THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi I

[cg916]

[Jamoldo]

[Jamoldo]

[cg916]

[Jamoldo]

[marco]

[Kroo]

[Kroo]

[vtec]

[pocari_fenrir]

[Jamoldo]

gilardino for frey? I don't know if I would take that trade unless there was some significant money thrown in... A bust at Milan (who has potential) for one of Serie A's top keepers? hmmm

[pocari_fenrir]

Prandelli might take it if you ask me. he could be as adamant as when he wanted Mutu.

[Jamoldo]

a straight swap? He'd be a madman. He's got Pazzini and Mutu, so Gilardino would be the third guy in the mix. Which is great. But on a straight swap for Frey? I'd say that's a bit of an insult to Sebastian, while valuing Gila at his 2004ish value, no?

[pocari_fenrir]

they could use a Gilardino - Pazzini strike combo....... and Mutu wing left. i don't know what else to say but id agree that Frey is alot more crucial than such an option. i haven't been following the Fiorentina project lately but Prandelli has alot of answers.

[Jamoldo]

I agree that Prandelli has a great track record with young players and rebounding players who's careers maybe have taken a turn for the worse (Mutu and Bobo kinda), and that Gilardino would be an attractive pick-up since he's got a great history with Prandelli and I think, would fit in well with Pazzini and give them a different look up top. Is Mutu really a winger, or more of a forward/trequarista who can play on the sides, but a bit narrowly, rather than a try winger like say, Mancini or Camo etc etc. I guess it depends all on Prandelli's tactics and lineup, but I still think that a direct swap would be a bad deal.

Frey has been instrumental for them this season and is serially underrated. I'd love to see him in our jersey.

[Italiamia]

Doni says he still believes. Should I laugh or simply show my disgust that today's results are nothing more than the final blow as to why this club is a big aggravation in my life. Being three points back of Inter only magnifies how we lost this scudetto. Spalletti is still thinking about the Livorno debacle among others, and what could have been. To me, Inter gave us enough of an opening to overtake them but when all the games have been played, we will come up short, again.

Is this just calcio as some would suggest or is there some place where we can lay the blame. Can we really pinpoint where, how and why we will finish second again.

[Jamoldo]

Call this thinking Italian and pessimisstic but in the very remote chance that we do take the scudetto (of course I'd be thrilled and celebrating) it seems that it would just give Rosella and Co. more ammunition to justify that decent transfer market activity is not needed. Then again there is enough evidence on her side that Roma is fine the way it is since we have captured 2nd for the 3rd year in a row despite spending far less money than our counterparts.

[vtec]

[Jamoldo]

Interesting things on Channel 4... I don't normally copy and paste here, but I will for this..
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The winners…
Kaka (Milan)
It hasn’t been his best season, but now that Kaka is back to full fitness he showed just why he is the World and European Player of the Year. The Brazilian railroaded Inter, creating one goal and scoring another, all done with absolute class. He is football’s Mohamed Ali – he floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee.

Nicola Amoruso (Reggina)
It looks like the Amaranto are staging another great escape from relegation and they timed their win at Catania perfectly. Not only is it their first away victory in over a year, the brace also ended Amoruso’s goal drought that had lasted since February 23.

Mario Beretta (Siena)
At the final whistle when Siena's Serie A safety was mathematically assured, the players all surrounded their Coach and held him aloft. When Beretta returned to the bench in November, the side was bottom with just nine points from 12 games under Andrea Mandorlini and they were in the relegation zone as recently as February.

The losers…
Patrick Vieira (Inter)
The entire Inter squad could have gone into this segment, but Vieira stands out for his nap when dispossessed by Massimo Ambrosini for the second goal. At a time when the Scudetto was there to be taken and motivation couldn’t have been higher, Vieira and co froze under the spotlight. It has happened too many times now to be a coincidence.

Adrian Mutu (Fiorentina)
At the end of the worst week of the Viola’s campaign, they needed their star player to lead the way. Instead the Romanian wasted chances in Cagliari and foolishly got himself sent off for dissent, ruling him out of next week’s game with old club Parma.

Antonio Filippini (Livorno)
It was disheartening to see Filippini leading the charge of angry Livorno players who ran after Simone Padoin, ‘guilty’ of scoring a last-minute goal giving Atalanta a 3-2 victory. The Orobici have nothing to play for this season and therefore were expected to lie down and give the bottom club at least a point. With that attitude, Livorno deserve to go down.

The goals…
Pippo Inzaghi (Milan)
Kaka waltzed away from Marco Materazzi down the right flank and cut back for Inzaghi’s glancing header at the near post, giving Julio Cesar no chance from point-blank range.

Houssine Kharja (Siena)
It needed something special to defeat Gianluigi Buffon. The French-Moroccan Trequartista pounced on Giorgio Chiellini’s defensive hesitation on the edge of the box to lob the Juventus goalkeeper.

David Pizarro (Roma)
The Chilean midfielder unleashed a right-foot daisy-cutter from 20 metres that was as powerful as it was precise clean into the bottom corner.

The numbers…
Derby day
This was the 267th Derby della Madonnina, the 169th in Serie A alone. In total Milan go further ahead in all meetings with 105 wins to 90 and 72 draws, but reduced to the League ties only then Inter are in front after 61 victories, 52 draws and 57 defeats. The Rossoneri avoid losing a fourth derby on the trot, which hasn’t happened since the 1974, although that included the Coppa Italia. In Serie A alone the last four-win stretch was between 1943 and ’46, when the club was called Ambrosiana Inter.

Record-breaking Roma
Roma may only be in second place, but they have set a new club record with 78 points and 23 victories this season. That's more than they managed in the title that Fabio Capello won in 2000-01 with 75 points and 22 wins.

All or nothing
For the first time this season, there was not a single draw in this round. The last time this happened in Serie A was the final week of 2006-07, although there was just one stalemate in Weeks 15, 21, 27 and 34. Only three of the five penalties were actually converted on Sunday, as Samir Handanovic saved Sebastian Giovinco’s attempt and Nando Muslera parried an Amauri spot-kick. Curiously, Amauri also missed a penalty in the first meeting with Lazio earlier this season.
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The bolding if what I'm stressing.

1. Chris, check it out, that's what I was referring to in previous posts.. Sad huh?

2. YAY for PIZZA! YAY! YAY! Double YAY!!

3. I had no idea about this record. I know that our point total was really high but didn't know it was this good. I guess we can also attribute it to a weaker Juve and Milan (Juve taking 4 points out of 6 against us anyway), not to mention a much weaker Parma and Lazio, but there are other sides who've picked up the slack a bit (though they're nothing compared to what Parma and Lazio were in the pretty recent past).

I guess what I'm saying is, it makes me think that we've had a very good season and despite our moaning about not spending and dropping a few points (and finishing 2nd to Inter, who haven't given us a ton of cracks, though many more than last year), that things have gone very well. I think it's very dangerous for us to rest on our laurels and continue to be pretty and one dimensional in our play though.

[Jamoldo]

And where is everyone? Our European counterparts?