GdS: ‘The choice says a lot’ – Camarda concerns grow as Cisse takes his Italy role
There continues to be an undeniable element of mystery surrounding Francesco Camarda’s start to the season, for club and country.
Italy U21s played a European Championship qualifier in Pescara against Poland last night, needing to win by two clear goals to qualify for the tournament directly. With that in mind, the striker that Silvio Baldini used was not Camarda, but the natural winger Alphadjo Cisse.
Reflections on Camarda
La Gazzetta dello Sport write that ‘the choice says a lot about the current state of both’. Cisse has had two amazing months with Milan and a few days ago, in Armenia, he pulled Italy out of trouble in added time with a winner.
He risks seeing his playing time restricted by Christian Pulisic’s return, but so far he’s been given space and responded. He’s shown that he has the potential to contribute at Serie A level, which comes after a few weeks in the summer when a new loan seemed more likely.
Camarda, on the other hand, has had a tougher past few months. Since injuring his right shoulder in January, he’s been watching others play. First because of the injury, then because of Amorim’s decision to start Goncalo Ramos in every game.
Amorim just spoke about the situation: “My main concern is creating more chances for all my players, for Pulisic, for Camarda, for Cisse.” Camarda’s is a peculiar situation: he is a year and a half younger than Cisse, so it’s understandable he might not get as many minutes.
The club chose to keep him over the summer rather than acquire another striker, and Amorim explained why: “Camarda needs to feel like he’s not the third choice, but the second, so he can be ready when called upon. That way, he’ll feel important.”
The next month will tell us a lot, revealing just how much room there is for him at Milan. January is just around the corner: if Camarda plays and performs well then great, but otherwise discussions about a loan move for the second half of the season will become inevitable.
