Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. How good was this? Not as good as Cassani’s screamer two season ago, but it was good. Like fried chicken right out of the bucket. Like an ice cold Aperol Spritz when it’s way too hot outside. I think I screamed like a little girl on the 2-0.

I think this was our best match since that 3-2 win. Maybe even better, seeing as we didn’t give up a 2-0 lead like we did back then. It’s the first match in ages that I’m not able to single out a bad player. Bovo did well, Bresciano played his heart out, Simplicio fought for every ball…me likey.

Me not likey the subs. I’ll give l’Uomo Ragno the benefit of the doubt on the tactics, but I don’t see why it was necessary to replace Cavani with Goian. We were close to scoring a third, even though we started crawling back once more. Just look at the stats and you’ll see that we almost didn’t have any possession during the second half, except for our attacks. International break is up next, he’ll have to prove his worth after that.

Five Lessons Learned:

1. Salvatore Sirigu is J-F Gillet’s Southern cousin. Love the kid.
2. Miggy is the silent force of US Città di Palermo.
3. Javier Pastore’s a genius. Give him some time and he’s gonna be huge.
4. Palermitano lead => crawl back in your own 16.
5. Zenga still won’t make it past December.

Pagelle:

SIRIGU: 7. Not all that much work, but the reflexes dude, the reflexes!
BALZARETTI: 7. Solid as a rock, like all season.
CASSANI: 6.5. Good game, but not as commanding as his counterpart on the left flank.
KJAER: 7.5. If I was gay, I’d jerk off to his poster.
BOVO: 6.5. Good game, some nice infiltrations.
NOCERINO: 6.5. Didn’t have a lot of time, but another solid game.
SIMPLICIO: 7.5. Was all over Juve’s face, including a fantastic goal.
BRESCIANO: 6.5. Worked hard, didn’t fuck up.
PASTORE: 7.5. MOTM. Was throwing around passes like Mike Tyson threw around punches (and his wife), his goal should’ve counted.
MIGLIACCIO: 7.5. You don’t see he’s there, but you’d miss him so bad if he weren’t.
MICCOLI: 6.5. Some great passes, but was looking for a goal too much.
CAVANI: 7.5. Big team, big Cavani.
GOIAN: S.V.
BUDAN: S.V.

All. Zenga: 6.5. Great starting tactics, bad subs and did nothing to stop the team from crawling back. Still has a whole lot to learn.

Giornata 8’s Androberto Guarraciolo Award:

Ciro Ferrara. Wow, worst tactics ever.

Impressions:

“Didn’t expect to see you in Ballroom 101, Gigi.”

“This is what a real schwalbe looks like.”

“I’m like Australian Customs: nothing gets passed me unnoticed.”

“Suck it, Ciro!”

Highlights:

What.The.Fuck. In only three games, Walter Zenga has turned a talented and eager team into Chievo. Not winning against Bari is unacceptable. Not losing to Bari thanks to a last minute equalizer gets you fired. I have a very strong feeling that Zampa was ready to pull the trigger yesterday, and Zenga only survived by suffering a (fake?) drop of his blood pressure. Hell, if I was working onder Capt’n Crazy and just delivered that kind of result, I’d fake a serious illness too.

I don’t like the way things are going these days. Zenga keeps relying on players that clearly would have problems getting a starting spot in Serie B. Balzaretti has to run down the entire left flank because Bresciano goes Splinter Cell from time to time, Davide Succi couldn’t hit a house with an eighteen wheeler and playing Cesare Bovo in central defense is like letting your 16-year old daughter go to a rave in stay-up nylons, miniskirt, killer heels and a tube-top three sizes too small: not a very good decision.

Another thing I wanted to talk about. One of our former compatriots came over here, complaining we are too hard on some of our players. The guy did forget to mention that for every player we bash, another player gets an awful lot of praise. If you don’t put in any effort, I don’t see why I should spare you in my comments. If you don’t like it, don’t read it.

Five Lessons Learned:

1. Mark Bresciano is not Serie A material.
2. Igor Budan is no longer fat, nor slow.
3. Cesare Bovo needs to be replaced by one of those Romanians asap.
4. We should’ve bought Jean-François Gillet over the summer.
5. Zenga will not see November.

Pagelle:

RUBINHO: 6.5. Best game in pink so far. Could do nothing about the 0-1, but did keep us in the game.
BALZARETTI: 7. This game would’ve been a train wreck without him covering the entire left flank. -0.5 for taking another unnecessary yellow.
CASSANI: 5.5. Granted Allegretti the 0-1, was lucky not to do it twice.
KJAER: 6. Not fantastic, but doesn’t have anyone to count on when he misses an interception. Put another solid central defender next to him.
BOVO: 4.5. Can we sell him to Torino? Didn’t put in a good pass all day and was constantly flirting with a red card.
NOCERINO: 6.5. Another solid game from TrampStamp. Can keep possession (unlike last year) and is doing great carrying the team as a Hummus-replacement.
BLASI: 6.5. Did better than expected, well-earned applause substitution.
BRESCIANO: 3. It ends here. Zenga will disagree, but it should end here. Another disgrace.
PASTORE: 7. Works well with Nocerino. Should have scored his first goal in rosanero and should be less selfish, but another great game.
BUDAN: 8. Worked hard, scored a nice goal and is determined to fight for a starting spot.
MICCOLI: 6.5. The Little Man couldn’t do much, but should’ve been better in front of Gillet.
CAVANI: 5.5. The other side of Cavani. Looks like he’s having a hard time loading up for smaller teams.
SIMPLICIO: 6. Nothing special. Didn’t fuck up, which is strange.
SUCCI: 5. Missed a great opportunity, waste of human flesh.

All. Zenga: 6. Terrible pitch, PK not given: there are things that could make his case. But Bari should’ve always been beaten with a 2 goal difference.

Giornata 3’s Androberto Guarraciolo Award:

Mark Bresciano. Hang up your boots, boy.

Impressions:

Balzaretti suffers the infamous Puglian Nipple Twister.

“Look at me, I’m not fat anymore!”

“Suck it, Edi, I deserved it!”

“Look people, he really lost weight!”

Highlights:

1. Palermo still has problems playing on the road

Granted, it was the first away game of the season; yet, the away woes still seem to be right where they were last season, and the season before, and the season before that and the…(yeah, you get the idea)

2. I’m sensing a pattern to this team

First half = awful. Second half = amazing. Both against Napoli and against Fiorentina, the squad has looked pretty horrendous in the first half. Not controlling possession, poor passes, no attack. The second half always sees a significant boost in play and produces results. Who knows what it is, but Zenga must say something in the locker room that gets them to pick it up. I’d like to see this translate to a whole game…soon.

3. The pitch is HORRENDOUS
Somebody needs to dock the groundskeeper’s wages.
Wow. Just gross. People want to say that Pastore & Co. looked bad. While they didn’t look great, they also can’t be entirely faulted either. That pitch resembled more of a sand trap from Super Mario Bros. 2 rather than a Serie A-caliber pitch. All I can say is that I’m glad we won’t be making any more planned visits there in the near future.

4. Mutu is still a gypsy Romanian coke-snorting, vampire-like, prancing cheater

So some people feign offence at Mutu being labeled a gypsy. Ok, fine. I hope I’ve cleared things up with the above statement. I would never want to tarnish the Gypsy name by including him amongst them. Some want to take pity with his plight…and under normal circumstances, I would feel really bad for him too. Sure, he’s being done up hard by Chelsea…but, the fact is, he’s ADRIAN MUTU. There are only two people in the footballing world that I could feel less sorry for than Mutu: Ratface and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Le Pagelle

Rubinho 6 – Nothing he could really do about the goal that Weird Al Jovetic redirected, but what was up with those goal kicks?!

Cassani 6.5 -Pretty typical Cassani that we’ve seen. Did well to contain attacks from Vargas.

Balzaretti 7 – Tireless. Outside of Kjaer, he probably had the best game for Palermo.

Kjaer 8.5 – He looked like a veteran out there. Plain and simple. Head and shoulders above the rest of any Palermo player for the match, he came out of each challenge the winner – including goal-saving tackles.

Bovo 5.5 – Still needs to find some form. Indecisive at times.

Bertolo 5.5 – An interesting decision to be thrown in there from the start. Looked a little lost and at times definitely showed it. Give him time to adapt to the Italian style.

Bresciano 6 – Actually had some very positive moments…but also some very poor ones.

Pastore 6.5 – People need to cut the guy some slack. He’s young and only in his second game in Serie A. Yes, he had some poor passes and overall a pretty average game. However, his upside is tremendous and he had a couple remarkable passes (backheel anyone?!) as well as shaking some players on more than one occasion.

Cavani 6 – He runs and runs and runs.

Miccoli 6 – Unfortunately, there was no magic to be had in the sand pit.

Simplicio 5.5 – Helped out when he came on for Bertolo but was pretty average like the rest of the team.

Budan 6.5 – Yes, there is life from Igor!!! Just missed a header, but the promising thing is that he was actually dangerous and showed some signs of hope for the future.

Tedesco S.V. – ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Transfer Market

It’s done. No Dzemaili because he couldn’t handle competition.

Manuele Blasi

He’s no Dzemaili, but we brought in a bruiser, who has definitely got some bite. The jury is still out on how he will be incorporated into the team. He’s taking the number 88.

We got some time before our next game due to international breaks and such…so enjoy the video below:

FORZA PALERMO!

Overview:

Expectations were high, the opposition was dangerous, the team was new and history was against us. Still, the Boys in Pink did what had to be done: beat Napoli. First half may have been a one-sided affair with a lucky goal at the end, but all is fair in love and football. Thanks to Rinus Michels for that.

Starting the season with three points is fantastic, especially when you look at the other results and you see that the other competitors for spots 3-6 didn’t do all that well: Roma lost, Udinese tied, Napoli lost and Fiorentina tied. Only Genoa managed to win. And that makes this start all the better.

What I Liked:

Javier Pastore. Great debut from the young Argie, against a team that knows how to handle Argies.

Cavani and Miccoli, starting with one goal each. These guys love eachother.

One game, one win. Love the feeling.

What I Didn’t Like:

Santa Fabio. How many bad passes could you give?

Rubinho. Just like Amelia last season, his season kicks off with some small errors.

Pagelle:

RUBINHO: 5.5. Didn’t look all that secure to me.
BALZARETTI: 6.5. Same as always: trustworthy. Great game, without really excelling.
CASSANI: 6.5. Dito. Could have gone a little more into attack.
KJAER: 7. Leader of the defense at what, 20? Kept Lavezzi out of the game.
BOVO: 6.5. Kept Quaglia out, don’t think he’ll keep his starting spot.
NOCERINO: 6.5. Hard worker, could become a big player in midfield this season.
SIMPLICIO: 5. Time to sell him. Too inconsistent to be a contributing part of the team.
BRESCIANO: 6.5. Didn’t fuck up, seems to be more secure as a DM than an AM.
PASTORE: 7.5. Great debut from the Kid. Him, Cavani and Kjaer are the future of this team.
NONNO: SV. Motivated. That’s all. Why not give a young player a chance?
BUDAN: SV. Didn’t look too fat.
MICCOLI: 7. Ero Siciliano. What would we be without him?
CAVANI: 8. Hardest working man in Sicily yesterday. This is his year. MOTM.

All. Zenga: 6.5. Excellent day for him. I’ve almost forgiven him the Catania-past.

Giornata 1’s Androberto Guarraciolo Award:

Cristian Maggio. Brainfarts on a football field, and what they can do to your team.

Impressions:

“Hmm…would tapping his ass after my first game in charge would be inappropriate?”

“The groundskeeper is not going to like this…”

“Say ‘What’ one more time, motherfucker! Say ‘What’ one more time!”

“So this is what they mean by ‘Same shit, different day’…”

Highlights:

That picture pretty much sums up the afternoon for the rosanero last weekend. A lot of hugging, celebrating and even crying (I’m looking at you Eyebrows…). 5 times in fact. It was a great win against a lesser opponent. Three points in the bag and now onto Chievo.

A total recap isn’t necessary. We played motivated for pretty much the whole 90 minutes – besides two defensive lapses. Cavani stepped up big – he must’ve seen his tribute video.

Highlights

News Roundup

The wise sage Fabio Liverani gave some thoughts about the team today. One of the great values of the team is that they are a very close-knit group. In fact, according to our Magic Carpet Man, nobody wants to leave the society as they are all happy where they’re at. However, on the downside, Fabio thinks that the squad could do better to concetrate more on training during the week.

Our Bat-Boy/Frankenstein lovechild Cavani was recently linked with Fiorentina. Um, I doubt we will see Palermo make another mistake like that, so I would sweep aside that rumor. Cavani’s agent confirmed it as such by saying Edy is staying at Palermo for as long as Palermo wants to keep him. He’s doing excellent at Palermo and has no desire to leave the rosanero. Good news to hear. The kid is only getting better. If anyone wants to make comparisons, ask Ricci about his take on Cavani in comparison to a certain Torres.

Speaking of agents, Simplicio’s moneymaker will be on hand to watch Fabio take the field against the other team from Verona. Talks about a contract renewal are still in the initial stages but Rinaldi has stated that Fozzy’s desire is to certainly stay with Palermo and wants to stay in rosanero for a long time. Attachment to the shirt? That’s a good quality.

Palermo VP Miccichè gives his take on the season so far. According to him, the season has been around a 6.5 – 7. Last year, we finished the campionato on 47 points. Here we are 10 games away from the end of the season sitting on 42 points. More importantly, the team has found a style of play under Ballardini.

The biggest step so far in pursuit of the new stadium happened earlier in the week when Zamparini bought Fondo Raffo. It’s the first significant move towards construction to date. Details of the deal can be found here. Zamparini bought the land for around 11 million euros.

Is Sabatini doing something productive? Doubtful. But he is in Argentina at the moment observing a couple matches and two or three players in particular for Lanus: Eduardo Salvio (fantasista, 19 years old), Valeri (CM, 23 years old) and Quintana (CB, 21 years old). I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you though. We all know Sabatini has about as much motivation as Lindsey Lohan in rehab.

Finally, with Miccoli out for this weekend’s game, the question is who will be paired up with Cavani? Currently, it looks like it’ll be either Succi or Sneeze. That’s right, Mchedlidze is back! Here’s to hoping he gets the start. Succi was out last week due to his wife giving birth to a mini-Succi. Ballardini has a tough decision to make…or not.

Video of the Week

Another gem of a “music” video, this time dedicated to Eyebrows himself, Fabrizio Miccoli. Once again, the vocals will leave you breathless. Definitely a song worth downloading to your iTunes…haha.

I’ll try to have a review up on Saturday morning/afternoon. Thanks ragazzi…and always…

FORZA PALERMO!

Just like Maurizio, I’m tired of the way we get fucked out of the European race. I think I’ve said this about four or five times already, but we’re still only three points from Europe. If we had won every game where I had to say this afterwards, we’d be battling Inter and Milan. Now, we’re tied with Cagliari and about to be passed by Siena. I hope someone shoots ref Banti in the face.

You know…sometimes pictures say more than a thousand words…

Counting with Fabriz’: “Thies ies 1.”

“Ref, it’s for you. Mister Blackwell on the phone, he doesn’t like the matching colors.”

Jan-culo-vski: “If it’s got long hair, it’s a girl.”

“Marek, why are you cheating on me?”

“See that ugly motherfucker? He tried to touch my ass…”

“I love you guys!”

What I Liked:

Marco Amelia. The transformation of the Horny Housewife is unbelievable. From a guy with zero self esteem, to football hero in three games.

The return of the real Marco Bresciano. This is why we bought him, this is why he still gets playing time and this is why my 2006 Bresciano-shirt hasn’t been torched yet.

Antonio Nocerino and Edison Cavani, because they finally showed their real powers.

Fabrizio Miccoli, for being Fabrizio Miccoli.

And last but not least, the entire backline. But especially Moris. Cassani was awesome, Balzaretti was an extra attacker and Bovo kept it thighter than a 13-year old’s ass, but Moris is a real Palermo-hero. Moris Carrozzieri, per sempre uno di noi!

What I Didn’t Like:

Substitutions in the 85th minute when you’re already 3-1 up.

Pagelle:

Amelia 8: One hell of a match. Stopped an imaginary penalty, and was only beaten by a second imaginary penalty.
Cassani 7: Great performance, caused danger when he moved upfront. Slowed down a little in the second half.
Carrozzieri 8: I think we have found the new Eugenio Corini. I really do.
Bovo 6: Did well, but looked a little slow.
Balzaretti 7: Same as Cassani. +0.5 for his assist on the 3-0.
Nocerino 7: Finally a good Noce-game. Still not Gattuso, but who cares?
Liverani 6,5: Nice assist, bu he’s so unbelievably slow…
Bresciano 7: Great game, even with a flu on his body.
Simplicio 7: Caused danger from the start, easy but merited goal.
Guana: senza capelli
Cavani 7: Finally the real Cavani…
Succi: senza vota
Miccoli 8: Fantastic game. Another Palermo hero.
Kjaer: senza vota

All. Ballardini 7,5: Finally showed what he can do when his team is fully fit.

Facts:

Palermo: Amelia; Cassani, Carrozieri, Bovo, Balzaretti; Nocerino, Liverani, Bresciano; Simplicio (Guana 91), Miccoli (Kjaer 87), Cavani (Succi 92)

Milan: Abbiati;Zambrotta, Bonera, Maldini, Jankulovski; Flamini (Emerson 57), Pirlo, Ambrosini (Shevchenko 57); Seedorf, Ronaldinho, Pato (Inzaghi 29)

Ref: Rocchi

Missed penalty: Ronaldinho 27 (M)

Giornata 13’s Androberto Guarraciolo Award:

Rolandinho. Dude, really, two dives? Fuck off!

Highlights:

It’s pretty difficult to say anything about yesterday’s match, because it’s hard to say something if you have already said it all after the Torino and Lecce-games. I think Davide Ballardini’s quote says a lot:

It just wasn’t us in the first half.

No, really? Going 1-0 down to Bologna, the second worst team in Serie A, is a disgrace. Keeping the scoreline that way would’ve been a humiliation. Luckily, in the end we could rely on our superstar from Ravenna. After 10 shots that can only go down as terrible misses, Succi finally equalized. Good for us, and I’ll grand him the honour of not tearing him to shreds once more. But we all have to realize that bringing in Succi and Cavani was a decision made by fear. Losing Bologna would have made Ballardini’s job a living hell with Zamparini on his way to Palermo. So what he did was take out a midfielder (the sketchy Migliaccio) and a striker that hadn’t touched a single ball all game (Budan, or maybe his handicapped, untalented brother) and replace them with two strikers that are also yet to prove themselves. That, ladies and gentlemen, is a fine example of panic on the bench.

It was hard to draw conclusions right after the game as we didn’t get a good broadcast, but I saw the game in replay afterwards. So here are my two cents.

What I Liked:

Everything, and I do mean everything, goes trough Miccoli. He works his ass off (and complains a lot), and without him we would even be further down the table.

Marco finally showed his talents. He looked like a soccer mom (thanks for making my day, Kat), but luckily he landed on the same amount of balls than your average soccer mom.

Moris is Palermo. He plays fantastic, breathes a natural cool and he’s becoming the absolute leader of this team and te favourite of the fans.

What I Didn’t Like:

Ciro Capuano. We all knew he wasn’t worth his place on the team, the critics knew it, and I sure hope Ballardini now knows it too.

Igor Budan. Dude, really? What was that?

Lanza’s five minutes. Nobody can develop into a good player with only five minutes a week.

Pagelle:

Amelia 6,5: Surprised on the goal, did fantastic for the rest.
Cassani 6,5: Went down with the rest in the first half, showed his real identity later on in the game.
Kjaer 5,5: Did well, but had a lot of problems with the experienced Di Vaio
Carrozzieri 7: Big man on Campus.
Capuano 2: Great assist on the Bologna-goal. Should be a) shot, b) given away free as practice doll for young camorristi or c) assraped and skullfucked by Moris, Mr. T and the tubby dude in the NY Giants defensive line.
Lanzafame s.v.
Migliaccio 5: Not good.
Cavani 6: Did well, but needs to learn how to score goals.
Liverani 6: Did surprisingly mediocre, but is too old. And to ugly.
Nocerino 5.: Was lucky that Budan and Capuano were worse, otherwise would’ve been today’s Androberto.
Simplicio 5,5: Not his usual self.
Budan 4: That’s what you get for giving him a starting spot…
Succi 6,5: One disallowed goal and one allowed. Still hate him, but he deserves the 6.5 as game winner.
Miccoli 6,5: Constant danger, the true leader of the team.
All. Ballardini 6: Put out the big bluff during half time, but it worked. -0.5 for fielding Capuano.

Facts:

Bologna – Palermo : 1-1
20’ Di Vaio 1-0
93’ Succi 1-1

Bologna: Antonioli; Zenoni, Terzi, Moras (Britos 64), Lanna; Mingazzini, Mudingayi; Marchini (Rodriguez 77), Valiani, Bombardini (Cesar 46); Di Vaio

Palermo: Amelia; Cassani, Carrozzieri, Kjaer, Capuano (Lanzafame 87), Nocerino, Liverani, Migliaccio (Succi 46); Simplicio; Budan (Cavani 46), Miccoli

Ref: Russo

Giornata 13’s Androberto Guarraciolo Award:

ShitPants. What a way to put an end to your career in Serie A.

Extra comments:

Get.
Ciccio.
Back.
NOW!

Highlights:

Portieri

Marco Amelia
I don’t think ‘bad’ is the word here. ‘Lacking self esteem’ or ‘underachieving’ is more appropriate. In defense of Marco: I think all of us expected just a little too much of him. He might have done better, but let’s not forget he still has to find his way into a top tier-team, and having our sketchy defense in front of him isn’t helping either. Amelia’s not delivering what we expected, but I have a good feeling that things will work out alright. Pagelle: 6

Jimmy Fontana
2008-2009 might just be Jimmy’s season too many. In general, he did a good job, but he’s just not the same Jimmy of last year. He doesn’t feel secure when coming out for a cross, he’s always out of the goal and his reflexes aren’t as good as they used to be. I think he can be a great mentor for Marco and Ujkani, but I strongly believe that his playing days have come to an end. Pagelle:6.

Samir Ujkani
Aah, the great unknown. Is he the future? I don’t know. No one knows. All I know is that he (and Amelia) could be feeling Salvatore Sirigu’s hot breath in their necks. He’s playing another fantastic season, and he just might be the next big thing. Pagelle: none.

Difensori

Ciro Capuano
ShitPants hasn’t played a game all year. That’s good. Pagelle: 10.

Cesare Bovo
It’s a good thing we got him back from Genoa. Him and Moris make one of the most fearsome defensive duos in Serie A. Is in the balance with Kjaer and Moris for the two spots in central defense, but seems to be sure of a starting spot every week. Is great at cleaning up the others’ mess. Pagelle: 7.

Paolo Hernan Dellafiore
Had three starts so far, but hasn’t impressed. Shows a lot of good will, but is in no way a contender for the spot of Bovo, Moris or Kjaer. Lacks confidence, ability to play his way out of trouble and most definitely: strength. Should be loaned out (to another team than Torino) to gain experience, but is needed in case one of the others gets injured. Is still young, but is coming very close to ‘make or break’-time. Pagelle: 5.5

Mattia Cassani
Was almost gone last year, but fought himself back into the team after that awesome screamer against Juve. His place at the right is almost untouchable, but had a setback against Inter, where he was unrecognisable. In my opinion, he’s better than Balzaretti. His crosses are better, and he comes back faster than Balza after an attack. Pagelle: 7.

Simon Kjaer
Surprise of the season so far. He’s young and talented, but we’ll need to look out that we don’t burn him just yet. Lacks the natural talent that other great defenders had, but he just could become the new Cannavaro if we take care of him and surround him with the right people/coaches. Is integrating well and has a powerful header, which makes him dangerous in front of goal as well. Kjaer should know that he’s in one hell of a position: he’s learning the technique from Bovo, and Moris can teach him how to use power in a duel. Pagelle: 8.

Federico Balzaretti
Untouchable at the left, too bad it’s not always because of his own talent. Is a fantastic player, but has been slacking a little bit in the last couple of games. Could benefit from a new left back. When his starting spot isn’t sure anymore, he will remember that he has to work for it as well. Had an absolute shitgame against Torino. Pagelle: 7.

Andrea Raggi
Played two games, both ending in disaster. Was brought in from Empoli as a talented defender, but has shown nothing. Strong contender for the Bidone’d Oro, is expected to be shipped to Torino like the rest of our defensive failures. Pagelle: 3.

Moris Carrozzieri
Least wanted signing before the season started, has fought himself in the hearts of all Palermitani. He’s ugly and as subtle as an atom bomb, but is keeping the defense together almost single-handedly. Looks like Caserta, but is better than Caserta. Pagelle: 7.5

Centrocampisti

Giovanni Tedesco
Four games, 59 minutes. Nonno is nothing more than a mascot, kept around to provide counterweight for the selling of other Palermitani Brienza and Rinaudo. Whenever he’s subbed in, he takes away valuable playing time from youngsters like Lanza. If Balla wants him on the field so bad, he should buy him an Aquile-costume and put him beneath the Curva for the entire game. Pagelle: 4.

Giulio Migliaccio
I don’t really know what to say about Miggy. Is being played out on the wing, but does better in central midfield. The only problem is that he’s barred by The Arab in that position. Has shown good thing, but has also been spotted while sucking away. Needs to find last year’s form again. Pagelle: 6.

Fabio Liverani
I think this one is clear. Every single year, our coach/Blowjobarini has a crush on the worst player in the squad. Guidolin loved Capuano and Guana, Colantuono had Guana and Agliardi and Ballardini has Liverani. Is one of the most experienced players in the team, but looks as if he’s on vacation. Half of his passes are bad or intercepted, couldn’t cross if his life depended on it and never comes back to defend. Should be shot, hung up or stoned to death, whatever it is they do to people in Somalia. Pagelle: 4.

Roberto Guana
Is not Balla’s friend. Should use more tongue and less teeth to regain spot in the starting eleven. Had one start, sucked away. Unless half of the midfield does a Superga, isn’t going to see a lot of PT this season. Pagelle: 4.

Maurizio Ciaramitaro
There’s not a lot to say about Ciara’s 41 minutes so far. It’s good to finally see him in pink, but he’s one of those guys that need a lot more time to develop into the player we need him to be. Was used as a right back in one of his games, which also isn’t helping. Pagelle: 6.

Marco Bresciano
One of this year’s mysteries. After a terrible season last year, he finally seemed to bounce back this year. But the further we get into the season, the more it looks as if Marco’s got some kind of personality crisis. He’s mixing good games with horrible ones, and sometimes can’t seem to control himself. Needs to start focussing, or start packing. Pagelle: 5.5.

Fabio Hernan Simplicio
Player of the season so far. Fozzy is everywhere: comes back to defend, cleans up Liverani’s mess, controls the midfield and is dangerous in the box. Just like Cassani, he was close to being sold but now is the undisputed king of the midfield. If we could just get someone who is an exact copy of Simplicio, we’d be a force to reckon with. Pagelle: 8.5

Antonio Nocerino
Does well, but as Zamparini already said: he’s not really bringing the things we expected him to bring. Maybe there’s too much pressure on him, but he’ll need to realise that this isn’t Juve. Coming in for 25 minutes when the game is already one isn’t going to happen. Has to give his all for 90 minutes. Is sometimes unfairly treated by the referees, but should let his actions speak. Pagelle: 6.5

Attacanti

Edison Cavani
Started out like the Cavani we all know, but then had an excellent spell with 4 goals. Too bad he morphed back to the old Cavani right after that. Is working hard, but doesn’t contribute enough goals and/or assists to remain undisputed. Has to know that his ass might be the first to get benched when Igor Budan is fully recovered from his injuries. Pagelle: 6.5

Fabrizio Miccoli
Not to jinx it, but Mighty Mouse is holding out fine. Is always complaining about little injuries, but is there when matchday comes. Scored six goals, but his source seems to have dried out now. That, of course, is also caused by the lack of good passes coming trough the midfield. Is becoming a team hero, but will have to work hard to make us forget Amauri. Pagelle: 7.5

Davide Succi
Became the lead actor in this year’s ‘Candid Camera Turns Real’-show. 88 minutes so far, isn’t likely to get more. Might be shipped off to Lucchese or Gela in January. Pagelle: 3.

Igor Budan
Four times subbed in, an hour of playing time. Needs to start 2-3 games to regain his Parma-form, but that shouldn’t be a problem. Pagelle: none.

Davide Lanzafame
Is in the same situation as Budan, but his fate is in his own hands. Needs to show Ballardini that he deserves a starting spot, and not just sit back and wait for it to be handed to him. Pagelle: 6.

Levan Mchedlidze
Came back injured from an international fixture and hasn’t played since, but did give us the game against Juve. Shows potential, but needs to grow. Pagelle: 6.5

Now you know my feeling about our players. As for the team, I’ll make it short. We need some reinforcements in all areas. Maybe Ujkani should be loaned out and Sirigu brought back to give Amelia some more competition, we need a new back, a good winger and central midfielder, and of course a powerful striker. Not another kid that gets pushed away by the likes of Walter Samuel and Philippe Mexes.

Could the curse be over? Could it be that, after years of poor performances against sure-to-be-relegated teams, we finally know how to beat the crappy squads? I don’t know, we’ll see next week when we battle Torino. But for now, all I can say is that we played a great first half against Chievo. 3-0 at the half, who would’ve thought? We all knew the Asses were Serie A’s worst team, but Palermo has a history of fucking up those games.

At last, it all seemed to click. Liverani, Guana and Raggi were left out of the starting eleven, and we did great from the start. I liked the 4-5-1, with Nocerino (who’s starting to look like me more every week) and Simplicio as defensive midfielders. But the best Ballardini-move was starting Kjaer. I agree with Il Mister that we shouldn’t burn him, but you and I have both seen the impressive work he did in the last 3 games.

The last thing we need to do know, is start flying again. We need to keep both our feet on the ground, and do what we did yesterday again against Torino. After that, we have Inter en Bologna, and we can look at where we are. But for now, I’m just happy were back in the first half of the table, ahead of Catania and not too far away from the top six.

What I Liked:

Kjaer is without a doubt already the discovery of the season. He looks like he could be the lead playbacker of the new boyband-sensation ‘Ricci and The Red Capris’, but he’s a beast in the defense.

Jimmy plays his first game at La Favorità, and he keeps his nets clean. How can you not love the Big Man?

Cavani finally seems to have figured it out: no goals, no future. Two in a row for the Uruguayan, and only one goal less than Amauri over the entire season.

Ballardini’s starting XI. It took him nine games to finally figure it out: no Guana, no Liverani, no Raggi and two defensive mids who know what they’re doing.

What I Didn’t Like:

Bresciano’s stupid tackles. Dude, we finally (kinda) forgave you, and then you go and (almost) spoil it all by doing that? Uncalled for.

The number of goalline clearances. Nothing happened, but it’s not good for my ticker.

Pagelle:

FONTANA 7: First clean sheet of the season, he’s my rock AND my island.
CASSANI 6.5 : Another good game, took 45 minutes off in the second half when the game was already ours.
KJAER 8: Fantastic performance, won us the game. Won a penalty and scored. Should get a little better in the air.
CARROZZIERI 6.5: When Kjaer doesn’t get his head to it, Moris does. -.5 for picking up another yellow.
BALZARETTI 6.5: Same as Cassani.
MIGLIACCIO 6: Did well, but expected a little more leadership. Needs to show Balla he’s the one for Liverani’s place.
NOCERINO 6.5. Great play on the 3-0, but has the same flaws as Miggy. Should lose the temper.
BRESCIANO 4: Least good player in the first half, and a stupid red card.
SIMPLICIO 6 : Did well, but not as good as the previous games.
CAVANI 6.5 : Good game, but has to stop missing all those sitters. Could’ve already scored 10 if he just focused a little more.
MICCOLI 8 : Two assists AND the final pass before Kjaer was fouled in the box AND a goal. What else can you say?
DELLAFIORE, BUDAN, TEDESCO sv

BALLARDINI 6.5: Great starting eleven, but when you’re up 3-0 you should bring the subs a little earlier. And for fuck’s sake, stop playing Nonno. Dress him up as an aquile and let him run around the field, if you’re so desperate to see him on the field.

Facts:

Palermo 3 – 0 Chievo
Miccoli pen 23 (P), Kjaer 37 (P), Cavani 45 (P)

Palermo: Fontana; Cassani, Kjaer, Carrozzieri (Dellafiore 78), Balzaretti; Migliaccio, Nocerino, Bresciano; Simplicio (Tedesco 90); Miccoli (Budan 81), Cavani

Chievo: Sorrentino; Frey, Mandelli, Yepes, Scardina; Luciano (Esposito 74), Patrascu (iunco 55), Bentivoglio; Marcolini (Pinzi 63); Pellissier, Bogdani

Ref: Mazzoleni
Sent off: Bresciano 48 (P)
Giornata 10’s Androberto Guarraciolo Award:

Marco Bresciano. What a way to ruin the momentum you had going on, dude!

Highlights: