Tuesday 29 March 2011

Azzurri focus: Italy win again as Prandelli builds for the future

Italy won for the second time in only four days as they continue to put the misery that was the world cup behind them. Having picked up 3 points in Slovenia a friendly with the Ukraine beckoned and despite being ultimately reduced to ten men Italy ran out 2-0 winners in Kiev. A tough place to play for sure, but Italy took the lead through Giuseppe Rossi after a the ball pin balled around the area only to find the Villareal ace wating at the net. He duly converted. 

The second half turned sour for Italy when Astori was sent of for kicking a ball away when the whistle has been blown, but Alessandro Matri finished the tie when Sebatian Giovinco's exquisite back heel found it's way into the Juve forwards path and he made no mistake as his shot beat the keeper and rebounded into the net off the post. 

Again, it was encouraging to see so many fresh faces in the Azzurri set up, Giovinco especially showed a lot of quality in the final third and is showing Juve exactly what they are missing in that department this season.

Saturday 26 March 2011

Sampdoria: Into the abyss?

It's hard to believe in some respects, but not in others. Whats that I hear you say? Well, I'm talking about the dramatic decline of Sampdoria of course, a self inflicted decline. This time last year they were battling, and winning the battle, for fourth spot in Serie A and a place in the Champions League with a world class forward line of Antonio Cassano and Giampaolo Pazzini leading the charge. Right now they are fighting for their lives in Serie A relying on Massimo Maccarone to bring home the goals, having hit the back of the net a shocking seven times so far in 2011. 

They are sinking fast and so far this calender year have picked up only eight points in fourteen matches. A quick mathematical calculation works out that this level of form maintained over the course of a season would equate to a shocking 21 points. This shows a club in disarray on the pitch, but it's arguably been the off pitch activity and lack of mercato action that has attibuted to this slide. 

The fall out between Cassano and club President Garrone was the beginning of the end for the former Real Madrid players time at Doria. Many thought it was only a matter of time before Cassano burnt his employers and they were right. After this parting of ways it was always going to be difficult to keep Giampaolo Pazzini, but to simply then sell on their best player in January without really obtaining adequate replacements for what was once arguably one of the best forward lines in the division was madness. It's easy to look back in hindsight, but clearly signing just Massimo Maccarone and a clearly underused and inexperience Federico Macheda was never going to cut it. The addition of Jonathan Biabiany was an exciting one, but at the same time not the type of player that would give the same level of goal production of Pazzini and Cassano.

It's not the first time however that Sampdoria have been backward when it comes to transfer action. Upon qualifying for the Champions League last year they didn't make the sort of market moves that would have taken them up a level. Instead they've regressed, and fast. Of course, they are not relegated yet but with Cesena and Lecce demonstrating good form post Christmas it could well be a matter of rounds before they find themselves in the relegation zone. It's certainly not something this great club and their fantastic fans deserves, so one hope they can muster enough points to beat the drop and then start again next season.

Wednesday 23 March 2011

Three to fight for the Scudetto, or is it four?

With Milan falling at Palermo at the weekend the gap at the top has shrunk, and with Inter also stalling in rounds previous Napoli and incredibly Udinese find themselves within touching distance at the top. What makes this more intriguing is that the Milan derby takes place in the next round. Napoli have a tough fixture to contend with in Lazio arriving at the San Paolo but Udinese find themselves taking on Lecce away. If the Milan derby ended all square Udinese could find themselves within four points come the end of round 31 and given that they are unbeaten since December, that's 13 Serie A rounds ago, they have to be taken very seriously indeed. For a team that lost their first four games to the season, this is simply incredible.

One can't ignore the presence of Napoli at the top either. They themselves sit only three points off the top as things stand and it could be a lot closer than that soon enough. Milan seem to be choking somewhat and Inter will most certainly have one eye on the Champions League. Given that they secured arguably the easiest tie in Schalke 04 they involvement in Europe's top tier competition could have some way to run yet, meaning that the incredible could happen in Serie A this year.

Of course it is still early days in terms of the business end of the season any many favour Inter to go onto claim the title yet again given their post Christmas form. But maybe, just maybe, this season will throw something up that will be talked about for years to come.

Tuesday 15 March 2011

Serie A: Ibrahimovic banned for three rounds

After a moment of madness of Sunday afternoon when Zlatan resorted to hitting Bari player Marco Rossi at a time when Milan were starring down the barrel at a humiliating defeat. The game ended 1-1, even with Milan reduced to ten men for a large period of the second half, but now AC will have to do with Ibra for the next three games which includes the monumental clash approaching in two rounds time, the Milan derby. Arguably, given his current form, or lack of it, this could be a blessing in disguise as Antonio Cassano now becomes the pivotal figure in the Milan attack. One wonders however what sort of swing this could have in the Scudetto race after both Milan sides dropped points at the weekend.

Bans have also been handed out for Lazio's Stefan Radu, three games, after his Zidane styleheadbutt in the derby and Cristian Ledesma, two games, after unfavourable comments directed at the referee. Again one wonders the effect that missing two key players will have on Lazio's quest for Champions League football next season. With Cesena up next, a game Lazio should win, their loss may not be heavily felt but with a trip to Napoli lying in wait after that difficulties may well be encountered.

Champions League: Inter tame Bayern

Inter Milan came from behind in Munich tonight to edge out Bayern Munich when all looked completely lost at half time. Inter started the game in the ascendancy and went ahead through Samuel Eto'o after just four minutes but Julio Cesar continued his bizarre form when virtually gifting the German giants a goal which Gomez took with aplomb. It did not take Bayern long to double their lead, and young star Thomas Muller saw to that when he drove the ball past Julio Cesar from close range.

Inter were rocking and shortly after Ranocchia managed to clear the ball of the line, had he not the tie would surely had been over. Inter however came out after the break in far more energetic fashion and began to stamp their authority on the game. Wesley Sneijder once again showed why he is one of the best players in the world when he hit a screamer from the edge of the area that almost broke the net in Munich. Bayern had a double blow not long after when Robben was taken off. Inter continued to dominate although Bayern threatened on the counter, but just when it looked like the holders were heading out Pandev found some space on the right hand side of the Bayern area and when fed by Eto'o he made no mistake, for once in this game, in finding the back of the net.

A huge win for Inter than and one of pride for Serie A in a year which had been devoid of performances like this from clubs of this league. Inter join Barcelona, Tottenham, Shaktar, Manchester United and Schalke in the next round. Lyon take on Real Madrid and Chelsea meet Copenhagen to decide the final two places.

Friday 11 March 2011

Calcio comment: Race to the bottom

Whilst it looks like a two way fight for the title, it now looks like a seven way battle royal for Serie A survival. Bari are virtually as good as down, already 12 points off Brescia and Lecce's pace and surely even a miracle could not save from the drop to Serie B.

Currently, last years promoted sides sit in the 17th, 18th and 19th spots respectively although out of the three  Cesena look the best bet out of the three to survive as theres plenty of creativity in their midfield with Jiminez and Rosina now linking up in midfield, not to mention the attacking intent of Davide Santon. This has been backed up by back to back wins against Chievo and Sampdoria. And while Brescia and Lecce may be favourites to go down come round 38 that by no means is guaranteed given that Catania, Chievo and Sampdoria have been dragged into the mix as well.

Perhaps having Chievo and Catania down there is not much of a surprise, but the decline of Sampdoria is given that they finished 4th last season. In many respects this has been self inflicted as internal conflict with Cassano and then selling Pazzini has now left many scracthing their heads as to where the goals will actually come from, and because of that it is by no means certain that they will be in Serie A next season.

Sunday 6 March 2011

Serie A: Juventus in turmoil as season looms on disaster

Juventus 0-1 Milan was the final score from last nights heavyweight Serie A clash as the 27 time Scudetto winners crashed to defeat again in Serie A. After defeating European champions Inter almost a month ago it looked as if Juve had turned a corner, but defeats to Lecce and then Bologna plunged Juve into crisis and a pretty average performance against Milan last night, who were comfortable right from the word go, looks to have all but ended Juve's attempts to qualify for next seasons champions league, especially after Lazio, now in fourth, extended their lead over them to ten points with just ten games to go. And, with a rejuvenated Cesena up next for Juve things may even get worse.

The question now is how long can Del Neri, and his ridgid 4-4-2 tactic, hang on. Marotta has acknowledged that Del Neri is the future of Juve and if that pans out to be true all the Juventini out there can probably look forward to more trophy less seasons to come. One doubts if Del Neri's time of the Juve bench will last much longer however. Injuries have played their part in a disappointing season but strange substitutions, such as not bringing on more offensive options last night in light of needed three points down, will no doubt have infuriated the Juve faithful especially as Milan as well did not look at their most fluid and could have been exposed if put under more offensive pressure. Instead Juve kept things tight without showing any adventure going forward. This is not what chairman Andrea Agnelli would have expected especially given the huge amount of investment in the squad over the last few seasons. 

For Juve fans out there it looks as if it will end in disappointment once again this season and the now yearly calls of an overhaul in the summer will be ringing around all mercato web sites come the end of May. To a degree this is merited but there is quailty in this Juve squad especially in midfield. They simply need some new forwards and a world class coach to harness this.

Wednesday 2 March 2011

Palermo 0-7 Udinese

See just how Palermo crashed at home to an excellent Udinese side. 


Serie A: The rise and rise of Udinese

Anyone who witnessed Udinese's 7-0 win over Palermo at the weekend won't need any introduction to the 'little Barcelona'. Udinese's incredible rise up the table since they lost their first four games this season has been as remarkable as it has been brilliant. At first it went unnoticed, and to a degree that was to be expected. After all in the seasons early going they were beaten 4-0 by Juventus and looked to be facing the same battle against relegation that they did last season. 

But perhaps those that thought that would transpire should have had a little more faith in Francesco Guidolin, the same man that coached Parma to 8th last season, a Parma side that now is battling relegation. Udinese contrarily are only five points away from third place and are now unbeaten since December where Lazio were victorious against them by 3-2 Udinese have since registered seven wins and three draws. They've beaten Inter and Juve, and scored four against Milan in an unbelievable 4-4 draw at San Siro. The only shock was the 0-0 home draw against Brescia last weekend where most thought they'd run up a cricket score. Instead they saved that for Palermo scoring a sublime seven times, three through Di Natale and four through Sanchez. 

These two players are taking the plaudits but the squad runs deeper than that. Handanovic in goal is an assured pair of hands at the back while Zapater is continuing to enhance his reputation at the back. Then you have newcomer Pablo Armero who has been a revelation going forward all the while Inler and Asamoah hold court in midfield. Even German Denis has come into his own in a super sub role weighing in with big goals against Milan and Genoa. It most certainly has been a team effort masterminded by Guidolin who has made them a delight to watch going forward. Indeed, nobody has scored more goals than Udinese this season. 49 to be precise in 27 rounds, level with both Inter and Milan. At this rate Lazio will struggle to hang onto fourth spot for much longer as this Udinese juggernaught rolls on with Bari looking set to be the next victim, and with Cagliari and Catania up next this run looks like it will not end yet.

Parallels will of course be made with the great Udinese side of the 1997-98 season which finish third when all was said and done with Oliver Bierhoff topping the scoring charts as well. This time it's Di Natale leading the line but third could well be within their grasp yet.