Poll: Game of the Year

if spaletti goes one would have to think we would lean our way off our formation. id only think a coach would come in demand 2forwards n a mancini replacement n conform to the 442. for better or worse

roma needs to invest in young players not pay high prices for 30yr olds. nice to have experience but with romas budget they need to keep planning for the future. what ever happened to juaquin rumor?? id like that guy n rosina to replace giuly, espos, mancini

Di Natale Next For Wolfsburg?

German-side Wolfsburg have already signed two Serie A stars, and they are now hoping to snap up another in the form of Udinese hitman Antonio Di Natale.

Chelsea wants Rijkaard, Mancini or Laudrup? One of those three will be the next coach. Why is gazzetta stirring up problems between the negotiations of Aquilani and Roma. They say Roma offered 1.7 and he wants 2.4. I've heard that Roma is willing to pay the 2.5 million since Totti gave the OK for it.

Lisandro Lopez? Could be great for Roma, I mean allthough he is small he got great physique is strong on the ball and times his headers well.

Cavani also linked with us. Pleases a lot to Spal and his agent was at Trigoria yesterday. Take that for what it's worth.

Laudrup would be the BOMB... no the best coach right now, but my nationality is stepping in on this one lol!

I'm sure he'll appreciate it.

If only we had decided to move to Rome instead of Milan, things are almost certain to have been different. He still has the Roma scarf I bought for him when he was 3 (though he doesn't wear it to the Meazza).

And to the extent it is relevant (which it rarely is), I'm also a socio of FC Barcelona.

Johnny, my data on Laudrup is from Marca and as. FWIW (likely two old pesetas), as is saying that Chelsea are looking at Laudrup (the Arnesen connection making that slightly plausible).

My bad then ursus, I thought it was 5million a year. Guess the Spanish press misprinted that. Now ten Cate be the new Pana coach haha.

You may have, the numbers here are getting a bit too high for me to do anything but skim sometimes.

I'll pray for your son.

chris, I thought I had made those clear when I first showed up, but if not, I have supported Fiorentina for more than 30 years, though I am now living in Milan (and originally from New York). Full disclosure also requires me to admit that my son is an Interista and that we have season tickets. I hope that doesn't disqualify me from commenting on here.

In addition to being a fabulous football coach, Prandelli is one of the most impressive human beings I've ever come across; his Juventini sympathies are to my like the fatal flaw in a classic hero.

Spaletti is great at getting the best out of his players, but so is Prandelli.
I guess he's even better at nurturing raw talent. see Gilardino, Adriano, Mutu, etc.

ursus, where do your loyalties lie? Not sure if you've given any indication here thus far.

And I almost expect Prandelli in Rome eventually, much like Ancelotti, simply to finish what he couldn't earlier. Seems a man of great character, and that's a task he'd relish.

Johnny, not sure where you are getting that from. Laudrup had agreed terms with Pana for 5 million over two seasons (2.5 million a year), the reason it fell through was that he wanted "total control" and (more importantly) a clause that allowed him to walk if a big Spanish team made him an offer.

I rate him very highly (what he did with Getafe was extremely impressive), but I just don't see him in Serie A; its been more than 20 years since he paid any real attention to the league, and he has switched his professional and personal focus to Spain in much the same way that Cruyff and Schuster have.

I also don't see Prandelli leaving the Viola for anyone other than Juve, as much as it breaks my heart to say so. He's too much a part of Progetto Viola and very much on the same page as the Della Valles.

Perhaps he wanted 5m because it was Panathinaikos, but for a better job he'd settle for less?

http://www.ilromanista.it/?sec...

Frontcover of Il Romanista today.

Laudrup wants 5million a season, thats why he didn't go to panathinaikos. If Spal leaves so be it. Some guy on Italian radio said that Ballardini would be a good fit for Roma as coach.

He sure as hell did break out. He seemed to know he was going to beat whatever defender was set in front of him. His moves on Maicon, Ujfalusi, and Pepe were redonkulus.

"I think a coach without a hard on for Pizarro would help our defense a great deal."

Amen.

No one's overreacting yet, I think, just the same as transfer rumors. Speculating on the possibility.

I think Vucinic's apprehension was more due to injury than mentality. Spal actually mentioned this last summer, that the fact that Mirko had finally healed would reap dividends. Injuries and knocks can and do take people off their games, not wanting to reinjure themselves. Right on there.

But you're right, Mirko's development has been fantastic and he's owed a lot of credit. Showed glimpses in the first half of the year, but he broke out later on.

Spal is essential to Roma. Look what he has done. Hopefully there is more to his motives than money and we see him stay. At this point he is as important to me as Totti and DDR.

I think a coach without a hard on for Pizarro would help our defense a great deal. Did I miss something or are people overreacting to Spalletti rumors?

Actually, you're right Alessio. Spalletti has managed to get players to overachieve in his system, more so this year than last year. 06/07 was an example of Totti raping defenses, he scored like 40% of our goals or something outrageous along those lines. I still think that his greatest feat thus far is making Vucinic right mentally. Suddenly he is a terror after being so skiddish and tenative for so long.

Prands makes 500K less than Spalletti. Hardly out of the Sensi ballpark, his reasoning for a snub wouldn't be financial.

And in the event that Spal does go to Chelsea - Lippi and Scolari seem the more likely candidates because they have world renowned "faces" that Roman wants, something Spal doesn't have yet, even though he's getting close - you can start thinking of Roma tapping up Udinese again, also effectively killing any potential transfer with them for the next 25 years.

Marino is the next Spalletti, if you will. If they're looking to continue with "the project" and a similar brand of attacking football, he seems like a likely and qualified candidate. Though finding a guy who can coach some D to help out would be necessary.

vujacic should have played football, he'd be a star

Kobe and Turiaf both speak italian by the way

One word: FURK SENSI.
It all comes down to them. Yes they've been great, yes they've been wonderful, but they're past their time. Now fuckin give Roma to Soros (or whoever still interested by their GREED) or I'll curse them bad luck for the next 2 years!

All the best Spal.

Now I want Prandelli or Lippi.
Of course it's a joke. Sensi have no fuckin money to afford either one.

Marmash as a non Romanista, I'm gonna disagree with you here. Spaletti is doing an amazing job with Roma. If you compare Roma to Inter on paper, Inter wins, hands down. Sorry, it's true. If you compare on payroll, it's true. If you compare on virtually anything but the results on the field, it's true. If anything, under Spaletti, Roma have been punching above their weight.

Even if their "superstar" unjustly won MVP, goddamnit.

so I'm cheering for the Lakers just cuz they have a player with a name that sounds like Vucinic..

I'm watching the Boston - Lakers game.. every time the commentators say Vujacic I think to myself.. COMMON VUCINIC!!!

nope, it's not about you. but thanks anyway.

Well then, if attempting to take me down makes you feel better, by all means. Honestly.

this is why i hang around...j/k

gee so sensitive Chris. well, i apologize if i hurt your feelings. i'm just bloody pissed and frustrated, that's all. nothing more than that. our mercato will never change until Sensi steps away. instead of hearing about players leaving, our manager potentially being poached, it would be nice to enter one of these off seasons with our own players signed to long term deals and a transfer kitty that is substantial enough where we don't have to scrape, borrow, sell our own or/& low ball an offer to do a deal.

I'm sorry but when have I ever initiated a tone that is anything close to condescending? Anything but civil or friendly?

Your response sums it up well.

If Spalletti leaves it's gotta be Prandelli, Lippi or Ancelotti.. That's all..

about as much as you do. don't get your tit in the ringer, christina

Not everyone is into your economics, James. Far from a no-brainer, unless you understand the inner workings of Luciano's mind.

You do love patronizing comments though, don't you?

think about it (if you must) or better yet do the math chris. . . a transfer kitty that is 10 to 20 x the amount that you had to make do on w. Sensi; and are being paid triple to do the same job, and the only cons are that you have to tolerate English cuisine for nine months of the year, learn adequete english, and produce results, it's a no-brainer.

You know what, I am already getting over Spal, yes he is a good manager, but he isnt as great as Capello. I bet we can find another manager that really has the equivalent talent even more. And to be honest, I like change, I am always up for change. Michael Laudrup is the answer! Dunno whether has already signed/renewed his contract, but he has done ALOT with getafe in terms of stylish football, and he took getafe to the next level! Who agrees? And why not?

I've also heard rumors Conti has lined up the Easter Bunny as vice-Totti for next season.

If Britain is involved, you can't trust it.

I've heard rumours that Spal has already agreed with abromovich and will be named manager in the next few days. No time like the present. It was a good run, "but like all good things" . . . .

Coincidence:

http://portugal.theoffside.com...

Porto isn't a club you take to the cleaners, however. Far from it.

Odds and ends here. First the same old about Spalletti and Chel$ki. A couple of new things though. It says Spalletti was in Pisa to deal with Vucinic's contract purchase.

Also, it says Roma have started casting a net for a potential replacement for Spalletti. It's easy to say these things when you don't give direct quotes with attributions, though. I'm just going to *try* to relax about it until Chel$ki sign whoever. (can't do anything about it anyway)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/spo...

I am just 30 minutes away, brad in Dunfermline but I'll be watching the match at home with my daughter. It is a school night so I cannot really get away and I'll have 2 of her friends for a sleepover next weekend (I hate these sleepovers!) so it is a bit difficult for me to go out (being a single parent and all my family is in Hungary). I have a good network but it is still a army operation sometimes.

Didn't Porto stick a 20 mn price tag on Lisandro??

ahh i would love the game in ny. i do not understand why roma would spend money(they dont have) on a reserve goalie. i know its a lil risky but losing cerci just replace him with zotti or something. the back up never plays anyway n if doni gets injured get a replacement in january or the end of the yr. save that money for rosina, palladinho, lopez, a left back not a reserve goalieeeee

i cant wait till saturday, its only been 2/3 weeks since the season ended and already i have withdrawal symptoms.

Gabs, where in scotland do you live? i'm from edinburgh and if youre in the area and fancy watching any italy games down a pub somewhere let me know, i cant handle watching italy with my anti-italy friends!

Lisandro.
Amazing physical presence in front of goal.
Something what we need.

So we're linked with Lisandro now. (I know it's goal.com, but ...)

Thoughts?
http://www.goal.com/en/Articol...

ok, so i just read the posts that said the super coppa might be played in china...wtf? i was already planning my trip to new york lol

when do you think those tickets for the super coppa will be on sale?

I was being sarcastic Chrissy. ;)

dan [at] ihatejuve [dot] com

At least he is not complementing on my broken screen

chris... some of my comments are stuck in the spam filter thingie on the Italy blog ;)

Today must be ridiculously slow if Daniele is complementing the email addy of a Juve fan. Where does that rank on the lameness/improbability meter?

Nice Bash!

Sounds like a fun job.

another strong 12-man squad.:0)

Nice email Ale.

Bash what do you do?

So, I joined a fantasy football thing for euro 08 heres my team

Buffon
Meria Mellberg Albiol Mertesacker
Sneijder DeRossi Fabregas Miguel Veloso
Nihat Gomez Torres (C)

Albiol is the sub.

thoughts? please :-[

i dunno but the delying of the negotiation reminds me of Chivu's and Mancini ??

Prade said we talked with Aquilani's father about how aquilani has grown up with Roma and that they never thought of selling him bla bla bla and that we will continue the negotiation after the tournament !! I'm really worried and frustrated at the delay !

Yes Gabriella, a million times yes. If you want help with it, drop me a line at agiamba [at] gmail [dot] com.

I broke my laptop's screen...lol... I only have a 4 inch strip on the right ...lol

need to hook it up to my TV screen

has anyone done that before?

I hear ya Bash.

I am off tomorrow.

Yippeee

I'd love if it were in China!!!! I'll be there for the Olympics anyway! and have no Visa issues ...lol

I am sure they would hold it on the 23rd though as the closing ceremony for the Olympics are on the 24th too

Bashar, same here, jesus. What do you do?

Forza Prade.. He and Conti talked with Aquliani's father and said that they will do whatever to keep Aquilani here..

http://goal.com/en/Articolo.as...

This sucks.. this is arguably one of the slowest weeks at work.. That's why I'm on here a lot.

Supercoppa in China.. That is the dumbest thing I ever heard. The date of the Supercoppa will be played in the last few days of the Olympics. People will either be bored of sports or still be in the Olympics mood. Jet lag will be terrible as well.. But hey.. it's a big market and the players will love it.. Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong are really nice places to visit.

I mean.. they came up the same year as Fiorentina and they are now in the CL while Palermo is in mid table. Napoli came up well after Palermo and that squad is already arguably stronger on paper. Both these clubs can spot talent with Corvino and Marino being some of the top scouts in the game which is another thing Palermo could use.

Torino and Palermo seem to go for all these average players who seem to have hit the limit in their development. Players like Caserta, Guana, Simplicio have hardly improved since joining Palermo... maybe that the instability affects player development with most of them coming in and out. One bad game and Simplicio goes from starting lineup to bench. Then the week after he's back in the lineup because Migliaccio had a bad game, etc...

The Nocerino, Raggi and Lanzafame moves seem to indicate a shift from that policy which could serve them well over the next 2-3 years.

wow... Romanews says that the Supercoppa may be played in China

Vucinic is a left winger.. end of story. He will not play up top unless Totti gets injured. He does so much better there than anywhere else on the field.

The thing with Palermo over the past couple of years is they changed their squad regularly.. Not just the coaches but they bring in a lot of players every single year but the quality just doesn't seem to improve. When one good player comes in another leaves.

High turnover and coaching instability is killing that team. I'm sure neither Colantuono nor Guidolin really know who their best eleven is nor what their best formation is despite being there for 2 and 3 years respectively..

I hope this year we only get players that have played in the champions league atleast once...

about the formation response chris...

I know the team perfomed kinda good the last four games... well three of the last four games of the season. but that dosen't mean we should keep this formation for next year unless there are big changes to the tactics that we use when Totti is not in the squad. lets not forget that this formation was built for totti and its ALL about totti... without him its like seeing a three legged dog trying to win a race... he might be able too, buts its not going to be preatty.

I wouldn't mind if we kept the 4-2-3-1 but it Totti is not starting then there should be changes. Vucinic up fron or Iaquinta, but only as target men... not as ball distributors like Totti, they only need to be there to score... that is why behind him there should be a more creative AMC and not Perrotta... maybe Pizarro as AMC and De Rossi and Aquilani as DM or a new signing.

as for the 4-4-2 I proposed...

ricci... yes I know Pizarro would be a bench player in that formation and I don't care... the only reason I advocate him being a part of the starting eleven on the 4-2-3-1 is because he is key in it... in a 4-4-2 Aquilani would shine next to De Rossi and we would have more of a presence up top with Totti and Iaquinta playing toguether...

but the problem are the wings... Mancini is leaving as well as Giuly and Esposito so we will only have Taddei as a winger for next season... WOW we NEED to get at least two PURE creative wingers for next season either so that the 4-2-3-1 continues working without Totti or so we can play a more stable 4-4-2

Raggi, is good, not a stud.

He is dirty as fuck too.

Nocerino would battle for a starting spot in Roman colors.

Either way I hear ya KJ. Good to see Palermo makin some moves.

Yeah.

I never understood why everyone rated him so high.

A few good games here and there is ok, but he never got up for the big guys (ok Roma this year) and had some bad bad blunders.

Doni ranges from the criminal to the phenomenal.. Amelia ranges from very good to terrible. You can't say Amelia never had much of a defense in front of him.. Yes, they lacked quality.. But they make up for it in quantity..

Doni is world class compared to Amelia.

Every keeper has there blunders.

Amelia never had much of a defense but he sure did let some howlers go in.

Doni had some bad moments but his good moments won us games.

Though I have to say.. Amauri's loss is really big.. I don't think all of those players could quite make up for it.. You need to replace not only his goals but his strength and creativity. He was like a one man counter-attack.

Raggi.. I forgot about him.. or just ignored him.. Never impressed me.. Really rough and constantly fouls.. At least in the games I saw against Roma. For the U-21s he was all over the place. We'll see.

I think Doni is just as good as Amelia. Amelia has had just as many howlers this season.. Particularly in the first half of the season where he was dreadful.. Seemed like he didn't want to be at Livorno.

For us, just the fact that Zampa is out making serious changes is satisfaction enough after a suffering from a poor season

Liverani is garbage, i agree..

Nocerino is full ownership

Lanzafame, ehh, I agree, but we'll see

Raggi? yeah, he's a stud

If that is true, than Roma is just stupid...If they think Doni is better, phhhffsshh

6 mn pounds! That's 7.5 million euros.. Ya.. Roma would never spend that much money with Doni and Curci in the squad. I wonder how much Iezzo would come for, although I think he's garbage.

Congrats! A step up from Fontana I'm sure. But the other buys are useless.. Liverani is utter garbage and I have serious doubts about Lanzafame's personality. Nocerino will be a good buy.. Is he on loan or full ownership?

i feel we dont have much of a budget. we'll see prob the sale that mancini gets n what ever additioal champ money sensi can round up

Roma? I'm sure if they needed a keeper they can afford to spend that much on somebody.. I mean, Giuly's sale should bring in something close to that figure.

heres the link: http://www.channel4.com/sport/...

Either way Bashar, im glad we beat you to him than..Ive been wanting to sign him for over a year now

Can they afford him at 6m?

I haven't seen it reported anywhere yet.. But i did hear it was close. But tell you what.. if Roma tell him to come, he'll cancel all negotiations and jump away as long as he hasn't put pen to paper yet.

Yeah Daniele, Giuly wants to return to France to play regular football.

He scored some important goals for us and gave it his all. Can't say I want to see him leave but at this point in his career he has the right to sign off gracefully.

Hopefully we can find someone to replace him and boost our starting 11/bench.

Daniele, I wasnt Roma bashing...I was palermo boasting..Cmon man, give me a break, i cant brag about much lately...

Bashar, the deal for amelia is done

You know..? Iaquinta is only 4 cm shorter than Toni.

We can all say Ciao to Giuly.

So Rino wants to see Aqui and De Rossi next to Pirlo.

Rino be a good little bulldog and go tell Dona this.

we should sign ben arfa for 15 Mill.... I would say our budget is 30 Mil to spend, is that too high or to low?

awwww Rhino!!!!

he just said that DDR and Pirlo are the 2 strongest mids for Italy and he hopes to see Aquilani included in the midfield... awww

CHRIS!!! MY POSTS ON THE ITALY EC BLOG ARE BEING FLAGGED AS SPAM!

Lazio have signed Amoruso,old but can still deliver. I'd predict 10 goals from him next season,nothing more.

KJ,

Don't get back on that horse amico.

I never rated Amelia, Lanzafama wants to go to England, and Nocerino is good, and Liverani is Romanista.

Don't expect him to light it up for you guys.

Roma are going about this slowly, but there must be a reason.

Lets hold up on the Roma bashing KJ.

We liked the new you, KEEP IT THAT WAY ;)

WOW, while still far fetched it seems Ronaldo to Madrid isn't entirely media bullshit

http://www.guardian.co.uk/foot...

if by great signings you mean guys who would hardle crack Roma's bench then yes congrats to Palermo on their great signings.

yeah, Maniche was an imp element in the flashy portugal mid-f I thought, but who knows.. I know people rate Portugal very highly and they may play very well, but I am not convinced that their team is well-balanced. We'll see.
Gabby, I am not one for the underdog mentality either. I am fine with starting as an underdog then roaring into a lion tranformation when given the chance! Viewing our team as an underdog forever is kinda the easier way in some sense- if you win v big/rich teams, its a fairy tale of how less we spend and still win big sometimes. If we dont, its natural to say that we lost to a rich team with so many world class players and huge budgets. I fall into that sometimes as well, but still would prefer a team that has all the passion, emotions, but which gets the respect that if they beat Manu, Real etc its not a huge shock. Achievable or not, I dont know.

Maniche returning to Atletico Madrid. He was loaned from them? Soros affair not over yet? Goddamn it. How long will it continue. Only 2 more days till Euro 2008 starts :)

I feel sorry for Maniche... he used to be great for Portugal, now Inter deprived him from getting into the NT. I did rate him once