When you cast your mind back to the 90s and you reminisce about of those great moments you witnessed and lived through you remember even the smallest of details. You will remember Veron and that band he wore on his right leg or even the fact Zamorano gave the number 9 shirt to Ronaldo and as a consequence played with 1+8 on his back.
It’s these little things that tug on our footballing heart-strings. I was walking through the streets of Milan and saw a young chap with a sports bag walking in front of me. The fact that the bag was Diadora caught my eye, I hadn’t really seen or heard much about that brand in so long but it got me thinking… So many great players once upon a time donned those typically black boots with the fluoride arrow on the side. They were a brand that were linked with Italian football in it’s heyday but not only there. Diadora wasn’t just a national brand, they also had big name players overseas wearing their boots every week. Their greatest players to wear their boots were Marco Van Basten, Beppe Signori, George Weah, Roberto Baggio and Francesco Totti but many other footballers wore their boots such as Christian Vieri, Roy Keane and even the mythical Pippo Inzaghi.
Currently, Diadora’s poster boy is Antonio Cassano but they have no one else to carry their legacy forward. Their biggest publicity is currently through the AIA (the Italian refereeing body), that’s not necessarily the best way to go but that’s all they have. Sadly, they have been a company who can contend with footballing heavy weights such as Nike, Adidas or even Puma. They had a sponsorship deal with Roma and Napoli once but that’s as far as they’ve come in terms of large cliental. They are still a reputable footballing and sporting brand but much more in the lower leagues. Arguably closer to the people and the core of Italian football and all good that it embodies.
Diadora, for me, is synonymous with my childhood years and seeing that guy carrying that sports bag brought back a whole tonne of great little memories.
A much discussed topic in Italy which divides opinion among whoever is asked. Italy have very rarely not taken a strong front line to a major tournament, in fact their attack for the past twenty years has been totally overlooked due to the fact that their defence has always been impeccable and the English media (as well as others) only see Italy as a team of defenders.
Italy have never had a set of wingers who were able to terrorise full-backs, in fact their midfield was always the weakest area of the team. This year it seems to be totally different. Italy’s midfield situation is all but set, there is little room for debate to who will be in the squad.
Italy have had bad luck in the attacking department this season, the two strikers who were meant to lead the line both sidelined for half a season. Cassano had a mysterious illness which had stroke-like effects but he is now back in the Milan side and getting minutes in after this freak set-back. Italy’s other beacon of hope was Giuseppe Rossi who tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in October but was starting to get back training when done the same thing again putting him indefinitely out of the squad for the Euros.
With the two strikers who would have been set to start for Italy out it left Cesare Prandelli looking at what other options he had available to him. The answer to this is: not that many.
In Serie A 12 of the 20 top goal scorers this season are Italian and only one of those is a midfielder. Goals scored in the Italian leagues are lower than those of other nations. Ibrahimovic who is considered by many as an untouchable God of Serie A only has 24 goals (from 122 shots) and 6 assists to his name – it’s not terribly impressive.
Prandelli will be needing to think what formations he is planning on using and what players will fit into the systems. Italy have also been gifted one of the softer groups in the draw which will help them ease into it as they are notorious slow starters (many Italians will tell you that). For Italy I do think the system and shape they take is more important than the attacking personnel. This season has seen the 3-5-2 become a very used tactic in Italian football, league leaders Juventus as well as Napoli and Udinese have found much success with this shape.
3-5-2
Potential players who could fit into this shape are:
Striker:
Di Natale – Udinese’s captain and lynchpin. 20 goals to his name and finished the past two seasons as top goalscorer in the league. Has failed to leave his mark on the international stage, yet.
Matri – A front man who plays weekly in this formation for the league leaders. Will have very familiar faces around him could slide in perfectly.
Cassano – Has done it for Italy before and can do it again.
Destro – The best young striker in Italy. Strong in the air and on the ground.
Playmaker:
Quagliarella – Finally found some form and is fresh. On his day he will score for fun from 30 yards.
Miccoli – Talismanic for Palermo. A Tevez-like figure who works his socks off and has an end product. Adapt to playing as the front man or just off.
Giovinco – Finally coming into his own at Parma and making a great claim to be in the squad if not even starting with 12 goals and 8 assists this season.
Di Natale – Great at coming deep and linking play when asked to. Excellent eye for a pass and needs runners from deep around him.
Cassano – Once again brilliant between the lines. Can slip in a ball effortlessly and was Milan’s leading assist-man long after his injury.
Totti – A master of this position. Hasn’t been utilised this season but still could offer wisdom, experience and a touch of class to an inexperienced Italy.
Del Piero – A man who time and time again comes up with the goods at the crucial moments. Not a starter but a game changer when involved.
3-6-1
A very unorthodox move would be to try and utilise Italy’s very little pace in the most compact way possible. They cover their weakness whilst letting themselves exploit their strengths. This would be through a 3-6-1 where Italy flood the middle of the pitch where their superiority will shine and they will be able to use their pace to break away. Very specific personal will be needed to pull this off but I believe it to be highly feasible and practical. Italy’s back line of three would be the same back line to Juventus of Buffon, Chiellini, Bonucci and Barzagli. In the holding role will be Daniele De Rossi with Andrea Pirlo being the puppet master/play dictator/regista in the middle sat in front of him. Either side of Pirlo will be Marchisio and Nocerino who both naturally make runs from deep, help control the midfield and both have an eye for goal. On the flanks will be Criscito on the left or De Ceglie and on the right it will be Maggio or Pepe. The front man will be used more in the trequartista role to help utilise play and he may not necessarily be the furtherest player forward at all times, spearheading my crossbow formation would be Toto Di Natale.
Italian football last week mourned the tragic death of Piermario Morosini, they suspended all of the games and this weekend every ground in Italy held a minutes silence in his honour. It had been just over an hour since that minutes silence in Genoa where the ugly side of Italian football reared its ugly head, again. The home side who are now in a relegation battle were losing 4-0 to Siena and their Ultras decided it was not acceptable for this to be happening. A mass of them broke out of their curva and into the family section which is in the middle of the stands where they proceeded to throw fireworks onto the pitch and as a result had the game had to be stopped.
The trouble did not simply end there, this was but the beginning of an ugly scene. All the players were now effectively being held hostage as the Ultras had blocked the tunnel. They let Siena’s players and staff leave so they could deal with their problem in hand. A Capo of the Ultras was hanging over the stand on the tunnel very angrily shouting his demands at the Genoa captain Marco Rossi. He demanded that all the players take their shirts off and give them to the Ultras as they are not worthy of wearing the clubs colours.
Embarrasment
Rossi walked back to the huddle of prisoners who had congregated in the middle of the pitch in front of the sieged stand where the Ultras had taken reign. By this team even the club’s president on the pitch but nothing was done. Rossi explained what those people wanted and asked for everyone’s shirts. He along with the vast majority of the squad all took their jerseys off and piled them into his arms, it looked like a sacrificial offering to the Gods to spare them their lives. A few players were having none of this, it must be said. Frey was still in his goal arguing/heatedly discussing the situation with masses of people behind the goal screaming at them: “This is my shirt”. Giandomenico Mesto, a midfielder for the cub, was visibly distraught and in tears on another mans shoulder refusing to take his shirt off. He has made over 120 appearances for that club and for sets of “fans” to turn around and show the ultimate level of disrespect to him was sickening.
Protest
I use the term “fans” very loosely as Ultras are a totally separate body to the common fan base of a club in Italy. They are organised sometimes as efficiently as a military soldiers who move and act in unison. The Capo or sometimes Capi (plural of head) of the Ultras groups dictate to their group what to do. They are also very often linked with the club. They go to the owner or president and demand their terms, a kind of ” an offer he can’t refuse” type feel to it all. They don’t pay for their ticket nor travel to away games. They are effectively on the books of the club as “head of club support” or something similar. Their power over clubs in Italy is terrifying yet it is totally normal and just part of the game to Italians.
Ultras
At Genoa their Ultras were winning their impromptu “meeting” with the players who had lost all of their dignity in the process. One loyal servant to the club did bravely voice his opinion to the Capo as Rossi collected his teammates shirts rather sheepishly. Giuseppe Sculli climbed the barriers to where the main set of Ultras were and seemed to be full of emotion a had a lot to say. He pulled the ringleader close to him and would have passionately explained that if the game was suspended as a result the club would receive fines, a possible points deduction and almost certainly be relegated. More importantly he would have highlighted the fact that he along with many others in the squad have been there for years doing their very best for them (the “fans”) and the club. The Capo who up until this point seemed fearless, sinister and highly aggressive seemed lost for words and backed down after this exchange of emotions. Not only had Sculli played for the club for a total of six seasons, he also did talk a lot of sense and probably deep down the Capo knew he was right but a point that stands out most is that Sculli is potentially more dangerous than the self claimed leader of the Ultras and all of his men put together. Sculli’s Grandfather just so happens to be the head Boss of Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta and one of the most important and feared Bosses in the entire Italian Mafia.
Heated
After the heated exchange Rossi went back and all of the players pulled their shirts out of the pile and put them back on. Siena players and staff reemerged and the game continued from the point where it was stopped about 35 minutes before. Genoa got a goal back but it was an own-goal and not celebrated at all. The fans joint together and swayed side to side with their back to goal during the remainder of the game as a form of protest. The game finished 4-1 to Siena. The referee and the Siena players would have headed for the exit as soon as possible once that game had finished. A truly hostile atmosphere at the Luigi Ferraris stadium, the next two home games for Genoa will be played behind closed doors as a result. The Ultras problem in Italy continues and I fear that it will not go away as it is woven into the fabric that is calcio.
I have spent many summers on Lecce’s beautiful sandy beaches and as a result I fell in love with the city, the people and even a little bit with their football team. Lecce are a yo-yo club, their fans know the heart-ache of relegation and the elation and excitement of promotion. This year is no different for the Giallorossi who currently sit in the final relegation spot in Serie A. It is not over yet, in recent weeks Cosmi’s men have pulled out some excellent performances in the league, beating Roma 4-2 and a late dramatic win at Catania leaving the Salentini with a glimmer of hope.
Motivator
Lecce have had good stability in their starting line-ups, good players brought in on loan and very importantly found a good and clinical partnership upfront this season in Di Michele and Luis Muriel. The Giallorossi’s front men have 19 goals between them which is over half of the goals the team has scored in this campaign. Cosmi, who looks like a retired UFC fighter, took over at Lecce in December when they looked out for the count and lay rock bottom of Serie A and now look like they could even survive.
dink
After their first nine league games they had only managed to pick up two points for their efforts and in contrast their last nine games have seen Lecce rack up an amazing 16 points. Just to put this into perspective, league leaders Juventus in the same period have taken 19 points and are in “title winning form”. If Cosmi’s men can keep this form up they stand a very good chance of avoiding the drop. Teams around that final relegation spot have to play each other which may prove decisive. Parma and Fiorentina are two teams that are dangerously close and they both have to go to Via del Mare where Lecce have not lost since 8th January. Fiorentina beat Milan in the same week as Lecce defeated Roma, neither result was expected and both were slightly bittersweet victories as the points gap did not change for either side. Fiorentina’s next three games are Inter (H), Roma (A), Atalanta (A) which will prove tough tests for the Violas. Genoa also don’t have any favourable fixtures as they still have to travel to the San Siro to face Milan and to Udinese. Genoa also have the worst defensive record in the league and that may very well be their downfall in matches to come. If results go Lecce’s way they could find themselves out of the relegation zone in a few weeks with a point or two to spare with few games remaining.
As a young football fan I unknowingly grew up spoilt with riches. I was born on the year in which Italy hosted the World Cup, Diego Armando Maradona helped his beloved Napoli win the Scudetto and Alan Hansen lifted Liverpool’s 18th Championship title. Despite technically being alive during this period it was obviously not my era, mine was to come.
My earliest footballing memories which spring to mind are the 1997/98 seasons in both England and Italy. My dad is Italian and an Inter fan, almost by proxy I have always had an eye on them but my footballing heart already belonged to Arsenal. I would always watch football with him on the weekends and he would point out all of these great footballers who at the time meant very little to me. As I grew older I would learn of their excellence and that everyone that he pointed out were actually great footballers, a generation of sheer class which I am lucky to have grown up with.
I think about those Sunday afternoons and all of these great players being paraded on my small television in my living room, it brings back so many good memories. Serie A, especially, was littered with excellence – Zidane, Del Piero, Totti, Ronaldo, Batistuta, Rui Costa, Baggio, Claudio Lopez, Veron, Nedved, Thuram, Maldini, Weah, Bierhoff… I could happily go on as I’m sure you’re probably thinking that I’ve missed out someone that you loved. All of these footballers were world class, and amazingly all played against each other at the same time, a truly golden age of football.
In the past week stories in the media have risen, all about players being out of contract at the end of the season, and no, I am not talking about Didier Drogba. I am talking about Raùl, Nesta and Del Piero. All of these players were on the top of their game whilst I grew up, they were absolute giants in their field. It dawned on me that these three along very very few others remain in the modern game and now that they are at the end of their playing days really indicate the closing of the curtain on a beautiful era.
If you don’t like the pop band Aqua, I suggest you mute your audio when watching this video. The same applies for insane man singing about the Italian league in the second part. If you do like the music, well… You probably need to take a long and hard look at yourself.
Like most Dutch footballing Gods, Dennis Bergkamp was a graduate of Ajax’s footballing academy. He joined the club as a boy and was handed his professional debut at the age of 17 in 1986 by none other than Johan Cruyff. During his time at Ajax he failed to impress the coaching staff due his lack of strength and aggression but it was hard work and his youth performances which caught Cruyff’s eye and on selecting him all he had to say was: “Just look at the talent.”
Dennis won various trophies with Ajax, including a league title, two domestic cups, a European Cup Winners Cup and a UEFA Cup as well as winning Dutch footballer of the year in 1992 and 1993. He played in his “natural” position, behind the front men, yet still managed to score 122 in 239 games and finished top goal scorer in the league three seasons in a row. The young man’s talents had clubs all over Europe wanting his services.
Bergkamp parted with Ajax in the summer of 1993 where he would make a move to Italy. His coach and mentor, Cruyff, tried to convince him to rejoin him at Barcelona but Dennis wanted to join Serie A as he considered it to be the best league in the world at the time. It is also worth noting that a few other Dutchmen hadn’t done too bad there a few years before… He signed for Inter Milan in a double player deal worth £10.4m – he was valued at £7.1m. An exciting move for both parties, Inter had signed the 23 year old dubbed to succeed Marco Van Basten as “the world’s most potent striker” and he was very happy to join the club. In his first season he helped Inter lift the UEFA Cup with him being the tournament’s top scorer. Sadly, Inter’s form along with his performances were not too good domestically. Bergkamp was played out of position in a front three and was limited to only 52 appearances in his two seasons there, along with a bad relationship with Italy’s media he decided it was time to leave. Despite the fact that people may look at Bergkamp’s time in Italy as wasted or unproductive he says: “Italy was good for my development. I learned to be more professional, learned to play against two or three defenders, and to play with players who are there for themselves rather than for the team.”
Regardless of torrid two seasons in Italy Arsenal decided to open their chequebook and splash out on a record (at the time) signing of £7.5m to bring the Dutchman to Highbury. It was a radical move as Bergkamp’s style of play did not fit Arsenal’s current style of play under Rioch. It took Bergkamp a while to adapt to the English game and he didn’t score in his first seven games which had the media immediately on his back. Dennis scored a brace against Southampton in September 1995 and never looked back, he finished the season with 11 goals in 33 appearances for the club.
It was the arrival of Arsène Wenger in September 1996 which helped Bergkamp achieve his potential, the manager’s preferred style of play suited the Dutchman and it would soon become very evident. That season he featured less but was more efficient in his play and to the team; laying on 13 assists for team-mates as well as scoring 12 league goals. As the seasons went on Bergkamp’s class showed in his link-up play between midfield and attack. He would play off a front man and weave magical passes into whoever was lucky enough to play with him.
Although in his younger years Bergkamp was a goal scorer he much preferred to be the provider, he says: “The pleasure of scoring goals is known, but for me the pleasure of the assist came close. It’s like solving a puzzle. I always had a picture in my head of how things would look two or three seconds later. I could calculate it. There’s a tremendous pleasure in doing something that someone else couldn’t see.”
Bergkamp was one of the only constant pieces in a golden decade of football for Arsenal. He orchestrated play like no other man could, his deft touches, explosive pace, close control and incredible technique made him not only a legend at Arsenal but also in the Premier League. At Arsenal he helped the club to three Premier League titles and three FA Cups as well as picking up many personal awards along the way.
#winning
I was finding it hard to give the man a fitting closing statement as I am and always will be in awe of him. I find it hard to string words together when describing him. Arsenal do a simple, yet great job of it: “You could fill a page with a list of outstanding goals scored by him. You could fill two pages with a list of the goals that had their genius in his vision. And you could fill a dictionary with a list of superlatives used to describe his 11-year career with Arsenal. Dennis Bergkamp is quite simply a legend of the game.”
balotellisbarber 