Why Conte should make room for under-appreciated Insigne

Lorenzo Insigne was on the pitch for little more than quarter of an hour. But it was enough for La Gazzetta dello Sport to make him Italy’s Man of the Match against Ireland. The pink rubbed its eyes and wondered if what they were seeing was real. It wasn’t so much that this was the first sighting of Insigne at Euro 2016. More that he “reminded us of a time not too long ago when ‘we were Kings,’ when we had piedi buonissimi.” Twinkle toes. Great feet. 

All it took was a matter of seconds before Insigne did what it had taken Italy 42 minutes to do; He had a shot. Picking up the ball just inside Ireland’s half, he drove at their defence shuffling inside onto his right before curling an effort towards goal. For a fleeting moment it was reminiscent of Roberto Baggio against Czechoslovakia at Italia `90. Except Insigne’s effort struck the post. 

Not too long afterwards, Ireland scored and clinched a deserved win. Insigne’s brief cameo represented one of the few positives for Italy. Amid an agricultural game, featuring a tournament high 40 fouls and a tournament low 695 passes, he introduced a measure of quality. The 24-year-old seized a small window of opportunity and made a case for more game-time. He demanded the ball. Insigne wanted to make things happen and in 16 minutes had only four fewer touches than Simone Zaza did over the entire game. 

Already qualified and assured of their place as group winners, there was disappointment that, of the eight changes Conte made to his starting XI for the Ireland game, Insigne wasn’t one of them. By now his place in the hierarchy is clear. Conte sees Insigne as Italy’s fifth striker. Graziano Pellé and Éder are clearly the first choice partnership. Zaza and Ciro Immobile come next and, tellingly, it was the latter who Insigne replaced in Lille on Wednesday night. 

How can a player who was the first in Europe’s top five leagues to get into double figures in goals [12] and assists [10] and the only Italian to do so, find himself so far down the pecking order in an Italy squad short on technical ability? 

Principally it’s tactical. It goes beyond the misunderstanding Conte and Insigne had when he withdrew from the Italy squad for a qualifier against Azerbaijan in October with a knee injury and then played for Napoli against Fiorentina when Serie A resumed.  Conte questioned his commitment and then didn’t call him up for the next international break. 

Closer to the truth is Italy’s current set up. Insigne’s natural role high and wide in a 4-3-3 or as a 10 in a diamond does not exist in the 3-5-2. He is not a wing-back. Insigne does not have the discipline, the physical robustness, nor the stamina to do that job. He would be wasted out there. The exertion would rob him of the energy and lucidity needed to beat his man and pick that killer final ball. 

To be fair to Conte, he did recognise that Italy’s most gifted players are its wingers and, in acknowledgment of that, experimented with an alternative system in March with a view to getting as much skill, trickery and unpredictability into the team as possible. Trials with a 3-4-3 got people excited.  The prospect of watching Insigne, Zaza and Candreva was, quite frankly, more appealing than sitting through the little and large pairing of Pellé and Éder. Unfortunately the results were mixed and a 4-1 defeat to Germany in Munich put paid to it. 

Memories of the dazzling second half it enabled against Spain - Yes, Spain! - in Udine a few days beforehand when Italy had them on the ropes and deserved to win were too quickly forgotten. Insigne was a substitute that night as well. He came on for Éder and completely changed the game. David de Gea pushed a long distance effort from him around the post. Shortly afterwards, Insigne slid in and beat the Manchester United `keeper to open the scoring. Spain equalised, but before the final whistle Insigne almost got a winner, nearly embarrassing de Gea with a lob from the edge of the area. 

Marca raved about him. Aware of his form at Napoli at the time, they put him in the same category as Riyad Mahrez. If Insigne were Spanish, it’s not hard to imagine him playing for this Spain team against Italy in Paris on Monday. Although defined as a “positive surprise” by Conte, his mind appears made up about Insigne. “He’s an important card that I can play in certain situations,” he told Sky Italia. Like, for instance, when the game gets stretched and the spaces between the opposition defence and midfield begin to widen just as it did when Ireland poured forward in a desperate search for a winner in Lille. 

Limiting Insigne to that is to under-appreciate him. If the 3-5-2 is set in stone - which it looks like it is - then I would like to see Insigne play with Pellé. Conte wants his strikers to play close together - to see why check out how Éder’s goal against Sweden came from a knock down by Zaza. Maybe Insigne’s natural inclination to go wide or come short explains why Conte has resisted this temptation so far. It would leave Pellé isolated. Even so, it’s a shame that a role other than that of the impact substitute can’t be found for him. Free Insigne. Free il Magnifico.

Should Insigne start for Italy against Spain? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below