Yesterday’s defeat against Germany highlighted all the defensive problems currently troubling the Italian National Team. Should Italy fail to overcome the deficit in the return match of the Nations League quarter-final, Luciano Spalletti‘s side will be eliminated and placed into a World Cup qualifying group featuring Norway, Israel, Estonia and Moldova.
This means there is currently a significant chance of having to face Haaland on the road to the next World Cup. For this reason, journalist Paolo Condò has suggested the possibility to coach Spalletti of considering recalling Francesco Acerbi to the national team. The Inter defender, who has neutralized the Norwegian striker on two previous occasions, remains currently the best Italian central defender when marking physically imposing attackers.
This was Condò’s advice: Man-to-man marking used against Germany did not fix the mistakes seen when playing zonal defense against France; quite the contrary. If after the first corner everything already collapses, you even lose the desire to organize a proper response. I suggested recalling Francesco Acerbi whose last international appearance came a year and a half ago, against Ukraine, in the game that secured our qualification to the European Championship due to his expertise marking Haaland and other physically imposing number 9s. Until there is time to build a coherent defensive system—and until the World Cup it will be tough to find it—it’s better to bet on individual qualities.
