🇮🇹 Bernardeschi for Italy: reasons to call him up or leave him out ❗ | OneFootball

The performances of Federico Bernardeschi in the league and Europa League raise a question: Should Gattuso call him up for the end-of-March playoffs?

Let’s look at the reasons why it would make sense to recall him to the National Team three and a half years after his last appearance (June 2022) and the doubts surrounding a possible call-up.

⏳ He has experience and didn’t live through Italy-North Macedonia

Bernardeschi, in terms of experience, represents a unicum in Italian football: he has played important matches at club level, scored a penalty in the Euro 2021 final, but at the same time did not experience the drama of Italy-North Macedonia in 2022. In that double-header, in fact, he was not called up.

Gattuso is also looking for that touch of “seniority” and security to add to the group, which – initially – was supposed to come from Verratti, who, however, is injured and will therefore not be available for the March playoffs.

Bernardeschi, however, was present against Sweden: in the double-header that denied us the 2018 World Cup, he started the first leg. It’s now been 9 years since that 2017 match, a lifetime in football terms.

❗Dialogue with teammates and a more hybrid role

After the first months of readjustment, Bernardeschi has found the right form and taken playing time away from Orsolini, who was (and probably remains) Bologna’s most dangerous player. However, his performances prove him right, because the ‘94-born player has become increasingly hybrid.

At Bologna, he is mainly asked to play on the wing, to pick up the ball deep to build up play or to receive directly in the right side of the box. But Bernardeschi also knows how to float in the attacking midfield area: no longer being a pure winger, he can be comfortable in a 3-4-2-1 / 3-4-1-2, perhaps to be used during the match.

Less ability to go it alone but more skill in serving teammates making runs or threading passes to the strikers, which is the core of the National Team: Retegui, Pio Esposito, Scamacca, and Kean.

🧐 Does he really have a chance of being called up?

There isn’t much room for Bernardeschi: Politano seems assured of his spot, given his habit of playing the whole flank in the 3-5-2; Zaccagni is the only right-footed winger available for selection, and Raspadori offers the chance to play as a true second striker.

The only imaginable change is with his teammate: Orsolini, who is also not certain of a call-up. A player who can decide matches with a single play, a skill he seems to have lost a bit in the last two months: his last league goal dates back to January 15, while his last goal overall was on January 29 against Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Europa League.

Gattuso will have to choose: call up one more midfielder or another left-footed winger in addition to Politano? In this case, the options seem to be three: the form of Bernardeschi, the unpredictability of Orsolini, or the wildcard represented by Berardi.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.

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