I warriors, brigate rosanero, siamo forti e vinceremo!

Preview

After our first game, people were happy. People started dreaming again. After our second game, at the potato field in Arty Fartyville, people went back to reality. Zenga is not a wizard, and this team still needs a lot of work to be competing for the top five. I don’t care about comments from within the team that talk about the Scudetto, or even breaking into the top four. I want 5th or 6th, and a good Coppa run. People will try to hit us using Zenga’s comments, but I don’t think anyone here really believes that we can achieve that. Let’s do this thing step by step.

Step 3 is Bari. The team with the ugliest logo in all of Italian football, and a shirt that probably doesn’t have much competition in the same department either. The Galletti are back in A, and are still undefeated. Of course, that doesn’t mean shit, as I’d prefer winning 19 and losing 19 to drawing 38. Do the math, and you’ll see why. Anyway, on Giornata 1 they surprisingly held Inter to a 1-1, so this isn’t a team to underestimate. This is also the second Southern Derby in three giornate, which will also increase the pressure on Zenga and the boys.

The main obstacle that Zenga will need to overcome, is our first half performance. It will be impossible to get a good result if our first halves stay like this.

Squad Status

Palermo

Liverani and Miggy are still out injured, and so is Hernandez. Haven’t had much fun from that guy, have we? We’ll most likely see Bresciano and Nocerino running down the flanks, with Pastore in support of our magic duo and Blasi making his debut as defensive mid. There’s a small possibility that Bertolo will start in favour of Bresciano, but after last week’s game I wouldn’t count on it too much.

Bari

The Bari Offside is a nice place, and they’ll be able to tell you more. New acquisitions Donato, Diamoutene and Almiron will most likely not be there. Up to you if that’s a good thing or not. Superstar keeper JF Gillet will be the man to look out for, it only remains unseen how much he will suffer from his adventure with the Belgian NT (5-0 loss to Spain, 2-1 loss in Armenia).

Categorical Matchup

Fear The Brow vs. The Fearsome Belgian: Push. Gillet is by far Bari’s strongest link. Rubinho could become ours, but he needs a little more work.

Berlin Wall vs. Who that?: Palermo. Seriously, there aren’t much teams in Serie A with a defense that can compete with ours. I don’t see guys like Stellini and Parisi doing the same thing.

Back-up Bonanza vs. Serie B+: Palermo. Will Blasi perform? Will Bresciano go Bresciano again? Will Nocerino work his ass off? With Pastore on the field, this battle’s ours.

Dynamic Duo v. Kutuzov the Nomad: Palermo. Kutuzov can be dangerous. Cavani and Miccoli are dangerous. ‘Nuff said.

Last Five Games

Palermo: WL
Bari: DD

Final Analysis

This preview is bleeding cockyness. And it should. There’s no way in hell that not winning against Bari is acceptable. They’re fresh out of B, their team isn’t ready yet and they got lucky against Bologna. If Zenga wants to put his money where his mouth is, this is the time. Not winning against the Galletti means one foot in the grave for ‘Coach Z’.

Prediction

3-1. Pastore, Micco, Cavani. Kutuzov.

MOTM:

Pastore

Remembering the Good Times

Se guardi in alto vedi
c’e’ un’aquila che vola
e’ il simbolo la fede
che sta nei nostri cuori….

Ed ecco siamo in gol
i rosa han fatto gol
la mia citta’ e’ in gol
io vivo per il gol
tifiamo tutti assieme
ed il successo viene con il gol!

So, what could we possibly talk about then? The Bresciano-to-Rangers story? Nope. Cavani to West Ham? Nope. Miggy’s joy? Nope. Let’s talk Coppa.

Some of you might remember the pre-Roma-Inter-Borefest days, when the Coppa Italia was a competition that could be won by everybody. Teams just below the absolute top, like Bologna and Parma, made it the highlight of their season. Hell, even Vicenza won it at the end of the nineties. It’s a nice trophy to put on the shelve, and it gets you into Europe. Every year since our return to Serie A, we have been competing on at least two levels. Serie A + Europe + Coppa. Now that there’s no Europe, why not go for that Coppa-victory? We came close twice, in ‘74 and ‘79, but we never won it. Hell, we never won anything. So why not go for it this year?

Things kick of this weekend, on Saturday at the Barbera at 20.30. Ravenna should be beaten to advance to the next round. I don’t expect anty difficulties here, but we need a squad that is focused and willing. After Ravenna, Genoa or Mantova awaits. Mantova would be nice, Genoa is doable. After that, the big guns come in to play. Vicenza, Bologna and Ascoli, accompagnied by minor provincial teams like Roma and Inter. By then our boys will be doing well in the league and will be focused to show the world their skill. And you know what helps? Having a big fuckin’ squad. Competing at two levels might work. Imagine playing your A-team in Serie A every week, and resting them for the Coppa. Then you still might be able to come up with something like this:

Jimmy
Cassani – Dellafiore – Bovo – Carrozzieri
Guana – Simplicio – Ciaramitaro
Jankovic
Cavani – Budan

Add 4-5 A-players to that, and you will get this:

Jimmy
Cassani – Bovo – Dellafiore – Carrozzieri
Jankovic – Simplicio – Nocerino
Miccoli
Cavani – Lanzafame

Doesn’t look too shabby, does it? This is the fuckin’ time guys, if we don’t have a great Coppa-run this year, we’ll never have one. Ravenna, shit yourselves, we’re coming.