Stick or twist? | Prandelli must decide whether to gamble on a 3-5-2 formation against Spain on Sunday

Firstly, those that are still plying their trade in Turin are coming off the back of a Scudetto-winning campaign in which they went the entire Serie A season undefeated and the way in which Antonio Conte’s troops were able to switch so seamlessly between 4-3-3 and 3-5-2 was integral to their title success.

Secondly, there are also several fine examples of the benefits of basing an international line-up on a successful club side, the most recent of which is Italy’s opponent in Gdansk on Sunday. Spain triumphed at Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup with a team founded upon the produce and ethos of Barcelona’s famed La Masia academy.

As already alluded to, Italy have tremendous previous in this regard. Five Juventini, including Buffon, featured in the 2006 World Cup final win over France, while there were six Bianconero - Dino Zoff, Claudio Gentile, Marco Tardelli, Paolo Rossi, Gaetano Scirea, Antonio Cabrini - in the team which defeated West Germany in the tournament decider in Spain in 1982, as well as Franco Causio, who had only left Turin the year before. In addition, Italy's 1934 World Cup-winning squad drew heavily on the Juventus side which dominated the first half of the decade.

Given that Italy’s preparations have been overshadowed by a domestic scandal and the fact that they have a total of 10 squad members with ties to Turin, the parallels with 1982 and 2006 are obvious. However, the Azzurri can obviously ill afford to rely solely on history to get them past Spain. This is about the here and now and Prandelli told his players in the dressing room after the loss to Russia: “Let’s wipe the slate clean and start from scratch.” Sometimes, though, it is necessary to go backwards in order to move forwards.

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