing as the supporting striker in a 3-5-2. Kind of a poor man's version of what Tevez did under Conte at Juve.



Otherwise --and this is why Italian NT fans are overjoyed to see Conte go to Chelsea -- Conte really loves players like Giacherini who are frustrating as hell but have that English James Milner--can play every position decently and run all day fighting for the team mentality.


Conte probably could have just left out the part about the consequences of playing in MLS. It's also fair though to point out that it doesn't do much to dispel the criticism that Giovinco tended to feast against the bottom of the table clubs in Serie A when the team was set up to just let him create but didn't really have much success against clubs with top class defenders.

Conte also didn't select Gianluca Lapadula who ran roughshot scoring over Serie B opponents this year.

Lapadula has a better claim to a spot on the 30 man roster given that he's playing in a much tougher league, and there's been no uproar over him not being selected.



Immobile, Zaza, Pelle (don't agree but w/e), El Shaarawy, Insigne, and Bernadeschi are all more worthy of selection than Gio. The biggest injustice in Conte's selection is that he ignored Rossi despite him playing well for Levante and staying healthy, given that he's far and away Italy's best and most reliable striker when he's healthy. Would call Balo over Gio as well but Conte wouldn't call him up if he scored 40 goals this season, nevermind that he didn't score more than 3.




Gio doesn't deserve to be anywhere near the NT, he had one season that could be considered good in Italy and that was with a midtable club, he's a mid table player and that's that. Conte just telling the yanks how it is and they get collectively rustled

Wish Jurgen would come out with same stance. MLS is destroying our players.

conte's comments aside, i dont' see why so many americans feel the need to oversell their league and get so defensive when someone rightly claims that a player doing well there doesn't mean anything. the defensive play in MLS is closer to lega pro sides (would argue it's worse but w/e) than it is to top flight European leagues, a player doing well there has no correlation with how he'll do against top competition at the Euros. there are much more deserving attackers that Conte is leaving out, Rossi and Pavoletti aren't in the squad ffs, Gio should be nowhere near the squad (and he wouldn't if he were still at a mid table Italian club).