Motionless, 36 goals and a golden boot are not enough: why is Mancini still on par with Belotti? | First page

After 291, the selection of Roberto Mancini returns to the field, against Bosnia in the first round of the new edition of Nations League. Having left the terrible months of the pandemic behind and shelved the bitterness over the slippage of a European who would have seen them competitive again, the Azzurri they left of the party in Florence and of the certainties represented by our two forwards, Andrea Belotti and Ciro Immobile. Never together, but always protagonists of a true relay, which curiously – against Dzeko and his teammates – will reward the Turin center forward.

THE CHOICE OF MANCINI – The choice was made, as Mancini himself explained at the press conference the day before: “We have to think of two games in three days, there are players with only two or three days of training. We have to see the brightest. Almost everyone will play a game. In fact, with very little fuel in the legs, next Monday will be the time to face a much more forceful match on paper, the away game against the Netherlands (orphan of Koeman, De Ligt and De Vrij). , but certainly makes the fresh player the winner of the last Golden Shoe (the last Italian was Totti in 2007) He still has not convinced Mancini to bet decisively on him.

THE NUMBERS DON’T LIE – For a technician who must be recognized, among the many advantages of his management, for having always awarded merit, shooting many players without looking at their identity cards – from Zaniolo before his explosion with Roma to two provincial forwards like Lasagna and Caputo- certain numbers cannot be ignored. In one of the most difficult years in Torino’s recent history, Belotti was able to score 16 goals in 36 games., in addition to 6 in the same number of games of the qualifying rounds of the Europa League; Immobile has known how to go beyond the ordinary, equaling the primacy of Higuaín’s goals (36) in the League and becoming a true driver of a Lazio that has specifically dreamed of the Scudetto. At the Biancoceleste, especially in recent years, Immobile has managed to establish itself as a relentless bomber, but evidently, even at a time of obvious shortage of great forwards for our football, Mancini has other ideas. Hoping that he is right.