Italy Should Test Stefano Sturaro in Friendly vs. Finland

Italy coach Antonio Conte has submitted his 23-man roster for the 2016 UEFA European Championship, and there is some consternation on the peninsula.

That's not without reason. This is without doubt the weakest team Italy has sent to a major tournament finals in decades. They do have the benefit of the best goalkeeper who's ever played the game in Gianluigi Buffon and an elite defensive unit in the Juventus trio of Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini, but further up the field, there are big issues.

The forward line is underwhelming. Simone Zaza, Ciro Immobile, Eder, Graziano Pelle and Lorenzo Insigne have combined for 11 total goals in 53 combined international caps. The likes of a Francesco Totti or Alessandro Del Piero is nowhere in sight. Even Mario Balotelli would be an upgrade from a talent perspective, regardless of where his head is.

The midfield isn't any better. In the right circumstances, it could be, but Conte has found it decimated by injuries in the last few months. Claudio Marchisio (ACL), Marco Verratti (sports hernia) and Riccardo Montolivo (thigh) have all been ruled out due to injury. Montolivo's main benefit is experience, but Marchisio and Verratti are probably in the top 15 or so midfielders in the world—losing them is a huge blow.

The issues in midfield have been the cause of the most controversial decisions Conte made in selecting this squad. One of the biggest? The decision to bring Juventus midfielder Stefano Sturaro to France instead of Napoli's Jorginho.

With the Azzurri's final pre-tournament friendly coming up on Monday against Finland, it's time for Conte to throw Sturaro into the fire to validate that decision.

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Of the players on the roster, Sturaro might be the closest comparison to Conte in his playing days. A dogged, physical presence in midfield, the 23-year-old does indeed play like Conte did. He's also been compared to Italy and AC Milan legend Gennaro Gattuso. The biggest difference between them, though, is that Sturaro brings some ball skills to go along with it.

Born in Sanremo in 1993, Sturaro began his footballing life with local club Sanremese before transferring to Genoa's youth sector in 2008. He spent two years in the primavera before receiving a call-up to the first team and a loan to Modena.

He made his Serie A debut in August 2013 and played in 16 games for Genoa in 2013-14. It was a small sample size, but he impressed enough to compel none other than Juventus to pony up €5.5 million for him—a fee that could double if he hits performance incentives.

Sturaro was loaned back to the Grifone for the '14-15 season, but when Juve faced a depth issue in their midfield that winter, they recalled him in the winter transfer window. It was there that he first garnered his reputation as one of Italy's up-and-coming midfielders.

But in spite of his promise, taking Sturaro over Jorginho was a decision that left many scratching their heads. With players like Marchisio, Verratti and Montolivo out, Jorginho was the only other player on the provisional 30-man roster who has shown in league play that he can dictate the game in any way as a passer.

Of the forwards Conte is bringing to France, only Insigne is capable of creating his own opportunities on a regular basis. With that in mind, wouldn't Jorginho's passing abilities—according to WhoScored.com, he completed 90.9 percent of his passes in Serie A, averaged 1.9 key passes per game and notched four assists—be a necessity?

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It would certainly be an asset, but it wouldn't be a cure-all. Even if Jorginho were to play as Conte's regista from the get-go, his short, horizontal passing game wouldn't fit what Italy would have to do to succeed.

With so many weaknesses in the midfield and in attack, Italy were always going to have to lean heavily on their elite Juventus-based defense and strike opponents on the counterattack. That isn't the kind of game at which Jorginho excels. Squawka.com broke down his passing numbers by category and discovered he made only 85 successful long balls last season.

Combine that with an absurdly low nine through balls and do a little math, and only about 3 percent of the passes he completed this past year were of the variety that could break the team out on the counter.

Add to that Sturaro's edge as a defensive player who can get the ball back from opponents, his familiarity with the 3-5-2 system Conte is likely to use at the Euros and the fact that from an experience standpoint, they're both about equal, and bringing Sturaro doesn't look as strange.

Sturaro also has shown a knack for coming up huge in big situations, often defying the "inexperienced" label to do it.

When the lineups for the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semifinal between Juve and Real Madrid came out on May 5, 2015, Sturaro's presence wasn't just a surprise—it was a shock. He had only played four minutes of European football in his life, having come on late in the first leg of the quarterfinal against Monaco to help seal a 1-0 victory. Now he was starting against the defending European champions in the biggest game Juve had played since 2003.

He was magnificent, holding down the midfield well, forced an early save from Iker Casillas and making a phenomenal tip-of-the-toe intervention on a James Rodriguez header that deflected the ball into the bar. It proved to be the decisive moment in the tie, keeping the score of the game tied at 1-1 and prevented Real from scoring a critical second away goal.

He kept up his big-game reputation this year against Bayern Munich in the round of 16, coming on as a sub in the 69th minute of the first leg and scoring the equalizer in Turin, giving Juve a fighting chance at advancing in Munich.

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Is Jorginho capable of stepping up in a similar way? It's very possible, but right now we don't really know. He was his usual accurate self in Napoli's biggest game of the year away to Juventus, completing 92.8 percent of his passes according to WhoScored. But he didn't create any scoring opportunities either, and his team lost 1-0, dropping to second place and losing their shot at the Scudetto.

He's simply never had the opportunities on big stages like the Champions League the way Sturaro has. With so much pressure heaped on to every game, Conte has obviously opted to go with a player who has already proved he can handle it.

At least he's done so on the club level. He's the only uncapped player on the team, and playing in Savoy blue is different even than playing in Juve's iconic black and white.

Given Italy's dearth of options in the midfield—it's expected that versatile but limited Conte favorite Emanuele Giacchereini is being tabbed for one of the box-to-box midfield roles—Sturaro could be an invaluable piece.

But he needs to be shown what it's like playing in an international game and in Conte's version of the 3-5-2, which is different than the one Massimiliano Allegri has tweaked since he replaced Conte at Juve.

There's only one more chance for him to get that experience. Conte needs to play him against Finland in order to see if the abilities he's flashed at Juve can translate to the international level. If they can, Sturaro could be a vital disruptive influence in Italy's midfield.