ITALIAN FOOTBALL ONCE UPON A TIME

The worst of Italian serie A: the derby of Milan. A game that should have been  the best spot for our national football and instead it’s become  the symbol of the decay of the our national league. A faded and merciless picture of the current situation in Italian football. The golden age (the 80’-90’) has become the tin-age. From Van Basten and Ronaldo to Gargano and De Jong. In other words: from  violins to trombones. Inter won the match against Milan but Italian football lost.  It was sad  to see Bojan, promising talent during his Barcelona period, slipping as a sack of potatoes, a few steps from glory.

Inter’s defensive and dismissive attitude able to spend 90 minutes behind the ball line hoping for some occasional breakaway was an insult to football. 

Is Stramaccioni (Inter’s coach) or isn’t he one of the youngest coach in Europe? Yes, he is. But apparentely his ideas are older than him. He still lives in Trapattoni or Nereo Rocco’s era. This is unacceptable! I miss Ronlado’s dribblings and  I miss Van Basten’s dance with the ball on San siro’s pitch. But I also miss Arrigo Sacchi’s courage. The memories of the Italian football’s golden age are too fresh  to get used to this sad metamorphosis. San Siro isn’t the Scala of football anymore. It has become a provincial theater where untalented but well-publicized  actors perform. The lights of San Siro are turned off, as the verse of an old and famous Italian song says. How to switch on the spotlights again? It’s not true that the only thing we need is money from Russian tycoons like in Premiere League. We  need more programming and foresight as well. The Verratti case,  the brightest talent of Italian football went to play in France, this is the most tangible evidence.

THE KNIGHT AND THE OLD LADY

The knight and the Old Lady. It seems like the title of a medieval novel, but it´s really a modern story. A romantic and emotional story. The story between Alex Del Piero and Juventus. A nineteen year old relationship that started in 1993 when the president of Juventus was Giampiero Boniperti - another emblem of the black and white club' story. In those days Del Piero was shy and skinny but he was already talented. 19 years full of many successes, disgracefules (terrible knee injury and Serie B) like in a true and long marriage. Del Piero has scored 318 goals surpassing every record in Juventus´ story. Del Piero is the fotball player that is most loved by Juventus supporters. More than Platini, more than Zidane, and more than Omar Sivori. Del Piero IS Juventus and Juventus IS Del Piero. 

The knight faithful to the Old Lady also when she did't seem so attractive (when Juve was relagated in Serie B) and many other young pretenders tried to seduce him. And the old lady was faithful to the knight also when he didn't seem so strong anymore because of the terrible knee injury in 1999 that could stop Del Piero´s carreer. An undissolubile union so far at least through 19 years. A romantic story comes to an end. The problem is that the divorce forcasted for next year isn´t consensual. Del Piero in fact still wants to love and to defend the old lady. He feels good and strong enough to prepare the return in Campions League with Juventus despite his almost 38 years. His fantastic performances against Milan and Inter in the last weeks have showed us that Del Piero is right. He can continue his carrer. He´s still able to score significant and decisive goals. The problem is that the old lady aim to renew her image with young football players trying to find the new Del Piero. Juventus´ president, Andrea Agnelli announced some months ago during a reunion of Juventus shareholders that this season  will be Del Piero´s last season in Juventus. A  "urbi et orbi" statement that wounded the tender heart of the the strong knight Del Piero. Juventus isn´t anymore the old lady he met almost 20 years ago. At that time football was more romantic and values still existed. The old lady was a faithful wife with whom you spent the whole life with. 

Now football is business and the club are focused on turnover and profit. No space for feelings anymore. so Juve just think about their future. A future without Del Piero from next year on. In my view this is mistake for two at least two reasons: 1) Del Piero has showed able to sit on the bench without complaints  and he has showed to be ready when Conte puts him in the field - scoring decisive goals. 2) Del Piero presence in the locker room is charismatic and his figure is able to lead the young football players teaching them what playing for Juventus means. Del Piero is a monument that commands respect and mantains order in a team full of new aspiring leaders. These are the reasons why I think it would be right that the knight and the old lady stay toghether also without the passion of a time ago. It´s only another year. 20 years sounds better than 19.

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JUVE: THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. OF ANDREA LAMBS.

There are many different silences.  Sometimes someone keep silent because he has nothing  to say. There is the silence of the guilty.  That type of silence that’s just waiting to be broken by some noise, as when a seagull suddenly scream in the wind on a sandy beach during winter. There’s the embarrassing silence  between two young lovers without experience. And there’s the silence of the lambs like the title of a famous movie. In Italian football  the silence of the lambs means the silence of Juve.  Because Lambs in Italian is Agnelli - the surname of Juventus’ president Andrea. Agnelli  ordered  all Juventus’ employees to keep silence as a protest against the referees . The silence of the lambs  also means the  Juventus’ silence  because the Italian giant feel innocent and victimized just like poor lambs led to the slaughter house. A sportive slaughter where the dream of glory of 12 million of Juventus supporter is dying . The news blackout decision was in fact a decision taken by Juventus owner after the draw between Genoa and Juventus. A match where Juventus deserved to win  but once again they weren’t able to score goals because of the imprecision of their strikers, but also because of  bad luck. Bad luck disguised also as many referee mistakes. In fact during the match against Genoa referee Rizzoli failed to give a regular goal scored by Pepe (in the pic below) and he didn’t give a penalty for a fault on Matri.

Two enormous mistakes that made Juventus angry. So angry that they remained  without words.  A silence of someone who feels victimized. A silence of protest.  Juventus bemoan the lack of equity of the referee’s judgment. So far in fact Juventus have had just  one useless penalty (against Cesena) despite having an average ball possession of almost 60 % per match. It’s strange. The bad decisions that referees have taken against Juventus so far are more than at least 10.  Some of these mistakes are really evident like the penalties not given to Juve during the matches against Inter , Parma and Siena. Mistakes that in terms of classification mean less points. Points that could be decisive for the challenge to win the Italian title. What Juventus and their supporter think is that the Turin club are still paying for the Italian scandal called Calciopoli in 2006. For that scandal Juventus was relegated to Serie B and lost 2 scudetti. A tough punishment unlike other clubs like Milan, Lazio or inter that was even awarded with a scudetto never won.  Juventus has already paid for their faults (?) and now they don’t want to continue paying for it. Juventus  is in fact convinced that whenever a referee is in doubt he prefers to whistle against Juve. I think what is happening in Serie A is absolutely this. Regardless of which team you support we can’t accept this  type of behavior because those who have already paid for their sins shouldn’t continue to pay indefinitely. I think this is the meaning of  the silence of Juve. The silence of the lambs. The silence Of Andrea Lambs.

AVB: THE AVATAR OF MOU

Porto, Chelsea and Inter: this is Mourinho’ s cv before going to Real Madrid . But it could be AVB’s cv as well, if Inter decide to hire him in the place of coach Ranieri. Jose Mourinho seems to be in the destiny of Andre Villas Boas who appears tied to Josè by a transparent thread.  He’s what Watson is for Sherlock Holmes or what Robin represents for Batman.  He is the vice. It’s his destiny  to live in reflected light. After splitting up from Mou as his vice coach, AVB  is in fact  accustomed to retrace  Mou’s path: Porto, Chelsea and maybe also Inter. Even though sometimes without reaching the same results like his experience at Chelsea taught us. But Moratti, Inter’s  president, doesn’t seem to be interested in this. He wants to repeat again the fantastic moments passed with Mourinho and he’s convinced that the right person to achieve this  difficult target is Andre Villas Boas. The Mourinho Avatar.

Maybe because of the same Portuguese nationality or because  AVB was  the vice of Mou, but anyway Moratti aim to hire the bearded coach. He’s young and good enough looking to sit on Inters bench. And even if Moratti has never forgotten Mourinho  AVB could be a good  surrogate.

At the moment  Moratti  is like a husband unable to forget his wife after splitting up with her. Wounded lovers always look for something similar to the former gf or wife. Blonde like her, extrovert like her, some even choose to stay with their ex gf’s sister. The problem is that  this type of relationship are often temporary and doomed to finish at the first difficulty. Villas boas should be aware of this. Mourinho is another person and he  will always have another story. I think this is one of the main problem for Andre Villas Boas and the main reason of his failure at Chelsea. If AVB will go where Mou was he will always be a spare wheel. He will never be loved like he deserves. In fact Porto, Chelsea or inter could love  him because he smells like Mourinho, seems like Mou and wins almost like him. The comparison with mou is too hard to handle for  Villas Boas and he will never be able to do better than Mou who at Inter wan all he could . If AVB continue to follow in Mou’s footprints he will only be able to win the Oscar as best supporting actor and when he loses he will be defined as the bad copy of Mourinho. So I give him an advice: Please,  stop following Mou. His shadow is too big. 

Andrè, try to be independent. This is the only way to find true love and this is why Inter isn’t a good choice for you.

IBRA: THIS IS A REAL TRAGEDY

Ibrahimovic defined Muntari's disallowed goal as a tragedy for football. Later, during a training with the Swedish National team he injured team mate Majstorovic' s knee ligaments forcing him to miss Euro 2012. Now this is a real tragedy...

 

BUFFON: TOO SINCERE TO BE ITALIAN

Italy’s the country of Pinocchio, the woody puppet of the story written by Carlo Collodi. Pinocchio used to lie and every time he told a lie his nose got longer. Italian people seems to be worthy sons of Pinocchio. They love telling lies and they especially seem to love if someone tells them lies. Sometimes I think that in Italy everything is the opposite of how it should be. Italian people prefer hearing lies instead of the truth. This happens in politics where there’s always a competition between who tells the most unbelievable  story. But it  also happens in football, where for example if someone tries to be honest he detonates a scandal. This is what happened with Gigi Buffon, Juventus and Italian national team goal keeper. He’s one of the strongest goalkeeper of the history. But besides being a great goalkeeper Buffon is also known as a genuine person. So he was sincere  when, during  the Milan-Juve match last Saturday, the referee failed to award Milan’s Muntari a goal when the goal-bound header clearly crossed the line without being awarded: “”Even if I had seen the ball inside I would never have confessed it”, Buffon admitted.

He said what all other football players would have done. But in Italy, a country where being a liar is the rule, telling the truth is a terrible sin. Buffon, the captain of our national team, was in fact immediately criticized.  TV programs (in particular TV channels belonging to Berlusconi), sports institutions, and politician were all against Buffon.  Everyone pointed the finger at him. There’s also who wants to remove him from role as the captain of the  Italian national team. All this because he attempted to be sincere. An absurdity. The typical fake Italian moralism that makes me disgusted.  I’m happy to agree with Buffon. Let’ s try to imagine what could have happened if Buffon would have confessed that the ball was inside the goal: He would be a traitor towards his team mates in a fundamental match of the season. Buffon is just a football player who plays for Juventus. His mission is to make Juventus win.  Buffon doesn’t  want to be a saint. The people just ask him  to save as many goals as possible.  Italian people should  ask  the politicians- many of which are railing against Buffon - to be honest. “Who is without sin casts the first stone”, a Bible quote that someone should remember more often. Anyway I have a suspicion: criticism against Buffon are useful to hide the insults that Milan’s CEO,  Adriano Galliani made at the referee in a forbidden place- the changing rooms,  during the break of the match. Sometimes for my journalist colleagues, politicians and media it’s  easier to criticize the behavior of a goalkeeper telling the truth, than the one of a powerful manager like Adriano Galliani,  that tries to influence the referee during an important match like Milan-Juve.

Sometimes, I think, Italy is not only the country of Pinocchio but also the one of Don Abbondio,  the cowardly and opportunistic character in an Italian literature masterpiece called “Promessi Sposi”  written by Alessandro Manzoni.

MILAN: A FOOTBALL-BOXING TEAM

During the past few games Milan's football players seem to use their hands as well as their feet...If you don't believe it watch videos below...

1) MUNTARI (Cassius Clay) VS LICHTSTEINER during Milan-Juve

2) MEXES VS BORRIELLO during Milan-Juve

3) IBRA VS STORARI after Juve-Milan (First leg of Tim Cup)

4) IBRA VS ARONICA during Milan-Napoli

MARIO LOVES HER BUT CESARE DOESN’ T LOVE HIM

Mario, Raffaella and Cesare. These aren’t the leading actors of a new Italian TV show. It isn’t a love triangle. But the three characters are anyway connected. Let’s  see why.  Mario is Mario Balotelli. He’s living a magic moment made of goals and love. From  bad boy he’s transformed into a boy in love. This seems to be Balotelli’s metamorphosis. A change that doesn’t seem  to damage his talent: In fact in the last turn of Premier League he scored the first goal of Manchester City’s 3-0 success against Blackburn after his 4 matches ban. An important  goal. The goal of his rebirth. A goal to dedicate to his girlfriend Raffaella Fico, famous in Italy for her participation at Big Brother and  for wearing a skimpy and sexy mini dress in a tv program. 

“Raffaella ti amo” was the message written on the shirt that Mario showed with pride after scoring.  A private message to show the world.  A little bit as when Balotelli showed the shirt with the writing: “Why always me?” But this time the meaning is different. Mario has gone from being  a misunderstood bad boy to a happy boy in love. A type of redemption for Balotelli due to that state of grace so typical of love. Surely Raffaella will have been happy for the free and unexpected advertisement of her name (I apologize for my lack of romanticism). But in this sentimental story there is also a black spot. There is someone  who seems not to believe in Mario’s redemption. This is Cesare Prandelli that without showing a shirt or using a message in a bottle made a warning to Balotelli through a TV interview. A threat disguised as a message. “Balotelli could be out of EURO 2012 if he continues having stupid behavior  that can damage the team”.

A direct message, clear without using periphrasis”. A message that  Balo’s  agent Mino Raiola didn’t like and he immediately replayed: “Prandelli would have done better to speak  directly with Mario and not through television” . True, but I mean, also Balotelli could say I love you whispering it in Raffaella ear or on the phone. But that’s not the point .  The fact is that Balotelli, the most promising  talent in Italy, risks his participation at the EURO2012. The problem is that Cesare Prandelli still doesn’t trust him and everyone knows that love can’t exist without trust.  Prandelli doesn’t love Balotelli. He fears being cheated.  Now it’s  Balotelli’s turn to try to  conquer the tough Cesare’s  trust after having conquered the beautiful  Raffella. It would be a shame for Italian supporters not to see Mario in EURO 2012 and also for Raffaella who in this way would lose the chance to have other love messages and more free publicity.

IS IBRA’S BAN A REAL ADVANTAGE FOR JUVE?

Milan lost an appeal against Ibrahmovic’ three-match ban. So the Swedish striker will not be available to face Juventus on Saturday after slapping Aronica during the match against Napoli. Ibra will be forced to miss the match that could decide a whole season. The big clash between the king and the queen of Italian football without the knight in shining armor. After knowing the decision taken by the organ of Italian sporting justice, AC Milan issued a press release full of disappointment. Milan based their defensive strategy on the fact  that Ibra’s gesture was not a violent conduct, but of unsporting nature.

Eventually, I think, to determine the decision  of “Corte di Giustizia Feferale” was  Ibra’s recurrence to violent (or almost violent) behavior  since his time  in Italian Serie A. The Swede is almost as accustomed to commit stupidities like he is to score fantastic goals. But the question now is another one:  is the absence of   ibra a real advantage for juventus? The answer to a question that could be rhetorical , is paradoxically negative, for at least 4 reasons:
1)      Ibra has never been able to decide big matches until now. He has never scored against Inter for example and against Juventus he scored just one useless goal when the Old Lady won 2-1 at S.Siro last year.
2)      Ibra often catalyzes the way  Milan play on himself, making the rossoneri’s attack actions more predictable . Furthermore Ibra has showed more than once to suffer terribly  Juventus’ defender Giorgio Chiellini - physically as strong as him.
3)      Ibra’s absence will consequentially  force Milan to play with Pato, Robinho or El Shaarawy. Three rapid  strikers that don’t  give points of reference in the field. These characteristics could be a problem for juventus defenders, all physically strong and not so fast.
4)      At the end there is also the statistic to confirm my thesis: so far Milan has won seven of eight matches without Ibra in the squad.
Four arguments that can comfort Milan and makes Juventus worried. Four arguments that anyway are not enough to make up for the sorrow of Ibra’s absence. The decisive battle of Serie A without their Knight in  shining armor won’t  be the same.

What do you think: will Ibra’s absence be a real advantage for Juventus?

NAPOLI: 5.000 FOR THE MIRACLE IN LONDON

 Close your eyes and try to imagine the impossible becoming possible. Try to imagine London with the sea instead of the Thames river. With the Maschio Angioino Castel in the place of Big Ben. Like in a fantasy movie. Like in a miracle. A miracle that could become real the 14 of March when  the second leg of the Champion’s league match between Chelsea and Naples will go on stage.  For that day in fact people from Naples are preparing  a biblical exodus. Nobody wants to miss the appointment with the history. Not only the history of a club but of a whole city: Naples. The first part of the miracle was realized thanks to the incredible success that Mazzarri’s boys obtained at San Paolo stadium against Chelsea. Now Napoli’s supporter are waiting for San Gennaro – Patron Saint of Naples – completing the job. Napoli’ supporters are faithful. They are ready to leave for London with an “azzurra” like the sky jersey and a holy picture of San Gennaro in their pocket. 5000 supporters are in these days  looking for a ticket for the glory. Despite having at their disposal just 2.700 tickets in West Stand they don’ t lose hope. Because the only thing that matters for Napoli supporters  is to meet together in Stamford Bridge stadium trying to transform it in a part of San Paolo. This will be their miracle. Already  4 special flights from Naples to London are prepared and it’s likely that there will be a 5th one.

All this to show how sometimes the passion for football is stronger than every economic  crisis and people are willing to save on everything else but not on football. In particular if a football match like this in London against the rich and powerful Chelsea  can give you an experience to talk about  for the rest of your days.  Napoli supporters seems to believe in a success at Stamford Bridge not only for the result of  the first leg but also because of the fact that Mazzarri’s boys sometimes play better away where they can use the breakaway. Cavani, Lavezzi and Hamsik are the most dangerous weapons. Three  elements that can make  the miracle possible.

 If Napolis supporters, after the match, opening their eyes see  the gulf of Naples in London, the Maschio Angioino in the place of Big Ben and the morning after they have breakfast with a sfogliatella (a typical sweet from Naples) and a cappuccino instead of the traditional English breakfast, it will not be a hallucination but the reality. It means that San Gennaro will have made a miracle.

RAMIREZ: THE NEW CRACK OF ITALIAN FOOTBALL

Once upon a time there were Roberto Baggio, Gianfranco Zola and  Roberto Mancini. Then it was the turn of Alessandro Del Piero and Francesco Totti, that with their enchantments with the ball made football fans fall in love. Italian football has always been a fertile ground for football players with talent and fantasy. Fantasy belongs to the DNA of our country. Fantasists are that race of football players that once - when marketing still  didn't  allow football players to have a number above 99 on their jerseys - you recognized from the number 10 on their shoulders. Now you can still recognize them through the elegant  touch on the ball. They’re always able to stimulate your imagination. Players like Baggio, Zola, Mancini precisely. Their carriers are typified by an incredible gallery of amazing goals. Fantastic goals that remain forever in the memories and are  reviewed one hundred times in a row on you tube. As the back heel  of Mancini against Parma when he played for Lazio or the back heel  done  by Del Piero in a Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund in 1997. Technical gestures so impossible to forget that they make you excited. Yesterday during the Serie a  match between Bologna and Fiorentina the gallery of the fantastic goals of Serie a was increased thanks to a back heel that gave the second and decisive goal for Bologna’ success (the back heel of Ramirez in the pic belowe).

The author of the football masterpiece wasn’t Di Vaio -another striker accustomed to score impossible goal – but a new promising talent. The new crack of Italian football. His name is Gaston Ramirez, a 21 old Uruguayan offensive player that during  his second season with bologna is surprising everyone. All top teams are following him now. Despite renewing his contract until 2016 with Bologna, Juventus and Liverpool seem to be closer to purchase him for the next season . We will see…

But what kind of football player is he? Is he  a midfielder or a striker? May be both. Let’s  try to know him better: He started his career in Panarol in 2009. One year later Bologna bought him for 3 million euro. An excellent deal for Bologna as the Uruguayan now costs about 20-25 million euro. Ramirez  has a great versatility and he’s able to play on the left wing and also  behind the strikers. He’s actually left footed and  could cut in the box to try the shot. He’s  fast enough with good dribbling skills. El Niño, this is his nickname, is in fact  in his home country compared to Pavel Nedved, the great former Juventus' Check champion. But in my view he resembles Nedved just for the position in the field and because of his left foot. For the rest Nedved based his play-style on strength while Ramirez is provided with more excellent technique. This season Ramirez has  scored 5 goals and he’s contributing to save Bologna from retrocession in Serie b. I think that El Niño continuing in this way can still  improve and  try to follow in Alexi Shanchez’s footprint. Another Niño, el Niño maravilla this time, currently a Barcelona player. It shows us how serie A sometimes can be a fertile ground for bringing  up new champions. Hopefully this time the Uruguayan flower Ramirez remains planted on the ground of Serie A.

CAPELLO: WHAT NEXT?

After Capello’ s resignation from English National team was accepted by FA board, one question makes the night of all football fans sleepless: which decision is Capello going to take? Unfortunately the response is still unknown. Not  good news for all football fans forced to remain with their eyes wide open thinking about Capello’ future. Anyway I feel that the solution of Fabio’s case is closer than you might think. In particular  it’s one simple argument making me feel optimistic:  Capello is a rational man - he comes from Pieris a town near Udine where the people, living near the mountains,  are used to being pragmatic and making concrete decisions. Because of this  it seemed strange when Capello resigned as England’s coach. It makes me think that Capello has another opportunity in his pocket. He isn’t the type of person that takes instinctive and irrational decisions. When he made up his mind about resignation from English National team, it’s because he knew something more about his future. I’m sure. Something better than participate at European cup with England almost without a chance to win. Unlikely something is still obscure for us. So we try now to put the puzzle pieces of Capello’s future in the right position.

Once vanished the chance for the Italian trainer to be hired by Anzhi- the Russian team that eventually decided to take on the Dutch coach Guus Hiddink -  two or three concrete options still remain. I think that the traces we have to follow take our search to Italy. Also because of the unwillingness to learn new languages that Fabio showed in England. But to convince me more that the next future of Capello will be in Italy was specially the last statement he released: “My future won’t be in Italy”. As when some years ago Capello said: ”I will never work as Juventus’ coach”, and the year after he became the new Juventus’ coach. Capello often says the opposite of what he thinks. So , I think, the first rule that we have to follow if we want to solve this puzzle is not to give importance to Capello’s statements. In fact Capello sometimes disguise as Pinocchio. 

Regardless what he says, we have to pass to analyze the first option for Fabio: It’s Rome. At Roma’s club  his reliable collaborator Franco Baldini works. At Roma they could recompose the couple that won one “scudetto” in 2001. However this possibility at Rome would be good just for the next year when probably Luis Enrique, actual coach of Roma, could go back to Spain. But to make me doubt regard this eventuality is the limited economic availability of the  yellow&red club that prefer betting on young and cheaper football players for the next future . By the way, another rule we need to follow to solve this puzzle is: Capello goes where money are. So I think Roma is not a concrete possibility. Juventus, instead, would be a good option. First of all because Capello is a big friend of Andrea Agnelli, Juventus’ President. Second because  the black and white club seems to be back to the former glory: thanks to the new “Juventus Stadium” the club is richer and the team is fighting to win the next scudetto. But the problem is represented by the fact  that the new coach Antonio Conte is doing a great job and the corporate structure is complete. So realistically there aren’t available roles for Capello in Juventus.

In my view the third option is the most concrete: this possibility for Capello this time is called Inter. The club of Milano is in crisis. The team is collecting defeats and the actual coach Claudio Ranieri is a dead man walking. If Inter doesn’t  pass the turn in Champions league against Olimpyque Marseille, in fact, Capello could immediately take the place of Ranieri on Inter’s bench. I think Fabio could be the right man: tough and a decision maker like Mourinho, he’s able also to cover the role of the sport director Marco Branca who’s  still at Inter just because he’s a good friend of Massimo Moratti’s son, Angelo Mario. But In Italy many people seems not to believe in  this option because of the opposition of Inter’ s supporters. They don’t like Capello because of his past at Juve, their biggest enemy. But I don’t believe supporters can be a hindrance. Rather the only real problem can be restrained in this question: “Is Moratti willing to invest again a lot of money in the “nerazzurri” club?” if the answer is positive, Capello will be the next coach of Inter, maybe already in this seasons. Unless Chelsea is thinking of him as well…

VILLAS BOAS: SEE NAPLES AND DIE?

"See Naples and die." It was a phrase coined during the reign of the Bourbons of Naples. It means that before you die you must experience the beauty of Naples. But for Villas Boas,  Chelsea’s coach the saying about Naples could have a different meaning. In the sense that seeing Naples could be fatal for the Portuguese  Mourinho’s pupil. If Chelsea lose it seems in fact, that the Russian Blues’ owner Abramovich  probably will sack the Portuguese promising coach talent. JESUS stopped at Eboli, Villas Boas that reminds a little bit about the classic image of Christ with the same beard, could stop almost in the same area, at Naples. The city of Vesuvio can be paradise or hell, the beauty and the beast. It’s a city of many contrasts and many colors as a famous Italian song goes. It’s up to Villas Boas and his team to decide on which side to stay.  It’s said in Italy that when you are in Naples you have to cry two times: when you arrive and when you leave. Tears for happiness and tears for sadness . Villas Boas wants to be happy. But in Naples and against Mazzarri’s boys it wont’ be easy. The clash of tomorrow for the city of Naples represents more than a simple football match. It’s a chance of a social redemption. The pride of being  from Naples. Because to be from Naples is different than being Italian.

For people from Naples it means more. For people in the rest of Italy, particularly from the north it often means less. But this isn’t so important. The main thing is that this clash also represents  the possibility to show the world that Naples can be different. It’s not  only the city of "Gomorra" and garbage emergency. To testimony the importance of the match Napoli’s owner Aurelio De Laurentiis  in these days before the match has always remained  close to the azzurri football players. About the match Napoli’s’ president said. “I don’t think that tomorrow we can lose, I’m optimistic. Also because tomorrow we will be twelve players”. The  12^th player that De Laurentiis refers to are the supporters, the warmest supporters in Italy, that will make the San Paolo stadium glow.  50 000 supporters are expected to fill almost every corner of San Paolo stadium to recreate the same atmosphere as when Maradona played here. The new heroes are called “Pocho” Lavezzi, Marek  Hamsik and Edison Cavani, for which Naples  rejected a 18 million euro offer from Liverpool. Three champions able to decide every single match and also to determine the destiny of Villas Boas.  If tomorrow  at the end of the match Napoli’s supporters will give you goosebumps singing the Naples’ traditional song “O surdato Innamorato”- like they are used to doing after every success - it will mean that Villas Boas’ experience on the bench of Chelsea will be terminated. Dead after having seen Naples...

INTER: THE GHOST OF MOURINHO

Another defeat. Another humiliation suffered by Inter. This time against Bologna. Once more after the unexpected and historical  defeat at San Siro against Novara, a team that only 2 years ago was in Third Division. This time the nightmare of Inter’s defenders with the red and  blue striped jerseys of Bologna is called Marco di Vaio. Last week,  instead,  it was Andrea Caracciolo better known as the heron. A bird able to fly with easiness on the disgraces of Inter. The difference  is just the name of  Inter’s torturers but the result remain the same: Inter’s scalp has  become too easy to grab for their enemies. Now I aim to understand the reason  of this failure. Who is the one to blame? This is my complicate mission. Moratti is the first suspect:  the president that seems to have lost his prodigality and his desire to invest money in new champions . Not without fault is also coach Claudio Ranieri known in Premier League as the tinkerman but maybe in Milano it would be better to call him the impotent. Anyway how could we forget the squad?  A group of champions transformed into  a mixture between old and boiled champions and young players without the necessary experience to face Italian football. A world too hard for them. By the way, the perfect  example is Ricky Alvarez. Last year a promising talent in Argentina and this season in Italy a football player only good to play in slow motion. I think that all three factors  are true and help us to understand the reasons of the crisis. But they are not the only explanation.


I want to give another interpretation. An interpretation called Jose Mourinho. The Special one.  Not a simple trainer for Inter but something more. He represents an incredible love story ended with the triumph of Madrid when two seasons ago Inter won the third champions league in their history against Bayern Munchen. No time to celebrate the success. No time to receive the right tribute by Inter supporters  before Mourinho was off in the car of Florentino Perez already wearing the “camiseta blanca” of real Madrid.  Like a husband that leaves his wife at the altar after having married her in the moment of greatest happiness. Inter now is like a wounded lover still not able to accept another coach. Not able to forget their biggest love. Too sweet Leonardo, too ugly, for the strong aesthetic sense of people of  inter, Benitez, too inexperienced Gasperini, too normal Ranieri. None that  can compare  with Mourinho. The perfect man for Inter. Tough, passionate, combative and a decision maker. Not only a coach but a manager English-style able to take the place of Inter’s sport director, Marco Branca, and to replace the role of the  press officer as well.

Mourinho during his permanence at  Inter was good to cover the lack of professionalism in the black and blue club. Mou was the perfect man  - interpreting  that sense of belonging to a chosen race that Inter supporters , like nobody else, always have had . Inter are widow of Jose. The special one that, like Inter supporters still  think, would be the only one able to put fuel in the tank of motivations of these tired warriors of Inter. The same supporters  that after the defeat against bologna sang: “Jose Mourinho là-là-là là...”.  When I heard Inter supporter sing a song dedicated to the Portuguese coach I got an idea:  and If the main problem of Inter is the nostalgia they feel for Mourinho?? He’s  still in Inter environment, in Inter headquarters “Appiano Gentile”.  You can smell his perfume, you can hear his funny Portuguese accent, you can see his silver hair. He goes around disguised as a ghost disturbing  every other coach trying to take his place in the heart of Inter supporters.  Could the right solution to solve Inter ‘s crisis be hiring  a ghostbuster??

THE LIST OF SHAME

1. Stefano MAURI (Lazio),2. Michele COSSATO (ex Chievo now Verona), 3. Federico COSSATO (ex Chievo), 4. Stefano FERRARIO (Parma), 5. Cristian BERTANI (giocatore, ex Novara now Sampdoria), 6. Massimiliano BENASSI (Lecce), 7. Antonio ROSATI (ex Lecce now Napoli), 8. Omar MILANETTO (ex Genoa now Padova), 9. Vincenzo ITALIANO (Padova), 10. Mario CASSANO (Piacenza), 11. Simone BENTIVOGLIO (ex Chievo now Padova), 12. Nicola VENTOLA (Novara), 13. LUCIANO (Chievo),14. Marco ROSSI (ex Bari now Parma),15. Alessandro PARISI (ex Bari now Torino),16. Daniele PADELLI (ex Bari now Udinese), 17. Andrea MASIELLO (ex Bari now Atalanta), 18. Alberto FONTANA (Novara), 19. Rijat SHALA (ex Novara now Lugano), 20. Marco TURATI (ex Grosseto now Modena), 21. Cesare RICKLER (ex Chievo now Bologna), 22. Matteo GRITTI  (Bellinzona), 23. Riccardo FISSORE (ex Spezia now Pavia), 24. Vincenzo IACOPINO (Monza), 25. Gianluca NICCO (Pescara), 26. Luca FIUZZI (Monza), 27. Andrea ALBERTI (ex Monza now Prato), 28. Edoardo CATINALI  (ex Piacenza now L'Aquila), 29. Mirko STEFANI (Reggiana), 30. Davide SAVERINO (Reggiana) 31. Dario PASSONI (ex Albino Leffe now Folzano)
32. Mattia SERAFINI (ex Prato now Fano) 33. Francesco RUOPOLO (ex Atalanta now Padova) 34. Antonio NARCISO (Grosseto), 35. Salvatore MASTRONUNZIO (ex Siena e Spezia now Gubbio), 36. Achille COSER (Novara), 37. Roberto COLACONE (ex Cremonese now Monza), 38. Marco CELLINI (ex Varese now Modena), 39. Davide CAREMI (ex Frosinone now Andria).

A list of almost forty Italian football players. But this isn't a squad list of an Italian Giant team. This isn't a top scorer classification. Unfortunately this is "only" the LIST OF SHAME: almost forty football players that according to Italian investigators tried to fix a good numbers of Serie A and Serie B matches of the last season. All football players on the List are charged with fixing matches and illegal betting - this last one is the worst plague of world football if we think that the turnover resulting from illegal betting in the world worth more than 90 billion euro a year!! A gigantic amount built also on the "dirty Italian job" as the investigation by the public prosecutors of Cremona and Bari and the confessions of some "pentito" football players are bringing to the surface in the last days. Even though it's still not confirmed yet it seems to be Italian Mafia behind these fixed matches with connections to East Europe and Asia. In conclusion credibility of football is questionable. I don't know how many of the list's names are really guilty (we'll only know this when a judge will issue a judgment) but one thing is sure: genuine feelings of Italian supporters (and not only) were exploited once again. I'm sure that when supporter's passion is handled to achieve a disgraceful target like illegal betting, you commit a mortal sin. Mortal because in this way you kill the football and the illusion that every passionate nurtures to remain a child dreaming of a Goal... .

Tonight Serie A returns to play. Hopefully just on the field...

THE DOUBLE FACE OF ITALIAN FOOTBALL

Almost at the same time. In the same evening, the Italian football yesterday showed its two different faces. The beautyful and the ugly, the elation and the angry: Ac Milan, beating Arsenal (4-0) in a fantastic Champions League night in a S. Siro overjoyed, gave back to Serie A the lost prestige. Just before Juventus, the main opponent of Ac Milan for the Italian title, drawed against Parma failing the attempt to overtake Milan at the first place of serie a classification. A draw also explenable with two questionable decisions taken by refree Mazzoleni that didn't give two likely penalties to Juventus (one of this in the pic below).

After the match polemics started. Antonio Conte Juventus coach said:"We have got just one penalty in 22 matches. It's strange. I think that the refrees are afraid of giving penalties to Juventus. It's a conseguence of the 2006's scandal. Juventus want to have respect and equity of judgment". I think that a part of what Conte said is true but if Juventus yesterday wasn't able to win  it's also due to the imprecision of Juventus' strikers. Likely the polemics of Parma Juventus in the night were overwhelmed by the fantastic success Milan had against Arsenal thanks to an incredible Ibra better as assist-man than as a striker and thanks to Robinho's best performance of the season, the Brasilian known until yesterday as the king of missing goals. A fantastic night of Champions League useful - I think - just to postpone the serie A poisons: the polemics are just beginning...

What do you think, is Juventus doing in the right thing complaining??

WELCOME!

Welcome to my new blog. My name is Alessandro Palella and I´m a sport journalist. I have worked for 5 years for "Corriere dello Sport"where I followed Ac Milan, Inter Fc and other teams in Serie B and Lega Pro. Currently I´m working as sport commentator for a local television. I apologize if my English is not perfect but my only purpose is sharing my competence and my passion (Italian football) with you -without filtering.