Preview: Derby Della Sicilia
By: Steven | October 16th, 2008
Sunday, October 18th, 2008 15.00
Stadio Massimino, Catania
Palermo Boys, we are here. We beat your women and drink their beer, Palermo Boys, we are here.
Overview
Finally, shitty international break is over. Time to focus on the real things. The season has been a dream up to this point, and we succesfully passed the first few tests. But there’s a reason why the official website is calling the next 40 days ‘The Forty Days of Fire’: 8 games in 40 days, including Milan, Fiorentina, Inter, Catania and wounded animal Bologna. Yeah, that’s right, that’s some heavy shit. So time to stop looking back at the Juve-whooping, time to focus on the Elefantini. Just like two years ago (who ever would’ve expected Catania to play three straight years in A?), the Etnei have had a fantastic start to the season. As you may or may not remember, after 5 games we had all three Sicilian teams in the top 8. At the end of the season, we were the only ones left as Catania barely saved themselves from relegation and Messina totally fucked up.
That year, we went 6/6 against Catania, including that miserable night in march that started me blogging in the first place. Last year was 3/6, so this year it’s time for revenge. And what better way to stay on top of the league, than by taking all three points from the Massimino?
Squad Status
Palermo
I don’t believe Ballardini will make big changes to the team that beat Juve. Liverani finally did something above average, and the defense was clean as a whistle. The only problem, as it is every week, is the health of Mighty Mouse. He still hasn’t completely recovered from his calf injury, but there’s still some time left. If he doesn’t recover, we might see Mlehecoegrtoue start along Cavani. Why? Because Succi is still injured as well. But, good news for a change: Budan might be ready for his season debut! Coming off the bench that is, but still good news.
Bresciano and Succi are out, Guana will not be selected in the squad for asking Ballardini for permission to suck on his ballsack.
Probable Lineup:
Amelia; Cassani, Carrozzieri, Bovo, Balzaretti; Migliaccio, Liverani, Nocerino; Simplicio; Miccoli, Cavani
Catania
I’ll let Chris over at the Catania Offside handle this, but just to get you guys a little psyched: no Paolucci, Ledesma or Spinesi. Nice.
Probable Lineup:
Bizzarri; Sardo, Stovini, Silvestre, Silvestri; Baiocco, P.Ledesma, Gia.Tedesco; J.Martinez, Plasmati, Mascara
Categorical Matchup
Portiere Nazionale vs. Surprise!: Palermo. Even though Bizarri is playing a great season, he’s got nothing on Marco Caesar. That is, if he’s as good as he was against Montenegro.
Bash Brothers vs. Anonymous: Palermo. Moris and Bovo will eat anything or anyone alive, while Balza and Casani are fuckin’ dangerous on the sides.
Simpliciooooooh! vs. Mediocrity: Palermo. Miggy + Fabio + Noce + The Arab >>>> Catania.
Please Be Healthy! vs. Back Up: Palermo. Even without Miccoli, we should be able to score. Budan can show why we got him back, and Catania is without top scorer Paolucci and Spinesi. We just have to look out for Mascara.
Final Analysis
Fuck Juve and Roma. The Sicilian Derby is THE biggest and most prestigious game for Palermo. The worst thing that could happen, is lose at the Massimino. Not only because it would be a disgrace, but also because it might mean the end of the Happy Times AND will result in Catania overtaking us in the standing. But I don’t see any of that happen. The Boys know that this is a big game, and I hope that they will have enough pride in their bodies to erase that disgraceful showing of last year. This is not a game, and this is not a battle. This is a war, and it needs to be one to once again state the obvious: that US Città di Palermo is still the biggest Sicilian team, and that we deserve to be in the top 4 of the ranking.
Form Guide
Palermo
W W L W W
Catania
L W D W D
Past Encounters
12/04/2008 Palermo Catania 1-0 Serie A
02/12/2007 Catania Palermo 3-1 Serie A
02/02/2007 Catania Palermo 1-2 Serie A
20/09/2006 Palermo Catania 5-3 Serie A
Prediction
Win. Won’t be happy with anything else.
2-0. Cavani, Budan.
MOTM
Simplicio for his double assist.
Remembering the good times
Sono Bello, Sono Sano, Mia Madre Mi Ha Fatto Palermitano!
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Category: Amelia, Balzaretti, Bresciano, Cassani, Cavani, Guana, Migliaccio, Nocerino, Preview, Round Up, Serie A, Simplicio, Team News, palermo, rosanero
Tags: Amelia, Balzaretti, Bresciano, Cassani, Cavani, Guana, Migliaccio, Nocerino, palermo, Preview, rosanero, Round Up, Serie A, Simplicio, Team NewsSubscribe
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Comments | Add your comment
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The thing is, whether he is playing well or not, Cavani just can’t seem to score. If you want to be the main striker of the team, then you gotta score when you have to. Cavani is incapable of accomplishing this task, and I don’t see this problem being solved any time soon. Coaches making him play in 2 or 3 different positions a game isn’t helping either.
Posted from
United States
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Wait till he’s 23? I don’t know if Palermo can afford that much luxury. We’ve already given him 3 seasons to reach his potentials, and I believe this season is his last chance to impress us. If he fails to do so, we won’t be seeing him around next year.
Posted from
United States -
I disagree .. its not like he is DE MELO, He doesnt demand a 1st team place .. he pretty much gets one because nobody else is available at the moment. I think when Budan resumes full fitness he will easily be playing alongside Miccoli. Cavani is usefull to rotate in and out of the team .. he works very hard and he is still young. Knowing our luck when Budan returns fully Miccoli will have like 3 months out with a torn eyelid muscle. Maybe then Lanzafame will get a look in? Who knows … afterall Mechildze took his one chance, maybe he will be our new youngster upfront and Cavani sent out in Jan…
Posted from
United Kingdom -
players dont really hit there potential until 23-24 look at c.ronaldo everyone say he had no end product and then he is 23 and he scores 42 goals! and rooney now. it is different in my country because the youngsters dont get the same chances. of course this doesnt apply to wonderkids like messi, aguero etc. cavani always just seems to hit the ball at the keeper.im interested in seeing what levan can do for us but i hope we bring in a top striker in january. and giving lanzafame a chance
Posted from
United States -
I don’t see Cavani playing for us next year. As Kat said: a striker has to score, otherwise he’s near useless.
A healthy Budan, Mc^dqsjg taking his chance and Lanzafame growing some balls: no way Cavani is gonna get anywhere near a starting spot.
Posted from
Belgium -
get nilmar or guilherme in january loan cavani if he impresses then take him back if not sell him for a good price
Posted from
United States -
Teams like ManU can spend as well as pay tons of cash to promising youngsters ala C.Ronaldo for years until they blossom. When it comes down to the budget, Palermo is no ManU.
Posted from
United States -
We should send Levan out on loan to a lower division team where he’ll be given plenty of 1st team experience, starting this January. Let’s take things step by step and not try speed thing up. (see Cavani)
Posted from
United States -
Levan is Not ready to be our number one or probably not even our number two foward. Loan him out for a while and get a garunteed scorer for now, or at least an exciting gamble.
Posted from
United States -
Can we loan Levan out since officially we dont own him till June?
Why the hating on Cavani did you see the pass from Nocerino to him that would have been Goal of the season? Cavani is always making good runs and putting pressure on the keeper. Now if we had more service then just Simplicio and occasional help from Nocerino. I think the guy would be awesome. We have to remember he is 21! By the time this guy is 25 he is going to be the worlds next best striker.
This winter we should pick up Nilmar and creative mids. I think we have depth at Defense with HDF recent performance. We also have a ton of holding mid-fielders now we need a Kaka type mid-fielder to help Simplicio out. I also heard something interesting, that Simplico seeked out Kaka to ask him for advice about his new role in our team. Does anyone know if thats true or just a rumour?
I know every one is calling out for Lanzafame but to be honest I can understand why we dont play him often. Why rush developing him for Juventus we’ll take our time and eventually he’ll find a position in our starting XI. We have to remember were in Italy were they baby players intill they are 24-25. Look at Aquiliani, guy is a year younger then DDR but is treated like he is 19. Were not Spain, England, Brazil or Argentina we dont have 21 year old studs that fall apart at 28-30. Example: Ronaldo, Ronadinho, etc.
Posted from
United States -
giro you speak sense i say give cavani a couple more years his positioning is excellent he just needs to finish
Posted from
United States -
I want a player like Inzaghi on the team, not so much to play but to coach Cavani, because with a an experienced head to watch and learn from and take over from Cavani will develop better. But he is fully deserving of his place in the lineup and donig well right now, he just needs more experience and better service and he will be devastating.
Posted from
United States -
Alberto: couldn’t agree more. Yesterday’s result was shit, but we played a great game and things are still looking bright. Nobody with an IQ of over 45 expected us to bounce back like this after the Udinese and Ravenna-games. We might be in 10th place, but let’s not forget that 2nd place is only a win away. We don’t need to be focusing on first, as long as we end up somewhere between 3rd and 5th, I’ll be a happy camper come the end of the season.
No way Catania is going to keep their position, and we still miss some consistency. Yesterday, wasn’t ready, Bovo was out and Moris can be excused. He played an awesome season up to now, and I don’t appreciate people talking shit as soon as he makes one mistake. Why? Because that’s fucking close to gloryhunting. The same for Cavani. I don’t like him, you all know that, and I take advantage of every possible occasion to take a shot at him. But yesterday, he played a good game. Nothing to say about that.
Amen.
Posted from
United States -
Great minds think alike, Riccardo, they sure do.
Posted from
Belgium -
Cavani exploding at 25. Until then what do you suggest we do? Let him ride the pine as 2nd or 3rd choice striker, or leave him struggle on the pitch and be massacred by the media and tifosi each week? And most importantly, what if we are not in Serie A by then?
Posted from
Italy -
It’s a well-known fact that the two Brazilians are buddy-buddies so it’s not hard to imagine Simplicio asking Kaka for some tips.
Posted from
Italy -
And the moment we’ve been waiting for - it’s Zampa’s coach-bashing time: http://www.stadionews.it/ultimora.asp?ID=49392
Here’s a suggestion for Zampa; if you don’t like seeing Tedesco getting playing time, then how about not renewing his contracts?
Posted from
Italy -
kat what are you talking about if we are not in serie a by then?! and loan cavani out. all we need is a mature striker that has quality finishing and another creative midfielder then our team will be very strong. against napoli and catania we should of and could have won! we might have lost sunday but we are looking so good
Posted from
United States -
im going to just come out and say we should get ronaldo!! if he stayed injury free (impossible) imagine him in this palermo team!
Posted from
United States -
Alessandro, if you want to talk about dreams never going to happen, head over to the Roma-blog. We’re never getting Ronaldo, and nobody here wants him.
Posted from
Belgium -
and loan cavani out.
But that’s what I’ve been saying all this time. *bang head*Aside from giants like Juve, Inter and Milan, most clubs don’t make it into their 8th consecutive season in the top division. Palermo’s longest unbroken spell in A is 6 seasons, I think. I was simply trying to point out that we might not have that much time to spare.
Posted from
Italy -
Just look at what happened to Parma. Or Fiorentina.
Posted from
Belgium -
i am from palermo and for many long years all we had was dreams. and i was only saying imagine how good it would be to have him in this palermo side someone who can finish like that
Posted from
United States -
Ale I was thinking the samething that guy can still ball. And but the ball in the back of the net. I think we use Cavani now till we reinforce our strikers then send him on loan in Jan to Lecce, or some one along those lines. Or even use his loan as a bargaining chip for Livorno if they are still in contention to come back up. Cause i knbow dude can def score in Serie B.
Posted from
United States -
just to see ronaldo No.9 on a palermo shirt would be an honour and a privilege to our team and city. the thought of him and miccoli is just to much although they are both just crock artists as they say in england! nilmar or guilherme i would be equally as happy guilherme is meant to be the next big thing
Posted from
United States
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