Antonio Conte is going to field a second-string team against Ireland tomorrow night. The Italy manager this evening confirmed that he would be making 'seven to nine' changes to the side which beat Sweden on Friday night.
Martin O'Neill is also expected to field a much-changed team from the one which wilted to Belgium. There are even rumours John O'Shea could be cut from the starting XI.
[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/270166149" params="auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%" height="450" iframe="true" /]
TV3 this evening got the Italian view ahead of the game. Paul Walsh spoke to an Italian journalist who thought Ireland should 'attack from the first minute to the last minute'.
He also felt - unlike the majority of people who would have opted for Wes Hoolahan - that Jeff Hendrick is our best player.
The best player you have is Hendrick - fantastic player. Very intelligent, very modern. Always looking to the goal and not back. He has a lot of ideas in the construction of playing.
I think he could play in an Italian team in Serie A without problem.
Given Hendrick's current hairstyle, he would not look out of place on the continent.
Despite earlier suggesting we 'attack form the first minute to the last' he also advised patience from Ireland.
There is some problem with mentality. Because I saw against Belgium, there is no reason to play 11 forward. Just thinking about what Italy did before, just wait, wait, wait. Giving Belgium all of the pitch to attack is crazy.
With more patience I think Ireland could get a good result.
You can watch below.
Our man on the ground @paulwalshtv3 got the Italian viewpoint on tomorrow's #IRL v #ITA match #TV3EURO2016 pic.twitter.com/9TnQUi63UV
— TV3 SPORT (@TV3SportIreland) June 21, 2016
Read: Antonio Conte Is Getting His Excuses In Early Ahead Of Tomorrow Night
Photo by Stephen McCarthy / Sportsfile
