Italy plays with 4-3-3 line up. In set attacks, the formation changes to like a 3-1-2-4. Di Lorenzo remains in the defense line and be the third stopper. Spinazzola goes to the left wing. Verratti takes position in left half-space and Barella takes position in right half-space but Barella takes position more close to forward. Chiesa takes position in right wing and uses touchline’s beside. Insigne takes position in left half-space.
Di Lorenzo’s and Chiellini’s roles are so important to make game. Because they both use half-spaces and they can make connections with both centre and wing. So if they can be effective, automatically the team’s other players can be effective too.
Jorginho is the team’s regista. Verratti usually helps him about making game. Verratti supports forward too but his most important role is helping make game.
Barella uses right half-space and he takes position closer to forward. He can find space in half-space because Chiesa takes position closer to the touchline in the right wing.
Insigne uses left half-space and also he could use between forward and midfield lines to make game.
Immobile usually tries to escape the opponent’s behind but sometimes he closes to his teammates to be a pass station. But usually he doesn’t because being a pass station is usually Insigne’s role.
They can be more effective from left than right because of some tactical differences between two sides.
When they try to make game from right, Di Lorenzo starts the attack. And his feet are better than Chiellini, if we compare them. But there are some problems about Chiesa’s and Barella’s positionings in some situations.
For example, in a World Cup qualification match against Northern Ireland they had some problems. Northern Ireland played with 5-3-2 line up. In Italy’s first eleven, there were some changes. Pellegrini, Locatelli, Emerson, Florenzi and Berardi were in first eleven. But their system was the same so it can be a useful example.
Sometimes Pellegrini closed to Florenzi to take the ball. Because they couldn’t make game from Locatelli. The opponent’s one of two centre forwards marked Locatelli and Italy had to make game with different ways. And when he closed to Florenzi, the opponent’s left centre midfielder followed him. And when he followed Pellegrini, the opponent’s centre midfielder didn’t close to a little bit left and this time, the distance between him and the centre midfielder increased.
To benefit from this situation, Berardi had to close to right half-space. Because when he closed to right half-space, he would be free and he could take the ball from Florenzi directly. Between him and Florenzi, there wasn’t any opponent’s player, so nobody could cut the connection between him and Florenzi. But he didn’t close to right half-space and they couldn’t benefit from the opponent’s positioning mistake.
Normally, Immobile could be a pass option for Florenzi with shifting to right half-space. But the problem is, when he shifted, the opponent’s centre midfielder could shift and cover him too. Because he was already covering him with shadow marking. And if the opponent’s centre midfielder shifted to right half-space, this time Berardi couldn’t use right half-space too because the opponent’s centre midfielder covered the free right half-space. So, in this situation, if Immobile moved to the right half-space, Italy’s making game possibility became less and they had to try to make game from a different direction.
In the same match, Italy could use left more effectively in approximately same situations. When Chiellini had the ball in left half-space, Verratti closed to the left wing to take the ball from Chiellini. The opponent’s right centre midfielder followed Verratti. He followed Verratti because he couldn’t see Insigne. Because Insigne was at his back so it means, Insigne wasn’t in his visual angle. And when he shifted to Verratti, the connection between Insigne and Chiellini became free. And Chiellini could pass to Insigne easily.
In this situation, Insigne’s role was so important to make game. Normally, as you see, the triangle between Verratti, Chiellini and Emerson was unbalanced. So they couldn’t be productive.
But when this situation happened, Insigne closed to midfield from half-space or centre and when he closed, these 4 players could make 4 balanced, productive and diagonal triangles with each other. Because in math, with 4 points, you can make 4 triangles with 4 combination 3. The triangle made by Insigne, Emerson, Verratti, the triangle made by Insigne, Chiellini, Verratti, the triangle made by Chiellini, Verratti, Emerson, the triangle made by Insigne, Chiellini, Emerson.
2 of these 4 triangles were unbalanced. The triangle made by Chiellini, Verratti, Emerson and the triangle made by Insigne, Chiellini, Emerson. But in this situation, because Italy’s players could make game from 4 different triangles, they could confuse the opponent’s mind easily. Because the opponent’s players had to be careful about all of these 4 triangles. But it was nearly impossible because the opponent’s players had to think too many situations at the same time. Even if they could meet Italy’s players perfectly, with 1 of these 4 players little movement, the opponent’s all defending system could collapse. Because there were so many triangles and making game options.
In the same match, in a different situation, sometimes Florenzi supported midfield with the ball from half-space. And when he supported, Pellegrini shifted to the right wing and Berardi stayed at the right wing too. The opponent’s left centre midfielder didn’t change his position to meet Florenzi. In this situation, they had to make game by passing each other for the first step. Because there was not any teammate who could be an extra pass option. Only Immobile could be but as I said, the opponent’s centre midfielder covered him, so he couldn’t be an extra pass option for now.
As you see, the triangle occured by Florenzi, Pellegrini and Berardi was so unbalanced and unproductive. With that triangle, they couldn’t pass each other effectively. Because Florenzi’s and Berardi’s angles were not enough to be effective.
But they could use this triangle effectively in another way. If Florenzi could pass to Berardi directly and then Berardi pass to Pellegrini, they could make game effectively. Because after Pellegrini took the ball, he could pass to his teammates diagonally. For example, he could pass to Immobile. Also the opponent’s centre midfielder couldn’t cut the connection between Immobile and Pellegrini because Pellegrini’s pass would go to Immobile diagonal from the right wing. And because the opponent’s centre midfielder was taking position to block direct passes from centre to Immobile, he couldn’t cut the connection between Immobile and Pellegrini.
In this situation, Pellegrini could pass the ball to his teammates because of his visual angle. In the triangle with Berardi and Florenzi, only Pellegrini’s visual angle could see other teammates. Florenzi’s visual angle could see centre too but in this situation, because the opponent’s centre forward marked him centrally and the opponent’s left centre midfielder closed to him, he could just pass to Berardi or Pellegrini.
Berardi’s visual angle wasn’t useful to make game. Because he faced to Pellegrini and it means, he couldn’t pass directly or diagonally. He could just use simple and back passes.
Pellegrini had a big advantage if we compare him with Florenzi and Berardi. First of all, as I said, he could see the pitch diagonal and his teammates. Secondly, if we look at his angle in the triangle, he had so much angle. And it means, Pellegrini could make connection with both Florenzi and Berardi more easily. Thirdly, if Florenzi could pass to Berardi and then Berardi passed to Pellegrini, Pellegrini would have time to think about his pass options. Because before the ball came to him, he could already see his options. Fourthly, when the ball came to him, he would be free. The opponent’s left centre midfielder was marking him but in this situation, he tried to cover Florenzi.
So actually they could make game but they could make game in another way more easily. This making game way was little bit hard. First of all, probably Pellegrini would have to pass to only Immobile. Because Immobile was the only teammate who was close to Pellegrini. But to pass to Immobile, the ball would go too much distance and it means the ball’s speed could be too much for Immobile and it could be a problem for Immobile about controlling the ball. Secondly, if the opponent’s defense players were smart, they could mark Immobile easily and didn’t let him take the ball from Pellegrini. Because it was so clear that Pellegrini could just pass to Immobile to keep attacking. And of course the opponent had a lot of players to cover Immobile.
If we look at the passing connections, probably the first pass would go to Pellegrini from Florenzi because when Florenzi supported the attack from half-space, the opponent’s left centre midfielder met him. And it means, the opponent’s left centre midfielder could cut the connection between Florenzi and Berardi more easily than Florenzi and Pellegrini.
Now they could make game more productive with another way. If after the ball started to go to Pellegrini from Florenzi, Berardi started to move diagonal to half-space and if Pellegrini passed to Berardi, as soon as the ball came to Pellegrini from Florenzi, and then when Berardi took the ball, they would be in a great situation.
Because when Berardi took the ball from Pellegrini, not the opponent’s any player was close to him. The opponent’s left stopper had to cover him but he wasn’t close to Berardi. So Berardi would have time to think and look at his options. And from right half-space, he could make connections with his teammates more comfortably.
Also now look at the triangle which occurs by Pellegrini, Florenzi and Berardi. Now they had more balanced angles and it means, they could pass each other quickly and comfortably.
As another problem for Italy, Immobile has to check his teammates’ movements better and then try to escape the opponent’s back. Sometimes he doesn’t check and this time, he tries to escape the opponent’s back with one of his teammates. In this situation, the problem is, if 2 players move at the same direction, at the same time, the opponent can cover them comfortably. Because it is not confusing for the opponent. Because they move at the same direction, at the same time.
But if one of these players moves back and the other player moves forward, they can confuse the opponent’s mind and they can find space more comfortably because when it happens, the opponent’s defense line can’t remain as a line.
