SerieAweekly.com

You may have noticed that I have been relatively absent in my writing lately. If you didn't know I have been writing for SerieAweekly.com so my time has been consumed by that and I don't have as much opportunity to write for the blog. I will still be posting articles just not as regularly. Please be sure to check out serieaweekly.com and check back here soon for upcoming articles. Cheers and Merry Christmas

Newcastle's Improbable Run: An English Napoli?

There is no doubt that Newcastle United's run has gained a lot of attention over the last few weeks as they now sit in third place ahead of Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Tottenham. Although it is probable that they don't finish in the top four, it is worth discussing the team's recent rise to the top and the incredible comparison to another team that were a surprise to many; Napoli. Last year Napoli finished third in the Serie A after being promoted to the top flight only three years earlier. Newcastle look like an English version of Napoli as there are a number of comparisons between the two clubs.

As mentioned earlier both teams are finding revivals following promotion to the top flight. Napoli had spent a few more years in the lower levels than Newcastle, falling as far as Serie C, but since promotion they have been steady competitors for a place in Europe. They qualified for the Europa league after two seasons back in the top flight and last year saw them qualify for the Champions League. Seeing as Newcastle have three straight games against the Manchester sides and Chelsea coming up, there is a high possibility they will drop out of the top three. Regardless their terrific start to the season makes them more than a contender for the Europa league. If they can continue to beat the teams they're supposed to while stealing points from some of the top clubs, as they have against Liverpool and Arsenal, they will be playing in Europe next year.

Both teams have found their superstar strikers who, although having found relative success with other teams, have truly come into their own with their current clubs. Edinson Cavani and Demba Ba are both vital for the overall success of the clubs. Cavani has scored almost 40 times in 53 appearances for his club (my numbers may be off a little), Ba has scored 8 times in 9 appearances. Prior to their current clubs, both players had similar success. Cavani scored 34 times for Palermo in 109 appearances prior to moving to Napoli while Demba Ba had 37 goals in 97 appearances for Hoffenheim prior to his move to the Premiership. At the end of last year Cavani was considered one of the top players in the world. At this pace, Demba Ba will be held in the same view by the end of the season.

Outside of how the club has performed both teams' fan bases are strikingly similar. Both teams have some of the best fans in their leagues. Newcastles fans are considered some of the best in England and some of the highest spenders on travel to watch their team on the road. Even when Napoli were in Serie C1, the fans continued to show up for games, boasting better attendance records than many of the Serie A sides (Even if most Serie A clubs get under 20,000 fans, its still impressive seeing as they were two divisions below). Speaking of the city, both are home to a very interesting dialect in comparison to the rest of the country. On the mainland of the country the Napolitano dialect is one of the more unique (Sicilian is essentially its own language). Read the opening line of Erri De Luca's Montedidio, ""A iurnata e' nu morzo," la giornata e' un morso," and one can see the difference between classic Italian and Napolitano. Newcastle has a very distinct dialect, referred to as Geordie, as their form of English has less influence of outside languages thus resulting in a more traditional anglo-english. I'm not well-rehearsed in Geordie literature, instead here is a link for the Geordie Shore, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfduEnl20CY.


It is possible that we are seeing a Premiership version of Napoli and if so it is worth noting because they make for very exciting football. It is good for the sport to see teams like Napoli and Newcastle achieve in a system that usually makes it difficult for outsiders to break the small bubble of top teams. Of course Newcastle have a more difficult task and their season is still long from finish but their start has helped them pave way for at least Europa League next season.

DISCLAIMER: I do not think that the cast of Geordie shore in anyway reflect the people from Newcastle just as the cast of Jersey Shore does not represent Italian-Americans. I would like to apologize to anyone from the Newcastle area I may have offended with the link. Cheers.

Be sure to check out SerieAweekly.com as I started writing for them.

Finally a Win; Matri Once Again on Point

Tuesday's match with Fiorentina was as close to a must win as possible for it being this early in the season. Prior to the match, Juventus had only won a single game in the last five matches. Fortunately they hadn't lost any but many of those ties felt like losses, especially the Genoa clash. Regardless it was vital for Juve to get back to winning and Fiorentina was a perfect opportunity to set the ship right and get the fans excited again. The score line doesn't truly reflect the flow of the game. Although Fiorentina had its chances, Juve dominated this game and it is no surprise that Conte and a few of the players expressed their displeasure with the end result. Juventus owned this match for about 70 percent of the time. The first half was all Juve while a slow start to the second allowed Fiorentina to get back in it.  Juventus had a total of 14 shots on net yet only 2 goals while Fiorentina scored 1 goal on only 2 shots on net. Regardless of how many goals were scored, it is still promising to see so many shots on target as surely some of them will start to make their way past the keeper.

Every match gives a better indication of what players need to play more and what players need to start sitting. Matri carried his form from Sunday bagging his third goal in two games and fourth of the season. He also forced the greatest save of the game as he took a quick shot that curled towards the net, but was met by Boruc's amazing acrobatic effort. One can only wonder how many goals he would have scored had he been given the start each week. Even when Juve switched to a defensive mentality, Matri continued to push forward with conviction and caused the defense loads of trouble on his own.  Located on the wing, Vucinic played decently well and should have had a goal as he rocketed a shot right at the keep. However his lack of goals is still a concern and if he doesn't start finding the back of the net soon then maybe it should be time to give Quaglia a shot. As always Pepe worked hard, as he tries to earn the respect that he may actually deserve. The Matri goal was incredible, not because of the finish but because of Pepe. Somehow he threads a perfect ball to Matri while being harassed by three Fiorentina players. He is always a hard worker and, on Tuesday, he didn't make too many mistakes that usually happen often with him on the pitch. He especially avoided unnecessary challenges up until late in the game when fatigue stepped in. Vidal, Pirlo, and Marchisio all played as expected. Pirlo looked a little more human than normal, playing some balls a little too long and towards the end started showing fatigue but the inclusion of Vidal helps take the pressure of Pirlo.

On the defense, Chiellini didn't look too bad. It wasn't the best of performances but it was still better than the Genoa match. He was almost caught out of position on one cross, but he was able to get a head on the ball pushing it over the Fiorentina player lying in wait. He made some questionable decisions at the end especially not clearing the ball opting to let Storari get it outside the box. He also lacks any skill in the attacking front but that should be expected of a man who was a force as a center back. Stephen Lichtsteiner played well, constantly getting forward which is an important aspect of the Juve attack and was definitely lacking against Genoa. Once again Elia, Del Piero, and Quagliarella failed to get on the pitch. As much as I want these players to be included, Conte was right to make the more defensive subs as with 10 minutes left out came Catenaccio and with it a 5-4-1. Vucinic looked tired and Estigarribia was a great sub. He is a pure soldier; he does what is told of him, doesn't mouth of to anyone (probably because he only knows Spanish), and when he makes a mistake he gets up he works hard to get back. De Ceglie and Pazienza locked up the defense making attack near impossible. As for coaching decisions, my hats off to Mihajlovic. By replacing Cerci with Gilardino, Fiorentina were a whole different team and completely changed the flow of the game. A great win for Juve but I'm not rejoicing yet. The race is too close and any slip of points could be fatal in the long run. That is why it is extremely important they capitalize on an ailing Inter. 

Deadlock broken: Udinese go ahead as Juve Disappoint

In a game that should have been a straight win for Juventus, ended up being one of the most frustrating games of the season. Both teams came in looking to break their recent run of bad results. Juventus came out with a different look than usual with a more traditional 4-4-2 (as opposed to a 4-5-1, or 4-2-3-1 depending on how you look at it). The defense was the same as usual with Storari playing in the net for the injured Buffon. In the midfield, new signing Estigarribia got his debut while Krasic started on the bench. Conte broke away from his normal 4-5-1, opting to play two strikers with Vucinic and Matri. The decision looked good from the start with Matri able to get a header towards goal in the first two minutes, even if it was a very weak header. Juventus looked the better of the two teams for the first 25 minutes creating many opportunities. They broke the deadlock in six minutes with a goal by Alessandro MATATATATRIIII (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atP_NKsqogs) who poked a ball past the unaware Frey. At this point everything seemed to be working well for Juve but as the half went on Genoa started to gain some confidence. Pressing forward, Genoa got a cross from the left hand side that went right over the head of a out of position Chiellini that allowed Marco Rossi to push the ball past Storari. Both teams had their chances and they went into half tied.

Stepping on the field after the break, Conte’s men went back to work with Vucinic breaking down the side earning a free kick in the attacking zone but the ball eventually ended up in Frey’s arms.  Matri did find the back of the net off of a lovely give and go but he was clearly offside and the goal was disallowed. Both sides were threatening and approaching the hour mark it appeared that Juve were going to make an offensive change. Krasic, Quagliarella, and Del Piero were all warming up and a switch seemed to be evident. However in that moment Matri scored a second goal and then the mindset changed. Vucinic sent a low ball across as Pirlo dummied it with confidence as the ball found Matri who then pushed it past Frey. Instead of making offensive subs, Conte changed his mind and put in Pazienza for Estigarribia, moving Vucinic to the wing and Matri lone striker. This was the beginning of the questionable decisions by Conte. Eventually Krasic would come in for Vucinic. On his first few touches, Krasic was terrible, making mistakes and giving away the ball in vital situations. One of those allowed Genoa to set up a cross into the middle where a poorly placed Chiellini allowed his man to get a head on it as Genoa tied it up. By that point, Juve looked tired and didn’t have any answer for Genoa who looked to be pushing for a winner. The final sub of Del Piero came way too late as he was given less than ten minutes to do anything.  The game ended 2-2 in what Tuttosport appropriately described as a nightmare.

Antonio Conte has to come under fire after this performance. Some questionable coaching decisions seemed to allow Genoa back in this game. I would have liked to see him continue with his attacking attitude by putting Del Piero on for Vucinic in the 65^th. It was very disrespectful to have Del Piero warm up for 40 minutes only to use him in the last eight. Estigarribia was taken off instead of a clearly struggling Vucinic. When moved to the wing, Vucinic did nothing and made the left hand side much weaker. Speaking of the left, this will be a game that Chiellini will soon want to forget. Both goals found players that Chiellini should have been marking. His CB mentality is still prevalent and he looks very goofy on the attack. Chiellini may not by ready to play left back yet. This game was definitely a reminder for everyone that Juve are not out of the situation that has plagued us the last two years. The road back to the top is a long one and just because they started out well does not mean they are back on top. They need to beat teams like Genoa or Bologna so it takes pressure of the games against the big teams. This week is more vital than ever, two big games and serious questions about who will play where.

This Sunday showed a problem with creativity in the midfield. Without Vidal, Pirlo is the only person who creates anything. Vidal is in the roster for the Fiorentina clash but it would be best to save him for Inter on the weekend. The central midfielders should also be rested. Conte can’t continue to ask Pirlo to play every game for 90 minutes. He needs to get a rest but whom do you put in that position. Vidal is the best option but as I said earlier he is coming off injury and you want to have him for the San Siro. Who starts at top? Matri gave his reasons to start but Vucinic has not performed that well this year and I still don’t understand why Quagliarella has not gotten a bigger chance. I would like to see Quaglia play Tuesday and rest Matri for Inter. The last big question is what do you do with the left back situation; do you give Chiellini another shot? For Tuesday I think you could see Sorensen and De Ceglie start as the outside backs with Del Piero playing more of a central forward position, with Vidal being rested or used late if necessary. I would also like to see Elia come on and I think it is very possible he start Tuesday. I hope that Tuesday will see Quaglia, Del Piero, and Elia start and somehow someone comes on to give Pirlo a rest. With games against two big rivals coming up, it’s going to be difficult to fix the issues that were so prevalent on Saturday. The forwards need to come up big to help take pressure off of the defense and midfield late in the game. It is extremely important that Juve walk away from these two games with six points or they could find themselves in a hole.

Napoli on the Decline: Are Napoli Showing Signs of a Potential Meltdown?

Yesterday saw Napoli play host to Bundesliga giants, Bayern Munich, in their third game of the Champions League. Thrown into a tough group, Napoli, up to this point, have answered the call with success. They not only were undefeated in the Champions League, with one win and one tie, they also had performed well in Serie A with some big wins against the Milan teams. Coming into this season there were doubts about whether Napoli could handle the pressure of playing in the Champions League and stay competitive in Italy. Napoli are a great team to get behind. They have an extremely loyal fan base, that packs their stadium every weekend and they play a very entertaining brand of football. Success in Europe would not only be great for the city of Naples but also for the country and the sport. Up until this week, there was little doubt about Napoli's chances to compete both domestically and internationally. However this Tuesday has shown that maybe Napoli aren't as ready for the challenge as previous expected.

This past Saturday, Napoli played host to Parma in a game that most Napoli faithful probably expected to win easily. Unfortunately that wasn't the case as a better team lost to an ever persistant Parma 2-1 on a late winner. Score-lines don't always reflect a game as Napoli had dominated possesion and outshot Parma. Napoli fans will certainly look at this game and think how did we not win, but the same will be said from the Munich fans who watched Tuesday's match at the San Paolo. Napoli were very fortunate to walk away with a point in a game that saw them get completely dominated. Napoli were out possessed and completely out shot, only registering 3 shots. The one goal they did score was an own goal on Munich defender Holger Badstuber. Napoli were lucky to hold on when goalkeeper, turned savior,Morgan De Sanctis came up with a massive save against a Mario Gomez pk. Fortunately for Napoli the whistle blew and the teams were all squared, unfortunately, poor defending allowed Manchester City to get all three points from Villarreal, meaning Napoli have only one more point over the Citizens.

Looking at these two results, the question should be asked, are Napoli on the decline? Ok, probably not. For any team that is playing in the Champions League for the first time in a long time, the adjustments are going to be hard. Napoli are trying to perform in both leagues and being drawn into group A doesn't allow them any rest. It would be different if Tuesday saw them play host to Apoel Nicosia (I don't mean to hate on the Cyprus FA, but lets be real) then they would probably play a little differently but instead they face teams that are full of some of the brightest talent in Europe. Furthermore, Munich are the best team in that group. I know about all the talk coming out of Manchester and they are a very talented team who I predicted to be serious competitors in both the EPL and Champions League, but people forgot about Munich early on. This is a team that is two years removed from the final in Madrid and who have consistently made it out of the group stage almost every time they are in the tournament. Napoli may not be as ready for the big games as was previously expected. If one thing this week alluded to, was that Napoli still have some flaws and aren't quite ready to be compared to the elites. Going further, they must find a way to better balance their players to give themselves the best shot at winning.

Serie A Back in Action, Goalless Draws for All.

This weekend saw the return of league action. For all the Juventus fans it was a much-anticipated weekend, just as every weekend is when your team hasn't played in two weeks and sit at the top of the table, however it proved to be a very dull Sunday. Defending Serie A to fans of other leagues, or to the people who watched one Manchester United game and now think they know everything about football, is always a difficult thing to do. This weekend makes it even that much more difficult. The stigma surrounding the Serie A is that teams don't score goals, but as it was brought to my attention by a podcast I listened to, that just isn't true. Unfortunately this weekend was one that hurt the leagues reputation. Comparing the EPL and Serie A from last year, the EPL didn't score that many more goals and the EPL had more 0-0 draws. However, this weekend saw an astonishing FIVE 0-0 draws, all on Sunday. Saturday saw three exciting games. Inter lose to Catania 2-1 and now sit tied with two of three teams in the relegation zone. The unfortunate side of this is that they are only 8 points back of league leaders Juventus and Udinese, so they still have a chance to right the ship and get back in the top, especially with every other team failing to win. Milan thrashed Palermo 3-0 at the Giuseppe Meazza. The upset of the weekend came in Napoli, where the ever persistant Parma took all three points, winning 2-1 on the road, all the while losing possession 65% to 35% and outshot 15 to 8. As good of a day Saturday was, Sunday proved to be the absolute opposite. The derby in the capital proved to be a good game with Lazio coming up on top after Klose scored a late winner for his fourth goal of the season. The only other game that didn't end in a 0-0 draw was Bologna winning 2-0 against Novara. Way up in Verona, Juventus were unable to get one goal in a very frustrating game.

The match started off very slow and it didn't pick up much. It appeared that neither team wanted to push up too hard in fear of leaving themselves exposed on the counterattack. The first half was a chess match, with both coaches trying to get a feel for the other's tactics. This was a very different game then two weeks ago when Juve did nothing but attack against Milan. Juve didn't really do any attacking in the whole first half. The second half started to pick up a little more. Marchisio had a great shot that went just wide of the post. Giaccherini came on for Krasic and added a little spark but the real spark came in the form of the one, the only, the legend, our capitan, Del Piero. Coming on in the 70th minute to a roar of applauses, it took him only a short time to make an impact on the game. In the 73rd minute Del Piero rose up and smashed a header right off the post. He also made a vital clearance off the line, to prevent what surely would have been a goal. However outside of this opportunity and a few others, there weren't many good shots on net and the game ended a 0-0 draw. There were some positives from this game as the defense once again looked solid, although Chievo didn't do much to test them and looked content settling with a draw. I would have really liked to see Quagliarella come on for Vucinic towards the end but the Giaccherini injury prevented a chance of a substitution in the attacking third. It is always good seeing the new faces take the pitch for the first time so I was glad to see Estigaribbia (expect the name to be misspelled) come on but due to time restraint and the overall flow of the game, he wasn't much of an addition. One can't be too mad at a draw because at least they didn't lose but they have really squandered some wonderful opportunities to pad their lead, especially on a week that saw Napoli and Inter (don't count them out yet) drop points.

World Cup 2014 post EURO Qualifiers

There are only four spots remaining for the EURO cup starting June 2012. Germany, Spain, Holland, England, Italy, France, Ukraine, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Greece, and Russia have already locked up a spot for the tournament. In the playoff games, Portugal faces Bosnia, the Czechs will play Montenegro, Estonia sees Ireland, and Croatia will play Turkey. Regardless of what happens in the playoff rounds, the results of the group qualifiers have altered the perception of the World Cup qualifiers coming up. The failures of certain teams to even qualify for the play-offs and the inclusion of a few surprise teams makes the 2014 World Cup qualifiers much different than from four months ago.

One of the biggest changes in appearance comes in the group headed up by Norway. At the time of the draw Norway was ranked by Fifa in the top 8 of all European teams, and were placed as a top spot. Their group also contains Slovenia and Switzerland two teams that were featured in the 2010 World Cup. However not one of those teams even made the knockout rounds. Norway finished third behind Denmark and Portugal in the tightest of the groups. Switzerland finished third one point behind Montenegro and Slovenia finished fourth behind Italy, Estonia, and Serbia. Re-evaluating this group, which was already weak to begin with, it now looks like a joke. Watching this group will be like watching a Champions League group consisting of Genk, Rubin Kazan, APOEL, and BATE.

Looking ahead for some other match ups, Ireland must really be feeling unlucky (again). They are paired up with Sweden and Germany. Germany had one of the best qualifications and Sweden, who finished second only to Netherlands, automatically qualified for the EURO as the best runner up, finishing with more points in the same amount of games as group winners France and Russia. The Czech Republic is another team that could make it to Ukraine and Poland but not Brazil, not that I actually think the Czechs are that good. However, both Ireland and Czech Republic have a chance to qualify for Euro, Ireland more than Czech and then will most likely be at home for the World Cup. Another group that was a weak to begin with that is now looking a little weaker is group A.

Group A may even be weaker than Group E (Norway's group). The group consists of Croatia, Serbia, Belgium, Scotland, Wales, and Macedonia. Croatia ended up second to Greece in a group that saw the next best competition being Israel. Furthermore I see them losing in the Euro playoff to Turkey, who finished second in a much harder group consisting of Germany, Belgium, and Austria. Serbia were highly talked about coming into South Africa having won their qualifying ahead of France but had a disappointing tournament, finishing last in their group. Coming into this Euro many people believed they would finish second and even compete with Italy for the top spot of group C. Somehow they failed to reach the playoff, finishing one point behind Estonia after losing 1-0 in their last decisive game against Slovenia. This is a very big disappointment for a team as talented as Serbia. Belgium are responsible for one of Germany's worst results in the Euro qualifying campaign, a 1-0 win in their first game, the only time Germany was held to only 1 goal. After that start they weren't able to keep up the pace and finished third, definitely regretting the two points they dropped on the 1-1 draw to Azerbaijan. Scotland and Wales were both placed in groups containing five teams and neither one could make the playoff round, Scotland losing out to Czech Republic for second and only finishing above the mighty Lithuania and Liechtenstein. Overall this group is looking to be a real nail bitter with every team having a chance.

Of course there is never going to be a perfect qualifying draw where every group is perfectly constructed. Also there is no transitive property and the teams that qualified for the Euro with stiff competition may not do nearly as well in the WC qualifiers, but it could also be possible to wait until after the Euro Cup qualifying has finished to get a better gage at how teams are performing. That way groups like A and E don't exist and teams like Ireland don't miss a tournament because of outside circumstances.

Euro 2012: Italy best qualification ever and four other great matches

This past week saw the final games of Euro qualification and Italy booked their spot to Ukraine-Poland with more points than they ever have before. Prandelli's men finished the competition with eight wins two draws and no losses while hitting the back of the net twenty times and only giving up two* goals (numbers are eschewed because of the "3-0 win" against Serbia). Now I'm not going to make any serious predictions about the Euro cup, because it is still far away and the Netherlands, Spain, and Germany all had more impressive qualifiers, but obviously everyone in Italy has good reason to be optimistic. Much praise is being thrown out to Antonio Cassano, and rightfully so. He has been the soul of the Azzurri attack and has brought forth an energy and desire to score that many Italian strikers have lacked. Too many times have Azzurri faithful gotten excited about strikers who have scored several dozen times for their clubs, only to see them struggle to find the back of the net for their country, or when they do score its absolute crap that anyone could hit (i.e. Gilardino, Di Natale, Toni, etc...). Cassano may not be exactly what we dreamed in a striker but there is no doubting that he has shown his ability with the national side even if his club performance doesn't always match that. All that matters now is who will pair with him, and the options are numerous. Besides the striking aspect, there are many other reasons to be excited for this team. As a Juventus fan, one can only be extremely thrilled of the renewed connection between club success and national success. ItalJuve appears to be back with both teams finding stride. The Marchisio - Pirlo combination (which I will now refer to as Pirlisio) looks to be just as effective on the international stage as it has on the club level. Pirlisio are locking down the midfield, creating and finishing many chances. Those two need to be playing together all the time and Prandelli would be wise to use them as much as possible. Things look good right now for Italy but they're not quite on the level of Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands. It is definitely an exciting time for the Azzurri fans but everyone needs to remain grounded because the road ahead is a tough one.

In other Euro news, there are some mouth-watering playoff matches to be had that will likely see some unexpected teams make their way into Euro2012. One of the biggest surprises was Denmark topping group H forcing Portugal into the playoff and eliminating the previously high ranked Norway (who had no right being a top ranked team for World Cup qualifying, and now sit on top of a WC group that will have no teams in the Euro cup). Portugal get drawn against Bosnia-Herzegovina. I think we could see Bosnia end up in the Euro, mainly because I like their determination, they would have won their group if not for a very stupid foul, and Edin Dzeko keeps on finding new ways to score goals. Trapattoni has to be happy with the draw as Ireland will face Estonia. After the injustice of their World Cup qualifying, I find it hard to believe Ireland will miss out of a major tournament again, especially against Estonia who were fortunate to move onto this stage. For the other two games I am pulling for Turkey and Montenegro. I've always enjoyed watching the Turkish, not to mention I really enjoyed visiting Istanbul. I also like seeing Juventus players performing well for their countries so I'm hoping Vucinic will come through for Montenegro. I think we're in for some great matches and hopefully some unexpected results (mainly just a Ronaldoless Euro cup).

Dear Signore Zola, Sorry I Think You're Wrong

Former Italy legend, Gianfranco Zola has made some statements to the Italian media about Carlos Tevez and how he would be a great addition to Juventus and could be the difference maker. Well, with all do respect, I disagree. First off, yes, Tevez was a great player, scored some wonderful goals, was a major factor in Man City's success last season and, in the right environment, could get back to those ways. However, the factors behind his problems in Manchester could to easily carry over somewhere else.I think his attitude will only bring about unwanted turmoil and Juventus do not need those sorts of distractions in the locker room. I've been hearing about Tevez being unhappy and that part of the reason is that he misses his family, who have refused to move to Europe, so why on Earth would a move to Torino make any difference. I don't see his family moving to Italy. Even if he was living in Milan on the same street as Cambiasso, Zanetti, and Milito, I just don't see this factor changing. Secondly, if that is a factor for his disrespectful behavior, than that is even more reason to avoid him. As a professional, which Tevez is supposed to be (a well paid one at that), it is your job to separate your work from your personal life. If he can't do that in Manchester what makes Torino any difference. Any player that behaves like a child and is unable to do the job you are paid to do shouldn't be looked at by a club that wishes to compete for championships. If i'm an employer of any business, I'm not going to hire someone who wasn't able to do the job he was paid to do at another company, that's just bad business. Conte's system seems to be working well and the players we currently have fit nicely into that system, no need to bring in a potential troublemaker. Between Vucinic, Quaglia, Matri, and Del Piero our attacking core is doing just fine. We already have an overpriced useless striker in the form of Amauri. Mancini should just hand Tevez a one way ticket to Buenos Aires and send him packing because it looks like his time in Europe is over. Come January, Juve should be looking to bolster it's defense. For everyone who still believes Tevez is a good signing, get over it. There is no reason to spend money on a player that could potentially be a giant distraction.

Clash of EPL Titans: Chelsea-Man U and Villa-Boas not too confident

This weekend is the much anticipated, mouthwatering clash between league leaders Manchester United and last year's runners-up Chelsea FC. United have started this year in ridiculous fashion, scoring a total of 18 goals in four games while only allowing 3. Wayne Rooney has hit the back of the net 8 times and is on pace for a 60+ goal season (clearly not going to happen, but thats what he's averaging). Chelsea have also had a good start to their campaign, winning three games while only drawing their first game to Stoke (a team that shouldn't be taken lightly). Andre Villas-Boas has performed well as a manager but why is he hedging his bets before the match and discussing what if he loses?
In an interview today, the Chelsea boss discussed how he shouldn't be judged just off the result of this game saying, "Any manager who is judged after five games of a season, there's not something wrong with the manager but something wrong with the people who run clubs." As a fan of any football club, I would not want my coach to discuss how his reputation will be effected after the game. Looking at his statements, I see this as Villas-Boas giving himself a cushion to fall back on if Chelsea do indeed lose. I would rather see these sorts of comments come after the game. If they do indeed lose, I have no problem with a coach admitting that they were defeated by a better team (which at the moment Man U are) and then discuss it being a long season and that he shouldn't be judged is acceptable. I do actually agree with the man. No, Andre, you shouldn't be judged for losing a game this early in the season but you will be judged for discussing a potential loss before the game even happens. I wouldn't want Brendan Rodgers (manager of Swansea City, for everyone who isn't a diehard Swansea fan) talking about losse, let alone Andre Villas-Boas. 

Week 1: New Signings Shine in debut

It finally happened. The Serie A season kicked off and Juventus opened their account with a solid 4-1 win. The first match was held on Friday between Lazio and Milan in what started out as a potential match of the year before fizzling down to an ordinary 2-2 tie. The first half saw a barrage of goals scored in a quick period with new Lazio signings Klose and Cisse finding the back of the net before Cassano and Ibrahimovic would quickly answer. However exciting the first half was, the second half turned out to be much calmer with the game ending 2 goals a piece. Saturday saw Napoli travel to Cesena and the Neopolitans capitalized on a man advantage. This was all a little appetizer leading up to Juventus' match on Sunday. Unlike last season, the first game lived up to the hype. For a packed crowd, the home side made work of Parma scoring 4 goals and barely missing a handful more. There were a lot of great things to take away from this game. Many of the new signings looked great. Pirlo made the biggest impression being a midfield general, dictating the game, making amazing passes. Lichtsteiner and Vidal both scored on their debut while Marchisio had a great game and a great goal. Even with all that going on, the best thing to take away from this match is that they allowed a goal. Too many times in the past, Juve have gotten too comfortable and then lost games they shouldn't. One of the biggest challenges this year will be to keep the team grounded when they go on a roll. The worst thing that could happen is taking teams to easy and taking the foot of the gas. Mistakes like De Ceglie's will only make Conte work the team harder and keep them focused on perfection. I absolutely love Conte's take after the game. One of the first things Conte expressed about the game was the necessary to not commit stupid fouls and get cards. I love his no-nonsense style of coaching and his attitude towards each fixture. It is good to grab some early points when neither Inter or Milan win, and it must be stressed to the players that every game is just as important as the last. It is too early to tell but this will probably be a very exciting year for Serie A. Unlike the EPL and La Liga, there are going to be a handful of teams slugging it out.
As competitive as this year will be in Serie A, this weeks results don't bode well for European glory. It is possible that the cancelled week 1 may have an effect, but Milan, Napoli, and Inter did not impress me enough to believe they can advance deep into the Champions League. Everyone is talking about Napoli's group and how hard it is. I still like Napoli and think they play a great brand of football but the 3-1 win against 10 man Cesena didn't show me enough to believe they can go out and beat Man City (who are dismantling teams right now). Neither Milan or Inter won this week and I thought the Milan defense looked a little ragged and too easily beaten down the wings. If Lazio can do that to them, how will Barcelona fair. Inter have a fairly easy group so if they can afford a slow start. This was only week one, so it is expected that their are still a lot of things every club needs to do. Either way it was a great weekend of matches and I expect many more great games to come in the future.

Transfer Window Closes: Roma making moves while Juventus fail to find defender

Since this morning my twitter wall has been busy with a flurry of messages regarding football transfers. Today was the last day of the transfer window and the final hours saw players moving all over the map. Looking at the last minute transfer performance, Roma seem to have made the biggest splash. Their last minute signings include a loan deal for Real Madrid midfielder Gago. At the age of 25 with both experience at the club level and for his native argentina, I think this is a great signing for Roma. He is a hard working individual who could shine if given a chance week in week out. He will join a group of yongsters also being brought in today in the form of the talented Danish defender Simon Kjaer, Italian striker Fabio Borini, and Bosnian Pjanic, who, at 21, has already played three season at French league power, Lyon. Kjaer and Pjanic both have experience playing for teams at the top level which will prove useful in their transition to Italy. Roma have no doubt brought in some young and talented players with but there are still many issues going forward for i lupi. Luis Enrique will need to figure out a way to efficiently incorporate the many young players in the squad with the more experienced veterans or else face similar results to their Europa League qualifiers.
Back home in Torino, Juventus did not have the deadline day I had hoped for. There defense needed some depth but unfortunately no one was brought in. This means that Bonucci and Chiellini need to finally get on the same page and De Ceglie will have to live up to his potential. In the midfield, Elia was officially signed caping off one of the most expensive transfer seasons in history. We need to remember Elia for making a comment about Juventus not being better than Hamburg and it wouldn't be an improvement for his career. Hamburg now sit last place in the Bundesliga, so obviously his feelings towards Juve have shifted just a little. Regardless of his previous comments, there is no doubt that this is another big signing especially because of his ability to play both up front and on the wing. I personally would love to see this rumored 4-2-4 formation with Matri and Vucinic up top and Krasic and Elia on the pushing up on the wings leaving Vidal and Pirlo behind them. This probably won't happen and Conte will most likely opt for a more traditional formation. Looking at this Juventus team, there are definitely still some small problems but I think that if they can come together as a team, then they can push for the title. As a whole this Juve team could do great things.

Serie A Strike: A blessing and a curse

First off let me say that strikes in sports suck. I am mildly upset about the potential shortened NBA season and I was ecstatic when the NFL agreed to terms. However my love for those leagues dosen't even come close to my passion for Serie A. Juventus have been very busy this summer picking up players and filling in the gaps that were present in last year's team, so there is no surprise that any fan would be very excited about a new season to get underway. Unfortunately that will have to wait. The start of the season will be delayed due to a players' strike over the collective bargaining agreement. For fans, this is frustrating. We want to watch our teams. However, for Juventus, there is a silver lining to the strike.
Juventus were set to play Udinese this weekend followed by a break for international play. This allows ample time for the two sides to come to an agreement without risking another week of cancellation. Furthermore, it was released today that Milos Krasic has picked up an injury and will be out for ten days. Instead of missing the first game against a talented Udinese team, he will have more than enough time to recover and could even be used sparingly against Parma (Juventus should be able to beat them with or without Krasic, so if he isn't 100% don't risk it).
Regarding the match with Udinese, the game this weekend could have gone two ways. Udinese just played a very tough match against Arsenal. To my surprise, Arsenal did not roll through Udinese and both games could have gone the other way. Udinese could have been coming into the start of the season as a single unit, a true team in every sense of the word, prepared for any challenge. This would have made the opening game very difficult and for that, I am thankful for the strike. On the other hand, the announcers probably mentioned a dozen times, how hot the game against Arsenal was and how exhausting it must be for the players. This could have been a chance to play a tired Udinese giving Juventus an advantage and for that, I am unhappy with the strike. Either way the game is not going to happen and so all Serie A fans have to be patient for another two weeks. In the meantime we can sit back and listen to more transfer gossip. Yay!!! Transfer gossip

CL draw round-up: Napoli's Gauntlet

The UEFA Champions League draw finished earlier today and, for Napoli, things could have been better. After their impressive season and a summer transfer window that saw the Neapolitans bring in some talented players, it was looking as if Napoli could have been a dark horse to go deep in the Champions League. However that might not be the case. Placed in Group A, Napoli face three very tough opponents, all having a good chance of advancing. Manchester City are coming off of another big spending summer and have drawn a lot of talk that they might (emphasis on MIGHT) be able to overtake United in the EPL. Not much has to be said about the runners up in Madrid two years ago. Munich always challenges in the Champions League and expect much of the same this year. The remaining team, Villarreal have as much claim to qualify as the others. The way Giuseppe Rossi has been playing alone could be enough to see the yellow submarine move into the knockout stages.
I am in no means saying Napoli can't advance. They are a very talented team capable of competing against the very best, but no doubt they would have liked a better draw. The need of Napoli advancing is greater now than ever. Because of the shifting coefficient, it is vital that Napoli move on. Serie A fans everywhere should hoping that Napoli can find a way to qualify. The ideal scenario sees Napoli advancing while Munich crashes out.
In other news:
Inter should have no problems winning their group let alone qualifying and Milan will most likely end up second to Barcelona (which is totally acceptable seeing as they are probably the best team EVER).
In relation to the coefficient, the other two Bundesliga teams have difficult roads to the knockout rounds. Bayern Leverkusen will be competing against Valencia for the second spot in group E and Borussia Dortmund are seated in another group that is open to anyone with Marseille, Arsenal, and Olympiakos.

I would also like to apologize to Udinese. In a post a few weeks ago, I wrote about Udinese and how they could end up like Sampdoria. I still believe it will be difficult to be as competitive as last year but after watching their two games against Arsenal, I was very impressed. Imagine if they had kept Sanchez, Zapata, and Inler.

Serie A Fixtures: Juventus Need to Come Out Firing

The Serie A schedule was released on Wednesday July 27 and Juventus will want to hit a winning stride right away. The season opener finds Juventus on the road against Udinese. Even though Udinese finished last year in fourth, I don't see them nearly as competitive this year unless they bring in some talent quickly. I fully expect the home opener against Parma to be all Juve. The atmosphere will be absolutely electrifying and expect the players to want to impress for what is sure to be a packed crowd. After Parma, the next two opponents are Siena and Bologna. Nothing is guaranteed with Juventus, especially after last year, but winning should come easy against these two opponents which could leave Juventus 4-0 before the tougher opponents. Obviously winning every game is the goal but more realistically Juve need to win those four games to make some insurance for potential slides (look ahead to November). The next four games will see a mix of opponents with an always difficult away match in Catania, last years champs Milan, Chievo, and Genoa. After that will be, what is most likely, the toughest part of the season.
The next month of games will be against Fiorentina, Inter, Napoli, Palermo, and Lazio. The only reassuring aspect of this stretch is the possible effect that The Champions League and The Europa League will take on these opponents. The first two days of November belong to Champions League, leaving the possibility that Inter may want to rest some players on October 30 and leave Napoli fatigued on November 6. The final six games play out nicely for La Vecchia Signora with Roma being the only team that finished higher than them last year. In those final six games, Juventus will play two recently promoted teams in Novara and Atalanta, and a few of last year's bottom dwellers in the form of Cagliari, Cesena, and Lecce.
The way that this schedule plays out, Juventus needs to come out and win right away to get ready for the tough stretch in November. They cannot be complacent with draws. The absence of European football may give them a slight advantage over the top teams. The end of the schedule couldn't have been better for Juve. With weaker opponents, the end will be key for regaining any ground if necessary. As always, no game is guaranteed and especially in Italy, where competition is aplenty. This year should be an absolute war and, with only three champions league spots on the line, every game matters that much more. Forza Juve!

Yard Sale: Udinese set to be the next Sampdoria

Udinese capped off another great season by finishing fourth in Italy and earning a chance to qualify for the Champions League. This will be the last time the fourth place Italian team will have a chance to qualify as the coefficient has shifted giving Germany a fourth spot. Following the 2009/2010 Serie A season, 4th place Sampdoria played Werder Bremen to qualify for a spot in the 2010/2011 Champions League. Here was another opportunity for a Serie A team to help out its country by defeating a German team. After being only seconds away from the win, Werder Bremen scored a goal in the 3rd minute of stoppage time, forcing extra time which eventually led to Werder Bremen moving on. Midway through the following season Sampdoria sold off star strikers Antonio Cassano and Giampaolo Pazzini and ended the season relegated.
Looking ahead to this year's fourth place finisher, Udinese seem set to follow suit. It is unlikely that they will perform as poorly as Sampdoria, however Udinese are trying the best they can to make winning hard this season. During this transfer window Udinese have already sold three of their best players. Early on in the summer, Zapata was sent to Villareal while Inler will be playing in Napoli next season. Thursday marked the end of the Sanchez saga, seeing his move to Barcelona completed. So far Udinese have sold their second leading goal scorer, one of their top assist men, and one of their top defenders. All three were in the top ten for games played. The loss of these players is going make qualifying for Champions League impossible. Udinese have always struggled in Europe and this year they will be relying on a weaker team to bring success. Unlike Napoli, who have made several purchases to prepare for the Champions League, Udinese have been selling like crazy. If Serie A wants to regain its fourth position, teams like Udinese have to show a desire to perform both domestically and internationally. I predict Udinese are set to have a tough year. Di Natale has never proven himself on the big stage and I don't see this year being any different. If they do hope to win a spot in the Champions League then the front office needs to bring in some quality talent and quickly.

S.O.S: The New England Revolution

Once again stepping away from my normal routine of writing about Italian football, I wanted to give my brief opinion on the status of my MLS team, The New England Revolution. Currently sitting at the bottom of the Eastern Conference with only 19 points, it seems like decades ago when the Rev competed in three straight MLS championships. The biggest problem facing the revolution is goal scoring. New England have a goal differential of -11, worst in the league. The defense, although not great, is not that bad. Allowing 27 goals puts them 3 goals back on the league average of 24. Offensively, the Rev are the worst team in the MLS. They have scored a total of 16 times in 19 games, failing to score in almost half of them. The only word to sum that up is pathetic. The club is in a sad state, which makes a move closer to Boston that much more necessary.
I can't stress the importance of fan involvement in relation to the overall performance of the team. Watch any of the teams from the Northwest and you can't help but feel the atmosphere. The Sounders are an absolute inspiration to all MLS teams. Not only does the team sit in second place, but they are getting over 35,000 people a game, that's over 14,000 more than the Juventus average (that will surely change with the new stadium). Portland may be second to last in the Western Conference, but the atmosphere at any given home game is simply electric. Speaking on their record, they are only one win out of 6th place with two games in hand on current sixth place Chivas (a conference worst 31 goals against also doesn't help). The Revolution have the fan base. In 2008, they average over 17,000 a game and still have two very solid support groups, The Midnight Riders and The Rebellion. By building a small stadium, maybe 25,000 seats, accessible by the T, you can create the same atmosphere that comes from the support group section at Gillette, throughout the stadium. Ask any player and they'll tell you that having solid support makes you that much more determined to win. I guarantee moving the Rev to a soccer specific stadium near Boston will bring about better results.

USA: What Needs to Be Done

Looking back on the wonderful performance by the US woman's team during this past World Cup, I couldn't help but think about the current status of the men's team. I have never previously written about the US Men's team. Even though I am absolutely obsessed with Juventus and Italy, it does not mean I don't have a passion for my homeland. Over the past decade there has been a lot of talk about soccer in the United States and the "progress" of the men's team. However looking back I see this progress being blown way out of proportion.
Lets start back at 2002. What can probably best be described as a run of luck before it ran out. USA beat Portugal and, thanks to South Korea, moved on, even after losing to Poland. That infamous quarterfinal loss to Germany, with the non-call of a handball, eliminated the USA but gave them something to hang their heads on. 2006 was a completely different story. After a successful Gold Cup in 2005, the USA went to Germany with such hope and expectations. They ended up crashing out by recording one tie and only two goals. With such a poor performance, a change needed to be made, thus enter Bob Bradley.
Leading up to 2010, there had never been more hype about a USA team. The success at the Confederations Cup had people thinking that the USA could make a run deep into the tournament. Realistically they should have. After the group stage, USA wouldn't have had to face a top ten team until the semi finals. Many people like to say that the USA was unlucky, they just couldn't find the back of the net against Ghana and that the World Cup was somewhat a success. I don't see it like that.
I don't want to take anything away from the performance of many of the players and I'm not saying it wasn't amazing when Landon Donovan scored in the final minutes to put the team through but that cup was nowhere near a success. The US was extremely lucky to pull off a tie against England, no denying that. However, regardless of the bad offsides calls, there is no reason the USA does not easily roll over Algeria and Slovenia. Looking at the quality of players between the three teams. USA has more players playing in top leagues than the other two. There is no excuse then for the USA to not win. People should not be quick to remember the 2010 World Cup for only Landon Donovan's goal and the horrible calls by the referees but also include the fact that the USA scrapped by the group stage by the skin of their teeth.
So here we sit, still hurting from that 4-2 loss in the Gold Cup final with many questions needing answers. First of, Bob Bradley needs to go. He will be remembered for that Confederations Cup second place finish but his time is over. For years, the US have turned to their own for coaching. This is not the answer. American coaches' experience ranges from NCAA to MLS. That level of football does nothing to prepare a coach for the big stages. American coaches need to start getting jobs abroad. Go to Europe start as an assistant coach in a big league or a head coach in a lesser league and work your way up before looking to coach the national team. Meanwhile USMT can bring in a foreigner to coach the team. Look at what Guus Hiddink was capable of doing for Russia and South Korea.
Next, keep improving on the youth programs. Every MLS team should have youth programs and if a prodigy comes around, let him play on the senior squad (Wayne Rooney scored against Arsenal when he was 16).  As un-american as it may be, forget about NCAA. The top players should be going straight to the pros and not wasting their time in college.
The USA Men's team has a lot of work to do if they are to be ready for Brazil 2014. There is enough talent on the team to compete in the World Cup with more talented players on the way. In the mean time, get a new coach, preferably one whose coached a top club or a big country.

The Never-Ending Drama: The Transfer Window

The transfer window provides football fans endless excitement even though there are no games being played. Any given transfer period has every European club linked to many players, most of whom have no chance of being signed. Juventus have had a histoy of bad signings while missing out on their true transfer goals. Looking back over the last few years, the list of potential and actual transfers is quite large. There have been well-established players that never ended up in black and white (Alonso, Ribery, Schweinsteiger, etc...) as well as numerous signings that ended up a little bit better than useless (Poulsen, Martinez, Caceres, etc..). Some transfers have proven to be successful (Krasic, Quaglierella, Matri) This season is proving to be much of the same with links to Rossi, Aguero, Benzema, Honda, as well as others. As frustrating as it is to see Juventus pursue these players and then fail to sign them, the pursuit keeps me excited. As it it likely that Rossi will sign this week, I am constantly vigilant. When the news breaks all that built up stress will be relieved and I can become excited at the potential of a new signing. There is truly no offseason for the football fan. Thanks to the transfer window, we always have something to talk about.

Super Alex keeps Europe alive

It's been a little while since I last wrote. The depressing results mixed with a busy schedule have made it hard for me to sit down and write. However just like Juventus, this past week has rejuvenated me. The 2-1 win was the result of two wonderful goals. First Milos Krasic with an excellent volley. Over the last few games he has returned to the form that the tifosi loved so much early on in the season. The second goal came from none other than the capitano himself. Super Alex with a wonderful run down the middle of the field finished with a superb left footed shot finding the back of the net. His reaction says it all. One could not help but notice the look of pure determination and joy as he banged on the glass in front of the fans. After once again been forced to prove himself to the coach, Alessandro Del Piero did not disappoint. With Iaquinta out, we can expect Alex to see much more playing time. His age may be a point of concern but I predict a much more energetic Juventus going through to the end of the season with him on the field.
It is sad that the state of Juventus has reached a point where a win against lowly Brescia is something to rejoice about, but this is the state of the club. No game is guaranteed and neither is Europe. I will not say that everything is going to be fine from here on out and that after next match Europa league will be only two points away. That is false. There are still some games to be played and the club needs to focus on winning each week. Hopefully, either due to the lack of strikers or last week's performance, Del Neri will finally realize what he has been missing by not playing Del Piero or only playing him in moments that are irrelevant (what was he supposed to do in the last ten minutes against Milan). Juventus can win out, it is not impossible, however to do so everyone must play to the best of their abilities. Forza Juventus.

Inter match shows the clubs focus

The win sunday may not have been the prettiest thing but I'll take it. Watching the last thirty minutes may have been one of the most stressful things I've ever gone through, especially when Eto'o missed a shot that he makes 99.9% of the time. During that last half hour it was apparent the team was running ragged. Melo had given 100% for the entire game and could no longer go on. The pain from Matri's side was clearly intense, Krasic's speed was cut down to extremely small bursts, Toni isn't built for a full game, and Marchisio's injury still hindered him from going the distance. Matri and Krasic were the unlucky ones who had no other options but to fight through their fatigue and finish out the game. Alessandro Matri's  reaction every time he touched the ball reflects the overall attitude of the club.
The loss to Palermo put the situation in Torino to code red. Every game from that point on was going to be important starting with Cagliari, However the Derby dell'Italia was always going to be the statement game. Looking at Matri's anguish in the late minutes of the game shows that he, as well as the club, understand that there is no more taking it easy. From here on out it's either win or face next season without a European Competition (specifically Champions League). For Juventus to get back into the Champions League, every player needs to give it their all. No game is guaranteed, the road to Europe is a long and hard one but seeing Matri and Melo's pain shows that players understand the situation and makes the future much more promising.

Opening Statements

This is my second attempt at a blog about soccer but this time I intend to be more devoted to it. The focus of my blog will lean towards Juventus, hence the name of the blog, but I also intend to comment on other events in the world of soccer that I believe to be of interest. I have had a passion for the sport since I was younger and I have always followed Juventus.
Soccer is clearly on the rise in America. The joy shared by Americans after Landon Donovan's goal and the disappointment after the United States loss to Ghana shows a united passion for the sport across the country. However this passion only comes around every four year. For some Americans, that passion never dies. There are many individuals in this country who follow soccer religiously, myself included. That is why I write. I want to share my passion with other people regardless of the World Cup. I hope you enjoy my writing and please feel free to comment.
Benvenuti