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DAILY TOPIC: Why is Italy's defence always better than their attack?

  /  Afy

Italy's progress to the knockout phase of the 2018 World Cup has caught many obstacles. They may even lose the ticket for Russia after a flop in Sweden. (The tense second leg will kick off at San Siro on Monday at 19:45 GMT) 

In fact, statistics show that Italy had kept a clean sheet in 5 games during the group stage, but when facing the teams like Spain and now Sweden, their attacking line could do little. And it's known to us all that Italian fooball is famous for their defence. There is even an Italian term called Catenaccio which implies a highly organised and effective backline defence focused on nullifying opponents' attacks and preventing goal-scoring opportunities, while the attack of Azzurri seems to have less gloss. 

What are the reasons? Why is Italy's defence always considered better than their attack? 

EXCITING NEWS for AF EXPERTS: From today on, we will select some of your most convincing comments and post them here, sharing with all AFers! And you have chance to be selected as 'AF Manager of the week'. So speak out what's on your mind, show us your football-related knowledge and be as convincing as possible! You are to be the next AF Manager now! 

Reminder: if your comment without any convincing reasons, it will be removed. 

Experts of last DAILY TOPIC: Will Argentina become a better team if they rely less on Messi?

@Rutkos_2: There are 2 aspects to consider here:

➡️SHORT TERM

NO. This is because we've seen their performance without Messi. They play football which is not enough to make them qualify for World Cup. In qualifiers, when without Leo, they did not seem like Argentina. So, making Messi the central point and playing around him is best for now.

➡️ LONG TERM

YES and they have to. Messi is 30 now and whatever he may have done he's still a human. This will be the last World Cup when he would be in his prime. La Albiceleste would need to find an ideal replacement for him and hence would have to gradually shift to a more team oriented tactics.

So, Messi is the one on whom Argentina can rely for the World Cup. But, after that tactics should be altered and they must become less reliant on the Legend.

#ForcaMessi

#ThinkaboutFuture

@raheem_CFC: I don't think Argentina will become a better team if they rely on Messi too much. I see instances where players on the park can pick a better pass or even make a drive forward and score but instead the first thing they do is look for Messi. I think this mentally hampers the confidence of the players because they don't believe in themselves to do something special without involving Messi... yes he's the one of the best but sometimes he's not the one to receive the ball or anything of that sort. if one day Messi do not then up then the team will fail because they are depending on him to do everything instead of trying for themselves. I believe if all these Argentina players work together they can be very difficult to defeat. players like Messi, dybala, higuain, icardi, aguero, di Maria, and others is a pretty talented team who can defeat any team. but because they rely on Messi their own light fail to shine. Messi gets an injury or retire the whole team falter and fail. so my answer is Argentina won't be a better team if they soly rely on Messi

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