Totti, Gervinho and African gazelles

What a start to the season Roma are having!! It might be a bit early to start mentioning the possibility of a scudetto, but as Gabriele Marcotti pointed out in his column for the 'Wall Street Journal': 'Nobody wants to get too excited, but of the seven teams that have won their first seven matches to start a Serie A season, just one, Inter in 1966-1967, failed to win the title' and this is exactly what Roma have done so far. 7 wins from 7, a +19 goal difference having scored 20 and only let in 1. This gives them the joint best defence alongside Olympiakos in the whole of Europe so far this season. It is also worth pointing out that Premier League side Southampton are joint second with Atletico Madrid having only let in 2! 

If there is one man who has been an integral part of Roma so far this season, as he has been for the last decade or so and more, then it is that man Francesco Totti. Totti, bearing in mind that he is 37 years of age, is still starting games up top for his beloved Giallorossi and is still putting in the performances that made him into such a successful footballer all those years ago. At the weekend Roma travelled to Inter, no easy game despite Inter's poor finish of 9th last season. Yet they made light work of it and walked away from the San Siro with a 3-0 win and Totti bagged himself 2 goals in the process. After the match Totti had this to say: "Winning seven straight matches isn't easy. I don't think anyone expected this start to the season."

Still Roma's go to man?

This sensational form shown from Totti has seen him create 27 goal scoring opportunities for his fellow teammates, more than any other player in Serie A this season. The performances he has been putting in have even led to calls for him to be selected for the national team and possibly even a place on the plane to Brazil next summer. I don't see how that could be a bad thing for Italy at this stage, especially if Totti keeps on putting in performances like this for the remainder of the season. Italy boss Prandelli also seems to agree saying that 'If the tournament was in 2 months time then Totti would be on the plane.' 

But it would be unfair on a few others if all the credit was directed at Totti for Roma's astonishing start to the season. Praise must be given to new manager Rudi Garcia, formerly of Lille, and who many thought was somewhat of a daring acquisition this summer. Certainly because he has not achieved all that much in France after winning the title there with Lille 3 years ago. But he has definitely made an impact upon this Roma side so far this season and his arrival is no coincidence in the correlation with the results on the pitch.

Nor may I add is it a coincidence with the arrival of former Arsenal player Gervinho. The African footballer had a torrid time in North London for 2 years but has been outstanding since his move to the Italian capital and he has relished joining up with Garcia, his former coach when he played at Lille. In fact, his performance after Saturday's game in Milan led an Italian journalist to write in Sunday's Gazzetta dello Sport that: 'Every day in Africa there is a gazelle that wakes up and wishes that he could run as fast as Gervinho so that he can blow raspberries at lions.' It is such a hilarious and brilliant description and is also typical of the different style of writing that is found in the sports papers of this country compared to those in England. This is also coupled with the comment I found on Totti's man of the match performance: 'The years pass for everyone, but not for Totti... If he was poetry, Totti would be ‘L’infinito’ by Giacomo Leopardi.’ Another wonderful example of the romantic style that is ever present in Italian journalism.

The African gazelle in action

One other surprise package of Serie A this season has been Hellas Verona. A team that I have always looked out for having read Tim Parks’ wonderful book ‘A Season with Verona’. They are currently 5^th in the table after they thumped a meagre Bologna side 4-1 at the weekend.

In other news, I went to a bar on Sunday night to watch what I thought would be a very good game in Lazio – Fiorentina. Sadly it finished 0-0 and both sides never really looked like inning it from the word go. The result could be explained by the fact that both teams featured away from home in Europe on Thursday night and were just too tired come Sunday. The game certainly lacked energy and any sort of spark that could have resulted in victory for one side.

Mind The Sack

We are only 6 and 7 games into Serie A and B respectively this season and already we have seen FOUR managers dismissed in Italy's top two divisions. It is a very short period of time for the upper echelons of a club to decide that a change is needed for their team to better themselves during the rest of the season. Yet, it is a decision that we have seen taken all too often in Italian football over the last decade or so and even beyond. Two of the men in question are ex-Milan star Gennaro Gattuso who was given the chop by recently relegated Sicilian side Palermo and another fairly well known ex-Italian footballer, Fabio Liverani, who also was given his marching orders. In this case, however, it was by Serie A outfit Genoa.

Some may point out that in the last week or so the same has happened in the top two tiers of English football, where we have seen managers Di Canio (Italian) and Nigel Clough both removed from their posts. Whilst this is a similar length of time into the new season there is no comparison between them. It is true that Di Canio was only in charge for 13 games on Wearside after he took over the club in March of the previous season. But Di Canio seems to be an exception to most cases. It could be argued that his methods did not go down too well with the players, the fans and ultimately even the board. Results and off the field antics seemed to force their hand in letting the enigmatic Italian go. Clough is almost an entirely opposite case since he spent nearly a healthy 5 years with the Rams and in the end the club must have decided that he was not going to be the right man to get them up this season. He may have left Derby in better shape than Sunderland since they lie 14th in the Championship, however, the board obviously felt that no signs of progress were being made.

Gattuso finding life in management tricky 

These two cases are in stark contrast to the sackings of Gattuso and Liverani in Italy. Let us start with Gattuso and his now former club, Palermo. Gattuso lasted only 6 competitive games in Sicily before he was let go by club owner Maurizio Zamparini, a.k.a 'The manager eater'. Gattuso had only been in charge of the side from the beginning of July after their relegation from Serie A last season. He left the club with them only in 9th position and whilst that is not the best start to a campaign for the league's promotion hopefuls it is also most certainly not the worst with still a hefty 35 games or so to go in the season. Yet, it still comes as little surprise to those in the know.

The facts that follow Zamparini are quite astounding. It is also hard to determine whether they are all completely correct or not because of his liberal use of the term 'manager' and the fact that he has sacked some coaches more than once. It is possible that during his time in football, Gattuso, who won 73 caps for Italy, has become the 43rd manager to be sacked by the 72 year old. He also becomes the 20th manager to be dismissed since Zamparini took charge of Palermo 11 years ago and also the 32nd manager to leave the club since the year 2000. Breathe.

Zamparini plotting his next managerial move

Even in last years fateful season he sacked 3 managers, 2 of which were re-hired at some point later in the year making the figure actually 5. One of those managers was a man called Gasperini who was hired in February of this year, promptly sacked and then rehired 20 days later only to be sacked again. It all sounds like stuff of legend and one begs to think of what the English media would make of it all if this habit came much closer to Britain's shores. Gattuso went off the back of two home defeats in a row and rumour has it that that is all it takes in Italy now. Two home losses on the trot and you are out of there. Next manager please.

Liverani is another manager to have been given his marching orders this month. The first and only sacking in Serie A so far this season I believe, unless someone goes whilst I am writing. He has been replaced by that man Gasperini again who has funnily enough already managed Genoa a few years ago when he was at the helm for a mammoth 3 years. Liverani, like Gattuso, was only hired this very summer and lasted less than 2 months into the season before he was shown the door. In this case though Genoa really have had a poor start to the season with only a solitary win in their opening 7 games. This includes a shock Coppa Italia defeat but is also strangely coupled with the fact that Liverani did lead the team to a 3-0 thumping of fellow city rivals Sampdoria less than 2 weeks ago. However, a 2-0 loss to Napoli at the weekend proved to be the tipping point and the merry-go-round of managers continues.

Fabio Liverani on his way out at Genoa

This is not an issue which is solely concerned with Palermo or even Genoa. Every Italian club and owner is at it. Since the beginning of last season in Serie A to the start of this season there were 27 managerial changes. 27! Baring in mind that there are only 20 clubs in Serie A. This is also compared with the comparatively small number of 10 changes that have taken place in the Premier League in the same amount of time. And even many of those changes have been not because of sackings but of managers like Martinez and Moyes choosing to take their talents to a better club.

What is also quite noticeable in Italy is how many of the well known managers have by and large each managed a number of the 'Big 4/5' clubs in the country. Or some who have managed more clubs than they could probably care to remember. By no means is it their own fault. More often than not they are sacked after a single season at a club with very little chance of proving their real worth. Here is a list of a select few managers and their credentials.

Massimiliano Allegri: 46 years old. Current club AC Milan. He has managed 7 clubs in 13 years of management.

Fabio Capello: Has managed Milan x2, Roma and Juventus.

Franco Colomba: Not a famous manager but I wanted to include him for the sake of his managerial career. I honestly don't understand how he keeps on being hired. He is currently 58 and out of a job. He has managed 19 clubs in 23 years.

Antonio Conte: Regarded as a very good manager and doing a great job at Juventus now. But has managed 7 clubs in the 8 years since he turned coach.

Luigi Delneri: Has managed 9 clubs in the last 9 years.

Claudio Ranieri: The tinker man is a well known and respected manager. He is now doing very well with Monaco although the resources available to him are incredible. In Italy he has managed Napoli, Fiorentina, Parma, Juventus, Roma and Inter. Nearly every big club there is in Serie A. That is like an English manager coaching in his career Liverpool, Tottenham, Everton, Chelsea, Arsenal and Newcastle.

Delio Rossi: Currently at my favourite side Sampdoria. He has coached 16 clubs in 23 years of management.

Giovanni Trapattoni: Milan x2, Juventus x2, Inter and Fiorentina. Again another lovely range of top Italia clubs.

This sacking culture does not look like stopping anytime soon and I can only hope that in the future this does not spread to England. It will be a sad sad day if it does. Let us only hope that Sir Alex Ferguson is not the last man to spend nearly three decades at one club.    

Zoomie Zoomayyy

So here is an update on events of the last week or so in Florence. The first thing I want to mention actually took place a couple of weeks ago, however, it was not till recently that I managed to get my hands on some footage (thank you Catriona) of our flat supper and more importantly a game of ‘Zoomie Zoomay’. I couldn’t not include this video clip, firstly because this game is a bit of a big deal in certain circles up in Edinburgh and secondly because it is quite amusing seeing a foreigner try and play this game when even we English find it a bit difficult after a few drinks!

There’s still a lot of work to be done but I am optimistic that come the end of my time in Florence I will have all fellow flatmates coming through ‘Zoomie Zoomay’ and even ‘Slaps’ with as little damage as possible.

Last weekend I received a nice surprise as my Aunt and Uncle happened to be on holiday down near Cortona on the border of Tuscany and Umbria. Since they were flying out of Pisa on Saturday evening they thought it would be a good idea to get me to come out and see them for lunch at VillaMangiacane just outside of Florence before they went on to the airport. It was incredibly kind and generous of them and gave me the chance to relax by a pool and enjoy a wonderful lunch whilst getting away from the thousands of tourists and general humdrum that is Florence at the moment. We enjoyed a lovely lunch and the hotel itself was in a fantastic setting looking out onto the rolling hills of Tuscany with Florence tucked into the hills not too far off in the distance.

One reason in particular as to why Florence is so busy this week is because it is currently the host of the World Cycling Championships of 2013.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdjLQAgFmK8

Now most locals have found this an absolute nightmare because it has completely ballsed up their day to day routine. Roads have been closed, buses have been cancelled and cyclists and tourists have flocked from far and wide to follow this event. I for one have not been too perturbed by the whole thing as it has done very little to affect me. On the contrary it’s been quite exciting and my flat is also ideally placed for part of the course. Indeed I just have to leave my front door, turn right and then again and instantly I find myself up against the barrier of the track with only a mile or two until the home straight.

I have a few video clips of the event and even managed to see Bradley Wiggins race past on his way to a silver medal on Wednesday. Alas, my recording ability was not quite up to scratch as I manage to almost completely miss Wiggins as he goes past since I was much more interested in watching him myself. But I do assure you that it is him!  I'm really sorry also for the fact that I have not rotated the videos either. 

Watching all this cycling has got me all eager to get back on a bike again. You may or may not know but I along with two other friends cycled from Kent to Cannes earlier this year and I am very keen to conquer Italy as my next challenge at some point during my Erasmus year. Hopefully with the help from my trusty two companions from the last adventure!

I went to The Old Stove (Check) last night, an Irish pub, to watch the football. It was Inter v Fiorentina, so a big game for all the locals. The bar was absolutely rammed for the game and I luckily got there early and grabbed myself a seat. They have a good little set up with a TV set up outside the bar with lots of tables and chairs so people can watch the game outside. I was quickly joined at my table by a trio of Italian guys probably around my age with whom I had a few chats throughout the game. I even managed to follow quite a lot of their conversations with each other, even when one was absolutely incredulous that Neto, the Fiorentina goalkeeper, was only a 73 on the new FIFA 14 player ratings! I found this quite amusing.

Fiorentina sadly lost the game 2-1 despite taking the lead. It was a shame but it was still good fun watching the match, especially when surrounded by so many passionate fans. One man would shout, without exception, every ten minutes or so the word ‘VIOLA!!’ at the top of his voice twice when he felt the mood in the bar was getting too settled! Crazy.

In other news I am battling my way through the first Harry Potter in Italian. It’s actually more difficult than I thought it would be since I know the story line pretty well. But that is good I suppose and hopefully it is doing some good for my language. Uni starts on Monday which is also pretty exciting as after three weeks out here I am definitely ready to get stuck into more stuff and hopefully meet a lot more people.

My phrase of the day, I say day, it’s more like post, is: ‘Chi se ne frega?!’ ‘Who gives a damn?!’ Very nice.

Ciao.  

Rossi Rossi Rossi!

The future's bright. The future's purple. So I thought it was high time to give an update on Fiorentina. I have now been out in Florence for nearly 2 weeks and I finally got to see the Viola in action on Sunday lunchtime whilst eating in a cafe with a friend. It was Fiorentina V Cagliari (a smallish team from the island of Sardinia just off the peninsula of Italy). The game ended 1-1 in the end and whilst it was not the most exciting result there was still much to talk about come the full time whistle. I decided not to go to the game because I want to save up for when the big boys come to town like Juventus, Milan, Roma and also for a night of European football.

Fiorentina had a fairly successful time in the transfer window bringing in some real quality like Mario Gomez from Bayern and also Joaquin from Malaga. This is combined with the long awaited recovery of star striker Giuseppe Rossi (the fella referred to in the title). Rossi almost comes as a new signing because although he was bought back in January he has been sidelined for a long period of time due to a knee injury. Rossi is a class act and a natural goalscorer. Big things are expected of him this season in Tuscany and paired alongside Gomez up front could make Fiorentina a force to be reckoned with in Serie A.

Now Rossi is one of those many players that Manchester United have let go without really giving them a chance. Joining this list are players such as Forlan (arguably given a good chance yet deemed expendable and the Uruguayan went on to fulfill his talent in Spain at Villareal and Atletico Madrid), Gerard Pique (let go by United very young after hardly any playing time and is now one of the best defenders in the World) and now Paul Pogba. Pogba left United for Juventus last year on a free and almost instantly became a prominent fixture in midfield alongside Pirlo with some outstanding ball play, dynamic runs and a lethal long range shot. Now hopefully Rossi can prove his full potential shown at a young age if he can just avoid injury.

Gomez and Rossi have both already scored 2 goals each this season for the Viola and it means that after 3 games this season they lie in 3rd place with 7 points. It certainly felt as 2 points dropped on Sunday when the Sardinians popped up in the 89th minute to level the score and take a share of the points. It felt like all the more of a kick in the teeth for Fiorentina as they lost Colombian Cuadrado to a shoulder injury in the first half before Gomez too was taken off with a knee injury in the 2nd half. Gomez's injury looks more serious and he could well be out for a month, maybe that exciting partnership between him and Rossi will have to be put on hold. Not only this but Pizarro was dismissed late on for talking back to the Ref and all in all this left a very bitter taste in the mouth of the Viola fans, not least manager Vincenzo Montella.

Anyway, it is still early on in the season and Fiorentina remain unbeaten. The bigger tests are to come with Napoli and Juventus visiting the Stadio Artemio Franchi in October where hopefully I will be looking on from the Curva Fiesole surrounded by a sea of purple. Until then I thought I would leave you all with a motto becoming increasingly popular among the Florentines. It is aimed at Spanish midfielder Borja Valero. The architect of all things sublime and beautiful in the Viola midfield and Fiorentina's goalscorer on Sunday.

Calcio: Mia Introduzione

All those that know me will also know what a massive sports freak I am. For example, if Granada are playing Celta Vigo on Sky Sports 4 on a Sunday night, I will probably be watching it. Or, at least checking up on the score every now and then. Probably because I can recall the days when Aleksandr Mostovoi and Valery Karpin used to pair up together for Vigo nearly a decade ago...when I was 8. Yeah, it's that bad. It does not have to matter what sport is being played, who is playing it, but as long as it is live on Sky and I am at home or at Uni then I will be in front of the telly. Much to my family's and sometimes even my flatmates' despair.

I use football as an example because it is the first sport I got hooked on. The day I received my first ever football kit was undoubtedly a special one. It was Liverpool and to this day I am not completely sure why. The person who gave it to me, my godfather, is a Leeds fan and even then the team I may have felt any sort of allegiance to as a fervent 3 year old would have been Chelsea due to our close(ish) living proximity to Stamford Bridge.

How things changed though!! Within a couple of years my family had moved to Suffolk and I had been to my first ever football match. A game played between Ipswich Town and Oxford United (I think), such is my hazy memory. Don't even think about asking me what the score was! But from that moment on Ipswich was our club, our team. I was to be brought up on a diet of Richard Wright, Titus Bramble, Matty Holland and Marcus Stewart. We have been season ticket holders at Portman Road since 1999 and in our first year of going to matches Ipswich got promoted. Our brief stay in the Premiership (2 years) and a couple of Thursday night European matches (including a 1-0 victory over Inter Milan) now seem a very distant memory.

 

Sadly, Ipswich are currently the longest serving members of the Championship and football of any reasonable standard has been hard to come by at Portman Road in quite sometime.

This all culminates in my burgeoning interest in Italian football. Which is partly why I am so excited about moving out to Florence for an entire year. Ever since I was given FIFA 2001 on the PC and signed Francesco Totti, Vincenzo Montella and Marco Delvecchio for my Everton team, I have had some strange affinity to Italian footballers. Whether it was the mesmerising skills they deployed to beat hapless defenders as I sat and watched James Richardson's weekly review of Serie A football on TV or their fantastic names like Fabrizio Ravanelli and Alessandro Del Piero, I was completely seduced. Even watching Gianfranco Zola play at Chelsea all those many years ago caught my imagination and only served to strengthen my interest in Italy. Totti especially was a real idol. His cool swagger around the pitch with his socks down below his shin pads was a real eye opener. Everything he did just oozed quality and silkiness.

So for the season commencing 2013-14 I will be temporarily putting on hold my love affair with 'The Tractor Boys' and instead taking on the mantle of ACF Fiorentina as my new local team. Also known as the Viola due to the team's chosen colours. I am hoping that the football will be a touch more glamorous and even the prospect of a few Europa League matches looks somewhat enticing! The purple kit, however, might take a tad getting used to!

Forza La Viola!