Future Phenoms ; A Collective Ode. Part 2.

Part 2 of the Future Phenom post

Part 1 can be found here

6. Giuseppe Rossi
21 year old Jersey-born second striker for Villareal (Parma/Man U homegrown)

Has the potential to be the next : Antonio Cassano 2.0 with that special anti-crazyness plugin , the next Beppe Signori

Rossi has been displaying his talent all over Europe. The 21 year old has shined in Italy, England and now Spain. Not to mention all the beautiful European cities that saw the Azzurrini come spank their respective home teams. Beppe Rossi’s name’s definitely the most renowned on this list. Is it because of his crazy talent or does the Sensational English media have a little to do with this? No one’s deniying Rossi’s immense talent but he needs to work a little on his decision-making. Other than that he has a lethal shot, impressive pace and a knack for goal, sky’s the limit with this one. It’s only a matter of time before he shines with the Big Boys in Blue.

Francè ’s Parma has one of the sexiest Vivaio of all Italy, so he adds this :

I think by now everyone knows who Giuseppe Rossi is. The American born, Italian bred seconda punta is one of Italy ’s most promising attacking talents. Brought up in the famed Parma youth system, he was poached by Manchester United at the age of 16 at a time when Parma ’s front office was in shambles. He made a name for himself in England , scoring boatloads for the reserve team and getting chances with the first team. Manchester United than decided to loan him out, and he was loaned to Newcastle . His spell at Newcastle was not good, as he hardly played, and in January the Red Devils decided to send him back to Parma , where he would be assured of lots of playing time. He made a wonderful debut in Serie A, scoring against Torino with a nice individual effort. It was there that the Italian media became crazy about him, as before they had only seen him play with the Italy Under 21’s. Rossi went on the score 9 goals in the second half of the season and help Parma stay in Serie A, however he was too expensive for the Gialloblu’ and he had to leave Serie A for La Liga , where he signed for Villareal and has had a brilliant season so far, making so many Italian club directors regret not making a move for him this summer. Rossi is definitely a player that looks like he is on his way to becoming a world class star.

Cue the violins

7. Ricardo Montolivo

(In your face Andy Rooney ! That was Wayne Rooney you say ?)

23 year old creative midfielder playing for Fiorentina (Atalanta homegrown)

Has the potential to be the next : Bruno Conti 7.0 or see Cigarini

A Chelski scout has already said : “Ricardo Montolivo is the superstar of all young midfielders in Europe,”. “He has very good skills, but the best thing about him is that he combines his skills with fantastic running power. I could not spot a weakness in his game’’ Not to mention Marcello Lippi claiming he’s the revelation of Serie A this year. This purple player has the potential for greatness. Fortunately, Cesare Prandelli’s Fiorentina’s the perfect place for Montolivo to keep on growing.

Tim from Fiorentina Fame had this to say:

Widely dubbed the ”Next Pirlo” Riccardo Montolivo has been alternately mesmerizing and frustrating Viola fans in what was supposed to be his breakout season. A product of the well-regarded Atalanta youth system, the 23-year-old central midfielder has tremendous passing ability, excellent close control and a playmaker’s vision of the game. Despite his inconsistent performance, Montolivo has registered 17 assists in league play this year and possesses the ability to change a game at any moment. With one cap for the Azzurri under his belt, Montolivo will be one to watch for the South Africa 2010 qualifying campaign.

Montolivo at his best, (BTW, the guy from Linkin Park wants you to know it hurts when he sings)

8. Antonio Nocerino

22 year old defensive midfielder from Juventus (Juve homegrown ?)

Has the potential to be ; The unholy love child of Daniele De Rossi and Gennaro Gattuso

Italy has potentially found a new midfield bulldog for the Future ; The least we can say is that Gianfranco Zola’s fond of the youngster…

Roberto form the Juve page had this to say : Nocerino, Nocerino, Nocerino. The best way to describe this talent in one word is “potential”. Battling opponents with a Gattuso-like engine while wrapped in a play-maker’s mentality, Nocerino’s form can be described as an ongoing struggle between those two styles of play. These contrasting styles are simultaneously his greatest weakness and his greatest strength. If the Neapolitan born pressing midfielder can manage to harness his skill effectively, we’ll no doubt see him not only in Juventus’ starting XI, but as an Azzurri regular as early as next year. This 22 year-old midfielder has the world in front of him, somebody just needs to tell him he has the time it takes to conquer it.

Skills comp with Italian Pop at its best (Worst ?)

9. Pablo Daniel Osvaldo

22 year old Buenos Aires Born Bomber playing for Fiorentina via Argentina (Lanus via Lecce homegrown)

Has the potential to be the next : Gabriel Batistuta, there I finally said it in public

Thank you for choosing Italy at such a young age (please pass on this message along to your fellow Fernado Forestieri) Osvaldo’s a tall, hard working Striker who’s been showing good things with Fiorentina in his 1st Serie A season.

Fiorentina Tim had this to say and would like you to see this: The Buenos Aires-born striker has impressed in limited appearances during his first Serie A season with Fiorentina. His two defining moments were his two-goal performance in place of an injured Mutu on his debut away to Livorno and his extra time winner, sealing Fiorentina’s first away win against Juventus in 20 years (not to mention his tremendous tribute to his idol Batistuta). Osvaldo has mainly played as a “second” striker in Prandelli’s system, and he is comfortable attacking from both flanks. The beginning of what is hopefully a long career representing Italy began this fall with his first call into the Azzurrini squad.

His footballistic percourse to a Tango beat.

U21 and Fiorentina highlights:

10. Alberto Paloschi

18 year old AC Milan Striker (Milan Homegrown)

Has the potential to be : A non – offside-ish Pippo, A middle-class man’s Beppe Signori

Ok so he scored on his debut but the hype machine has taken Paloschi to Amauri-esque heights. But you got to give it to this kid, he has the timing of a professional comedian (A funny one, of course).

Gianfranco of Milan Offside has this to say : I would say scoring with your first touch in the first eighteen seconds of your Serie A debut is pretty solid reason to be considered a phenom. His first goal in the Rossoneri shirt actually came in the Coppa Italia against Catania, and it was as great shot that gave Carlo Ancelotti the faith to put Paloschi in the first team. His pace, and sheer drive for the ball really make this kid special, and mix in the fact that he gets to learn from the goal poacher extraordinaire Pippo Inzaghi, you have a pretty good formula for an upcoming star

Brocchi Ball holding and Molto Milan man love

About this list :

Where the hell are Fernando Forestieri, Davide Lanzafame, Stefano Okaka Chuka and Mario Ballotelli, Daniele Dessena, Marco Rossi, Umberto Eusepi, Alessio Cerci, Francesco Bolzoni, Fabiano Santacroce, Gabriele Paonessa, Emiliano Viviano, Graziano Pellè, Gianluca Curci, Marco Andreolli ?

Italia has clearly no shortage of Midfield or Attacking talent, (Not to mention the lack of coaches. You can’t really pull off a upcoming coaches list born after1984 but Luciano Spalletti, Carlo Ancelotti, Marcello Lippi hell even Claudio Ranieri and Claudio -Purpliscious- Prandelli could do the job) but what about the defence? Not one freakin’ GoalKeeper ? No central defenders?

Who the hell said Italy was a defensive team ? Italy has less than 10 world-class defenders left ( Canna, Materazzi, Buffon, Amelia, Zambrotta, Barzagli, Grosso… help me out here!)

On top of that, we need to remember that Cannavaro isn’t getting any younger, Marco Materazzi, Gattuso, Oddo, Pannuci, Luca Toni either If we manage to solidify the back i.e. if Michele Cannini and Marco Andreolli can stay healthy and develop properly, Domenico Criscito and Marco Rossi consacrate themselves and Fabio Santacroce lives up to the Napoletan hype everything will be fine. But Giorgio Chiellini better consacrate himself soon because the short term defensive inventory is thin.

The last years have seen us say goodbye to legends such as Paolo Maldini, Roberto Baggio, Cristian Vieri, Alessandro Nesta , ( Antonio Cassano, ADP ?) and Francesco – The Spoon of God – Totti ( For some odd reason, I have a feeling that Totti will be going to South Africa ) Having said that, we can clearly see that Italia has a nice future of football ahead of them

Italy’s passing of the guard will go quite smoothly I’m sure of it