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.

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.