Conte Needs Entire Squad to Shoulder Goalscoring Burden

Before Italy kicked off their final warm-up game before the Euros against Finland in Verona, Carlo Tavecchio, the bumbling FIGC president, honoured Luca Toni for his services to the national team with a handshake and a commemorative shirt. Printed on the back was his name, the No.9 along with the message “Grazie Campione.” The 28,000 in attendance at the Bentegodi applauded the retired striker and as they did presumably the same thought went through all their heads: if only Italy had a player like him leading the line at the Euros.  

This summer marks a decade since the Azzurri last won a major tournament and to look at the forwards Marcello Lippi selected for that tournament is to be hit by a hammer with pangs of nostalgia. Pippo Inzaghi, Francesco Totti, Alessandro Del Piero, Alberto Gilardino and Toni all scored big goals along the way to the final in Berlin.  

Even allowing for the style and emphasis of a country that gave the world catenaccio, finding the back of the net has never traditionally been a problem for Italy. After all, this is a nation that has produced some of the greatest goalscorers of all-time; Silvio Piola, Giuseppe Meazza, Gigi Riva, Roberto Bettega, Paolo Rossi. I could go on. But as Italy prepare to leave for their training camp in Montpellier it is a concern perhaps like never before.  

Going into their last dress rehearsal before the tournament, the Azzurri’s goals per game average under Antonio Conte stood at 1.38. They had scored more than once on seven occasions during his 19-game tenure. Through qualifying, 19 teams scored more goals. They managed to beat the keeper as many times as Cyprus, Israel and Northern Ireland [16] did, and of the teams participating in the Euros who came through a six-team group format only Sweden [15] Turkey, Ukraine, [14], Romania, Wales and Hungary [11] celebrated fewer goals. Until the final round of qualifying Giorgio Chiellini [2] was the Azzurri’s joint top scorer. In the end, Graziano Pellè [3] just beat him to it.  

It’s cause for plenty of reflection. Mario Balotelli was never going to be called up to this squad. His character isn’t compatible with Conte’s and the form he displayed at Milan this season didn’t merit inclusion. But one stat puts Italy’s current predicament in stark relief. Balotelli has 13 goals for Italy, which is more than the five strikers selected by Conte have mustered between them [11]. Pellè accounts for half of them and for that reason it seems certain he will start against Belgium in Lyon on Monday.  

His big man, little man partnership with Éder emerged as Italy’s first choice in qualifying. However, Conte must be concerned by the drop-off in his form since the oriundo moved to Inter in the winter. Éder finished the season with 13 league goals. A respectable total. Pellè, by comparison, went just one better in England. However, the trouble when judging Éder is that only one arrived after he joined Inter. In the meantime, his sharpness has been blunted and his confidence has taken a beating.  

Against Finland Conte decided to go back to the future. Simone Zaza and Ciro Immobile, the self-proclaimed “couple of ignorants”, were fielded together just as they were at the beginning of the Conte era against the Netherlands and Norway. The pair got on famously, struck up an instant understanding and scored a goal a piece. It made Conte look like a genius. But if something seems too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true and so it turned out. 

Zaza struggled to cope with expectation, his form suffered and since moving to Juventus he has become fourth choice, his game-time is more limited although it must be said he has distinguished himself as an impact substitute. As for Immobile, the Capocannoniere in Serie A two seasons ago, he has flopped at Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla.  

On Monday night, neither scored, but Zaza in particular came in for praise for his link up play, the aggression he brought to the game and energy he showed in closing opponents down. The conclusion many drew from his performance is that he earned himself “a promotion” and deserves to start against Belgium. All considered then can we expect a partnership of Zaza and Pellè? Well, don’t hold your breath. They have never played together under Conte. It has either been Pellè and Éder [7] or Zaza and Immobile [6]. 

Curiously, Pellè and Zaza haven’t even played a minute together. One came on for the other against Finland. It would suggest Conte considers them one and the same, too similar, although it was Zaza, not Immobile, who was coming short and combining as a second striker at the Bentegodi.  

While Italy definitely need to score more, maybe focusing on the forwards, as anyone who followed Conte’s Juventus will appreciate, is to lose sight of how goalscoring is a team effort. Italy’s last seven goals have been scored by seven different players. Both their strikes against Finland came from midfielders. Antonio Candreva is Italy’s second top scorer since Conte replaced Cesare Prandelli and his country’s designated penalty taker. Daniele De Rossi got the other one. It was his 18th for the Azzurri. No one in this squad has more international goals than the veteran Roma leader.  

Some have reacted negatively to that stat, claiming it underlines that where once Italy had an embarrassment of riches up front, now there is poverty. I would counter that it demonstrates what a great servant De Rossi has been to his country. To put his record into some perspective, he has scored more goals for Italy than Toni, Luca Vialli, Gianni Rivera, Balotelli, Toto Di Natale, Gianfranco Zola, Totti, Fabrizio Ravanelli, Fabio Capello, and Giampiero Boniperti. A big winner on Monday night, the impact De Rossi made when he came on, in particular the directness with which he played, increases his chances of starting at the expense of the player he replaced, the slow and short of fitness Thiago Motta.  

“We’re shooting a lot at goal,” Conte observed. “All we need is a little bit more luck. It’ll be uphill for us at the Euros. But I am sure we’ll give everything.” Conte does not have the same luxury as Cesare Maldini, the last Italy coach to take a team to a major tournament in France. Maldini was lucky enough to be able to call upon Christian Vieri, Del Piero, Roby Baggio, Inzaghi and Enrico Chiesa.  

Without that special somebody in the box, Conte knows the goals will have to come from everybody. At best, it will give Italy an element of surprise and that very unpredictability could take them far. At worst, Conte could look like a magician desperately reaching into a hat apparently unable to pull out a rabbit. Which is it to be? We’ll soon find out.