Ciro Immobile admits Lazio have to consider the 1-1 draw with Torino ‘a point earned’ and reiterates he is happy to accept ‘praise and criticism when it is deserved,’ but hasn’t decided if he will continue his Italy career.
Pietro Pellegri had put Toro ahead at the Stadio Olimpico by nodding in a corner, but deep into stoppages Immobile met Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s cross at the back post for the equaliser.
“It was a difficult match, we need to improve our approach to the second half. It wasn’t the best last week either, if we had kept it at 0-0 for longer, we might’ve fought to win it at the end,” Immobile told Sky Sport Italia.
“Having said that, Torino are really tough and press you all over the pitch. We didn’t move the ball quickly enough, they are so hard to break down and we have to consider it a point earned.
“We knew fourth place was a long way off, with Juventus drawing we could’ve closed the gap a bit, but that still would’ve been tough. We were more focused on our own personal growth process.”
Immobile is the top Italian Serie A scorer still in activity, remains top of the current Capocannoniere charts and has scored 25 goals in three consecutive campaigns. Is that enough to stop him getting singled out as the scapegoat for Italy’s failed World Cup qualifying campaign?
“No, it’s not enough. As I said, criticism is part of football and I accept that. What I don’t accept is gratuitous nastiness. I accept praise and criticism when it is deserved, but some people enjoy themselves with this.
“What remains above all is the disappointment of not qualifying for the World Cup. We all share that responsibility.”
Speaking to DAZN this evening, Immobile was also asked if he will continue with international duty.
“I don’t know, I haven’t decided yet.”
Oh please, at 32 you should step down and not feel any remorse or guilt. You’ve done what you can and that is the way it is with some players. They do better or worse with club or national team. It is clear that Ciro is another person with Lazio, but that’s not unusual. Remember he failed also at Dortmund so it is clear he is a player who needs everything going his way to be successful. He should retire from Italy because the pressure going forward will only be worse. And he has nothing to gain.
of course Ciro scores another [EMPTY] clutch late added time goal when NEEDED for club.
…but for country 0 per 15 games.
He should retire from the national team for no other reason other than he is simply not good enough to play as a centre forward in this team.
He’s right, criticism is fine, nastiness isn’t.
I don’t blame Immobile, I blame Mancini. Mancini has seen this player (and others) fail again and again and again, yet he has continued to select them, putting them in the firing line.
When Mancini subbed Immobile – after a useless first half showing – at half time in the Euro’s final, I thought that would be the end of Immobile’s international career. But no, if anything Mancini doubled-down on the player. Madness.
I hope we never see Immobile and Insigne in the NT again. If we do, then Mancini has not learned a thing.
I’m not entirely sure that Immobile failed at Dortmund: he played there only one year and in 39 matches scored 10 goals, 4 of them in Champions League. It is quite usual, even for better forwards, to score rarely at their first year in a club: at his first year at Dortmund, Lewandowski scored 9 times out of 43 matches, quite worse than Immobile. He didn’t even fail in the National team, as he was in the team that won the Europe Cup and scored 15 times in his career. Of course, he performs much better in Serie A, but the reason is more tactical than technical, and with a different team strategy he’d do great in the National team as well.
It’s cruel to see him score for Lazio at his rate then struggle si badly for Italy. The effort is there but goals mater.
2 missed qualifications in a row. Gutted.