OK Baron Ill give it a bash,
player for player I'd say Italy have a stronger team than England-and altho Im scottish this is a strictly objective view:
Buffon(best Keeper in the world and better than Robinson by a stretch)
Zacardo(inexperienced and untested tho had a great season in serie A but Neville would win this battle due to experience)
Centre backs: Cannavaro and Nesta(John terry is on par with these players but the rest of england centre halfs are not anywhere near-possibly the best centre back partnership in the tournament)
Zambrotta: superb Juventus Fullback with vast experience, different type of fullback than Cole, a bit more defensive but rock solid and probably a better defender than cole tho for coles attacking abilities I would tie this
Camoranesi: has proved one of the best attacking midfielders in the past 12 months and everybit as good as Lampard if not better- would also tie this between the 2
Pirlo: has been excellent for Milan for the past 2 years his dead ball freekicks are more deadly than Beckhams and he would win this battle for me-even though Beckham has played well over the past 6 months Pirlo is technically a better player tho less experienced
Gattusso: excellent player who always fights for everything-a lot more defensive than Gerrard but never gives up. Gerrad IMO is the on form player at the moment and probably the best midfielder in the world at the moment-including over Ronaldinho so Gerrad would have to win this
Totti: I think Italy will play Totti on the left and by default wins hands down against any left sided midfielders England have, hes superb tho his temperament lets him down a bit- Joe cole looks likely to be employed down the left and although had a great season with Chelsea and got all the tricks in the book Totti is by a country mile a better player who also scores a lot more Goals
Laca Toni: Italys poacher and first player to score over 30 goals in serie A in something like 40 years- in terms of recent form better than, Crouch better than Owen, better than Walcott-simply superb player and expect him at Milan or Juve either this year or next
Del Piero: not had the greatest of seasons tho still a mainstay in the Juve squad-his last world cup and he'll want to make it a good one-last chance to get his hands on the world cup: over Rooney: if Rooney is only half fit I think Del Piero would win the battle but a fully fit Rooney is better-results pending depending which rooney you have
overall I would say Italy have a better 11 first team starters BUT they also have quality in depth- they have numerous players who can come in and cover for any of these players: Gilardino, Rossi, Inzaghi, peruzzi, Materazzi, Perotta, Iaquinta
Good choices Hairy.
I agree about Buffon and Zacardo. The centre half pairing is splitting hairs IMO. Both England's and yours are fantastic - there's nothing between them. Zambrotta plays on the right? Anyway he is a fantastic player and I would match with Cole yes but probably put him ahead of Neville.
Camoranesi I always hear great things about but he never does it where it matters - in the Champions League. I rate Lampard higher. Gattuso I'm a huge fan of but he wont compare to Gerrard on current form.
Pirlo over Beckham - fair enough. Totti over Cole is a tough one. Over the years I have to agree but in the last 2 years I'm not so sure. Cole has been different class in the the PREM and the CL the last 2 years. Totti suffers from never having left Roma and I don't remember the last good European game he had.
Your striker choices are a bit odd. No Inzaghi, no Gilardino? I do think you have better depth in strikers, I only rate England's first two and neither of them are fit right now. An in form Owen/Rooney I would match against any two though. Unfortunately Owen looks rubbish/unfit and Rooney is buggered.
Author