(Di Natale, FatRon, and a boy from California)

Boy… Di Natale’s gonna be expensive!

Regular serieAmerica visitors may remember my two posts (#1 & #2) about a Roma - Di Natale connection. Well, there’s more to report on that front. Apparently, Udinese’s sporting director, Pietro Leonardi, says that Di Natale isn’t for sale at the moment.

There are two feasible interpretations of his comments, but no matter how you slice it, Mr. Leonardi is a smart cookie: If his statement about Udinese not being willing to give up one of their “best talents” is genuine, then he obviously realizes Di Natale’s value and is wise in his desire to keep him. If it’s just talk (and I think it is), my guess is that Leonardi is attempting to dangle a carrot just out of Roma’s reach, in order to better justify an astronomical asking price for Di Natale, once negotiations actually begin.

FatRon is hurt… again.

Well, it’s the eve of Milan-Juventus (easily the most talked about match this week… to the point where it’s almost annoying), and FatRon is hurt. Again. That’s OK. FatRon would’ve been laid out by Chiellini anyway, I think. Unfortunately, Ron’s absence leaves Gilardino to get knocked around… and frustrated, I’ll bet.

On a related note, the Corriere dello Sport had an interesting headline today:

Milan, goodbye Ronaldo, hello Amauri - The Rossoneri are ready to give up on El Fenomeno and already have their hands on the Palermo hitman

Amauri, huh? That won’t be cheap. (Although the connection has been reported elsewhere, so who knows.) What’s up with the Brazilian obsession, Milan?

And introducing… The California Kid

Now this one, I can’t believe.

Apparently, an 18 year-old high schooler from California has been offered a contract with Cagliari. Yes, that Cagliari.

What does Cagliari want with a high school kid from California? Your guess is probably better than mine; I’m certainly scratching my head over it. I can’t even get over the fact that they were scouting in North Carolina. Did they make a wrong turn or something?

Anyway, this kid (David Bingham) is passing up a full ride at UC Berkley (That’s no joke, David!) for the opportunity to (possibly) have Kaka / Totti / Zalayeta / Quaglia / Gila / Rocchi / Mutu / etc. fire missiles at him. I’m not going to criticize his decision, as passing up one sweet deal for another is never easy. Remember the name Bingham; we’ll have to watch this California Kid.

Categories: Cagliari, Milan, Roma, Udinese, injuries, transfers
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(Serie A has returned!)

Aaaaannnd we’re back to our scheduled programming. So, what’s going on, you ask? Well, here’s my best attempt at a round-up:

First off, two matches were played already:

Genoa 0-1 Roma

• There are actually two things to talk about here. First off, Cristian Panucci (a.k.a. The Old Man) - the guy responsible for the Azzurri’s game-winner in Scotland - saved the day here as well, this time with a header in the 89th minute. Whatever you’re doing, Old Man, can you please get your teammates to start? Thanks.
• Speaking of which (and this brings me to our second talking point), Roma need to start taking vitamins or something. As Chris at Offside pointed out before the match, to say that Roma has caught the injury bug would be a gross understatement. Injury bear is more like it.

Inter 2-1 Atalanta

• Everyone, your attention please! ArgentInter fielded an Italian today, when Materazzi came on for Dacourt in the 88th minute. [crowd]Oooooohhhhh! Aaaaaaaaaahhhh![/crowd] Thank you. That is all.
• Actually, that’s not all. I have to point out that Inter got lucky… again. With all of the non-Italians on the team, I’m starting to wonder whether or not there’s a lucky Irishman in the mix somewhere. They are that lucky. If one of them starts riverdancing, or if someone mentions a pot o’ gold or charms of any kind, (is that how they pay for The Great Zaltan and the Argentinian Superstars?) we’ll know something is afoot. Seriously, Atalanta should have at least drawn level. Actually, if you read between Mancini’s words, you can tell that he soiled his pants during the match.

Elsewhere in the Lega Calcio:

• FatRon is set to return against Cagliari… maybe. Ugh. In the same match, Pasquale Foggia of Cagliari may play the role of trequartista. If there’s any action from the home team, expect Foggia to be involved. Unfortunately, Gattuso will probably scare the poor kid off of the pitch.
• I fully expect Fiorentina to leapfrog Roma and slip into second place, as they face Reggina tomorrow. If not, the Viola could go on an untimely slide, as they were upset by Udinese back in Week 12.
• I think Juventus will have a hard time with Palermo, but will come away with the win in the end. Juve will be without Lanky Chiellini, but they’ll be looking to pick up the pace after drawing in their last two matches.
• Catania are visiting Napoli this week, and although they’re a solid side (relatively speaking), they’re 0-5-1 on the road. That said, I am expecting a win for Napoli.

It sure is nice to have calcio back, isn’t it? I know it was only a couple weeks, but it feels like we were caught in an international wormhole or something. (Speaking of international stuff, the draws for World Cup 2010 qualifying groups are set to take place tomorrow; it’s going to be a busy day.)

Categories: Atalanta, Cagliari, Catania, Fiorentina, Genoa, Inter, Juventus, Milan, Napoli, Reggina, Roma, injuries
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(The Man who Speaks to His Leg)

• He’s Inter’s only Italian starter, and may be Serie A’s most infamous defender.
• He leveled the score with a righteous header in the World Cup final.
• He was the recipient of the most famous headbutt in sporting history.
• He talks to his leg.

Wait… what?

Everyone knows that Marco Materazzi has a touch of the pazzo, but did anyone know (until now) that he speaks to his leg? Well… in all fairness, he may not speak to his leg anymore, but he did while recovering from his thigh injury, apparently.

Leg-talking or not, many will be happy to see Matrix back in action when Inter face Atalanta (with no Atalanta fans in attendance) this weekend. Even more will be happy that The Don now has another rock-solid defender at his disposal (assuming he’s the same ol’ Matrix).

Welcome back, Marco!

Poor Montella! Poor Sampdoria!

I can’t think of anything worse that could possibly happen to Samdoria. With Cassano typically either hurt or acting like a complete jacka*s (or both), I saw Vincenzo Montella as the blucerchiati’s only hope. Now, due to an injury picked up last week, he’s headed for a surgery that will sideline him for two months.

Sorry Montella. Hopefully, you’ll be back on track in January.

Totti In… No… Totti Out

I haven’t been posting much about Totti’s injury, mainly because it’s been misinformation since day one. Whether it’s mind games from Spalletti or honest confusion, I don’t know.

First, we were told that Il Capitano’s injury was minor. Then, for weeks, we were told that he’d return against the next opponent, only to be let down as each match approached.

Anyway, he’s out again for the Genoa match, and I’m not even going to mention his name again until he puts on the maglia Giallorossi and steps onto the pitch ready to play.

So there.

Everyone Loves Pirlo

Maybe it’s because Andrea isn’t a vocal guy, and others feel the need to make sure his presence is known. Maybe it’s because he is the second coming of the Codino (well… sort of). Whatever the reason, the big guns of calcio have been keen on pointing out the greatness of Andrea Pirlo as of late.

Most recently, Gianni Rivera has made a case for Pirlo, and not long ago, the normally reclusive Roberto Baggio (only like… the greatest Italian footballer ever) has given Pirlo his endorsement.

I’ll say one thing, if there’s a dead-ball specialist in Serie A, it’s Pirlo for damn sure:

Categories: Inter, Milan, Roma, Sampdoria, injuries
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(Let’s talk about defense.)

In today’s Champions League tie between Roma and Sporting, the Roman defense let two into the net, and the team was fortunate to escape with a draw. (Thanks, Pizarro!) This lapse of strength in back is unfortunately only the most recent instance in a season replete with such defensive displays by the Giallorossi. You would think that with a defense that stops balls like a pasta strainer stops water, Roma would be at the bottom of the Serie A table. That is, you might think that until you notice that their all-or-nothing attack has managed to score more goals than well… anybody else’s. That combo is good enough for third place, apparently.

Let’s check out the Serie A table going into Week 12, sorted by Goals Allowed:

(Remember, that doesn’t account for goals allowed or scored during Champions League or UEFA Cup matches.)

Obviously, the take home message for Roma here is: Stop letting in so many damn goals! In response to their pasta strainer performance, Luciano Spalletti says that his ragazzi sometimes “do get a bit soft on the ball and lose possession in a foolish fashion.” (Gosh, you think? Admitting that there’s a problem is the first step toward recovery, Luciano.) He also stated that he hopes “that it is not a part of the character of the squad.” Eleven weeks have passed. I’d hate to say it, but it looks like it’s a pretty substantial part of the squad’s character. Sorry.

The weirdness doesn’t end with Roma, although their stats do present the most striking disparity. Take a look at Milan and Catania; they’re hovering mid-pack at 9th and 10th place, respectively, but they also have two of the four best defenses in the league! With the back of the house doing its job, all that Milan and Catania need to challenge the front-runners is a spark up front. Speaking of which, it looked as though Milan had found just that in a rejuvenated Gilardino, but the Torino match didn’t exactly inspire confidence. Thankfully, they look to be back on track with the win over Shakhtar, (even though it was a last-gasp effort), but Gila’s silence and eventual substitution during that match was admittedly concerning. If they can start scoring at home, their season will open up. Catania, on the other hand, need to start scoring, period, although I’m sure Roma would love to have their defense at this point.

This season is getting stranger by the week. (Call me crazy, but I kinda like it.) Now if only somebody would take down ArgentInter!

Categories: Catania, Milan, Roma
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(Milan 0 - 0 Torino : What does it mean?)

[Due to today’s result at San Siro, I’m posting a brief follow-up on yesterday’s post, as there have been some related developments.]

You may remember that yesterday, I voiced some concern regarding Gilardino being benched in favor of Fat Ronaldo, as the latter is apparently just about ready to return from an injury.

Today, Torino escaped Milan with a point by holding the Rossoneri to a scoreless draw.  This represents another disappointing result at home for Milan, and despite the over-arching Rossoneri resurgence that we’ve seen in recent weeks, a second pattern is emerging wherein Milan fires blanks at home, but destroys the competition with heavy artillery outside San Siro (or Stadio Meazza, or whatever the hell they’re calling it these days).

Unfortunately, in commenting on the result, Ancelotti singled out Gila, which does not bode well for the 11-shirt’s chances of starting when Milan visit Atalanta in about a week (which is, coincidentally, when Fat Ron is expected to return).

On the other hand, Ancelotti did mention a possible return to a two-striker system, which could mean Ronaldo and Gilardino up front, but I’m not counting chickens before they’re hatched, as the aforementioned singling out of Gila is too untimely to ignore.  We’ll just have to wait and see what Carlo decides after the break.

Categories: Milan
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(Milan: Welcome back! But please, don’t show us Fat Ronaldo!)

As others have pointed out, and as I’ve been hinting at (or saying outright) in posts here and there for a while now, Milan’s inconsistency thus far this season has been on par with their performance during the first half of last season. Remember that while the team appeared to struggle early on, their later matches were a completely different story - and they have a trophy to prove it.

This season, the catalyst of the currently transpiring mid-run change from receding to rampant Rossoneri has been none other than San Siro’s own 11 shirt, Alberto Gilardino. Indeed, Milan’s reawakening (ignoring their loss against Empoli, which I believe was an anomaly) seems to have coincided with Gila’s greatly improved form over the past month. In fact, #11 has scored six goals in Milan’s last five matches, the most recent of which can be seen here:

Not bad, right? Did you also see Gila assist Kaka on Milan’s first goal? With performances like that, it can probably be said that the team is finally hitting its stride.
Why then, are we hearing so much about Fat Ronaldo’s return? Apparently, he’s not going to play against Torino, but he is “likely” to play against Atalanta next weekend.

One can only hope that before tagging Ronaldo as a starter against Atalanta (who aren’t bad from a defensive standpoint, by the way), Carlo Ancelotti will take into account how the insertion of a guy like Ronaldo will affect his attacking unit’s chemistry, which is juuuuuust starting to look good… um… now.

Instead of throwing Ronaldo onto the pitch… just because he’s Ronaldo, Ancelotti needs to take stock of which strikers (*cough*Gilardino*cough*) are playing well at present. If he does, Milan may indeed continue its resurgence. If not, I fear that Gila may fall asleep on the bench (again), and the rest of the Rossoneri may follow.

Categories: Milan
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(A German for Juve? / MirkoTime / Genoa can Defeat Fiorentina!)

Alright! Week 9 of the Serie A season is suddenly upon us, and with all of the noise leading up to Roma’s visit to Milan, a couple things have flown under the radar of most calcio news outlets. (And when I say “most,” I’m excluding Goal.com, which did catch wind of the story I’m about to share, but which also really needs to get with 2007 and set up some friggin’ RSS feeds! Hey! You too, Channel 4 Italia! How ’bout some RSS!)

Continue to the rest of this post… »

Categories: Fiorentina, Genoa, Juventus, Milan, Roma
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