Tacchinardi captaining la Juventus.

Conte was like Salihamidzic of 10 years ago, a utility player. Just as Brazzo won my affection, Tacchinardi gave every moment his all, no matter what position he played. He was primarily a defensive midfielder, but he played central midfield, right-midfield, and even in defense sometimes as a fullback or a center back. His versatility was invaluable to his success and Juve’s, during a time when our midfield was the greatest in the world. His tackles were uncompromising, his shots were fierce. He may not have the greatest vision or technique, but he battled it out, making up for it in his work-rate and endurance. (Have you ever seen a man run so much? Well, maybe Pavel) He didn’t score all that often, but whenever he did they were usually terrific volleys or long range blasts.

Like Conte, Tacchinardi did not have great luck with the Azzurri. In all honesty, Tacchinardi was never a world-class player, he was often overshadowed by the likes of Conte, Davids, and Zidane. He was a starter for most, but not all of his years at Juve, and he was switched in position often depending on the rest of the squad. He was called up for 13 appearances for the Nazionale, never for a major tournament.

I grew up watching Tacchinardi, and the 2003 Champion’s League final, however disappointing, remains firmly in my memory. That season began scarily, after pipping Inter to the Scudetto we had a very slow start to Serie A. We cruised through the first group stage of the Champion’s League (I don’t remember who was in the group other than Newcastle, how the hell did they get in there) but struggled badly in the second group stage, getting whomped by ManUtd and barely squeaking through against a Swiss team, and Deportivo. (who would knock us out of the CL the next year) Tacchinardi played in almost all the matches up to and including the final, playing all 120 minutes.

Alessio had had some minor injuries frustrating him throughout the years, but he really struggled in Lippi’s last season and was never really favored by Capello. It was very obvious that Capello, a Juventus legend himself (who I nonetheless despise) did not think highly of Alessio and after one season with him (where he never started and only played 8 games), he was shipped out to Villarreal on loan for two years, only at the age of 30. Last summer, Juventus let his contract expire.

Very much like Alessandro Birindelli, I was furious with the way Juventus treated him towards the end. Here is a man who had given everything to the club, despite not being a starter in the beginning or latter years. In his last 5 years at Juventus, Tacchinardi never started more than 20-25 games a season. Here is a man who was our vice-captain for years, who could have walked onto the starting XI of almost any team across the world and we dropped him, without a sendoff or a goodbye. Tacchinardi gave everything to the Juve cause, but we tifosi never got the chance to give him a proper thank-you.

A vid of Tacchinardi busting a move with ADP:

Why did I love Tacchinardi so much? I grew up watching this man forfeit playing time to fight for the Bianconeri cause. Alessio gave it all when he was on the pitch, no matter what position we needed him to play he would adapt. In recognition of his dedication, he was vice-captain of Juventus for several years. He voluntarily gave up his shirt number twice in his career to an incoming transfer. He currently plies his trade at age 32 with Brescia in Serie B, a sad finish for a man who won 5 scudetti, 1 Champion’s League (3-runners up medals), 4 Italian Supercups, and an Intercontinental Cup. Not only was he a dedicated player, he was also a great man. Lippi once remarked that Tacchinardi was the funniest and most outgoing player on the squad, and it showed. I hope he loved the time he spent in Turin, because I loved every minute of it.

Mediocre YouTube comp, standard for older players though. Doesn’t show enough of his tackles but it does show some of his occasional inspired passes. (Check goal #3)

Video of some of his blasts:

Grazie per tutti, Alessio. All the best in Serie B, and know that we Juventini will never forget you.

Christian Poulsen arrived at Juve’s headquarters this afternoon to officially sign his contract, ending a few weeks of speculation. While my feelings on him are mixed, I’m glad Secco was able to negotiate fairly quickly. The rumors sprung up about a week and a half ago and somehow they are done. We paid the 9.75million euro release clause in his contract, and he signed a 4-year deal, earning 3million euros a year. That is one of the thing that bothers me, his salary. Only Buffon, Trezeguet, Nedved, Amauri, and Del Piero earn more. That’s right, he’ll be making more than Chiellini or CAMORANESI. Bullshit.

Poulsen is well known in the Boot, mostly for not-very-kind things, although I don’t know how Roma fans can be pissed at him. He instigated Totti, sure, but as much as I love Zizou he was very much in the wrong. If you didn’t know, at Euro2004 after some shittalk, Francesco majorly lost it and spat right on him, earning himself a 3-match ban. Not to goad the Romanistas any more than necessary, but you’ve never seen Alex lose it like that. The closest I’ve seen was this, back in Serie B, when a Pescara player took the dive of the century. Love Alex’s reaction to the ref.

But I digress! Poulsen did his reputation in Italy no help when he fiercely, some say violently, marked the shit out of Kaka’ in the Champion’s League, while he was still with Schalke. Certainly rough, I’ll pass judgement on how bad it was because I didn’t watch this match. YouTube comps can show anything, although judging from Kaka’s yellow card, he clearly got under Kaka’s skin. Then there’s the great clip of Gattuso childishly celebrating in Poulsen’s face, and Poulsen pretty much gave him the perfect response. Good to see he can hold his temper. Maybe our friends at the Milan Offside can talk more about that game, or better yet, Gattuso. “I have to admit it, he has got stones to move to Serie A, where he does not have too many friends. I am curious to see how he will cope with all this pressure.” Politically correct as always, Rino. (Milanista comments welcome)

Then there was the minor incident where he jacked a Swedish player in the chest. It kinda goes on. He doesn’t seem to be a very friendly guy.

Here’s my take on it- I’ll be honest, I have not watched Poulsen play very much. He’s been one of those peripheral figures I’ll occasionally see in a match, but since I don’t really follow Bundesliga or La Liga I don’t have anything particularly insightful about his play. If you didn’t know, he’s a very fiery defensive midfielder. Yes, I know, God, not another one, but with Secco’s obsession with all things cheap and mediocre and Ranieri’s fetish with defensive-midfielders, he signed his own contract. From what I’ve read/heard, he does venture forward a bit more than Momo, not that that’s saying much, and he does seem to be able to pass forward. Is he signing to be a first-team player? I have no idea what Ranieri’s plans are at this moment. Depends if he is the only midfield signing.

He seems like the kind of player you’ll hate as long as he’s not on your team. Poulsen has recognized his signing is not popular, declaring his intentions to win us tifosi over. That sounds good to me. I know that given the kind of player he is, he will battle it out for us, and the games against Roma and Milan, well, he’ll have even more incentive. He may not be our first-choice transfer, but he’s here and I guarentee he will fight hard and passionately, as opposed to midfielders we’ve acquired who seemingly don’t give a shit. (Tiago, I’m looking right at you) We need a midfielder (still one more, unless we stick with Tiago) and he’ll do the job. Considering he is only 2million euros more expensive than Nocerino….well that’s a hell of a stepup.

The customary (and only real) YouTube comp. I’m at work (aka muted) so if there is particularly horrible soundtrack, (as there usually is) my bad.

Two summers ago Milan were also rumored to be very keen in bringing to Lombardy the Danish international, but allegedly some of the locker room veterans vetoed the transfer, on the grounds of his bad temper. But all this stories do not seem to faze Poulsen: ” I know that playing in Italy will not be easy for me at the beginning, especially in Milan and Rome. I also know that my reputation as a trouble-maker precedes me, but I am one that always gives 100 per cent.” “I am not worried and I know I will have to win over fans, but I’m a proud man who does his talking on the pitch. I’m very happy to be at Juve, because it’s a wonderful club, play the Champions League and it’s one of the best known sides in Denmark”.

Benvenuto alla Juventus, Christian.

JUVENTUS-MEZZOCORONA 7-1 (5-0)
GOALS: Amauri 15, 18, 32, 36, 41 mins, Pasquato 52 mins, Esposito 58 mins, D’Acampo (M) 90 mins.

JUVENTUS: Belardi (Fiory 46 mins) (Nocchi 67 mins); Zebina (Bamba 46 mins), Legrottaglie (Duravia 63 mins), Ariaudo (De Paola 46 mins), Molinaro (D’Elia 63 mins); Salihamidzic (Esposito 46 mins), Zanetti (Castiglia 63 mins), Ekdal (Almiron 46 mins), Nedved; Iaquinta (Pasquato 46 mins), Amauri (Rossi 48 mins). Manager: Ranieri.
MEZZOCORONA: Macchi, Lordi, Pellizzari, Torroni, Berardo, Sebastiani, Tulli, Morat, Donini, Benvenga, Tartabini. Subs (all came on in the second half): Morelli, Fraccalossi, Brighenti, Zarini, giacomini, Ceravolo, Martone, D’Acampo, Piolanti, Vanzetta, Tomasi, Picariello, Malacarne, Fusari. Manager: Rastelli.
Referee: Lentino from Rovereto.

“Domenech is staying and I am quitting the national side,” Trezeguet said at Juve’s pre-season training camp in Pinzolo. “The awful European Championship and then the decision to stick with the Coach has forced me to this decision. I see football differently to how they see it in France. Euro 2008 was very negative, but it was the faith in Domenech that really annoyed me. Decisions seemed to be made politically rather than for footballing reasons and the public opinion in my favour wasn’t respected.”

As an Azzurri tifoso, I am thankful that our archrivals have been robbed of one of their best talents through their own stupidity. A player with a roughly 1:2 goal:game ratio for both club and country and 20 goals in the current season was ignored for the likes of Gomis and the most overrated player in the world, Anelka.

As a huge fan of David Trezeguet, I cannot help but feel sorry for him. It is a premature ending to his international career that never earned enough respect, by Domenech or the other French coaches. It is a huge shame for a supporter of football, but this means Trezeguet has dumped his blue jersey solely for the black-and-white.

FORZA TREZEGOL!

As such, this is profiling a Juventus legend, Antonio Conte. We have such legends playing for us now that sometimes we forget some of the older ones. The irony is not lost on me that when I was growing up and started following La Vecchia Signora in the late 90s we had the best midfield in the world, and now are struggling to fill it. There was Zinedine Zidane, Edgar Davids, my personal favorite Tacchinardi, Di Livio, Deschamps, and of course Antonio Conte. These were the legendary midfielders who led us to 3 consecutive Champion’s League finals in one of our glory eras. It seems that Del Piero has been “il Capitano” for us forever, but he was not our captain during this glory era, taking over in 2001 after recovering from his knee injury. That honor went to Antonio Conte.

Antonio Conte is like me, Pugliese. He grew up playing for his hometown club, US Lecce, making his Serie A debut at age 16 in 1985, going on to make 89 appearances for the club. His talent was obvious, and Juventus snapped him up at age 22. Conte slowly grew into the team under the coaching of Trappatoni, but it was under Lippi that he really grew into a world-class midfielder. Conte was generally a central midfielder, helping to direct play around the midfield. What I remember most about Conte was what we all love about Juventus: His tenacity and work ethic was up there along with Pavel Nedved, he was the engine in our midfield. He never stopped running for Juventus, never stopped fighting, and came up with some absolutely crucial goals when the chips were down.

Conte was not particularly an attacking midfielder, though he did enjoy to go forward and he scored in numerous important occasions, the ultimate big game player. Who can forget his right-footed strike against Milan in the 90th minute after slipping past the great Maldini to draw 2-2 at the San Siro, coincidentally in the same game Trezegol scored his first-ever Serie A goal? Or his goal against Manchester United in the Champion’s League?

During the mid-90s and the Ancelotti era, Conte was our midfield man. He was “il Capitano” della Juventus after Vialli and until 2001 when he handed it over to current capitano, Alessandro Del Piero, though he stayed with the club until 2004. He travelled with the Azzurri to the USA ‘94 tournament, seeing little playing time. Despite roaring back into form after an injury plagued season, Cesare Maldini chose not to bring him to France in 1998. Conte finally got his chance with the Azzurri, starting at Euro2000. I remember standing and screaming as il Capitano, Conte, opened Italy’s scoring account at the tournament. Sadly, Conte was injured in the quarterfinals, stretchered off with an ankle injury after a terrible tackle and that was the end of his tenure with the Nazionale.

After retiring as a player, Conte took a break from calcio before starting a career as a coach. He was an assistant coach at AC Siena for a year, then coached at Arrezzo. AS Bari coach Giuseppe Materazzi (yes, the Matrix’s father) quit AS Bari after losing the Pugliese derby in December 2007 4-0 to Conte’s former club, Lecce, the Bari board hired Conte as their coach. He did well in his coaching of the team, leading them to a comfortable 11th place after a disastrous 1st half of the season under Materazzi, including a notable win the Pugliese derby against archrivals and promotion-chasers US Lecce. Bari is being tipped as one of the favorites for promotion next year, and as a Bari and Conte fan, I’d love to see them return to Serie A.

And who can forget Conte’s joy on May 5th, 2002 when Juventus pipped Inter to the title on the last day. “No time to talk, we are enjoying it.”

Conte is without a doubt one of the greatest Juventini to step on the pitch. Among his trophies- 5 scudetti, 1 Champion’s League (3 runners up mdeals), a Uefa cup, an Intertoto Cup, an International Cup (now Fifa Club World Cup), a Coppa Italia, and numerous Supercoppas.

More important than the silverware is how much of a model Juventino he was. Juventus is often criticized for its weak connection to Turin, it’s true. Juventus is the squadra of all of Italia, and Conte is no different. Like most Juventus legends, he did not grow up in the Juventus youth team, rather he joined at a young age. These legends often arrive at a young age and finish out the majority of their career at Juventus, sometimes finishing their last season at another club. Conte played for two clubs; his hometown Lecce, and then his adopted club, Juventus. His passion for Juventus is rarely equaled, his work ethic on the pitch showed his love for the team. One of the greatest Juventus captains, no doubt. My dream is for him to lead Bari and one day return to Juve, whether as a coach or some kind of technical director.

It’s hard to find Youtube comp’s for players from “old times” so this is a fairly poor comp, but for those who did not watch the Conte era, still worth watching. Grazie per tutti, Antonio.

Welcome, Dario!

Thus far, despite the incompetence of our good friend Alessio Secco, I think we’re having a decent market. Everyone knows we traded Palermo Nocerino+15million euros for Amauri, and apparently not Lanzafame. We got Mellberg, a solid Swedish stopper on a free transfer. Giovinco, Marchisio, Lanzafame, and De Ceglie are all returning to Juventus, and key players like Nedved, Buffon, and Chiellini have re-signed with the club. You can find about the other Juve co-ownership situations here.

Blanc said we need a midfielder and a goalkeeper. I really hope by goalkeeper he means left-back. If we can get one CM and a LB, our mercato is done. And it’s not hard. I’d personally like Aquilani (not gonna happen) and Grosso, if not Aquilani, then Xabi Alonso. Let’s look at our rumored targets for midfield.

MIDFIELD:

Dejan Stankovic- Uhm, no thanks. With Mancini’s departure, fellow ex-Laziale Dejan Stankovic has also been moving towards the exit. Apparently it’s a combination of he’s pissed off Mancini got sacked, and Mourinho is not a fan. Both sound legit to me. He’s rumored to want the move and further rumors suggested personal terms had already been agreed on. Luckily, our fellow Juventini in Italia caused hell and it appears have derailed the switch. Good. We were bidding for him 4 years ago when he was leaving Lazio, but he picked the dark side. Plus, I’ve never liked the guy. Cristiano Zanetti was neutral to me, during him time at Inter, this guy is not very good and he’s a symbol of Inter. HELL no.

Alberto Aquilani- Inter’s offering a shitload of money, plus the kid is a Romanista. Not gonna happen.


Xabi Alonso- I think our best bet for CM. We already raided Liverpool for a midfielder once, but it seems they are ok with us doing it again. He’s expressed interest in joining Juve, he’s a world-class midfielder with loads of experience, and Liverpool wants to offload him to get Gareth Barry. For those who don’t know, Xabi Alonso is a center-mid who is a good ball distributor and has one hell of a long-range shot. He sometimes plays in a deep-lying playmaker, alla Pirlo, and he’s been big in Liverpool’s recent European success, which makes me wonder why they want Barry so much. He’s not in Spain’s XI for Euro2008, but captained the squad in their meaningless game against Greece, and he was superb. It’s suggested there’s only a few million pounds separating Juve+Liverpool, let’s hope we can get it done. Bonus: He gets to link up with his old Liverpool mate Momo Sissoko.

Other possibilities:
——>Sticking with Tiago, Zanetti, with Marchisio and Giovinco as backup- I’d rather not do this. Tiago has potential to become great, but we need a better option than him as starting CM. C. Zanetti has been great, but he can’t handle 2 games a week.
——> Marcos Senna. It was one of the strangest rants ever, if it did come from his mouth. He raged at Juventus for not buying him, and instead pursuing Xabi Alonso, mentioning the fact he was starting for Spain and XA wasn’t. Despite this, he’s too old, and XA will offer more to our midfield, we already have a world-class ball winner.
——>Miguel Veloso? I don’t see it happening. Something to fill Goal.com’s articles.
——>Podolski to Juve. It’s been rumored for weeks, I see him as a great replacement for the aging Pavel Nedved. He plays left-wing more than striker nowadays, he said he’s open to the move. But who would play CM with Sissoko? Nedved could, but it’s not his preferred position.
——>Quaresma to Juve? This is one of the funniest things I’ve read. Less chance of this than getting Aquilani. We don’t have the finances, he wouldn’t fit in, and a billion clubs are prepared to pay a lot more for him.

Nedved, Alonso, Sissoko, Camoranesi
Backups: Giovinco, Marchisio, De Ceglie, Salihamidzic, Marchionni (?), Zanetti

Opinions? Who do you think should be our midfield next year?

“The ultimate victory in competition is derived from the inner satisfaction of knowing that you have done your best and that you have gotten the most out of what you had to give.” -Howard Cosell

 IERI… OGGI… DOMANI… SEMPRE JUVE!!!

I’m glad the Don swallowed his pride after the thrashing of Holland, I didn’t think he would. Actions speak louder than words, and despite defending his decisions, he revamped the squad and it helped, a lot. But that’s not enough. I’m convinced, to win under Donadoni, we need to change the formation. Badly.

Most people agreed Donadoni went with a 4-3-3 to distinguish the team from Lippi’s, and because of his own personal disdain with a standard 4-4-2. Whatever it is, Roberto, we are not Brazil. We are not Portugal and no, we certainly are not the Netherlands. We don’t specialize in flair players, (except maybe Cassano+Baggio) we’re not “joga bonito” team, and we’ve always prioritized defense. Cramming the Azzurri into this does not work, and it will not work.

Problems with the formation
#1- Fielding players in the wrong position- Of course, any tifoso is going to hate when his players get ragged on for a bad performance. But for Del Piero and Camoranesi, it’s just because they are being played wrong. Del Piero’s miserable game against France 9-10months ago was because he was out of form and Donadoni threw him in a bizarre left-midfield role. Camoranesi likewise has been a right-forward, but against the Netherlands since we had no midfield, he was kind of in between, in an uncomfortable in between. Di Natale’s playing in an awkward left-winger position. Why didn’t we see these problems in Qualifying? We did, but it wasn’t as obvious when you’re playing weaker opposition.
#2- We don’t have enough flair players. We’re not a team built for a free-flowing beautiful form of calcio. How many fast players do we have, how many wingers do we have? Very few. Our bread-and-butter has always been good passing and a solid defense. 4-3-3, especially in Donadoni’s interpretation, does not incorporate either, especially with Cannavaro’s unfortunate injury.
#3- It’s built around a hitman, and he’s misfiring. Lippi built his squad around Totti. Thankfully with the great passers in the squad, like Pirlo, his absense due to injury wasn’t felt too strongly. Donadoni’s is no doubt built around Toni, to hold up playing and generally play with his back to goal. Great idea, but Toni, despite banging in the goals for Bayern, has been pretty poor these past 2-3 games. When ADN, ADP, and Camoranesi are playing slightly out of position, it doesn’t help. But he’s been far from the reliable hitman that position needs.

Remedy? Duh, play a goddamn 4-4-2. Even if Milan plays with the Christmas tree and Roma players their funky total football remix, every player in the world is familiar with 4-4-2. Most roles are defined by this formation, and Italy would slot perfectly in it.

So Don, please, you’ve already manned up and admitted your personnel choices were wrong. It’s time to admit the 4-3-3 is not right for Italy. I don’t think you’re the right coach for Italy but this would go a long way to improve the Azzurri in the meantime.

Buffon
Zambrotta-Chiellini-Panucci-Grosso
Camoranesi De Rossi Pirlo Perrotta
Del Piero/Cassano Toni

Every player is used to those roles. Let’s do it.

PS: SECCO, PLEASE BUY GROSSO. Molinaro is a sack of shit and Fabio has been tearing it up thus far. Yes, he always plays better with the Azzurri but seriously anything would be an upgrade right now. De Ceglie is too young to carry the left defense and I do not want to see Molinaro cruxified alla Roma in the Champion’s League next year.

PPS: Does any other Juventino feel Lippi is holding out for either the Azzurri job or Juve? I honestly think he wants to come back to Juve, but I am happy with Ranieri right now.

While Mauro is a done deal, another Juventino from South America now looks to do the same. Recent acquisition Amauri has declared he would like to play for Italy, having never been called up for the Selecao. (I’m too lazy to find the special character. The C is pronounced like an S.) Unlike Camoranesi, Amauri does not have Italian ancestry, though he has been in the peninsula since he was 20.

But should he? Some might think we Juventini would say yes, but I am dead against it, for the two main following reasons.
#1- He has no Italian ancestry. I don’t think ancestry should be the basis for playing for the Azzurri, but he doesn’t even have that.
#2- We’re his 2nd choice. He’s been waiting for Brazil, and even admitted he’d prefer playing for them over us. The Azzurri should never be a 2nd choice.
#3- Taddei is eligible for the Azzurri, but has repeatedly declined an offer on the basis that he would be robbing an Italian of a spot on the team. True that.

Here’s my opinion on the general situation: Ancestry should not be a basis for these decisions, it should be about history and experiences. Roots and blood do carry some significance, but for Amauri these don’t even count. But because your grandpa was Italian (like Camoranesi) does that mean you really understand the nation? I say no. I think it all matters about your formation, if you grew up in a country, you understand the language, the culture, the history, the national quirks. That, and when you are young, it’s very unlikely you moved for football reasons. Some people think Italy should get the best players they can, I disagree. Italy will always churn out great footballers, and if we don’t I’d rather not become the French team. (Not racial, but look up how many of their players grew up in France. Most are from colonies.)

I’m of Italian blood, my dad is from Apulia, but Mario Balotelli is more of an Italian than I am. He went to scuola with all the other kids, his Italianness clearly has no motivation from football, since he was born in Palermo. Why wouldn’t he play for Italy? (Other than he plays for Inter, but he recently said he feels nothing for Inter, so we’re good!) Similarly with Podolski. He may be Polish, he may have been born in Poland, but he moved to Germany at age 2. All of his friends are probably German, etc. He should play for Germany.

Most of the time, players choose a different side to get playing time or for glory reasons. When on this subject, you’ve gotta bring up Momo Sissoko. Odd situation, he was born and raised in France but decided to play for Mali….despite never having been there before being called up. Strange huh? Or Trezegol, who plays for France despite growing up in Argentina. (I wonder if Mauro and him speak in Spanish?)

Maybe this is because I’m semi-bitter about Giuseppe Rossi (I think it’s ok for him to play for Italy though, much moreso than Amauri) or maybe it’s because I don’t want international play to turn into club play. What do you think? Do you agree with me that growing-up should be more important than ancestry? Should Amauri play for the Azzurri?