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cm grafica difesa italia
Emanuele Tramacere
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From Bastoni to Scalvini and while waiting for Leoni: the best defence for Italy depends on... Dimarco

Italy
R. Mancini
A. Bastoni
G. Mancini
R. Calafiori
G. Scalvini
G. Leoni
D. Coppola
Inter
Juventus
Roma
Atalanta
SSC Napoli
Borussia Dortmund
Liverpool

Mancini continue to experiment with the make-up of his defensive line, but the future also depends on integration with the big absentee from this round of matches: Dimarco.

Italy are heading into their third straight game of this new Italy cycle under Roberto Mancini and, in all likelihood, with a third different answer to the question of who starts in the middle of the back four that has followed the head coach since the start of his new Azzurri tenure.

For France, the toughest test of these first four Nations League games, the Azzurri are expected to combine elements from the defeat to Belgium and the emphatic win in Turkey. But looking ahead, which of the players currently available could be the best long-term option in that role?


  • Dimarco’s role

    As mentioned, there are plenty of options, even with the absentees from this round. But the key issue will also inevitably shift to another factor: where and how to fit in another major absentee from these call-ups, Inter full-back Federico Dimarco.


    Last season's best player in Serie A is clearly a potential asset for the Azzurri, but at Inter he has always played out wide in a five-man midfield and, in the past, a switch to a back four has not brought the same results. The sense is that, if Dimarco is to play as an orthodox full-back, he needs a more natural marker alongside him than Alessandro Bastoni. It is different if Mancini decides to push the Italian out wide into the midfield line as an extra winger, a possibility already hinted at in certain moments, with Calafiori covering behind him at full-back.

  • Bastoni certainty?

    Right now, Alessandro Bastoni is clearly the best defender Roberto Mancini has available. The mistake in Zenica against Bosnia may have checked his progress with the Azzurri, but the Inter centre-back remains the most complete option when it comes to blending defensive work, more through reading the game than tight marking, with building from the back.

    Born in 1999, he can also lead the defender alongside him when needed, as he did in Turkey with Scavlini, but he still needs a more natural marker next to him or, at the very least, major support from a defensive full-back.

    Even so, Bastoni is a sure thing, but as mentioned, Dimarco's role could lead Mancini to consider a different defensive setup in certain matches.

  • Who with Bastoni?

    If Bastoni is the certainty, Italy now need the right partner alongside him, ideally a right-footer whose qualities complement his. They need a stopper, maybe one who can dominate in the air, read the toughest deliveries and claim them, while still being reliable with the ball at his feet when building from the back.

    This time, the centre-back options among the call-ups are Roma's Gianluca Mancini (on the pitch against Belgium), Atalanta's Giorgio Scalvini, Arsenal's Riccardo Calafiori, Roma's Daniele Ghilardi, Paris FC's Diego Coppola (on the pitch against Belgium) and even Honest Ahanor, now at Crystal Palace.

    With Calafiori viewed more as a full-back than a centre-back, or at most as Bastoni's replacement because he is naturally left-footed, the best pairings alongside the Inter defender in a back four are still Gianluca Mancini, the most natural marker among all those called up, and Giorgio Scalvini, the strongest on the ball and in the air.

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  • Leoni, Buongiorno, Reggiani and... Gatti

    Looking at possible call-ups and the players who might fit best alongside Bastoni, or even replace him, Alessandro Buongiorno cannot be ignored. He is currently sidelined and has had two injury-hit seasons behind him, but he is more of a marker than the Inter player and, like him, left-footed.

    Federico Gatti also deserves consideration, especially if he gets regular minutes again in future, even if not with Juventus. He is perhaps the most old-school defender of the lot and the one best suited to a pure back four. It should not be forgotten that the best results achieved under Spalletti's Italy came before the break with Acerbi, with the former Inter and Lazio man on the pitch in place of Bastoni.

    As for the younger names, expectations remain extremely high. If he picks up his development from where he left off before his knee injury, Giovanni Leoni, now at Liverpool after emerging at Parma, could be the perfect centre-back to pair with Bastoni. Another one to keep an eye on with the future in mind is Luca Reggiani, born in 2008, formerly of Sassuolo and now at Borussia Dortmund.