Serie Aaaaargh!… : Internazionale

Rafa looks to younger limbs as Inter's injury problems mount

Richard Whittle — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 12:56:00 GMT

Rafa Benitez and Massimo Moratti must have had a long look at each other after Inter’s draw with Brescia on Saturday and pondered where it was all going wrong for the defending champions.

The following day that young rebel Mario Balotelli was scoring twice for his new club Manchester City, while the Nerazzurri were counting the length of their injury list. Walter Samuel was the latest to collapse in a heap and it looks as if the central defender’s season is over with ligament damage to his knee.

It was damp old evening at the San Siro and Inter were off-colour from the start. Only Samuel Eto’o demonstrated anything in the way of a positive attitude against well-organised but ultimately beatable opponents who were allowed to grow in confidence after taking an early lead.

Benitez may not be ‘special’ like Jose Mourinho, but even the Portuguese would find it difficult to get anything out of a side decimated by so many injuries to key players.

Douglas Maicon’s troublesome hamstring finally gave in at the weekend and the full-back joined Esteban Cambiasso, Thiago Motta, Julio Cesar and Sulley Muntari in the treatment room nursing a range of muscle strains.

Athletic trainer Paco De Miguel looks set to be working overtime to get players fit again and he has defended claims that his preparations had caused some of the injuries, maintaining he had changed little from the previous regime and was working towards ensuring the players stayed in shape over the hump of the season without tiring their limbs.

Youngsters on the whole do not tire as much as the more mature players, so Benitez and his staff will have to work on fine-tuning the likes of Philippe Coutinho, Joel Obi and the speedy Jonathan Biabiany over a shorter period, with nearly two months still standing between them and the January transfer window.

Inter will then, by all accounts, buy up the outstanding fifty per cent of Andrea Ranocchia’s contract from Genoa - worth something in the region of €10 million - thus not breaking the bank for a new central defender.

There is a round of mid-week games coming up and the defending champions will leave dull, cold Milan for the relatively benign climes of Lecce.

However, it is the weekend derby that will be on their minds, so Wesley Sneijder will sit out, having become all light-headed in the dressing room at the weekend which meant he couldn’t take the pitch for the second half.

The San Siro showdown will not be for the faint-hearted – not with AC Milan suddenly becoming the macho side in the city.

Having beaten Bari, the Rossoneri will want to push on this week against Palermo, although Massimiliano Allegri is finding it difficult to keep some of his players, who feel they know more than the coach, in check.

Rino Gattuso tore into the team’s tactics after conceding the last-gasp equaliser to Real Madrid in the Champions League which just about forced Allegri to drop Ronaldinho and play Rino, Massimo Ambrosini and Mathieu Flamini at the base of the midfield against Bari.

It ultimately made little difference as the team still conceded two goals, and Allegri didn’t help his cause by refusing to bend to Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s veiled demands that he preferred playing upfront with Filippo Inzaghi - by fielding Robinho instead.

Pippo was left to sulk on the bench and in a show of 37-year-old petulance threatened to leave in January alluding to “a couple of interesting offers.”

No doubt the moody vet will start against Palermo, but Ibra needs a slap on the wrist; so just to annoy both of them the Swede could well be left on the bench.

The club have made great efforts to play down the bust-up - for that’s what it apparently was -between Ibra and the man mountain Oguchi Onyewu in training last week with photos surfacing of the pair really going at it after the stroppy Swede had dived into a late challenge on the American defender.

Insiders have claimed there pair didn’t “kiss and make up” and only performed the most reluctant of handshakes – and in a scene familiar to any prison drama, the Brazilian clique have taken the big Yank under their collective wing, although this may ultimately be for Ibra’s protection as much as anything else...

However, as long has the Rossoneri are pushing for top spot and can overcome Inter at the weekend the team will continue to present a united front.

While the Milanese giants play make or break-up, Lazio hang on to top spot despite their derby defeat and have a chance to get back on track against struggling Cesena. Joint-fourth Juventus – Happy Birthday, Alex – and Napoli are on the road at feisty Brescia and Cagliari, respectively which leaves AS Roma the most likely to profit as they face Fiorentina at home.

Jose's Milan return highlights task facing beaten Benitez

Richard Whittle — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 10:54:00 GMT

Jose Mourinho swept back into Milan yesterday, strolling triumphantly through the arrivals hall at Malpensa airport.

The return of the Special One was always going to be big news and the Inter fans had gathered in numbers to hail the man who had led the club to an amazing Treble last season – a couple had even paid €320 for a room in the same hotel as Real Madrid just to say they had “slept” close to the man with the Midas touch.

In the early hours of this morning Rafa Benitez slipped quietly back through the same airport with no more than a sideways glance from a couple of cleaners and a few other weary travellers.

Having lost their Mou-Jo in the summer, Inter are becoming a pale shadow of their former self with each passing week and Benitez cannot seem to correct the slide which has seen the Nerazzurri drop off top place both at home and in their Champions League group.

Of course, they had a worse start in Europe last season when they could easily have gone out early on, but you always felt there was a steely resolve coupled with Jose’s tactical cunning to see them through.

Bale and co. gave Rafa plenty to ponder

Going into the game at Tottenham, Benitez had been forewarned off Gareth Bale’s pace and for that reason decided that the speedy Jonathan Biabiany should play in front of the labouring and out-of-sorts Douglas Maicon.

Unfortunately, the French winger was neither a defensive reinforcement nor an attacking threat so it was puzzling why he remained on the pitch for so long when the sharp and in-form Coutinho was left on the bench having done so much to hurt Harry Redknapp‘s side in the previous meeting.

One of the secrets of Mourinho’s success was his willingness to change his tactics quickly if he saw that his plans were not working - even if it was only ten minutes into the game.

The Spaniard’s reluctance to change allowed a situation to develop whereby Bale was embarrassing Maicon every time he picked up the ball. The right flank had already been torn to shreds long before Benitez made a change in personnel, and this was after the forewarning of the last 35 minutes of the home tie against Spurs where the same happened.

It was always going to be an evening where pace and the directness of the home side needed to be nullified, but with Biabiany and Goran Pandev pushing high up the flanks and Wesley Sneijder a mere spectator in the middle, there were massive gaps through the centre for the likes of Modric and Van der Vaart to exploit.

No doubt the presence of Esteban Cambiasso and Dejan Stankovic in the centre of midfield would have ensured Spurs did not have quite the same freedom to pin Inter to the edge of their own area, which was the what ultimately led to the first goal.

Neither Sully Muntari or Javier Zanetti got close enough to their opposite numbers and they are not the type of players at ease moving the ball forward, which meant that Sneijder was forced to drop back further to instigate attacks which in turn left Samuel Eto’o isolated.

"Still, at least we had fewer offsides..."

However, even when out-numbered, the Cameroon striker caused the home defence all sorts of problems and his well-taken goal, which he made for himself, gave hope of something better with ten minutes remaining.

What Benitez will hopefully have learnt from this sobering experience is that Eto’o needs to play alongside Diego Milito in a front two, with Sneijder in behind.

The Argentine’s belated entry seemed to make the lights finally come on throughout the team, with his first run taking him into a shooting position and visibly giving his team-mates some much-needed belief.

Another rasping drive which clipped the bar when the game was already lost suggests that the Prince will be back on the goal trail soon.

Ideally, Inter would line-up with the aforementioned trio pushing forward, with Zanetti on the right, Cambiasso in the centre and Stankovic on the left of the midfield.

The defence is what it is, and Maicon and Cristian Chivu, who once again had words with Benitez during the game over his positioning, would benefit from experience and a bit of bite in front of them, while Lucio and Walter Samuel are aging but still massively effective central defenders.

Victory at home to Twente in three weeks time will ensure safe passage to the knock-out stages and provide Benitez with another bargaining chip when trying to persuade Massimo Moratti that he needs to open the cheque book in January.

All is not lost, but clearly that Inter swagger - like Mourinho - is long gone.

No surprise to see Italians not make the grade

Richard Whittle — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 10:25:00 GMT

The national team’s limp showing in South Africa coupled with Inter not having a home-grown regular in their Treble-winning side meant it was somewhat unsurprising to hear there were no Italians on the 23-man shortlist for this year’s Ballon d’Or.

However there are four Serie A, and specifically Inter, based nominees in the running – Wesley Sneijder, Samuel Eto’o, Douglas Maicon and Julio Cesar - but strangely no Diego Milito, who seems to have paid for a World Cup spent on the Argentina substitute’s bench despite being the top goalscorer in last season’s Champions League and scoring twice in the final.

There is also no space for Nerazzurri defender Lucio, although that is perhaps more understandable given his poor showing in South Africa and, by his standards, poor early-season form at club level.

Eto’o’s goalscoring has been exemplary but the boat has probably long since sailed for the Cameroon international as far as winning the top awards goes, leaving Sneijder as perhaps Serie A’s leading contender for the recently restructured gong.

An excellent first season in Italy followed by a World Cup Final appearance seemed to have put the Holland international in pole position but, like Lucio, his form so far this season hasn’t been quite as impressive.

There have been whispers that the former Real Madrid player has not warmed to new coach Rafa Benitez and would have followed Jose Mourinho back to Spain if the chance had arisen.

A new contract has yet to be agreed although the club have maintained it is a mere formality – but even if he does sign there is no guarantee that the midfielder will remain beyond the summer.

Inter's Ballon d'Or contenders...and Diego Milito

The Dutch master needs a couple of really high-profile performances in Europe to keep him ahead of the Barcelona trio of Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta and Xavi - although if he does make the final three-man shortlist then helping his side win the Club World Cup could well do the trick when the winner is revealed on January 6.

The Ballon d’Or has been kind to Serie A over the last decade; Pavel Nedved in 2003 (although it should have been Paolo Maldini), Andriy Shevchenko the following year, Fabio Cannavaro in 2006, (thanks in part to Marco Materazzi World Cup final shenanigans), and Ricky Kaka in 2007.

However, recent seasons have been lean for Italian nominees, with none last year either. Gianluigi Buffon is generally a shoo-in, but the Juventus goalkeeper has spent most of the year injured.

Daniele De Rossi’s career has stalled in spectacular fashion over the last two seasons – a combination of burn out and injuries have impeded him, although his reluctance to leave the bubble of Rome for the big wide world has ultimately been his undoing.

His personal problems were the talk of the Capital and you never know a move to Real Madrid could have been just the fillip to re-ignite the midfielder’s career never mind getting him noticed for an award.

As it stands there were no viable candidates: Antonio Cassano didn’t have the chance to pull on the Azzurri shirt in the summer, while playing for Sampdoria isn’t exactly going to gain many plaudits .

Mario Balotelli received more headlines for his spats with Jose Mourinho – a certainty for coach of the year – than for his on-pitch exploits, while the only other name that springs to mind is Giorgio Chiellini, so we rest our case.

Oh well, England and France don’t have a name on the list either, and if Sneijder were to win we could at least point to football being a team game - just not a team of Italians in Inter’s case…

Inter only Italian option for Rooney

Richard Whittle — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 12:23:00 GMT

If Wayne Rooney is contemplating a future in Italian football, then of course there is only one club capable of matching not only his wage demands, but also his ambitions on the pitch.

Inter president Massimo Moratti has always admired English players, but having half-jokingly claimed that he was considering making a bid for Leo Messi in the January transfer window, maybe he will start cracking a few one-liners about hiring the Manchester United rebel.

It will certainly keep the rumour mill ticking over now that Messi has put an end to any speculation about leaving Barcelona, while Moratti is still silently seething that Silvio Berlusconi landed Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who he would have been welcomed back in the Nerazzurri fold with open arms.

Moratti’s principle medium of communication is generally to mutter a few words to journalists as he strolls into work in the centre of the city which then morph into the gospel according to Massimo.

Ever since his arch nemesis across town stole a march in the transfer headline stakes, the feeling is that the old oil baron is planning something spectacular.

If this is the case, then he is either keeping it to himself or Rafa Benitez is a very good actor: the coach has been beside himself with frustration at not having a big-name signing to show off.

Moratti has made it clear that he wants the club on a sound financial footing to comply with UEFA regulations but there may be a loose €70 million or so lying around for the January sales.

No doubt Wayne and his advisers are studying the European market for a big day and they will have an opportunity to check in on Inter this evening when the Champions League holders take on wet-behind-the-ears Tottenham Hotspur.

Little thought has been given to the English side that arrive at the San Siro lacking the gravitas of a United, Chelsea or even Arsenal.

However, it has been left to Inter once again – which made the morning coffees even sweeter for their fans – to salvage Italian pride in the competition.

It is doubtful if the names of AC Milan and AS Roma have come anywhere near the radar of the Rooney camp as potential destinations – and you can see why.

Neither club looks certain of even making it out of the group stages – Milan’s defensive problems were laid bare once again at Real Madrid, while Roma were just downright woeful in the home defeat to Basel.

Massimiliano Allegri had stated that the march wasn’t about him and Jose Mourinho - and didn’t he get that right?

He was left gawping like a provincial boy in awe of the bright city lights and, just as the Special One made sure that his Inter teams were psyched up for the Milan derbies, it was the same attention to detail which helped his Real Madrid charges win with more than a little to spare.

Despite the experience running through the Milan side, Allergi was not primed for the early Real onslaught and the contest was over within the first 15 minutes.

At least back in Serie A there are few teams that play with such intensity from the first whistle – Palermo spring to mind and before that Roma under Luciano Spalletti had their moments.

Milan will still hope to sneak through but the Giallorossi are in real danger of missing out on the knock-out stages all together which would probably save them from further humiliation.

The Olympic stadium is such a cavernous bowl that it is difficult to generate a big-game atmosphere at the best of times, but the vast swathes of empty seats in the stands last night summed up the depressing mood around the club at the moment.

The uncertainty over a buyer with the financial muscle to drag the Giallorossi out of the perilous state is affecting everyone.

Claudio Ranieri has lost that control he initially had over the team who now fail to follow basic instructions such as covering back and making tackles - whispers persist that he will be out the door when a new regime takes over while the players are in the dark on who will be offered new contracts.

Until the off-pitch problems are resolved there seems little hope of Roma turning their dismal season around.

Inter, of course, have no such worries and their continued success is more in keeping with Wayne’s world.

Hernanes shines as Eagles soar

Richard Whittle — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 11:49:00 GMT

Heading into the last round of fixtures before yet another international break, just five points separate nineteen of the twenty in Serie A, with only Udinese off the pace on one point so far.

Inter lead the way, which is no real surprise, but there alongside the defending champions on ten points in joint-first place are Lazio.

The Eagles, who released a real-life bird of prey ahead of the match against AC Milan, were last in such a lofty position heading into the third game of last season. Before that they made a more stirring start two seasons ago when they held onto their lead for six games before falling away.

Most of last season was one long round of recriminations for Lazio, as president Claudio Lotito went head-to-head through the courts with contract rebels Goran Pandev and Cristian Ledesma.

The former won his case and joined Inter, but the latter was left to go cap in hand and ask for his place in the squad back after he failed to have his contract rescinded on a technicality, as the Argentine had been training with the first team.

Lazio's celeb fans include Bill Oddie and Terry Nutkins...

It was all soon water under the bridge with the midfielder signing a new deal, but Lotito decided that the only way to ensure there was more harmony within the camp was to give everyone a pay-rise.

The annual wage bill has increased by €10 million to somewhere in the region of €41 million – pocket money for the Milanese clubs and even AS Roma for that matter, but enough to put Lazio in the top six of the league’s big payers.

Astute as he is cantankerous, Lotito has always possessed the ability to dig up a little gem from apparently nowhere.

Two seasons ago it was Mauro Zarate - a Birmingham City reject – who had taken the top flight by storm and now it looks as if Anderson Hernanes is another find who will have AC Milan and Inter wondering why they allowed the Brazilian to slip through their grasp.

The midfielder had been linked with both clubs for a number of seasons and it seemed odds on that he would be wearing red or blue and not the sky blue of Lazio.

However, while the Rossoneri dithered as to whether Hernanes was the heir to Andrea Pirlo, and Inter decided he should first be loaned to Chievo if they bought him, Lotito was working his connections in Brazil. All it took was €13 million for Sao Paolo to part with their playmaker.

Hernanes: Soaring high with Lazio

The chance of a starting place in a Serie A team was enough to persuade the player nicknamed the Prophet that his future was in the Capital – and along with Zarate who has rediscovered his touch and guile – the 25-year-old has been in inspired form.

He may lack pace but he is quick over two or three yards, which enables him to escape close marking, as he demonstrated when he skipped past Alessandro Nesta to set up Sergio Floccari for the equaliser against Milan.

However, it is his effortless control and quick-feet that stand Hernanes out as the most creative player Lazio have had since the majestic midfielder stroller Juan Sebastian Veron.

There are similarities between the two: an almost languid style, excellent range of passing and an ability to take a shot early. In fact, apart from Inter’s Samuel Eto’o no one has had more efforts on goal than the new darling of the Curva Nord.

Around him there are a host of hard-working and seasoned professionals: Cristian Brocchi, Stefano Mauri, the aforementioned Ledesma and the fit-again Matuzalem, who are all willing to put in the hard work to leave Hernanes free to get into advanced positions.

It is not as if the new man is grabbing all the limelight however, and tellingly in the first five games seven different names have appeared on Lazio's scoresheet.

Much of this success is down to veteran coach Edy Reja, whose hard work from the end of last season in bringing the team together is really starting to show dividends - and in their last eight away games the Biancocelesti have accumulated 19 points out of 24 thanks to six wins, a draw and a defeat (2-0 against Sampdoria on the opening day of this season).

This weekend another surprise pacesetter, Brescia, arrive at the Olympic Stadium, but the Prophet has already sent out the message that the Aquile are soaring again.

Cesena show Serie A the way forward

Richard Whittle — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 11:21:00 GMT

The first midweek round of the Serie A season and already Inter are top of the table, but the defending champions have an unlikely pace-setter matching them stride for stride.

Cesena are enjoying the late summer warmth on their return to the top-flight after a 19-year absence and it is not as if they have garlanded their seven points the easy way.

A more than well-deserved draw at AS Roma on the opening day was followed by a stunning win over AC Milan which had Silvio Berlusconi claiming that a left-wing plot had been hatched by the match officials – after all Cesena is situated in the old red-supporting Emilia-Romagna region.

Then at the weekend they demonstrated they could defeat a club of similar stature in fellow newly-promoted Lecce.

Much has been made of the fact that Zlatan Ibrahimovic earns more than the whole Cesena combined but the Cavallucci marini (Seahorses) are no floundering minnows.

Their Dino Manuzzi stadium is a 23,860 capacity envy of any club in Italy and has a playing surface that would put the San Siro and Olympic stadium to shame never mind the potato-fields in Naples and Bari.

If Italy had won the bid for Euro 2016 then it would have been one of the host stadiums ahead of the Luigi Ferraras in Genoa

Even last season, the club had a record 8,175 season-ticket holders in Serie B and once promotion to the elite league was ensured, 36-year-old president Igor Campedelli launched a promotional campaign that encouraged families and females to join the 'fun' at the Manuzzi.

Five hundred family packages have been sold and 2,000 females have signed up for all the home games. There is also a burgeoning fan-club of German fans no doubt drawn to the team’s white and black kit.

The total number of season-tickets across the board has now gone beyond 10,000 to almost 11,000 – compare that to Milan with 26,000 season-ticket holders for Serie A games and you get a fair idea of the buzz for football when it can be watched correct environment.

They are certainly one of the most progressive clubs in a region that has never felt it should be held back by the Italian affliction that you can only beat the system by looking after number one.

If la dolce vita really existed then it would be in the Emilia region which boasts the best quality of life in the country – and so it is no surprise that the club put fans first and ensure that families can watch matches in a manner you would never witness in most other grounds around the peninsula.

The playing staff are mostly those who came up through the divisions but they have augmented by experienced performers who form the spine of the side such as 41-year-old goalkeeper Francesco Antonioli, yet to concede a goal, Albanian striker Erjon Bogdani, now 33, and the scorer of two goals so far having gone almost a year without finding the net.

The Argentinean defender Maximilano Pellegrino is approaching 30 as is midfielder Stephen Appiah who came back onto the radar during the World Cup with Ghana after a serious knee injury.

In fact, South Africa was a success for Cesena who also picked up Japan left-back Yuto Nagatomo who has formed one of the speediest and certainly vertically-challenged partnerships down the flank with the team’s star man Emanuale Giaccherini.

The diminutive 25-year-old winger has made the rise from the fourth division and having torn Roma and Milan’s defences apart, he is expected to force his way into Cesare Prandelli’s reckoning for an international call-up.

Massimo Faccadenti is a no-frills coach who has followed the attacking blue-print drawn by Pierpaolo Bisoli after the latter’s move to Cagliari.

Even when they were reduced to ten men against Lecce at the weekend when captain Giuseppe Colucci was sent-off on 30-odd minutes, in one of the worst ever cases of mistaken identity when Nagatomo had been the culprit, they kept going forward to find the winner.

It may only be the early stages of the campaign but Cesena’s aim will be to repeat the feats of Chievo in 2001 when the side from the suburbs of Verona came up from Serie B and surprised the world of Calcio to finish fifth in their first season.

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Squabbling, lies & big feet

Richard Whittle — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 09:01:00 GMT

It was one of those weeks in Italian football where deep-rooted feelings of anger and frustration came boiling to the surface and it seemed that just about everyone was out to settle a few personal scores.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Arrigo Sacchi were involved in an on-air spat, Leonardo laid bare Silvio Berlusconi’s ugliest personality traits and Claudio Ranieri lost his temper in spectacular fashion with the Roman press.

It is not easy to maintain your clarity when you are caught up in the moment and when pushed to express something your reaction can be volatile to say the least.

Ibrahimovic was the first lose his temper when he was confronted by old nemesis Sacchi, who has never rated the Swede and took little persuasion to have a sly dig when he cited Ibra’s size 47s as the sole reason he scored his first of his two goals against Auxerre in the Champions League.

The comment may have been made in a jovial manner – well sort of – but it just happened to have been uttered live on the post-game round-up show

“Big feet” just happened to then appear in a link-up and the cat-calling started.

Refusing to speak directly to the Milan legend, the man who has yet to achieve legendary status outside his own household, fumed: “Sacchi should learn to be quiet and if he wants something he can come and see me.”

That’s a fighting talk, but sensing he had the moral high ground, the man a mere year away from pensionable age remained calm and composed and attempted to explain.

However, he never got the chance as Zlat cut him off with, “I don’t want your explanations. If you don’t like the way I play then don’t watch me.”

Just imagine if Sacchi had called him “big nose.”

If Ibra thought he was defending the oversized then he was mistaken: the Milan Channel was bombarded with calls and e-mails demanding the latest signing show some respect to a man who after all had taken the club to the very pinnacle of the game.

No apology was forthcoming but if the forward thought he could let his feet doing the talking he was once again to left disappointed.

The Rossoneri were back to their wasteful old ways in a 1-1 against Catania and look like a team that are going to be even more frustrating than Leonardo’s side last season.

The Brazilian is now on a busman’s holiday, “studying” the game around Europe and especially in England where he has picked some sort of TV gig similar to his appearances in the past on Sky Sports.

He does manage to pop back to Italy now and again – and on this occasion it was to give La Gazzetta dello Sport the inside skinny on why he walked away from coaching Milan in the summer.

Unsurprisingly, it was all down to Silvio Berlusconi, who had claimed that the Brazilian was just too damn good-looking – no, he didn’t really – it was all about tactics and how the team should have played.

‘Not so’, countered Leo, who only told us what the whole of the country was well aware off – Berlusconi is vain and self-centred.

“Narcissus doesn't like anything that is not a reflection of himself,” was his poetic take on the whole sorry situation which now finds one of the finest young coaches hanging around TV studios giving his opinion on the game.

Having cleared the air he finally broke his ties with the club he had spent 13 years with by not ruling out a possible return to Italy and if Inter ever came calling he would not turn them down.

Tension had been lingering in the capital well before AS Roma’s dreadful start to the season and Ranieri may regret getting all medieval on the local media at the press conference ahead of the weekend encounter against Bologna.

Francesco Totti had already made it open season on his coach with his complaints that the team were betraying their attacking traditions by playing catenaccio.

“It’s not true,” raged Ranieri. “And I’ll prove. This is my team. I am the coach and the players do as I tell them.”

As the scribes sharpened their pens, the old Roman let loose with a tirade of abuse towards the press in similar fashion, table-thumping included, to Giovanni Trapatoni when he went on a rant in pidgin German during his spell at Bayern Munich, - expect this outburst was in pure Roman.

It was like one of those summer storms – as soon it gets going it soon abates – which sums up the way Roma are playing at the moment.

Having taken a 2-0 lead against Bologna they looked set fair for their first win of the season but ended up drawing 2-2 with former Lazio striker Marco Di Viao scoring both goals for the visitors – and the equaliser with almost the last kick of the game.

Of course Ranieri could not leave well alone when his side were charge and instead of encouraging his players to go for a third he brought off Jeremy Menez for Fabio Simplicio who had not stepped on a football pitch for about four months.

The local press had been calling for the Brazilian and in hindsight it looked as if Ranieri was bowing to pressure which does not bode well for his future employment in his home town.

After all, there is only ever one emperor at a time along the Tiber and we all know who that is.

If a vacancy does come up in the Capital then it is doubtful Leonardo will be leaping into the pool of self-love that is Roma.

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Party over as players threaten to strike

Richard Whittle — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 11:51:00 GMT

"Right lads, down tools we are all out."

You know the world has gone crazy when footballers are threatening strike action.

September 25th and 26th have been earmarked as the dates when Italian football comes to a standstill as the country’s players take to the picket-lines to protest at the ìslave-likeî conditions they are forced to work under.

Of course, not all players earn multi-million Euro contracts such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic who will have to forgo his €320,000-odd weekly wage packet if the union make good on a walk out.

However, the average salary is still around €23,000 a month in the top flight so on the surface there seems little to protest about – unlike the average office worker who has to make do with less than a €1000 a month.

The current agreement between the footballers’ association and the clubs has expired and now the players are filled with revolutionary zeal, just when they may to toe the line for once.

How many times has a player basically broken his contract to ensure a move to another club or sat around earning vast sums of money for doing nothing because he refuses to accept a transfer?

Both parties are to blame for the situation we find ourselves in now – the clubs have been handing out massive contracts over four years to players in their late 20s and expecting them to be at the peak of their powers in their early or some cases mid-30s.

AC Milan are prime example, having awarded the players who "revenged" the 2005 Champions League defeat to Liverpool two years later with four-year deals which meant that the whole squad was set up for life at the pinnacle of their careers.

There was only one direction they were heading after that and Milan were saddled with the likes of Marek Jankulovski, Nelson Dida, Massimo Oddo and Kakha Kaladze who you could never say deserved the star status bestowed on them.

Milan attempted to get some value out of having Oddo hanging around by extending the full-back’s contract for another season but spreading the final payment over 24 months.

However, Jankulovski refused to budge and will no doubt literally sit-out his final season before becoming a wealthy free agent at 33.

With this in mind what concerns the players’ union is the proposal that will give an employer the right to terminate the final year of a contract and pay the player 50 per cent of what he was due if he refuses accept a move to another club of equal standing.

Tellingly, the shop-steward at the press conference to warn the country that their national sport was heading the way of the public transport system - brought to a standstill on a regular basis by industrial action - was Oddo.

Massimo money mo' problems...or something

'We are not objects,' he bleated as he sat there in his designer shirt; sporting perfectly manicured sideburns and looking all for the world like the perfect object of footballing desire.

Clarence Seedorf, Rino Gattuso and Javier Zanetti nodded gravely in agreement while the rest of the non-football playing work shook its head in disbelief.

Let’s face it, any current player who has been in the top flight for the last four or five years should be able to survive until the end of the century on their earnings, investments, luxury villas, cars and other trappings of material wealth.

Even those players who do not warrant star billing have little to complain about: earning a very good living from playing football – and isn’t football all about results and success so if you are good enough you will generally reap the rewards from the game.

There are a number of other issues on the table, so to speak: clubs want to decide where a player has treatment for an injury and not the player. So now we know why Alessandro Nesta spent 18 months in Miami receiving treatment on a back injury.

There is another good one: the union has demanded that coaches must work with one group of players in training thus ensuring that those no longer in their plans or in dispute with the club cannot be exiled to train with the youth team - or all alone.

There is no doubt now that the party is over but these issues can no doubt be solved through dialogue rather than threats of bringing the national game to a halt.

Silvio Berlusconi would not have been taken too kindly with the stance taken by his Milan militants especially in the light of the team’s defeat to the proletariat: newly-promoted Cesena whose annual wage bill is less than Ibra’s basic annual pay.

However, only the under-fire prime minister could still profess solidarity for his hard-put-upon stars in the most political manner by claiming that the match referee’s political leanings were to the left.

Maybe he should have been questioning his own team work ethic and apart from Inter, it was not a profit-making weekend for the top flight’s fat cats: Milan humbled by Cesena; AS Roma thrashed at Cagliari and Juventus held by Sampdoria.

On top of that, Palermo lost at Brescia while Fiorentina went down to Lecce and Napoli drew at home to Bari.

Chievo won at Genoa to leave the Flying Donkeys as the only team on maximum points and top of the table – power then to footballer’s true workers and long may it continue.

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Mou & Ibra almost overshadow new season

Richard Whittle — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:46:00 GMT

We might have known that it wouldn’t take long for Jose Mourinho to return to haunt one half of Milan.

The Special One will back at the San Siro when Real Madrid face AC Milan in the Champions League.

He will be something of the evil twin of Ricky Kaka who slipped out of the city without a ciao, ciao - and had to wait until Real played the Rossoneri in Europe to thank everyone for helping him for a leg-up in his career.

Subsequent events have suggested that his time in Italy is probably as good as it will get for the Brazilian but who knows if last season will turn out to be a similar football-epithet for the Portuguese.

One thing is certain when Real pitch up at their hotel they will be mobbed by Inter fans who can’t wait for such a special return.

The draw set the pulse racing to varying degrees for each of Italy’s group stage representatives.

The defending champions, who also swept the awards from goalkeeper to striker at the Champions League draw ceremony, will be content to have pulled Tottenham, Werder Bremen and FC Twente out of the pot – little travelling, excellent stadiums and teams that play in a straightforward manner.

Milan have less to be satisfied with – and as it was last season it will not be the double-header with Real that settles the outcome of the group but the matches against Ajax and AJ Auxerre.

The Rossoneri came away with a win at the Bernabeu last year and then followed that up with a draw at home only undo all their good work with a home defeat to FC Zurich and a draw against Marseille which left them facing Manchester United in the round of the last sixteen as group runners-up.

AS Roma will have similar concerns when they take on FC Basel and CFR Cluj, having lost to both opponents in last year’s Europa League, however, the stand-out games will be against Bayern Munich and the Giallorossi should be looking to top the group.

The Champions League will remain an inciting side-dish for a few weeks yet and amongst all the headlines on whether Zlatan Ibrahimovic will join Milan and why no one wants to move to Juventus, the new season starts this weekend.

Inter won’t be in action until Monday evening at Bologna so for once we will have a new name at the top of the table – or more than likely a long line of team on three points.

Roma should get their campaign off to a winning start at home against Cesena who are back in the top flight for the first time since 1991 – and will no doubt approach the game with the mentality of a Serie B side playing an Italian Cup tie at the Olympic stadium.

Another new arrival, Lecce might fancy their chances, however, at Milan who have lost to newly-promoted sides at home on the opening day in the past.

The third new boy, Brescia would also expect to take something from their trip to Parma although Sebastian Giovinco could finally start to blossom in the more relaxed atmosphere of Emilia-Romagna.

However, the games of the first round will be Fiorentina at home to Napoli and Bari welcoming Juventus.

All four teams will be worth watching – for differing reasons. How will the Viola fair under Sinisa Mihajlovic, can Napoli do a Sampdoria and make the breakthrough into the top four and will Bari follow their 10th-place finish with a year battling against relegation?

However, all eyes will be on the Old Lady as she desperately searches for a new identity under Gigi Del Neri.

Diego has been moved on and by the time you read this Fabio Quagliarella should have arrived on loan from Napoli but the sum of the parts may not add up to a top-four chasing whole.

There are certainly enough teams pushing for European places, such as Genoa who are home to an Udinese side lifted by Antonio Di Natale’s snub of Juve. Sampdoria need to put their Champions League exit behind them when they meet Lazio who could just as easily explode or implode.

Watch out for Palermo who finished two points off fourth place last term. The Sicilians have cashed in on Edinson Cavani and Simon Kjaer but have kept potentially the player of the year: Javier Pastore. Much will depend on tightening up a defence that conceded 47 times last year.

So, putting the Serie Aaaaargh! head on the block, here comes the predictions for the 2010-11 Serie A season.

1.   AS Roma
2.   Inter
3.   Palermo
4.   Genoa

Europa League
Napoli
Milan
Juventus

Relegated
Bologna
Cesena
Brescia

Italian Cup winners
Napoli

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Milan ain't big enough for both Mourinho and Balotelli

Richard Whittle — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 15:39:00 GMT

Pride comes before the fall and Inter are in danger of tumbling over the precipice thanks to an ever-deepening rift between Jose Mourinho and Mario Balotelli.

It seems more than likely that one or the other will depart the club at the end of the season.

Apparently the Portuguese apologised for snapping the youngster’s necklace in the wake of a heated discussion when the player refused to take in a few laps of the pitch at the end of a training session when ordered by one of the coach’s assistances.

However, there has been no act of contrition coming in the other direction and there lies the problem.

What usually happens in Italy when an argument gets out of hand is that it may seem as if all-out war has been declared but by the time you arrive on the scene the respective parties are acting like long-lost family members.

"What have I told you about wearing the same scarf as me?"

Both will have admitted their guilt and everyone would have moved on for a cup of coffee.

This is plainly not the case between little dictator and troubled teen hence the former’s exile which has now extended to six games following the latest snub for tonight’s Champions League tie with CSKA Moscow.

If Mario would just issue a statement along the lines that he has been acting like a big kid and all that business about donning a Milan shirt for the television cameras was just a bit of fun, but of course not in keeping with a serious professional, which of course he will strive to be now, then with remorse comes forgiveness.

That is the Italian way, but unfortunately, that does not seem likely especially now that Dutch-based uber-agent Carmine “Mino” Raiola has taken over the player’s affairs.

The little Mr Percentage seems to be reportedly inflaming the situation even more by encouraging his client to demand that Mourinho make a public stand-down.

The lippy lad did just that when he called a chat show where Giovanni Trapattoni was appearing to state that he was not for turning after the Ireland coach had voiced concerns that the player could become another “lost talent” of Italian football much like Antonio Cassano.

"What the fu....actually, you're quite a big fella, never mind..."

Massimo Moratti has so far kept a haughty distance for the whole affair, but with the title race no longer a foregone conclusion, the president dispatched sporting director Marco Branca to mediate and finally bring an end of the ever-widening impasse.

Of course, Moratti may have to step into the line of fire and send a decree calling for a halt to all hostilities coupled with a carefully-worded peace-document that saves face for everyone.

The Portuguese would probably prefer to sing the Fado wearing a Milan shirt in front of Duomo than ever admit he was in some way at fault.

After all, one of his central pillars is the team before the individual, so how will this saga play out?

Well, it would seem that Raiola will be the one to benefit – either he negotiates a massively-improved contract for his charge at Inter or peddle the lad around Europe’s elite clubs.

After all, that was the reason Zlatan Ibrahimovic employed him and the Swede is doing nicely on €15 million a year at Barcelona.

Balotelli’s current deal runs until 2013 and there is a two-year extension waiting to be signed with €2.5 million salary on the table.

Not bad for a 20-year-old but apparently Raiola has already sounded out Manchester City - where of course the man who gave the player is big break, Roberto Mancini currently resides – and Arsenal – with whom Inter would like to do business so they can get their hands on Cesc Fabregas.

Of course, another plausible scenario is that if Mourinho lands the Champions League he will make a grand exit, leaving everyone’s honour intact.

In the meantime, the team have a crucial week ahead but that seems the mere mundane day-to-day life compared with the intrigue at Court of Inter.

Ranieri's resilient Roma ready for Inter invasion

Richard Whittle — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 09:49:00 GMT

For once Roman hyperbole is not overstepping the mark and Saturday’s encounter with Inter is indeed “the game of the year.”

The phrase has been on the lips of the ever-talkative Roma fans since witnessing their heroes come away from Bologna with victory in midweek to leave them just four points off the leaders.

It's good to see the capital abuzz after throwing off its winter coat and the first rays of warming sunshine have brought the locals flocking out to populate the squares.

Even the paving stones in the Testaccio area - where the club played their formative games - have been given a fresh lick of yellow and red paint whilst banners and flags have started to festoon balconies and window ledges.

Where else would anyone want to be than in the Eternal City on the weekend when the title race could finally come alive for real? Any excuse for a party at which Bacchus would have slurred, so there was little need for Claudio Ranieri to turn into a club promoter to incite the locals into the Olympic Stadium – which already had the sold-out signs up first thing Thursday morning.

House Full (well, it will be)

It has been a long time coming but slowly, steadily and almost stealth-like - in fact the complete antitheses of Roman thought – La Roma have clawed back a deficit that stood at 14 points when the teams last met back in November.

Ranieri has lived by his code of humility rather than humiliation and those qualities have rubbed off on the players.

Fabio Capello once complained that during his time in charge if the team went unbeaten for two or three games he had to watch them like a hawk in case they started treating life as an excuse to kick back and enjoy the trappings of success. Now after a 20-game unbeaten run, the height of excess has been a group evening out for a pizza and home to bed before 10.

Some of the more exuberant club followers long for the old days when garishly-clothed players would saunter up to various restaurants, bars and clubs to while away the night. The downside of that came at the weekend when they had to put with the self-same players turning it on for 20 minutes or so before wandering around in a trance.

Luciano Spalletti’s final months in charge were a bit like that: everyone, including the fans, had become comfortable, accepting that the team was never going to be a force to compete with Inter. The champagne football had lost its fizz. Ranieri has arrested that drift into lethargy and in doing so has put a solid work-ethic in place. But there have been signs that he will let the players off the leash now and then.

The last two games have seen him employ a three-man attack. Jeremy Menez and Mirko Vucinic responded with swaggering performances, while Luca Toni has been a more than willing battering ram amongst the dandies.

There were signs that the game at Bologna was a dry-run for Inter: Rodrigo Taddei hardly ventured into the opposition’s third, while David Pizarro was so withdrawn the little Chilean was almost a sweeper in front of the back four. Full-backs John Arne Riise and Marco Cassetti held their line and were only allowed to tiptoe forward on special occasions.

Let's work together: Toni and De Rossi

The tactic of building solid foundations worked against a home side that possess a similar physicality to Jose Mourinho’s men – albeit minus the class, skill and know-how of world-class players – and that should be the approach again. Apart from Juan returning in the heart of the defence and maybe Simone Perrotta replacing Menez or possibly Taddei if he feels punchy, Ranieri should stick with the starting XI from midweek.

With Mourinho set to show his “Chelsea hand” again, maybe for once Ranieri won't come, see and tinker – leading to a night of revelry in the Eternal City.

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