Juventus Primavera Continues Viareggio Defense

If you haven't heard of the Torneo di Viareggio, smack yourself upside the face. Like the Toulon tournament for national teams, the Viareggio classic is one of the most prestigious world competitions for youth teams. Held in Marcello Lippi's hometown, this is the 62nd annual tournament, always held during Carneval season. In recent years, Juve have dominated the tournament, confirming the tremendous talent our Primavera holds. We have been in the finals 5 of the last 7 tournaments, with our most recent win being last season. And perhaps you should pay even more attention this year, as while the senior team sucks it up, the Primavera is romping to victory, with 11 goals scored and 0 conceded in the group stages.
The tournament is an invitational, with 48 teams competing. The first section is the group stages, 12 groups divided into two sections, A and B. The winners of each group, and the 4 best runners-up enter into a 16-team playoffs. Most Serie A teams have a team in the tournament, many Serie B, and a few Serie C, Serie D, and Eccelenza representatives. The tournament also invites many worldwide teams, like Chivas, Red Bull NY, Spartak Moscow, Gremio, Maccabi Haifa, and Anderlecht of Belgium. After the jump, a review of the Primaveras completed games.

Reja to take the reins

It's not yet official but barring a minor disaster, Edy Reja will be the new coach of Lazio.

Ballardini's time is up and perhaps he has had longer than he deserves. Many, including myself, would've let him go during that horrible period when we endured four months without a league ...

Mister Mercato ; Philippe Mexes

Think about a Mexes-Chiellini partnership in central defence, pretty decent in my mind. It seems the Juventus management more than agrees. It’s no secret that Juventus need a CB to bolster their defence while everyone knows Rosella Sensi loves a good pay out.

Livorno on a Roll

Milan and Juventus, back to back draws, not to shabby. Antonio Filippini scores on a header in between Nicola - I Love Jesus in an innapropriate way - Legrotaglie, Fabio Cannavaro and Giorgio Chiellini ! Legrotaglie's goal was offside, , Mirko Pieri and De Lucia haven't played recently, Luigi Vitale has crazy pace and accurate crosses, Diniz is semi decent, Rubinho seemed solid, Spinelli is a crazy old man and Serse Cosmi is wearing funkier outfits every week. You gotta love these commies ;

The New Bermuda Triangle Hails From Rome.

Milan's Tactical Difficulties

I may have had some computer issues yesterday morning, but it was Milan that had the real technical difficulties on the pitch. Call it whatever you want; regression, ineptitude, lack of awareness, but no matter what fancy name you give it, in the end it all sucks.

Throwback to the Reja Era

Udinese 3 Napoli 1
It's ironic that former Napoli mister Edy Reja should be linked with a move back to Serie A (Lazio) the same week in which his old team played a game reminiscent of his time in charge. Basically, there were a lot of major incidents, most of them not going Napoli's way, but in spite of this Napoli played a really good game and of course have nothing to show for it. That game pattern belongs to Reja and not Mazzarri, who could only comment that the stars were not aligned for Napoli on Sunday.

The Bosman Probings

The reparation mercato is officially over, now starts the purge of the Parametro Zero players or as I like to call it, The Bosman Probing. Players with a contract expiring in June 2010 are now free to agree on terms with other clubs for next season. Some of the names on the market can become excellent cheap acquisitions but could also start some beef between teams. We might even see a few good old pissing matches over average players, as teams need to renew contracts and\or consider possible free transfers. From Pippo and Dida to Chamakh and Ballack, the Bosman's are as mouth watering as a free Belgian waffle.

Finally a Win!

For awhile it looked like it was going to be one of those games. Where the team plays well but just can't find the back of the net. But then, in the 82nd minute, Tiribocchi scored. Thank. God. It certainly was a match that we deserved to win as we controlled possession and pretty much dominated the whole game from start to finish, although Bari did manage to give us a couple scares. To be honest, despite those couple moments for the most part I was surprised with Bari as they never really seemed to be up for this game. I know they've done well and are almost certain to stay up but, I don't know. I was surprised at how toothless they were. They certainly didn't look like a team that beat Juventus (although right now it seems like anyone can do that) or that drew Inter twice and Milan once.

Sometimes, Pictures Can Paint A 1,000 Words

Dejection. Forza Lazio!