Fake Italy fans shouldn't comment on a game they know nothing about

My Facebook and twitter pages have many "fans" of Italy who reside in Canada.  The vast majority of these people literally don't watch a single football match outside of the world cup.  They know nothing of the sport, the players, the intricacies of the game.  All they know is bullheaded egotistical gibberish which they confuse and misplace for national pride.  As a side note I should emphasize how little these people even know about being italian as most of them cannot speak it in more the a cursory manner.  Few have ever been there, and the ones that have generally have only been there once on a family vacation.  They know nothing of what it means to be Italian, and even less what it means to be an Italian football fan.

Italy has a great and proud history of football.  And part of the reason for this is the demanding and knowledgeable fans there.  As someone who lived in Italy in the earlier part of the decade I can attest to this.  A quick glance of the leading Sport Newpapers in Italy shows the same conclusions drawn by them that any reasonably knowledgeable football fan anywhere else would have arrived at.  Italy has only themselves to blame.  The newspapers document blame at the Federation, the coach, Balotelli, and the attack (or lack thereof).  Nobody in Italy is blaming the referres.  Nobody is blaming Suarez.

Primarily from what I gathered in reviewing the Italian sport news the lack of attack is blamed on the coach. As it should be.  Anyone who watched the Costa Rica vs Italy match could see how tactically masterful Costa Rica's game plan was.  They at all times placed five men pressuring Italys defensive midfield, the zone of construction.  If this process of the game is disrupted, no meaningful attacks can emerge.  It worked like a charm.  Italy struggled to get any decent attack mounted.  What is more shocking is that even after half time the coach made no adjustments to overcome this tactical approach.  Without making adjustments to a tactic that is suffocating your team for a whole half, one can only expect the result that came.  The loss.

Against Uruguay, the quality of the match was poor.  Uruguay was aggressive in cluttering the midfield and waiting for a counterattack opportunity.  Again, Italy's coach did not have the proper game plan to approach this game.  His attack was non existent.  Nobody who knows anything about the game would say Italy showed even a sign of being able to win.  The kleets up foul for the red card has some saying it should have been a yellow.  But when you put your kleets up like that as a player, and you know the referee may see it, you are aware that you can get a red.  Regardless, Italy didn't need a win, they needed a tie.  By the way the game was going it was only a matter of time until Cavani or Suarez scored.

With respect to the bite.  The referee didn't see it.  Many aggressions happen in every instance of EVERY game when the ref is not looking.  Players know this and expect this and play through it.  The bite in no way impacted the game our the outcome.  Suarez will be suspended for it.  But anyone who suggests the bite in anyway impacted the game reveals that they are one of the once every 4 year fans like the italy "fans" in Canada.

In summary, the Italian media blasts their own team.  Makes no excuses and is going through the correct process which is looking in the mirror to fix the problem.  They are doing this because they love the game and know the game.  And are all time greats at the game.  And anyone with such knowledge and passion for the game knows that Italy can only blame itself.

The Italian daily Gazzetto dello Sport quotes the legendary Italy keeper's comments: "Buffon may seem rude and even ungenerous but he is absolutely right when, after speaking of "elimination deserved," points the finger at the new recruits."  While the other Italian soccer daily Corriere dello Sport quotes legendary coach Galliani explaining how the blame should not be solely on Balotelli but the entire tournament revealed how weak and pathetic Italy's attack was: "Gli altri attaccanti non si sono visti in campo" - going as far as saying Italy's attack was not seen on the field during the world cup.  These are football legends.  Italian ones at that.  Masters of the game, Italian ones at that.  They aren't blaming referees or Suarez.  They know the game well enough that saying such nonsense would probably get them mobbed by fans throwing tomatoes at them in the streets.

So to the people who decide they want to pretend to be football fans or italy fans every four years, maybe you should get more in touch with being Italian.  That means watching football at least twice a week all year every year.  Reading the football newspaper daily and perhaps thinking before you speak.  Maybe watch some little league games to get a rudimentary understanding of the sport before portraying a false expertise.

True Italians and true Italian football fans have the wisdom and class to know that the answer to Italy's woes lies before them in the mirror.  No blame should be deposited on third parties.

Below are the sources for the Italian media quotes cited above:
1. http://translate.google.pt/translate?hl=en&sl=it&u=http://www.gazzetta.it/&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dgazetto%2Bdello%2Bsport%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den

2.http://www.corrieredellosport.it/calcio/mondiali_2014/girone-d/italia/2014/06/25-366747/Galliani%3A+«Non+è+solo+colpa+di+Balotelli»