By: COLIN REESE
Cesare Prandelli has a variety of formations available to him as the coach of the Italian national team, and each formation affects which players start and where.
Brazil, Spain, and Germany have been widely tipped to be the favorites in this World Cup, but perhaps Brazil and Italy are the real favorites because Brazil is Brazil and Italy has so many weapons and formation options available to them.
The 3-5-2 formation is a likely formation for Italy, but so too is the 4-3-2-1 formation. If Italy uses the 3-5-2 formation, then Prandelli will likely start Mario Balotelli and Antonio Cassano in the attack, but if Italy uses a 4-3-2-1 then perhaps Cassano is less likely to start with an overloaded midfield that would likely feature attacking midfielders and playmakers such as Antonio Candreva and Marco Verratti.
As for the defense, there is a belief amongst many people that Juventus center back, Leonardo Bonucci, performs much better in the 3-5-2 formation than in a four-man defensive set-up because he’s more famous as a ball-player rather than a ball-winner, but many observers feel that the Roma defensive midfielder, Daniele De Rossi, would perform better than Bonucci as the central defender in the three-man defensive set-up.
Italy could also start Leonardo Bonucci in the center of the defense with De Rossi as the defensive midfielder in the 3-5-2 system as well. Either way, Bonucci is a world-class center back that has the ability to perform at the World Cup.
At this point, it’s not clear what formation Prandelli will use, but whatever the defensive set-up, having Daniele De Rossi, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini all lining up centrally in defensive roles (and a defensive midfielder role in De Rossi’s case) is about as strong of a defense that can be found in the World Cup, with the obvious exception of Brazil which has Luiz Gustavo lining up as a defensive midfielder in front of Brazilian center backs Thiago Silva and David Luiz.
Given the quality of Italy’s players and the fact that they are very used to playing with one another, it’s more important to get the right players on the field rather than being married to a 3-5-2 formation or a 4-3-2-1 formation – or any other formation for that matter.
Andrea Pirlo and Daniele De Rossi will likely start in the midfield and Claudio Marchisio, Marco Verratti, and Antonio Candreva are key midfielders to find space for in the Starting XI.
With those five midfielders, Italy has De Rossi protecting the defense and providing quality passing from deep in the midfield with Pirlo floating around as the regista or deep-lying playmaker that not only orchestrates the passing but that also provides plenty of defensive coverage, and Italy also has Marchisio, Verratti, and Candreva providing everything one could ask for out of midfielders: creativity, defending, running, world-class passing, and attacking prowess.
After seeing Italy recently, it has become clear that Verratti is too talented of a passer and too active of a two-way midfielder to not start, and it has also become clear that the non-stop two-way play of Candreva and Marchisio prevents opponents like England from being able to just try to swarm Pirlo and take him out of the game; Italy’s other midfielders besides Pirlo are too talented and active to not pay constant attention to.
Italy’s opponents won’t be able to treat Italy as a squad that lives and dies by Pirlo because all of Italy’s other midfielders are world-class midfielders that almost any national team would love to have and start.
Prandelli no longer has to decide on the ideal strike partner for Balotelli because De Rossi, Pirlo, Marchisio, Verratti, and Candreva provide so much passing quality that Italy can flood the midfield with world-class midfielders who can all keep possession and create scoring chances for Balotelli or any of Italy’s midfielders, plus attacking midfielders like Candreva and Verratti can provide much of the passing in the final third that Cassano provides.
Candreva is a legit scoring threat and attacking weapon in his own right with or without Balotelli, and Prandelli will likely make starting Candreva in the midfield a bigger priority than given Balotelli a striker partner. Balotelli doesn’t need a striker partner.
Defending Italy and trying to attack Italy will be a problem for any national team because trying to not only contain all of those midfielders but also trying to pick them apart with passing will be a tall order given the quality and quantity of midfielders on the field at the same time. To make matters worse, Balotelli will be very active in stretching opposing defenses with his speed and skill and defending him is a nightmare whether or not he has quality service.
While Italy’s likely formation is anyone’s guess, Ignazio Abate and Mattia De Sciglio look poised to start as the right and left back or the right and left wingbacks, and Giorgio Chiellini and Andrea Barzagli or Leonardo Bonucci are likely to start as the center backs.
If Italy uses a three man defense then Barzagli, De Rossi/Bonucci, and Chiellini looked poised to start, in which case Thiago Motta would slide into the defensive midfielder role.
Look for the following players to likely start for Italy perhaps in a 4-3-2-1 formation:
Gigi BUFFON; Ignazio ABATE, Leonardo BONUCCI, Giorgio CHIELLINI, Mattia DE SCIGLIO; Daniele DE ROSSI, Andrea PIRLO, Claudio MARCHISIO; Antonio CANDREVA, Marco VERRATTI; Mario BALOTELLI.
If Italy uses a 3-5-2 formation, the look for this Italy XI:
BUFFON; BARZAGLI, BONUCCI, CHIELLINI; ABATE, DE ROSSI, PIRLO, VERRATTI/ MARCHISIO, DE SCIGLIO; BALOTELLI, CASSANO/CANDREVA.