The Don Speaks

By: Martha | September 28th, 2007

Say what now? Apart from when he sagely announced that it could be “a problem” for Antonio Di Natale if the striker didn’t leave Udinese (Seriously? What, he wouldn’t take an actual, productive striker because he wasn’t playing in Europe? Give me a break.) for a bigger club, Roberto Donadoni has been quiet lately, just glorying in the fact that no one is calling for him to be fired this minute.

Now that silence is over, though, and The Don is — verbally, at least — taking a hard(ish) line with Alex Del Piero and his demands to only be played at the top of the Azzurri formation. When asked about Del Piero’s statement, Donadoni insisted he’s willing to take the aging Juve man as a striker, but quickly added that “the more flexible a player is, the more chance he has of playing.” Know what that means, Alex? He’s going to pick you and then leave you in the stand for both games, this time, rather than just the second one.

Or not. According to The Don, this round of matches might just be the time for experimentation, and the inclusion of some youth (apart from the Roman kids who are already in the team) is a possibility. Of course, by saying names like Montolivo and Rosina, Donadoni isn’t exactly going out on a limb, is he? It’s hard to imagine anyone would suggest those haven’t earned a chances with the full national team and, though it may be a bit early for Don’s other examples, Guiseppe Rossi and Marco Borriello, the former is certainly on everyone’s Azzurri radar. Borriello? Well, he’s had a good start, at least.

Qualifiers aren’t exactly the best place for messing about, but given the upcoming opponents (Georgia ~~and the Faroes Scotland~~)* and how uninspiring things have been for the past several months, throwing some kids who can play into the mix might not be the worst idea. Of course, if The Don actually does that and it backfires, all of Italy will want his head on a platter for having the nerve to turn away from the old guard — never mind that the old guard were being destroyed in the press about a month ago.

Oh, and also: Gianluca Zambrotta has an ankle injury and is probably going to miss the Georgia. Super.

*Thanks to Francesco for sorting me out on the schedule thing once and for all.