Italy National Team’s Midfield Must Take Shape in Scotland Friendly

As the Italian national team begin their final preparation for the 2016 UEFA European Championship, there are major worries about an important part of the team.

Italy’s midfield is in shambles.  Coach Antonio Conte is heading into the Euros with severe injury problems in his team’s power plant.

Juventus midfielder Claudio Marchisio, a midfield staple for both club and country, tore his ACL early in the Bianconeri’s 4-0 win over Palermo on April 17.  Intimately familiar with Conte and his systems from their time together at Juve and excellent as both a box-to-box midfielder or a deep-lying regista, his loss was a major blow to Italy’s efforts in France.

Equally jarring was the news in early May that Paris Saint-Germain’s Marco Verratti would also miss the tournament.  The 23-year-old from Pescara had been dealing with a sports hernia for months and only appeared in two matches since February.

He had been trying to rehab the injury with an eye to playing at the Euros, but sports hernias are tricky beasts, and eventually he had to concede defeat and undergo surgery to correct the problem.

The loss of Verratti, a resolute defender and probably the best passer under consideration for the tournament, was another devastating blow to the Azzurri.  They were expecting to go to France with two men who are arguably among the 15 best midfielders in the world.  Now they’re scrambling to cover.

Things only got worse as Conte’s provisional 30-man roster began training …

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