Norway U21 1-1 Italy U21: Tactical Player Report

Luca Caldirola

The Inter Milan youth product isn’t the most talented player around, but he has certainly made up for it with sheer dedication and hard work. Over the course of the group stage games, he has served as an efficient, calm and able captain of the side.

This Italian side, much like many of its predecessors, likes to play out from the back. In order to do so effectively, it is vital that at least one defender be comfortable on the ball. Caldirola is all this and more. He has a sweet first touch and plays exquisite passes along the floor to his midfielders. He doesn’t like to hold on to it for long either, and looks to keep the game flowing. In this match against the Norwegians, he completed an excellent 84 passes at a very decent success rate of 86%.

Despite the fact that his technique on the ball is good, Caldirola seems to lack the intelligence and the creativity of a natural ball player. He often plays very short and safe passes, rather than adventurous forward-looking ones. This pragmatic attitude will be praised by many, but sometimes this inability to spark an attack works to his disadvantage and leaves the team over-reliant on players like Veratti to do the creative job.

Generally, Caldirola is a very calm and composed character who doesn’t get harried easily under pressure. He’s always got his head up, and is always thinking – the sign of a good player. Even when he’s deep in his own penalty area, he isn’t rushed into clearing the ball, but instead performs a quick survey of his options and selects one. This enables him to be more aware of his surroundings. The foolish fouls towards the end of the game are more of an aberration than a habit.

Caldirola generally tends to be quite conservative in his decision-making while defending. On many occasions, he picks positions that many would see the traditional sweeper in. Even when challenging for the ball, he is rarely the first one out pressing, and prefers to maintain his position.

Aerially, he is quite a threat going forward. He is a good header of the ball, and forced a good save from the opposing keeper with a flick-on. As an attacker at set pieces, he moves intelligently as well, and he managed to lose his marker on more than one occasion during the Norway game.

Marco Capuano

(L-R) Yann-Erik de Lanlay of Norway U21 and Marco Capuano of Italy U21 during the UEFA U21 Championship match between Norway U21 and Italy U21 on June 11, 2013 at the Bloomfield stadium in Tel Aviv, Israel.

The other half of the strong central defensive combination for Italy, Capuano complimented Caldirola very well through the course of the game. While Caldirola was generally slightly more conservative, Capuano chose to be the aggressor.

When one is the aggressive component of a two-man central defensive combination, it is that player’s duty to come out and challenge for the ball, both aerially and on the ground. Capuano played his role perfectly, winning a number of duels against the opposition forwards, and generally forcing them to make mistakes. This combination play meant that Norway barely threatened Italy from open play, and relied on set pieces to create opportunities. Over the 90 minutes, he made 8 tackles, 2 interceptions, and 5 effective clearances.

Capuano was also the player providing the attacking thrust from deeper areas for the Italian side which, for large parts of the game, struggled to string passes together. In the absence of Marco Veratti, who got a well-deserved day off, Capuano did a decent job of filling the play-maker role. His intention to pass out from the back allowed midfielders like Crimi and Rossi to play in advanced areas. The defender attempted 6 long passes, of which 4 found their mark. Overall, he managed to make 73 passes at a satisfactory completion rate of 84%.

The aerial ability of the Pescara man is particularly impressive. His physical size doesn’t hurt his cause at all, but his jumping is also quite good. Such attributes put together make him a force in the air. This is why he is the one making and winning most challenges for the first ball, while someone like Caldirola drifts further back to sweep up behind him.