SB Nation
All Italian Offside coverage has been moved to SB Nation. I will give you guys more information when I can, but for now that’s it really. My first post is a season preview on Novara. Let me know what you think.
Pre-Season Friendlies…
By: Dylan |
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It’s the time of year again, and as I count down the days (38) until the Serie A season starts, we have to entertain ourselves with pre-season friendlies. Meaningless games where showboating is not encouraged and where provincial sides lose by double figures. So I thought I would do a round-up: Inter flew out to Germany [...]
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Two Day Old News
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I wrote this article two days ago, but Wordpress hates me, so I could only get it up now. Sorry if it feels old… It’s exactly forty days until the Serie A season officially begins (28th August 2011). I think I’ll take a break from criticising the FIGC to write about some recent transfer rumours [...]
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Why? FIGC Why?
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The Italian FA have somehow confirmed that they can not strip Internazionale Milano of their 2006 Scudetto. Now maybe it’s because I’m looking at Italian football through my corruption-free tinted glasses, but I expected at least some action to me taken. The FIGC’s “executive committee” met in Rome today, and the decision was confirmed. Twenty-three [...]
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Legal Action And A Powerful Ant
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So the news is back! Sorry for the delays with some of my recent articles, but Wordpress has been acting up. The transfer window is very much alive, unfortunately. Juventus continue to pursue a striker in La Liga, but it’s no longer Sergio Aguero, instead Villarreal’s Giuseppe Rossi might be on his way to Turin. His [...]
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The Udinese Model
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After a goalless draw with Serie A Champions AC Milan on the last day of the 2010/11 season, Udinese qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in five years. An extremely unpredictable result considering they were in the midst of a relegation battle the season before, eventually finishing fifteenth. They also lost key [...]
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Una Ventunella (21)
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This post isn’t really going to be about Serie A, or professional football in general. Instead I’m going to explain the rules of game that is played all over Italy called Ventuno. Ventuno is a game that is best played in about four or five people, but the minimum is three. A football is required, but proper [...]
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A Tsunami And Luciano Moggi
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This is another news type article, just wanted to ask you guys how often you would like to see them. Maybe daily, or every two or three days, let me know. La Gazzetta dello Sport are reporting that Chelsea’s Andre Villas-Boas is interested in Roma midfielder Daniele De Rossi. The Italian international has one year left [...]
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Memories…
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9th of July 2006. The fact that we won the World Cup meant very little to me, it was the way in which we won that made us special. The cancer that still is Calciopoli had just been let loose. Italian football was entering a very dark place. Corruption and fraud were a common sight. Yet [...]
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Moratti Calls For Boycott Of The Pink Paper
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Following the news that evidence of former Inter President Giacinto Facchetti involved in match-fixing back in 2006 was released, newspapers all in Italy have been all over the story. Many of them claiming that Inter should give their 2006 Scudetto back. One of these newspapers was La Gazzetta dello Sport, not only one of the most [...]
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Team News
Reggina - Grosseto 1-0. Upcoming Final Game
So finally we are on the final game of the season, and it couldn’t be more stressful at the moment. Despite our brilliant win over Grosseto on the weekend, we could still risk dropping into the relegation Play outs. Enough about that though, I must commend the efforts the boys ...
May 14, 2013 | Read this article...
Our Rise, Palermo - Udinese
Udinese are up to sixth after a convincing 3-1 victory against Sampdoria last Sunday. A double from Toto Di Natale confirmed his return to goalscoring form, and the Zebrette have now made it five wins on the trot.
The coming set of fixtures takes place midweek (tomorrow, now this has been posted on the Tuesday) with Udinese facing Palermo. One side's fighting for survival in Italy's premier division; the other's in a scrap for European qualification. There remains a possibility - however remote - that the Friulani could finish fourth (which in previous seasons would've meant qualification for the Champions League play-offs; of course, now it means a mere playoff berth for the Europa League group stages). It's unlikely, considering current fourth placed team Fiorentina are four points ahead, with three games to play. Some would say it's impossible, but I like to harbour these unrealistic hopes.
Champions League Again!
After a one year absence Napoli has returned to the Champions League. It's a much deserved return: the Partenopei have been the 2nd best team in Serie A, and need just one more win against Bologna, Siena, or Roma to guarantee a 2nd place finish. I am now officially pro Mazzarri, as the team is playing its best calcio at the end of the year which is what you need to compete for the very top places. Sure, the Europa League and Coppa Italia were sacrificed along the way, but it will be worth it next season when we see the team play against the best European clubs. This forum has been very critical of Mazzarri at times, and I've often been the one leading the way. But a 2nd place finish is the best this team can achieve right now, and it's Mazzarri who has the ragazzi playing up to the the fullest potential.
May 06, 2013 | Read this article...
Napoli vs. Inter
Roma's win over Fiorentina gave Napoli's Champions League hopes a big boost: the Viola can get a maximum of 9 points the rest of the way, which would give them 70 for the season. Napoli currently have 69 and a win over Inter would guarantee a top 3 finish. But there is still a big difference between 2nd and 3rd: the 3rd place team will have a qualifying round before they can enter the group stages of the Champions League. It doesn't seem like a big deal, but Napoli's record in two game aggregate contests in Europe the last three years has been 0-3 with losses to Villarreal, Chelsea, and Viktoria Plzen. Napoli does well in the group stages of each competition, but can't get past the first hurdle after that.
May 05, 2013 | Read this article...
Important Game vs Cittadella
So as We all know by now we lost to Brescia 0-1. I didnt get the chance to post about it earlier as i have been Inundated with work and uni. Nonetheless I dont think there were many of us who thought we could beat them. Lets move on to ...
May 02, 2013 | Read this article...
Pescara vs. Napoli
Pescara has fallen down to last place and while they're not mathematically relegated yet, they are basically preparing for life in Serie B next season. The welcome Napoli with a depleted roster: Gaetano d'Agostino, Per Koldrup, Vladimir Weiss, and Juan Quintero are all missing. Those aren't exactly household names in the soccer world but it represents some of Pescara's best talent. In fact, Hamsik's countryman Weiss is tied for the team lead in goals with.... 4? Unless I've done some bad research nobody on Pescara has scored more than 4 goals this season. The other 4 goal man on Pescara is the Swedish U-21 winger Mervan Celik. Even without the banned Cavani, Napoli are still fielding 5 players with 5 goals or more: Hamsik, Dzemaili, Inler, Pandev, and Insigne. On paper, this one is a bit of a mismatch.
Apr 27, 2013 | Read this article...
Napoli vs. Cagliari
De Sanctis and Campagnaro out? Could be worse: Cagliari are missing Daniele Conti and Mauricio Pinilla. The Romanista Conti traditionally plays great games against Napoli, while the Chilean striker is one of Cagliari's hottest players. No doubt Cagliari is one of the in-form teams in the league right now, but take out two of their starters and like most provincial clubs depth is not one of their strongest points. Still, Cagliari are unbeaten in 5 matches and have some impressive victories in that span: 3-1 over Samp, 2-1 over Fiorentina, and 2-0 over Inter. But all of those wins came at home, while their last road win was 2-0 over last placed Pescara back in February. Once again, everything is in place for a routine Napoli home win. But the Partenopei like to succeed the difficult way much of the time.
Apr 19, 2013 | Read this article...
Ternana - Reggina 0-1
I do apologise for not posting about our win last week vs Bari. It is ironic Di Michele who was our Hero from that game, became a villain in our loss to Ternana. But we cannot blame him entirely, in fact to do so would be a horrible mistake. ...
Apr 15, 2013 | Read this article...
AC Milan vs. Napoli
It's often said that Napoli fans expect too much of the team, but all I'm hoping for here is a draw that would keep the 4 point gap between 2nd and 3rd. Having said that, it can be dangerous to play for a draw. This one is an interesting tactical matchup - Milan play 4-3-3, a formation that has given Napoli lots of trouble in the past. The two wingers, which will probably be El Sharaawy and Niang, can stretch the outside defenders, in Napoli's case Campagnaro and Britos. The other option is keeping the wingbacks deeper but then you're basically playing a 5-3-2 which makes it difficult for Maggio and Zuniga to get involved in the offensive side of the game.
Apr 14, 2013 | Read this article...
Napoli vs. Genoa
It's hard to believe it, but Genoa are in serious danger of going down. In fact, if not for Siena's 6 point penalty the Grifone would be in the relegation zone and 5 points back of Siena. Instead, it's the Tuscan side in the last relegation spot, but only 1 point behind Genoa. The numbers points to a routine Napoli win. Genoa have won only twice on the road this season, while Napoli have lost only once at home. Last season this fixture ended 6-1 for Napoli. And Napoli has no real injury problems, with Campagnaro and De Sanctis returning after picking up knocks on international duty. The only concern is Behrami who is a diffidato ahead of the showdown with AC Milan next week.
Apr 05, 2013 | Read this article...
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