In the 90th minute, Italy fell behind 2-0, Chiesa was still struggling to advance with the ball, and he still wanted to save some face for the Azzurri, but in the absence of his teammates' support, he only barely managed to shoot hastily.
The hero of the last European Championship has become a faltering straggler in this Cup; Defending champions Italy have also become a "weak team" with itchy attacks and overstretched defenses.
Italy's exit from the round of 16 was not terrible, but the biggest chill for fans was the fact that the former champions were completely crushed by the Swiss team, who had only beaten a limited Albania in four games, and it was very lucky to draw Croatia in the final minute of the group stage.
After winning the last European Cup, many people thought that this was the beginning of the revival of Italian football, but they did not expect that there would be a disgraceful defeat in the Qatar World Cup and this European Cup.
The shield is not strong, the spear is unfavorable, the defending champion is abused out of the game, why did the Blue Coats fall to this!?
01 The head coach is to blame
According to Italy's strength on paper, it will not be abused like this by Switzerland.
If held accountable, coach Spalletti must be the "number one war criminal", and his Italy under this European Championship has been absent-minded, and his 433 system has not only failed to strengthen the Azzurri's weak attack, but has weakened the defense on which it depends. Today is different from the past, the 433 system of Mancini winning the championship in the last European Championship has no corresponding player support, and in the later period of Mancho's coaching, especially after the "two elders" Chiellini and Bonucci gradually faded out, Italy actually gradually began to return to the tradition of three central defenders.
In addition, Inter Milan, which has been relatively strong in Serie A and the Champions League recently, is also based on three central defenders, and in the case of five Inter players in the team, including Bastoni, Dimarco, Darmian, Barella, and Frattesi, copying Inzaghi Jr.'s homework can at least make the best use of the players, so as not to lose the defense that the Italian team relies on for a living.
However, the stubborn Spalletti wanted to establish his own system in the national team, and he came up with the 433 system again. But compared with three years ago, there is no experienced "Xuan Ming Er" in the backline, there is no phenomenal "great left-back" Spinazzola, there is no Jorginho who is at his peak, there are no Berardi and Insigne, two technical attackers, and even Immobile who "does not go to the national team with shooting boots".
To paraphrase Fan Zhiyi's famous words: Just a few people, you Scamacca, Shaarawy, Faggioli, Cristante or something are playing the main team, can he play? Can't kick, don't you know if you don't have the ability?
There are always people who say that Spalletti is also a clever woman who is difficult to cook without rice, and the strength of Italian players is not good, no matter how they match. But is it difficult for a manager to put his players in the right positions?
Italy, which is not badly staffed in the midfield, can be so messily organized defensively, and the critical areas such as the ribs and the top of the arc can become the opponent's long-term stationing area, and Spalletti has to bear the main responsibility.
02 The Italian striker's dilemma
When there are no heroes, make the shaft famous.
Italy have scored three goals in this tournament, and apart from Zaccagni's brilliant equaliser, Italy's strikers have been unable to achieve anything, with two goals coming from defender Bastoni and midfielder Barella.
In the second half against Switzerland, Spalletti also played a double center forward, but after Retegui came on the field, there was no trace of the mud cow in the sea, but after Barella went down, the Italian midfield was even more out of control, making the desperate fight inefficient.
Defensive counterattack is a classic Italian routine, but without a strong striker, the so-called "hit" has become a luxury. Conversely, a weak attack is not enough to intimidate the opponent and make it more difficult for your side to defend.
Scamacca and Retegui are second-rate centre-forwards (or just third-rate?) at best in Europe. At present, it is Italy's most capable weapon, and it is very pitiful to think about it. Italy are known for producing excellent defenders, but their excellent forwards are just as numerous as they have been:
At that time, Italy had no shortage of strikers with strong impact, and the Azzurri had the prodigal son Vieri on the pitch, who was like a heavy tank and a thunderous shot on goal, and he was a nightmare for all defenders back then. After Bobo faded out of the national team, the late bloomer Luca Toney held up the Azzurri and helped Italy win the 06 World Cup. Even then, Iaquinta, who is far inferior to his predecessors, has been more effective than the current striker.
There is no shortage of strikers with a keen sense of smell in front of goal, and Italy once had Inzaghi, who was always ghostly in the right position and scored with a light touch. His contemporary, "Little Plane" Montella, is also an opportunist on the front line, but he can only come off the bench for the Azzurri under the shadow of the Ninth Master.
Of course, there is no shortage of attackers in the retreat organization, "half-legged ball king" Baggio is of course a god-like existence, Bianconeri Prince Piero, Wolf King Totti is also excellent in this regard, although they have different styles, but they can find the most comfortable area between the front line and the midfield, and use their own rhythm to drive the team's attack and make Italy's counterattack more silky.
Around 2010, the leading strikers of the middle and lower reaches of Serie A were also extremely capable of playing. The weak sword Lucarelli, the black chicken god Di Natale, and the bad boy Cassano are all strikers with very distinctive characteristics.
In fact, Italy originally had the opportunity to have a pair of "golden twin guns" in the last decade.
Needless to say, Balotelli has strong physical fitness and football talent, and has a very impressive performance as early as Euro 12, but his perverse temper and lazy attitude have made him worse and worse after he was born, squandering super talent; Giuseppe Rossi, once known as the new golden boy and Baggio's successor, has a clear mind, outstanding skills, and the ability to score goals and retreat organization, and has shown excellent performances in Fiorentina and Villarreal, if he had not suffered such a serious injury, the Italian national team's forward line would have been stable.
Now, Italian fans can only watch them join forces in another parallel universe.
03 Talent withering is the root of the disease
Italy's withering forwards?
In recent years, the strength of the players in the blue team has generally declined, and the victory in the last European Championship was largely due to Chiesa Jr. and Spinazzola, two "phenomenal" players, which just allowed Mancini's lineup to go up and down and have a burst point in the frontcourt, but once these two were injured, no one could replace them, so they affected their performance in the world preliminaries and failed to enter the Qatar World Cup.
At the end of the day, it's a matter of people and money that the Italian talent is dying.
Italy's youth training has been a problem for a long time, and it seems to have improved in recent years. The U17 and U19 teams have achieved good results in the European Youth Championships and the World Youth Championships, which is enough to prove the overall competitiveness of the young players. Sadly, most of them don't play at all when they get into the senior squad.
The Italian Football Association is also constantly trying to improve the chances of local youth training in the form of hard policies, but it can only ensure the efficiency of the U17 and U19 plays, and when it comes to the U21, the club does not dare to use it. This is the same as the policy of the Chinese Football Association to protect the U23 in previous years.
At a higher level, the Italian economy has been lackluster in recent years, and clubs large and small are facing both economic and performance pressures. A large number of mid-to-lower Serie A teams are more inclined to go to Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and South America to find players with immediate combat power, in fact, the Swiss team has Freuler, Ndoye, and Ebechel from Serie A Bologna, while the Italian team only has Calafiori from this last season's Serie A dark horse team.
Serie A veteran fritter Freuler scores the Italian goal
The Italian team did not have the time and courage to use new talents, even Atalanta, which is famous for its youth training, has relied on a large number of foreign players to improve its performance over the years, and even in previous seasons, there was not a single Italian in the starting lineup.
Giants naturally have similar problems, local players can play the main force less and less, if you have money, you will gamble and smash famous stars, and if you don't have money, you will buy veterans with combat power, but you don't dare to sacrifice your achievements to cultivate newcomers. Inter Milan have relied more heavily on local players, and most of the midfield and backfield can even be domestic, but Spalletti has not been able to learn from the successful experience.
Fortunately, Serie A is now picking up, and all teams have also stepped up their efforts in talent development. It may not be difficult for Italian football to get out of the trough, but it is not easy to return to the peak, and the top priority is to find a coach who can keep the bottom line of results and win time and stage for the future.