Player Profiles: Eto'o, the unstoppable Lion

14 goals in 12 games so far this season. You read it right, 14 goals in 12 games. At the beginning of the season, if you had told any Inter fan that they would have been without Diego Milito the period that he has been out injured then they would have wondered where the goals were going to come from. Don't get me wrong, Eto'o was outstanding for Inter last season, sacrificing himself down the left channel for the benefit of the Inter Juggernaut that went on to win everything possible. He weighed in with big goals as well, away at Chelsea, at home in a showdown with Roma. This season however, he has become the focal point of Inter. Everything he touches seems to end up in the back of the net, football's equivalent of King Midas on current form. 

From the hatrick against Werder Bremen to the superb strike against Cagliari last weekend, Eto's has given Rafa Benitez a real problem, because what will happen when El Principe returns? Does he push Eto'o back out onto the wing with the freedom to cut inside, or does he completely change Inter's shape and revert their 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2? The latter would be a mistake, as their power as a counter attacking unit when necessary is on full display when they operate under the way that Mourinho played. That being said, they have already shown under Benitez how good they can be at retaining possession and cutting teams apart with sharp, smart attacking play. Eto'o is at the forefront of that at the moment, and there is no sign of the goals drying up. Considering his record at Barcelona that can be taken as par for the course.

The player: Robinho

Its time to take a closer look at Robinho, AC Milan's new signing who will debut in Serie A this season and no doubt light it up with his trickery and pace.

At just 26, Robinho seems like he has been around for years. In many respects he has, clocking up mileage for three different clubs in three different leagues so far in his young career. His first port of call was the mythical Brazilian club Santos, home to the legendary Pele, where he played his first three years of his career. He registered almost a goal in every other game, hitting the net 46 times in 111 appearances. This sparked a move to Real Madrid at the tender age of just 21 where the spent three seasons, registering 25 goals in total. This was lower than his Santos total, but in a vastly more difficult league and setting.

His efforts were rewarded with a top ten finish in the prestigious Ballon D'or award, and with two La Liga titles in 2006-7 and 2007-08 in which he played a full roll, both with goals and assists. However, his efforts were not ironically appreciated by the club who tried to include him in a deal to ascertain Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo. When this approach was rejected, Robinho decided to leave anyway and eventually was purchased by Manchester City for £32 million, a figure that is still a British transfer record. However, this proved to be a mistake. He hit his biggest ever goal total in European football in his first season, with 14, but his second season was a disaster with it apparent that he would want to have been anywhere else. He was loaned out to old club Santos and fell into a rich vein of form additionally for the national side where he hit six goals in just seven games for the selection.

Its seems as if Milan have a very good player on their hands, one that will deliver in an environment where he feels comfortable and appreciated. With the large amount of Brazilian players on offer in the Milan side he is sure to feel right at home.

Player Profiles: Diego Milito

El Principe, Diego Milito has really carved out a name for himself in Italy in the last two seasons, and showed why he is considered one of the best forwards, and one of the most underrated, in world football at the moment. It doesn't really matter who he plays alongside, he scores goals. Whether it be Sammy Eto'o, Goran Pandev or the mecurial Mario Balotelli it's usually Milito who is at the centre of things, just as he was in Inter's win against Chelsea last week where his movement alongside that of Eto'o made it an uncomfortable night for the Chelsea back four.

But, it has been a strange path to the top for Milito, a striker that has had unquestionable quality for some time now, even if it has not always been justly recognised. Arriving in Genoa from Argentine giants Racing Club Milito became an instant hit at the Marassi hitting 33 goals in 59 matches. Genoa though were in Serie B at the time, and we then sent down to Serie C1 after alleged match fixing allegations and this hastened Milito's departure to Spain where he lined up for Real Zaragoza.

His time in Spain bore fruit, as he hit 53 goals in three seasons and took up the Captains armband as well, but when the time came to return to Genoa he could not resist and it was in the dying embers of the 2008 Summer transfer window that he completed a 13 million Euro move back to Italy.It was a real steal for Genoa, as they once again showed how good their transfer eye was, and they continue to do so today. Milito was absolutely brilliant in the Grifoni colours and finished only just behind Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the goal scoring table last year, hitting 24 goals in just 31 games in what was actually his first Serie A season. It earned him a 25 million euro move to Inter that also included Thiago Motta for the Milan based side and so far it has been a very solid investment. Big goals have never been a problem for Milito, a criticism of former Inter man Ibrahimovic, and they have been flooding in against the likes of Milan, Chelsea and Dianmo Kiev in the nights that mattered most to Inters season to date. The challenge for Milito now is for him to continue down this path and write himself in Inter folk law for years to come, before a likely return to Genoa no doubt.

Diego Milito image from Steindy images

Player Profiles: Alberto Gilardino

Fiorentina fans have become more accustomed to the violin celebration that Gilardino often performs after scoring a goal of late, leaving the Milanista wondering why on earth he could not perform his musical celebration more often in the company of the thousands that gather at the San Siro when Milan are in town. But one thing is for certain, Gilardino is back in business big time. The hitman came to light at Parma where he punched out back to back 23 goal seasons leaving Parma in 2005 having hit the back of the net 50 times in just 96 appearances. But he first came on the scene in Verona where he learnt his trade under his current coach Cesare Prandelli with Hellas, who incidentally was also his coach at Parma. Clearly the two work well together, and the omission of Prandelli in Gilardino's transfer to Milan perhaps unsettled the man who had been so prolific in the seasons gone by at Parma.

Gilardino: The Milan years
The transfer to Milan was one of great promise for both parties. With Shevchenko on the wane 'Gila' was sought after to take over the mantle. In the first year arguably he did. 17 goals alongside Sheva made for a respectable return at a club where Gila was part of the team rather than the focus of it as he was in Parma. But, the goals began to dry up and 17 was followed by 12 in the 2006/2007 season, and just seven in 2007/2008. The performances in Europe were not great either for Gilardino, with him registering just twice in the Champions League for Milan, albeit one rather crucial strike against Manchester United in a 3-0 romp for AC which lead in the end to a Champions League title. Still, with a certain Pato arriving Gila was often found on the bench, prompting a 15 million euro fee to Fiorentina, allowing him to reunite with Prandelli.

Batistuta's hunting ground
And, its so far it has been a successful move for Gila. 19 goals last season showed that it was money well spent for Fiorentina and he had no trouble linking up with either Adrian Mutu or Stefan Jovetic. 5 goals in Europe as well followed and a return to prominence in the Azzurri fold has occurred. This season he has simply carried on from where he started. 7 goals so far in Serie A, 3 in the Champions League including one against Liverpool and four for Italy including a hatrick against Cyprus have highlighted what an important player Gilardino has become for not only Fiorentina but Italy also. The question remains, how much further can he go? With Fiorentina ready to do battle in the Champions League knockout stages, it would seem the stage is set.

Image credited to Roberto Vicario.

Marek Hamsik

Marek Hamsik has been quite a star for sometime now. Its no surprise to follower of Calcio that he we have a man who has been linked to Inter, Juve, Real, Chelsea and Milan for fees that run into millions and millions of Euro's. Napoli then can consider the fee that they paid for Hamsik peanuts. The 5.5 million Euro's paid to Brescia for Hamsik in 2007 may have seemed slightly high at the time for a player aged 19, and with no Serie A experience but with the performances that Hamsik has put in and the eye for goal that he has the vision to sign him, at the expense of bigger clubs in the league at the time of Napoli's promotion back to Serie A, can be seen as a huge coup. Especially as he has been Napoli's top scorer for the last two years in Serie A registering nine goals in each campaign from midfield. This may highlight the deficiencies that Napoli forwards Lavezzi, Denis and at the time Zalayeta had in front of goal for the last two seasons, but nine from midfield remains a tally that Hamsik's idol Pavel Nedved would be proud of.

If that was an impressive start, then performances this season have been stunning. 7 goals so far in just 12 rounds from midfield put Hamsik second in Serie A scoring behind only Antonio Di Natale, and level with such luminaries as Giampaolo Pazzini and Diego Milito. It takes his goal tally to 25 goals in just 81 games, from midfield. Nothing, however, stands up to the perfomance against Juventus two rounds ago when Napoli stormed Turin, from two goals down, to take three points back to the bay of Naples. Hamsik, along with Jesus Datolo, was the instigator of this comeback and rounded off the perfomance with a stunning finish into the postage stamp of the goal that left Gianluigi Buffon with no chance. One wonders what's next for Hamsik, but he is on the rise and on the way to greatness.
Image: Steindy

Pato: Like a duck to water

After a poor start to the season Milan are beginning to find their feet again and one player who has had a huge part in this revival of sorts is Alex Pato. The Duck, as he is known, has shown blistering form of late after himself coming out of a slump in form after a two goal opening day performance against Siena. It’s not surprise that he has returned to form. After all in Pato we have a player who on his Milan debut, at just 18, scored twice against Napoli in the white hot pressure of the San Siro. And, whilst Alberto Gilardino at the time could not get anything going for Milan the young Pato took to the surroundings like a duck to water. Indeed in just 20 appearances for Milan in the 2007/2008 season Pato registered 9 goals in just 20 games. Last season, his first complete season, saw him step up in quality again. With David Beckham watching from the stands just before Christmas last year Pato scored twice against Udinese in a 5-1 home win with teammate Kaka also on the score sheet, and it was during this part of the season that Pato hit red hot form. He scored a classy finish against Fiorentina in a 1-0 home win. But arguably his best performance came away at Roma when Pato scored twice, on one occasion leaving Philippe Mexes for dead and applying a consummate finish that left Doni with no chance. Pato finished the season with 15 goals in 36 games, not bad for a 19 year old. The start to this season has been little different. Stunning goals against Roma and Real Madrid of late has propelled him into arguably one of the best forwards in Europe on current form and even comparisons with Messi are beginning to be made. Both like to operate down the right for starters and both posses the ball control, skills and finishing ability that make them something very special. Pato, of course, has some way to go before he can outdo his Argentine rival but the signs are there that he could do just that, in time.

Welcome back Sandro

With Paolo Maldini retiring, the Milan defence was in need of some leadership, quality and youth mixed into its ranks this summer. Youth, and great potential have come in the form Thiago Silva. But quality and leadership have returned with Alessandro Nesta. Nesta, who played only thirteen minutes in one game in Serie A last season against Fiorentina has since the season begun sent out a timely reminder of why he was the best central defender in the world a few seasons ago. It seemed barely possible a year ago, when again injury beset the great man, that he would insert such steel and consistency at the back of the San Siro line. However, despite being the wrong side of 30, Nesta looks fresh and hungry in all his play, even going forward now as two goals against Chievo testify. Some of this could be attributable to not just last year out on the injury shelf but also much of the 2006-2007 Champions League winning season also. Perhaps, in his mind, laurels and great moments of old cannot be relied upon anymore. In many respects, he has had to prove his current quality all over again and has done so to such an extent that calls for his International retirement have been called to end.

Indeed, in as much as Nesta has turned his fortunes for the better this season, so have Milan as time has gone by. The 4-0 defeat in week two to Inter now seems a distant memory with victory over Real Madrid in Spain now seemingly being a source of inspiration for them. Of course the season is young and for Nesta, with his catalogue of injury history, one hopes that this done now recur for him again. But, who knows, perhaps if current performances continue like this for both Nesta and Milan he could add to his haul of trophies, that include two Champions League titles, two Scudetti and two European Super cups. But for now, like us, its just good to see him back in action again.

Player Profile: Dejan

Right now, Dejan Stankovic is a key cog in the Inter Milan midfield, and for good reason. Three goals in the league so far this season, all absolute gems, is one of the reasons why Inter sit top of the Serie A table yet again. Funny, then, that just over a year ago he was on the verge of a huge move to Juventus as they began to re-establish themselves in this division. It didn't happen, and Inter fans will be thankful of that. Why, well because he is the type of player that offers so much to a coach. Able to play central mid, trequartista, and even adopt a hard tackling role in the defensive midfield if need be. Crisp passing, long range efforts, headers are all in the package that Stankovic offers.

The Lazio years
His arrival at Lazio was relatively low key, but on he debut he addressed that fact with interest. An absolute missile, now a trademark, found the back of the net against Piacenza and he found his way into a team that was not exactly short on talent at that time. Great success followed, with a Scudetto, Coppa Italia, Cup Winners cup and European Super Cup in a Lazio shirt. Still, needs must. And when Lazio were fighting financial meltdown he was sold to Inter, a club now that he has become a central part of.

Inter-Milan
Indeed, it has become something of a speciality for Stankovic, scoring cracking goals that is, and on numerous occasions of city rivals Milan. This years cracker in the derby is evidence of that, and also the one a few years back when a corner kick somehow found its way into the back of the net, and of course last seasons winner against Milan by 2-1 after a Zlatan Ibrahimovic knock down. However, he is more than simply a 'show pony' in that regard. He has stepped up to new levels this season, scoring vital goals for Inter in the Champions League, keeping them afloat in the competition. Maybe this is not a surprise, as his leadership qualities attained at International level, as Serbia's captain, flood through to the Inter team.

Image: Steindy