Imprecise Italy Leaves Scotland Friendly with Few Answers

On Sunday, Italy arrived in Malta for their first friendly match in their run-up to the 2016 UEFA European Championship.

The match against Scotland, played in the Maltese national stadium in Ta' Qali, was also the only game for Antonio Conte to evaluate his 30-man provisional roster before Tuesday's deadline for submitting his final squad.

That gave the game an importance far beyond its result. The Italians won 1-0 on a delicious curling strike by Graziano Pelle, but that was never Conte's main concern going into the match. He needed to work out who would make his final cut, especially in his injury-depleted midfield.

Unfortunately, there was little progress made on that account, at least not overtly. Italy won—their first victory in a friendly since November 18, 2014, when they eked out a 1-0 win over Albania in Genoa—but their play was sloppy and provided few clear answers to the persistent questions dogging the Azzurri as they prepare to set off on their French adventure.

There were areas where certainty reigned. Gianluigi Buffon had little to do on Saturday. He barely raised his gloves in anger. Matt Ritchie's shot off the side-netting in the 77th minute was Scotland's first attempt all game, and they never managed a strike on target. Buffon could have brought a nice book with him onto the field and still done his job comfortably.

There was never any doubt the Juventus man would be between the sticks for Italy, but the captain showed just how focused he is by clicking straight into gear whenever it was required of him.

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Likewise, there wasn't much that was a mystery about the team's defense

For the first time in months, the Juventus trio of Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini started at the back for Conte. They didn't miss a beat from their dominant form for their club, not allowing a shot until there were only 13 minutes left in the game and keeping the Scots from finding the target altogether.

Most of the time when you heard their names, it was when they were bombing forward to try to help the attack. They often got caught up in the disjointedness ahead of them, wasting the ball or over-running it. But they ensured that Italy was on the front foot for all but a few moments of the game. Bonucci also put his excellent passing skills on display, starting more than a few moves with well-placed balls.

It was farther upfield where the mysteries lay.

The midfield has been a source of concern for some time. Conte has been forced to plan for the tournament without his two best men at the position.

Juve's Claudio Marchisio tore his ACL while trying to make a tackle in the early stages of the team's 4-0 win over Palermo on April 17, keeping him out until at least late October. Paris Saint-Germain's Marco Verratti suffered a sports hernia in February that he tried to rehab in order to still be available for the Euros.

Unfortunately, those efforts didn't work. Sports hernias are notoriously tricky beasts, and it was announced at the beginning of May he would miss the tournament and eventually have surgery to correct the problem.

That left Conte at a huge disadvantage. Rather than being able to rely on a midfield featuring two of the best midfielders in the world, he is scrambling to find the right fill-in combination.

His work has been complicated even further by the fact both Riccardo Montolivo and Thiago Motta arrived at training camp at Coverciano with calf problems, per Football Italia. Daniele De Rossi, who would likely be on the roster bubble had everyone been healthy, was nursing an Achilles issue.

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That left Conte shorthanded against Scotland. Even though SportMediaset reported they're fit (h/t Football Italia), Motta and Montolivo were held out of the game entirely as a precaution. De Rossi came into the game looking to prove to the Italy boss how fit he really was.

His problems in midfield have affected Italy in more ways than one. The enforced absence of Marchisio and Verratti has also changed Italy's tactics, with Conte shifting back into his old standby from his Juve days, the 3-5-2.

Conte was criticized at Juve for tactical inflexibility when that wasn't the case. The coach stayed with the 3-5-2 so long because it was the only system that fit all of his players—remember he started his first season in a 4-3-3 before it became clear Juve's lack of true wingers and a left-back would be a hindrance.

With the national team, Conte has shifted formations a few times in recent international breaks, going through the 4-3-3 and 4-4-2 as well as the Italian's old standby. But without his top men, the incoming Chelsea head coach has reverted to the system he seemingly trusts the most.

On Sunday, that meant putting De Rossi into the regista position, flanked by Alessandro Florenzi and Emanuele Giaccherini, a Conte favorite who makes up for a lack of talent with a scrappiness and tendency to be in the right place at the right time.

Against Scotland, the best way to describe that midfield combination is strong but wrong. They always seemed to have the right idea, but the execution was lacking. A runner would burst through into the penalty area, but the pass would be behind him. A cross would come in from wing-backs Antonio Candreva and Matteo Darmian too early or too late. Shots from good positions were ballooned over the bar.

It didn't help that the strikers weren't particularly on point, either. Pelle started up front alongside Eder, whose lackluster form in Serie A since his move from Sampdoria to Inter Milan in January has called his place on the team into question. Football Italia reported that Sunday was his last chance to impress Conte. If he didn't, he'd be watching the Euros from his couch.

While he did officially get credit for the assist on Pelle's goal, he still didn't have a very effective game. The assist itself came when he intercepted a pass that wasn't meant for him, accidentally deflecting the ball into Pelle's path.

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Italy is caught between generations at forward, and beyond Pelle's strike, they were decidedly average.

Conte's unorthodox decision to not issue the No. 10 shirt for the Scotland game seemed to contain a clear message to the forwards: someone has to step up in the attack. But beyond Pelle, who was his usual effective self as a pure No. 9, no one did over the course of the game.

Sunday's friendly confirmed what everyone already knew about this team. They're going to be solid at the back, but the depleted midfield and uncertain attacking options are going to be problems. Unfortunately, the game didn't provide much in the way of solutions.

Things could improve when the likes of Motta and Montolivo return and bring a measure of experience to the lineup. But unless someone makes a 1982 Paolo Rossi-style breakout, it looks like this team is going to be relying heavily on their defense in order to compete in this tournament.

That's not to say it's going to be impossible for them—Greece won the title in 2004 with a solid defense that didn't have the talent of the back trio from Juve.

But unless the Azzurri manage to solve the problems plaguing their midfield and attack, that defense is going to have a small margin of error against teams much better than Scotland. To avoid that, Conte must continue to work toward an answer in the midfield and attack in the forthcoming friendly against Finland. If he can't find the answer, Italy's stay in the tournament may not be long at all.