Lega Serie A – General Discussion

[juventino_italiano]

Barzagli is not a bad signing....
but oither than that, Juve's mercato is sad

[RomaShield27]

lol, it is indeed. You can see from headline from the no doubt Juventus-fan contributor on Football Italia just how sad it is:

"Whilst Inter tie up a deal for Giampaolo Pazzini, Juventus are being linked with the likes of Djibril Cisse, Giorgios Samaras and Miroslav Klose."

Barzagli is an average centre-half at best, back up to Chiellini/Bonucci for sure.

[juventino_italiano]

I think he's more than just average, but he definitely is not the best option, and likely he'll be a backup.

Those three names make me sick....

[RomaShield27]

Yeh I suppose Barzagli is a solid back-up player. Pazzini to Inter is , apparently its €12m plus co-ownership of Jonathan Biabiany.

[San Paolo]

Another new name for the Palermo attack: Pablo Granoche of Chievo. Clubs are talking about a deal.
===========================================================================================
Genoa are in talks with Juventus over the transfer of Amauri, according to the latest reports emanating from Italy.

Sky Sport Italia claim that the Grifoni have commenced negotiations with Juve over a deal for the 30-year-old.

The report suggests that Genoa want to sign the striker on loan for the rest of the 2010-11 campaign.

[RomaShield27]

Not sure about Genoa signing Amauri or Granoche, but this one certainly caught my eye:

Genoa take Spurs target Rodriguez?
– Sunday 30 January, 2011

Genoa are reportedly on the verge of signing Uruguayan sensation Federico Rodriguez, who had been close to Tottenham. The 19-year-old Penarol striker was expected to join Spurs during the January transfer window, although he had also been linked with Dinamo Kiev, Sampdoria and Bologna. According to the latest reports in Italy, Genoa have snapped up Rodriguez, who holds a Spanish passport, for €4m. However, the Grifone are already packed with forwards after bringing in Alberto Paloschi, Antonio Floro Flores, Mauro Boselli and Linus Hallenius during the transfer window. It is therefore possible Genoa will sign Rodriguez only to immediately loan him out to Bologna. It is a process the club already used with Kevin-Prince Boateng and Milan.

[RomaShield27]

– Tuesday 1 February, 2011

The winter transfer window proved full of surprise moves. Rob Paton rounds up the best of calcio’s comings and goings this January

Antonio Cassano dominated transfer columns as the winter window opened, but within the first three days his destination was settled. Milan swooped under the noses of prospective suitors Inter and Fiorentina to catch the Sampdoria man in a cut-price deal believed to be as little as €5m. On a €2.8m salary, the No 99 represented an excellent piece of business as €8m-a-year Ronaldinho eventually departed on the quiet to Flamengo.

The Rossoneri also secured Urby Emanuelson and Mark Van Bommel on immediate deals, taking advantage of the Ajax man’s contract which had just six months to run and Van Bommel’s availability after cancelling his Bayern Munich agreement.

Despite strong links with Genoa’s Domenico Criscito and then Reto Ziegler of Sampdoria, Milan secured Spanish left-back Didac Vila from Espanyol for €4m. A connecting element to the three defensively-geared signings is their agent Mino Raiola, who also represents Robinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Il Diavolo also surprised many in capturing Nicola Legrottaglie on a six-month contract from rivals Juventus, whilst Oguchi Onyewu joined Twente on loan. Milan’s rating: 8/10

Cross-town and Inter were just as active in the market, bringing in four players. Giampaolo Pazzini was signed for a deal worth €19m despite Juventus’ heavy links with the 26-year-old, whilst the €7m-rated Jonathan Biabiany moved in the opposite direction as part of the swoop. Dynamic midfielder Houssine Kharja was in discussions with Napoli after falling out of favour at Genoa, but moved to San Siro on loan, following centre-back Andrea Ranocchia’s earlier switch. Inter bought out the remaining 50 per cent of his contract for €12.5m six months earlier than planned.

The club also acted by bringing in full-back Yuto Nagatomo from Cesena, releasing Davide Santon on loan the other way. Nagatomo’s arrival sees Cristian Chivu’s potential switch to his preferred centre-back position in Walter Samuel’s prolonged absence. La Beneamata were also linked with Alexis Sanchez, Ricky Kaka, Gareth Bale, Kevin Constant, Ganso and Emiliano Viviano, players who are all likely to crop up again in the summer. Sulley Muntari and Amantino Mancini bid farewell, joining Sunderland and Atletico Mineiro respectively. Inter’s rating: 8/10

Juventus, meanwhile, spent the month linked with a host of strikers from across Europe. Diego Forlan, David Trezeguet, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Luis Fabiano joined the likes of Pazzini, Alberto Gilardino, Massimo Maccarone and Marco Di Vaio in gossip columns. However, it was Luca Toni first to arrive, on a €3.75m contract across 18 months, whilst Antonio Floro Flores eventually rejected a move in favour of guaranteed first-team action at Genoa. Alessandro Matri arrived on a deadline-day loan from Cagliari with a commitment to buy for €15.5m.

The club managed to keep hold of Marco Storari, bring in Andrea Barzagli from Wolfsburg and push Amauri out on loan, but failed to find a buyer for Momo Sissoko, catch Ivan Rakitic who was available at €1.5m or secure a much-needed full-back. Juventus’ rating: 4/10

Whilst Juve spent most of the window reportedly in pursuit of players, Fiorentina spent it trying to keep hold of theirs. There were whispers of Inter inquiring about Riccardo Montolivo, an angry retort was issued with regards Juve’s interest in Gilardino, whilst Adrian Mutu again fell out with club hierarchy, before a last-minute turnaround saw a deal to Cesena break down.

The club pounced for Valon Behrami from West Ham, whilst highly-rated Atletico Paranaense goalkeeper Neto arrived, perhaps given reports that at least one of Artur Boruc and Sebastien Frey is set to leave in the summer. They also offloaded Cristiano Zanetti to Brescia and Dias Felipe to Cesena. Fiorentina’s rating: 5/10

Napoli pulled off a surprise in securing highly-rated Spanish centre-back Victor Ruiz from Espanyol. Coveted by Manchester City, Genoa and reportedly Inter, the left-footed star signed for €6m plus €2.5m-rated Jesus Datolo making his loan at the Catalan side permanent. Giuseppe Mascara also signed from Catania just hours before the window closed. Napoli’s rating: 7/10

Genoa were the most active club in the market, bringing in nine players including Floro Flores, Abdoulay Konko from Sevilla, the Parma duo of Alberto Paloschi and Luca Antonelli, plus Wigan’s Mauro Boselli, but the most interesting is perhaps the arrival of the strong and technically-gifted central-midfielder Juraj Kucka from Sparta Prague. The Grifone also bid farewell to seven players, including four strikers with Gergely Rudolf joining Bari, Giuseppe Sculli signing for Lazio, Parma taking Raffaele Palladino and Toni going to Juve.
Genoa’s rating: 6/10

Elsewhere, relegation candidates Bari brought in several defenders and strikers, even prompting a formation change. Sampdoria responded to Pazzini, Cassano and Guido Marilungo leaving with Maccarone, Biabiany and Manchester United’s Federico Macheda coming in, as Chievo captured an interesting striking talent in Colombian Fernando Uribe and Cesena pulled off the coup of the window in securing Alessandro Rosina on loan from Zenit.

[San Paolo]

Milan and Inter traded like champions, Juve worked the market like amatuers.

[RomaShield27]

I don't think Milan traded like champs at all. Cassano was good - specfeckintacular, in fact, considering the figures involved - but the rest of your signings are all bums/cheapo alternatives.

[juventino_italiano]

[RomaShield27]

Last summer alone Juventus spent over €50m in total – whether that be outright fees or fees to be paid over the next few years etc. – and how much have you spent or committed to this January mercato? A fair bit, I think. Hardly what I call financially fucked.

[juventino_italiano]

[RomaShield27]

So we are you not going to buy? Aquilani? Quags?

[RomaShield27]

Bari ultras physically attack players
Tuesday 22 February, 2011 - http://www.football-italia.net/feb22t.html?

Bari have a new Coach, but 200 fans staged another violent protest today in which players were physically attacked.
The extent of protests forced a police escort for the team two weeks ago, prompting tactician Giampiero Ventura to resign in favour of Bortolo Mutti.

However, the ultra were back in action after today’s training session and stepped up their action to include physical attacks.

They hurled insults from the stands throughout the session, then as the players left the field, it’s reported several of them came into contact.

Marco Rossi was kicked in the hip, while Emanuel Rivas had his ear pulled with great force. Someone even reportedly spat in former Celtic midfielder Massimo Donati’s face. The ultra were kinder to Coach Mutti, who was urged to field the Primavera youth team in their next Serie A match against Fiorentina.

[RomaShield27]

Mass brawl breaks out at end of Foggia-Gela
http://www.101greatgoals.com/mass-brawl ... ela/85543/ – Monday, February 28th, 2011

The mid-table clash between Foggia and Gela in Italy’s Lega Pro Girone B yesterday produced one of the craziest mass brawls seen on a football field in recent times following some disgraceful bending of the rules by Foggia.

To set the scene, there were five minutes left on the clock with Gela 2-1 up when Foggia’s Bartosz Salomon went down with an injury. The Gela left back tapped the ball out of play so he could receive treatment.

Foggia ignored the fair play and with Salomon stumbling to his feet, launched a throw into the Gela box, Karim Laribi tricked his way past a defender, shot against the keeper and Marco Sau followed up with his second of the game to make it 2-2.

Cue pandemonium.

The Gela players ran at the ref, goal scorer Sau as Foggia players celebrated and a mass brawl ensued. Police and security officials tried to calm things down on the pitch and the game was halted with seven minutes still officially left to play.

[red]

Tremendous.

[RomaShield27]

lol its a great video. The complete and utter cheek of the Foggia players, quite typical of Zeman. If I played for Gela I would of been going mad too. That Foggia forward was lucky he wasn't caught when running out of the box.

[juventino_italiano]

Poor defending from Gela

[Messinterista]

All discussions regarding our beloved Serie A goes here. Doesn't have to be team specifics either.

[Messinterista]

Serie A: Did You Know...

Susy Campanale rounds up all the facts and stats from Week 28 of the Serie A season

Gennaro Gattuso got his eighth Serie A goal, the first since a 2-1 defeat to Atalanta on November 11, 2007.

Juventus hadn’t lost three on the trot in the top flight since January 2010, falling to Milan, Chievo and Roma. The Bianconeri are without a goal in four rounds, that’s 330 minutes of football, and with 22 conceded have the worst home defensive record in the League.

Milan extended their unbeaten run to seven wins and four draws. They had also conquered Turin last season, winning 3-0 on January 10, 2010. With only one away defeat in 28 rounds, the Rossoneri are on their most consistent run since 2004-05.

Leonardo has notched up 33 points in his first 13 Serie A games at the helm, a new record since three points for a win. Fabio Capello had managed 32 at Juventus in 2004-05. The Nerazzurri have lost only one of their last 55 home outings in the League, which was the local derby in November, interrupting 41 wins and 13 draws.

Giampaolo Pazzini’s 69th top flight strike was his fourth of the season for Inter. Samuel Eto’o has netted 30 in all competition this term and marked his 10th career brace for the Nerazzurri. Genoa have not conquered San Siro since a 3-1 on March 27, 1994, followed by three losses and two stalemates. Mauro Boselli and Yuto Nagatomo both scored their debut Serie A goals.

Napoli are without a win in three games between domestic and Europa League action, but extend their Serie A clean sheet at the San Paolo to 742 minutes. Walter Mazzarri received his second red card of the campaign for dissent, having been sent to the stands against Cesena in September.

Udinese have notched up 23 points in the last nine rounds and, like leaders Milan, are unbeaten in 11. Samir Handanovic hasn’t conceded a goal in 476 minutes of football. Antonio Di Natale converted a penalty for his 124th Serie A goal, equalling the records of Gianluca Vialli and David Trezeguet. Bari have now lost their last six consecutive away matches and picked up only two points from 10 rounds. They have the worst strike force in the League with only 15 goals scored in 28 games.

Giuseppe Sculli hadn’t netted at all in the League this season, but broke his drought with a brace. Palermo fell to a fourth consecutive defeat despite the change of management. Serse Cosmi had picked up seven points in his last three debuts for Genoa (1-1 at Modena in 2004-05), Brescia (3-2 at Atalanta in 2006-07) and Livorno (1-0 away to Roma last season). His record has always been poor at the Olimpico, losing all six of his career visits to Lazio.

Vincenzo Montella has put together seven points in his three games at the helm. Roma benefited from their seventh penalty of the campaign, more than any other side. David Pizarro’s 24th Serie A goal was his first since a 3-3 draw at Livorno on March 14, 2010.

Lecce have never beaten Roma on home turf in Serie A, managing only six draws and eight defeats. The Salentini have given away three spot-kicks at the Via del Mare this season, more than any other club. Guillermo Giacomazzi got his 20th Serie A goal and Gigi De Canio marked his 500th League match as a Coach between Serie A, B and C.

Sampdoria hadn’t lost three consecutive home games since January 2009, a run that had also started with the Derby della Lanterna. With just one win in their last 10, including seven defeats, the Blucerchiati are behind 13 points from this stage last season. Massimo Volta marked his debut Serie A goal at the 16th appearance.

Cesena notched up a second straight win, ending their away run of three defeats and a draw. The Cavallucci Marini last won away to Sampdoria on April 29, 1979, securing a 1-0 Serie B result that was followed by five draws and three defeats in all competition. They hadn’t got three on their travels in the top flight since November 19, 1989, also a 3-2 scoreline at Samp’s rivals Genoa.

Emanuele Giaccherini bagged his first Serie A brace, taking his total tally to four, while Marco Parolo got his third. The last Cesena player to score two in a Serie A match was Amarildo in the 3-2 win over Bologna on March 3, 1991.

Marco Di Vaio’s 130th Serie A goal put him on a par with Ciccio Graziani and Ezio Pascutti, a fine way to celebrate his 100th appearance in a Bologna jersey. Gaston Ramirez got his second goal.

Cagliari hadn’t shared the spoils at all since Roberto Donadoni took over, as their last stalemate was 1-1 at Udinese on November 7, 2010, followed by nine wins and eight defeats. Andrea Cossu’s fifth Serie A goal was his first since another 2-2 against Palermo on April 18, 2010. Daniele Ragatzu took his tally to four.

Chievo marked their 100th Serie A stalemate on Stefano Pioli’s 300th match as a professional Coach. Parma have drawn four of their last five games.

Adrian Mutu bagged his 94th Serie A goal, but hadn’t celebrated a brace since a 3-1 win at Bologna on February 1, 2009. Alberto Gilardino took his career tally to 138, catching Enrico Chiesa’s record. Catania have never won in Florence during a League game, managing only four draws from 15 visits.

Source: http://football-italia.net/dykweektwentyeight.html