Keepers, Keepers and More Keepers

By: Martha | January 7th, 2008

I AM A MAN! As Fiorentina can tell us, there’s nothing like an outstanding keeper to help your team survive the bad days intact. And, even if you can’t have a game-saver like Sebastian Frey behind your team, it’s awfully nice to have one who’s not a liability, as both Milan and Lazio ruefully proved during the first half. So, both teams — as well as a certain desperate bottom-dweller — are in the process of shoring things up this month, hoping at least to get to the point where they make the opposition earn their points.

Milan, the team most glaringly in need, has a short list which supposedly includes Artur Boruc (who just this weekend agreed a new deal with Celtic and isn’t going anywhere), Hugo Lloris of Ligue 1 strugglers OGC Nice, PSV Eindhoven’s Gomes and, of course, Frey. The stories of who they’re getting and when tend to change hourly, but accord to this morning’s Corriere della Sera, Frey will be Milan’s, dammit, even if they have to give up Alberto Gilardino to get him. Hmm. Well, the partial exchange is a new wrinkle, and Cesare Prandelli surely has good memories of Gila from the Parma days, but that whole Giving Up Frey thing is still a major flaw in the plan from the Viola’ point-of-view, particularly in January.

Lazio, meanwhile, may finally be able to stop their desperate search for someone whose hip won’t give out while he’s trying to stop a shot: Despite Claudio Lotito’s recent pessimism, word on the streets is that Juan Pablo Carrizo’s paperwork is finally in place, and that he’s actually in Italy to sort things out once and for all. (That said, he’s not exactly sounding 100% confident that the wait is over, so who knows.) If this goes through and YouTube isn’t completely lying to us, Carrizo will make a huge difference for Lazio — he’s half Marco Ballotta’s age, and seems to have ice water in his veins.

And, way, way down at the bottom of the table, Cagliari continue their efforts to improve, this time by bringing in a keeper with a ton of Serie A experience. Though nothing is official yet, Marco Storari of La Liga whipping boys Levante has told the press that he’s in the process of joining the Sardinian club on a permanent move; since Cagliari’s two keepers have given up by far the most goals in Serie A, he’ll doubtless go right into the first eleven. According to Storari, he’s moving back to Italy basically to get Cagliari to stop harassing him: “I have spoken with President Massimo Cellino and his directors. They explained Cagliari’s objectives and, in all honesty, they really harassed me and I got swept up in this club’s affairs.” (Crazy or not, Cellino must be a hell of a good talker.) In addition to the drama, Storari was surely attracted by the idea of joining a club that can actually pay him — there’s nothing like a steady paycheck to make even the worst job look pretty good.

ETA: Of course, if Carrizo’s documents turn out to be fake, Lazio’s crisis will return with full force.