Coaching Youth Soccer

Marcelo Lippi’s current Italian squad has been criticised by several soccer pundits as being too old.  The team is very likely to be fairly new by the Brazilian World Cup, when athletes such as 32 year-old Gianluigi Buffon, 36 year-old Fabio Cannavaro, 32 year-old Gennaro Gattuso, and other players like Andrea Pirlo (31), Gianluca Zambrotta (33), Vincenzo Iaquinta (30), Mauro Camoranesi (33), and Antonio Di Natale (32) are sure to be gone from the team.  Who will Lippi or his successor choose to replace the team?

Lorenzo De Silvestri    Defender     (Fiorentina)    Aged 22
The former Lazio full back cuts an imposing figure for a full back at just over six feet tall.  After a 2009 move to Fiorentina, De Silvestri has exemplified the form that set him apart whilst playing for Italy’s U16 and U21 teams. De Silvestri’s power as a fullback may end up earning him a position on the national team in place of Zambrotta.

Davide Santon        Defender    (Inter)        Aged 19
Santon, who made a striking 28 appearances for Inter this season and five for Azzuri, is a skillful defender with an ability to play either flank successfully. Compared by Italian head coach Marcelo Lippi to Paolo Maldini, Santon has fantastic energy and can race up and down the flanks for the full 90 minutes. Technically sound too, Santon, barring injury and a dramatic loss of form, should be a member of the next few Italian squads at major finals events.

Mario Balotelli        (Striker)    (Inter)        Aged 19
Inter’s hot headed and often temperamental striker can play anywhere in attack or as a winger and has been heralded as one of the brightest hopes wearing the official italy soccer jersey for a generation.  Despite his tender years and numerous run ins with fans and management at Inter, Balotelli has scored an impressive 20 goals in 59 games and has notched 6 in 16 for the Italian U21 side. His time will surely come in the Euro 2012 qualifiers when Italy are going to need a new look strike force.

Federico Macheda    (Striker)    (Man Utd)    Aged 18
A fiercely underrated player that has yet to regularly make the first team at Old Trafford, Macheda is set to have a great next season and catch they eye of Azzuri management. The striker’s strength and intelligence make him a force to be reckoned with, especially in terms of goal scoring. Particularly good with his back to goal, he has already been capped at U21 level for Italy and if he can start to make a bigger impact in the United first team, full honours should soon follow.

Antonio Candreva    (Midfielder)    Udinese    Aged 23
Finding a replacement for Andrea Pirlo may be the Italian sides greatest challenge in the next few years and one possible replacement could be Candreva. Pundits speculate that the Udinese midfielder will make his loan to Juventus a more permanent situation, especially since his abilities to play the entire midfield and master the perfection of Pirlo’s holding, creative role have been urging a permanent position.