It’s Just So Hard to Play When People Talk About Our Dear Leader Leaving!

By: Martha | January 16th, 2007

That Oddo, he's a brooder. Sure, the Oddo-(maybe)-to-Milan soap opera has been going on for way too long. The daily reports get old (as do the endless details about the Oddo family’s sex life) and I’m sure everyone on both sides of the possible deal is sick to death of all the talking. But if the whole thing is really affecting how Lazio play, as was suggested today by midfielder Valon Behrami? I’d say they’ve got some issues that go well beyond a wantaway captain. I mean, Italy is the capital of football drama — if you can’t shut it all out and just play, you’re not going to make it in calcio for very long.

Actually, reading Behrami’s statements a bit more closely, it becomes clear that when he says “Lazio” have been affected by the drawn-out negotiations, he probably means “Valon.” Don’t get him wrong, now — Behrami is being altruistic here, thinking mostly about Oddo: “He is worried, because the situation is unclear … He is our captain and we love him.” Aw. Bless is heart.

The thing is, though, that the Swiss international would be personally affected (beyond losing the one he loves) by Oddo’s departure: Behrami currently plays in the midfield for Lazio, and that’s where he wants to stay. If Oddo gets the transfer he wants, there’s a reasonably good chance Behrami will be asked to slide into the captain’s vacant position in the Lazio backline. Which he’ll do if necessary, but it is, in his own words, “a position that I don’t prefer.”

So this is either a confused kid who just wants to know where he’s going to play being too honest with the press, or a little, entitled punk trying to decide when he’s going to start pouting. Either way, I’m sure the people at Lazio are just thrilled to have player input on the negotiations.