As we all stumble out of our respective Christmas hangovers, so goes the calciomercato.

In other words, between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, it’s friggin’ slow in the calcio world. Still, slow is not dead, so there are a few items to discuss. Here goes:

Maniche = Available - Portugal and Atletico Madrid midfielder Maniche is apparently ready to leave his club - sooner rather than later, from the sound of it. (His agent has made it pretty clear that they’re entertaining offers now.) Goal.com is reporting that Inter, Juve, Fiorentina and Milan are all interested parties at this point. For those of you unfamiliar with Maniche, he’s only played 24 matches with Atletico, although he has been a frequent call-up for his country. So… no, he’s not the most consistent guy out there, but I still tend to think he may yet have something to offer the right side. If his asking price isn’t too ridiculous, Fiorentina in particular might want to take a look, given their depth issues this season.

Lazio Go Shopping - Everybody knows Lazio’s in trouble, and Coach Delio Rossi is quick to point out why: They need to buy reinforcements. While I’m not disagreeing, I was hoping that there would be a clear resolution to their Rocchi situation before I’d start reading about Lazio transfer rumors. More specifically, I was hoping they’d sort out their best friggin’ player’s contract before hitting the mall. Nonetheless, it’s Lazio, and Lazio makes no sense, so a-shopping they go. Word has it they’re looking at some dude with a name more suited to pro wrestling than calcio, as well as Sampdoria defender Lucchini, and Romanian ‘keeper Lobont, while Stendardo looks to be on his way out following a near kung-fu fight with Rossi.

Spalletti Wants “Substance” & Totti Wants “Change” - With comments that should earn him the nickname “Captain Vague” (or “Captain Obvious,” perhaps) Roma Coach Luciano Spalletti has thrown some vanilla comments out there, as usual:

On a pitch of 110 metres, technique is often not enough. You need running, strength and grit, as we’re not on a 5-a-side football pitch. The squad has been completed, and completed well, but it has not been improved enough, and at times when we miss some players, their absence is felt a lot.

Now… whether he’s making a case for A) more effort from his Giallorossi, or B) a little transfer action, is anyone’s guess, but I’d like to think it’s the latter. Roma can’t let Lazio have all the fun, right? In all seriousness, Roma may not have the depth issues of a Lazio or a Fiorentina, but they don’t exactly have Hernan Crespo coming off of the bench (like you-know-who) either. And yes, while everybody knows I’d love to see Mr. Christmas alongside Il Capitano, I realize that if it ever happens, it won’t be until the end of the season… so what to do now, during the January transfer window? I don’t know, but I heard that there’s some tall dude languishing in the frozen tundra of… well… the Ukraine, and he’s looking for a ticket back to Italy.

OK. So, I mentioned Totti earlier. About that: It seems that Er Pupone has been doing some thinking this holiday season. As a result, he’s calling for several changes. First off, he thinks there should be more than three substitutions per match. Second, he wants to do away with evening matches in the winter. Third, he wants random drug testing.

Regarding the random drug testing, I think it sounds fine. Random is probably better than scheduled anyway, so long as they’re still testing everybody, right? As for the evening matches in the winter, um… OK? I honestly don’t know. I’ve never been in Italy during winter, so I really don’t know what these guys are up against, but I have noticed that those neck-warmer thingies have gotten increasingly popular as of late. Maybe there’s something to it.

Now… regarding increasing the number of substitutions during a match, isn’t the international standard three? If nobody else is increasing theirs, why should Italy be any different? I’d hate to see Italian players get soft because they’re out there changing lines like a hockey team, while the rest of Europe is slogging it out for 90 minutes. Come on, Francesco. You already got out of Azzurri duty. Now you want Roma to sub you out more often too?

Kaka + Dida = Homies - Or at least… they must be. I mean, why the hell else would Kaka defend a mistake-prone diver? It must be a Brazilian thing. Speaking of Brazilian things, La Gazzetta dello Sport published a photo of Adriano and Ronaldo (and some fat rapper-looking dude) looking all buddy-buddy at some Brazilian concert, along with an article stating that Brazilian side Flamengo wants FatRon. I wasn’t a fan of FatRon coming to Milan to begin with, so I’m all for it. (By the way, that photo was apparently somewhat controversial.) Stay in Sunny Brazil, Ronnie. Get your pal Adriano to stay too, while you’re at it, mmmkay?

Categories: Lazio, Roma, transfers