Italy Women hosted Sweden Women at Stadio Teofilo Patini in Castel di Sangro for the second match of the UEFA Women’s Nations League group stage, and the game ended with a 0-1 win for Sweden and a first loss for the newly-appointed Italian head coach Andrea Soncin, who has overseen just two matches so far with the Azzurre.
His first results aren’t that bad if we consider the level of the opponents and the fact that he has just taken charge of the team. Winning in his first away game against a tough team like Switzerland can be seen as an excellent start for this new era, and losing to Sweden, who are one of the world’s best teams, cannot undermine the team’s potential for further development and for getting better results very soon.
It is also true that the coaching staff’s impact won’t fully be seen right away, and time will be needed for us to be able to assess the performances and the ideas of the team.
Nevertheless, this tactical analysis article will serve as a first look into Soncin’s thoughts, his preferred tactics and lineups so far, and what he needs to work on to have a solid Italy side for the upcoming competitions. The analysis will also focus on Sweden’s win and what helped them achieve it while analysing their playing style during this match.
Lineups
Italy’s head coach, Andrea Soncin, started his second match with the Azzurre using the 4-3-3 formation with the return of Laura Giuliani as a goalkeeper Valentina Bergamaschi as a right-back, Martina Lenzini and Elena Linari as centre-backs and Lucia Di Guglielmo as a left-back. The midfield was composed of Manuela Giugliano, Arianna Caruso and Aurora Galli, and the attacking players were Sofia Cantore and Valentina Giacinti as wingers and Martina Piemonte as a striker.
On the other side, Sweden’s manager, Peter Gerhardsson, opted for the 4-2-3-1 formation with Jennifer Falk as a goalkeeper, Nathalie Björn, Juventus‘ Linda Sembrant, Bayern Munich‘s Magdalena Eriksson, and Jonna Andersson defence, Filippa Angeldal and Elin Rubensson as central midfielders, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd and Lina Hurtig as wingers while Milan’s Kosovare Asllani played as an advanced playmaker just behind the Arsenal striker Stina Blackstenius.
Italy’s new era
What is already essential for Italy under the management of the new head coach Soncin is the fact that he allowed the players who were put aside by the former head coach Milena Bertolini to return and be at the heart of the national team to provide the necessary experience and help the younger players to integrate into the team as well. Soncin has shown in his first two games that he is determined to play a convincing yet realistic type of football, using players in their positions without too complicating things or using them out of position, which is already a promising sign.
In addition, he tried to use three proper strikers upfront instead of using midfielders out of their positions. The trio of Piemonte, Giacinti and Cantore looked promising against Switzerland, and even though it was less convincing against Sweden, Italy can work harder with these three players to have an attack with more chemistry and a greater ability to convert the balls that they receive into goals. This comes with extensive training and with games played together.
Also, using a key player like Cristiana Girelli as a second-half striker can be considered an intelligent idea and a weapon that can be used perfectly at opponents’ expense. Nevertheless, it will be necessary not to lose the confidence of such a remarkable striker and to give her the needed time on the pitch. The ability to handle this group of players without creating internal issues will be critical to Soncin’s success with Italy. If he is able to master this psychological aspect and win the players, things will eventually look more promising for the Azzurre.
From an attacking perspective, some work will be needed, especially regarding the slow build-up and the inability to create dangerous chances apart from crossing attempts or penetrations from midfielders followed by shots from a distance. Being able to move the ball quicker using short and quick passes and moving better inside the opponent’s half would be helpful for Italy’s attacking improvement.
This requires both midfielders and forwards to be more participatory in the build-up phase by moving more actively and passing more accurately to disturb opposing defenders and create spaces and half-spaces. In this match against Sweden, the impressive we had was that the team’s midfield was frequently slow in the build-up and lacked dynamism inside the final third. The three strikers could not move or pass the ball dangerously, even though they were determined to score goals.
The frustration of Piemonte in the following action resumes the lack of solution upfront and the precipitation to score to the point that Piemonte failed to orient this header towards the goal even though the one who was beside her was a teammate and not an opponent disturbing her.
From a defensive perspective, the players’ positioning requires attention and improvement when conceding attacks, especially when these attacks start from the wings. Italy’s defenders tend to leave an opponent unmarked during some of the match’s actions, paving the way for them to exploit this numerical superiority and punish the Azzurre. Therefore, Direct and tight marking will need to be a priority to improve the team’s defensive performance.
Moreover, individual marking during crosses or set-pieces needs to be addressed as soon as possible to reduce the opponents’ danger from such situations. Italy’s performance was not as poor as expected since the team had more possession than Sweden, with 56.95% for Italy against 43.05% for Sweden.
Indeed, this possession wasn’t always exploited in the needed way, yet some good signs were seen in this match, such as the ability to create numerous chances and reach the goal very often. This performance lacked the inability to concretise the created chances due to precipitation at times and lack of accuracy at other times. This is an example of wrong shooting decisions since Giacinti hurried to shoot without checking to see if there was a better-positioned player than herself during this action.
Nevertheless, shooting 14 times can only be seen as a positive thing for Soncin’s side, especially when Sweden only attempted six shots. Yet, Italy had one shot on goal out of 14, which is a poor average. And Sweden had two shots on goal.
Sweden’s performance
Sweden’s performance in this match was characterised by maturity and experience since they knew when to give their best to score, economise their energy, and opt for defending. Since they knew that Italy would strive to score since they play at home and under a new head coach, Sweden did not try to risk and attempt attacks so often.
They preferred to build from the back and attack whenever possible without forcing attacks or playing with a high defensive bloc. This prevented Italy from having counter-attacking options.
With their first goal being scored quite early in the game, thanks to Johanna Rytting Kaneryd’s shot and especially to Hurtig’s excellent movement on the left wing, Sweden played without too much stress during the remaining part of the game. It looked confident in defence even though they conceded numerous chances, especially during the last few minutes of the game.
What helped Sweden’s defence remain compact and avoid conceding goals was their excellent organisation during set-pieces and their disciplined tight marking during such actions, which disturbed the Italian forwards and didn’t allow them to shoot on goal.
That said, finishing with a 0-1 result against Italy is undoubtedly positive for Sweden. Yet, Sweden are capable of doing better and of scoring more goals.
Not falling into the trap of becoming overconfident or lazy after scoring the first goal will be fundamental for the upcoming games. Sweden must always strive for the best possible result by exploiting their attacking possibilities and being more determined to score even if they already have the advantage.
This winning mentality can serve Sweden a lot as things can turn upside down quickly in football, and giving more than 100% throughout the game is usually the right way to approach such matches.
Conclusion
Italy shouldn’t be disappointed with this loss against one of the world’s best teams since they did their best to create chances and aim at scoring. However, what lacked their performance was the quick passing in midfield and the ability to concretise their created chances.
Working on finishing and on attacking without precipitation will be essential to scoring more goals in every game and in winning more fun, even against formidable defences, since we saw in this match that Italy’s problem was not chance creation but finishing and the ability to surprise defences with quick attacks, which eventually facilitates finishing.
For Sweden, the team succeeded in getting the needed three points without too many problems, even though they risked conceding a goal, especially during the last few minutes of the game. Scoring more goals in the upcoming games will be necessary, as Sweden have the tools to score against any team. We should also remember that goals can create the difference in the standings at the end of the group stage.
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