Open Letter to Il Presidente

By: Steven | January 28th, 2008

Dear Presidente Zamparini,

I think I speak on behalf of a lot of US Palermo-tifosi when I say that things can’t go on like this. This team is full of potential, but lately we seem to be playing like we’re still in Serie C. I know we’re not one of the rich teams up North, but I don’t think we’re asking too much when we ask for a couple of reinforcements during the Mercato. Why do we need the back-up? I’ll tell you:

* We concede too much goals. Fontana’s not the problem, as he’s been playing like he’s 15 years younger than what’s on his passport. The problem is the defense. Barzagli seems to be thinking about everything but his job in Palermo, and that is showing in his lack of concentration on the pitch. And I don’t know the reason for Capuano still being on the pitch every week, when we have a young and talented Rinaudo running around.

* There’s not enough competition in the striker-department. We have three excellent strikers, but they know they’ll be playing every week, even if they’re playing bad. Why? Because there’s nobody else to take their place! We need someone to fire up the competition again.

Now that we have that covered, let’s talk about Guidolin. When things went bad last year, it was because he was playing that awful 4-3-2-1 Christmas Tree line-up. And guess what, he’s doing it again and things are going bad again. We should at least play two strikers, as we have one of the best attacking trios in the league. Instead, Guido puts the most dangerous one in midfield. Here we also have a young and talented player, but Jankovic is hardly playing. Instead, Guidolin decides to keep on playing Guana. Roberto’s too slow, too insecure and most of all, too bad to be playing in a team of this level. We need a coach that dares to rush forward, not someone who decides to fight for a 0-0. Just look at what Pasquale Marino is doing at Udinese. I say we let go of Guidolin (for good this time), and take back Stefano Colantuono. He’s young and he’s still got a lot to learn, but at least he tries to take risks instead of pulling back against the bigger teams. Just look at the Milan-game.

Last but not least, I wanted to say something about the loss of club legends. I can understand that the club likes to keep players that are born and raised in the city of Palermo, but maybe we should hang on to the people the fans really consider to be Palermitano Heroes instead of players like Giovanni Tedesco. Eugenio Corini and Franco Brienza have been trough rough times with this team, and now there’s no one to warn the players what might happen if the downfall continues.

Caro Zamparini, I know I am just one tifoso, but I felt the need to point out what’s been on my mind for weeks now. My love for this team is endless, but I’d find it a sad thing if the progress that was built up since we returned to Serie A should all be undone.

Kind regards from a worried fan,

Steven