Gattuso overwhelms Estonia in the first on the national team bench. Italy is back in progress for direct qualification for the 2026 World Cup, reduces the waste from Norway and prepares for the challenge with Israel
Good first, indeed very good. Gattuso’s Italy debuted with Botto in Bergamo against Estonia. There is nothing to get exalted because basically the blues made only their duty with an opponent too lower to worry them, but he had to enter the right foot in the run -up to a place at the 2026 world championship and the goal was achieved.
The manita of goals (5-0) trimmed to the Estonians is the one who also served to give a less terrible semblance to the situation in the group, in which Italy should be shown to the wall with the unfortunate defeat of June in Norway. Now the delay from Haaland and his companions has reduced to 6 points (and we always have an extra game to play), but above all at the level of the goal difference has fallen from -12 to -7. It remains an Everest to climb, but it can be said that at least the base camp has been installed and from here you can leave for the ascent.
Also because the indications of Bergamo’s challenge are largely positive. Everything or almost the approach and the plot put in place by the Gattuso national team liked. He made his debut without option other than the victory with a wide waste, he held the pressure and returned a performance that will not enter the annals but bodes well.
Gattuso’s first Italy, what it worked
Having scored five goals, all in the second half, rewarded the effort of the CT who put a national team in place all devoted to the attack. Do we have little talent to select? It is true, but the answer was that little should be valued. The return of the exteriors (Zaccagni and Politano) has fueled the offensive options of a team that was not afraid to deploy Kean and Rate together, rely on the incursions of a stretcher without giving up on band defenders such as Dimarco and Lorenzo who have often stationed in the opponent’s half field.
The result was a game in which at times Italy had 75% of the ball possession, He also made it run with appreciable rhythms and qualities and never raised his foot from the accelerator. If in football the games lasted one hundred minutes and not “only” 90, probably now we would account for an even greater waste.
This is also a symptom of full awareness of the moment by the blues. The guys from Gattuso know first what it needs to do to return to dreaming of direct qualification for the World Cup And they got available. The match with Estonia was prepared in the best way, he had guaranteed the new CT: he did not say a lie. Now I head to Israel who at the moment precedes us in the ranking.
Gattuso’s first Italy, what’s wrong
The other side of the medal was the first half played on a good level, but without breaking through. Raise the hand to those who at the interval did not cursed the absence between the blue of a real midfielderone capable of breaking the opponent’s lines and creating the right assist also against a team that plays very low block. That’s why for almost an hour the great effort has not produced anything and it is a structural problem that Italy has been dragging for years.
Gattuso’s response was to broaden the field with the outsiders. Against Estonia it has worked and it is an interesting system because in the ward we are equipped with a lot of talent with goals in the feet. But the limit is not trivial and will be able to return to annoying the Azzurri also on other occasions. These, however, are the ingredients with which the CT cooks in Coverciano and the hope is that he knows how to put them together in the right way to take us to the States in June, possibly without going from the purgatory of the spring playoffs.
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