Marco Verratti missed Euro 2014 due to an injury and is ready to play his second international tournament with the Azzurri although his fitness remains a concern, writes Kaustubh Pandey.
Verratti is considered by many to be one of the best midfielders in the game today. The 28-year-old’s consistency for Paris Saint-Germain has become his hallmark and under coaches such as Carlo Ancelotti, Laurent Blanc, Unai Emery, Thomas Tuchel and now Mauricio Pochettino, the diminutive midfielder has established himself as a gigantic presence at the heart of the pitch.
While the 2020-21 campaign wasn’t exceptional for PSG amid a coaching change and failure to win either Ligue 1 or the Champions League, Verratti’s standing was not done any harm. Under Tuchel, the former Pescara man was used in a deeper midfield role as the German tactician generally used a double-pivot of Verratti and ex-Roma man Leandro Paredes. When that switched to a 4-3-3, Verratti would sit deepest, often flanked by Julian Draxler and Idrissa Gana Gueye.
Tuchel was tactically versatile and used a variety of shapes at PSG and while there were times Verratti deployed as a shuttling midfielder when Marquinhos or Gueye played deep, he was most often sat deep as a playmaker.
Verratti and Marquinhos were the versatile, technical players tailor-made for Tuchel’s approach, which revolved around adapting to situations in-game.
Pochettino’s arrival sparked a change in how Verratti was used. The Argentine pushed Veratti further forward, making use of his ability to turn and carry the ball into the final third. It’s similar to how Pochettino used Moussa Dembele at Tottenham Hotspur – carrying the ball, covering more ground and resisting the opposition press. And like Tuchel, Pochettino calls for his team to press high up the pitch, something for which Verratti is well-suited.
Injuries have however been an issue for Verratti over the past few seasons, and his game time has reduced. Euro 2020 is at least a shorter tournament than the demands of a league season, and if Verratti can go into it near full fitness it should be less of a concern.
Roberto Mancini has regularly used Verratti on the left of a midfield three for the Azzurri, asking him to go box-to-box and providing defensive security to Jorginho or Manuel Locatelli. Verratti and Inter’s Nicolo Barella play a dual role on the pitch, using their work-rate to diffuse opposition attacks and spark transitions when the opponent’s attack breaks down.
Verratti made his Azzurri debut way back in 2012, under Cesare Prandelli, and Euro 2020 could be a massive occasion for him. He missed Euro 2016 through injury, and Italy as a whole failed at World Cup 2014 – and didn’t even qualify four years later. But Verratti is a more complete player now than then and has experience of winning trophies at club level.
He has experience and a chance to impress at an international level that he has so far missed out on, and is a key member of Mancini’s team. He will miss the first and, perhaps, the second game of the group stage with an injury, but Italy are blessed with a wealth of options in midfield but they’d struggle to find any as good as Verratti – in the Azzurri squad or anywhere else.