Another Meltdown in Palermo
By: Martha | March 12th, 2007
Right on the heel’s of last week’s “Our losses are due entirely to bad officiating, and have nothing whatsoever to do with our play on the pitch” debacle, the Palermo camp is once again in an explosive rage. This time, however, their target (shockingly) isn’t an official, but rather Fiorentina coach Cesare Prandelli who, in a rather heated confrontation on the touchline, called Francesco Guidolin “crazy.” While you could be forgiven for wondering if he was on to something there, Guidolin has assured the press “that is not the case,” and that he will from this moment “never speak to Prandelli again,” a pronouncement which, I’m sure, just breaks Prandelli’s delicate little heart.
For those of you who missed the highlights, the issue is this: Late in the first half of yesterday’s match, Palermo’s Roberto Guana who went down with what looked like a hamstring injury reaching for a pass, and Adrian Mutu picked the ball up when Guana missed it. Mutu ignored (allegedly didn’t see) Guana and proceeded to run through the entire Palermo team and score, putting Fiorentina ahead 1-0. Needless to say, Guidolin lost his damn mind at what he saw as a lack of sportsmanship, almost got in a fight with Prandelli, and was sent off for dissent.
I’m pretty hard on Palermo’s constant whining, but in this case, I can sort of see where the rage comes from — as Mutu got closer and closer to the goal, it looked to me like some people were unconsciously playing at less than full speed, assuming that either Mutu would play it out or a whistle would be coming to stop the play. Even the Fiorentina players near the goal were just standing and watching, apparently figuring the ball would be blown dead any second. The thing is, though, that it wasn’t, and if the goal was scored in part because the players were waiting for the referee to act, well, that’s another issue for Palermo to add to their list. (Right behind “collective violent temper,” and just ahead of “need to smack di Michele around.”) Really, it’s the same bottom line as last week — at some point, they just gotta go out and play, and forget everything else. And it better be soon, too, if they want to have a chance of playing Champions League football next season.
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Comments
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This is going to sound odd coming from me, but I can’t blame Mutu. He pounced on the loose ball and didn’t look back. I believe him when he says he didn’t see Guana down. Whether or not anyone yelled at him that there was a man down is another question. But I’m pretty sure Di Michele or Caracciolo would have done the same in a reverse situation. (I’m with you on “need to smack di Michele around.”)
Posted from
United Kingdom
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This is tough - I think the referee is supposed to blow this dead (new rule this year). I’m a biased Fiorentina fan, but you can’t just miss a pass and fall over when the other team breaks (It looks like Mutu didn’t see him). The referee cannot take away an advantage when this is not an extremely serious injury. Plus, Palermo let Mutu dribble about 40 yards around several defenders, so it isn’t like they had no chance to put a stop to his run. Play to the whistle boys.
Posted from
United States -
I have to imagine that players are coached early on to play until they hear the whistle. It did look like some of the Palermo defenders were very slow to react, but it is no excuse that you assumed a whistle was coming. In American football the play is all live until whistled dead. How could it be different in soccer? Mutu did what all competitors should do.
Posted from
United States -
http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/mar12m.html
Just saw this, very classy indeed. Knowing that there is a problem with racism in Italy, I wonder how this will be handled. There should be no place for comments like these from Zamparini.
Posted from
United States -
Muddia, you would think that, but it’s only recently that the leagues have started emphasizing that play should continue until the whistle-tradition is that if you see a man down injured, you put the ball out of play. The other team will then sportingly give the ball back when play resumes. And the ref should have blown- Guana went down with no one around him grabbing at his thigh. It was clear it was an injury.
Posted from
United Kingdom -
I think I’m with you on Mutu, Lisa — I don’t think he saw Guana but, even if he did, he wanted to score. And you’re right on that Palermo’s strikers would have done the same, given the chance. (And both of them would probably find a way to turn it around and blame the injured guy for the controversy. Ahem. Yes, I’ve about had enough of the pair of them.)
Posted from
United States -
i think that mutu should have stopped orthe ref should have blown the whistle after you see a player is down thats just sportsmanship and that is not something mutu showed during this match. its unfair to palermo because they were all waiting for the whistle or their friend/teammates injury so in all honesty i wouldnt expecct them to continue at full speed. i also think that if it were palermo they probably would have put the ball out for the injured party could receive medical attention its common courtesy. i dont think that the goal should have counted but i no the rest of you are going to disagree with me.
Posted from
Canada
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