2010: The Year of the Cassano?

Cassano seems to have matured since his five match ban, and I really hope Lippi includes him in his plans for 2010.You are right, not many players have half of his talent.Here is to hoping he continues to keep his head.

Man, you have no idea how hard I “loled” at the snubbed and playing for Toronto Fc. Me being from Toronto, I find that ish is whack.

I do hope Lippi brings Cassano. Like Nina said, I hope Lippi has noticed that he’s changed quite a bit, still gets naked often, but is really talented. Though we are talking about Lippi, I have faith in his ability to recognize a worthy player when he sees it.

the thing that makes that article not believable was the sentence: “Il Talentino di Bari has been showing glimpses of magic during pre-season with Sampdoria”

Cassano only started training yesterday!

But otherwise I’ve always been a gigantic Cassano fan and truly hope Lippi decides to make him an integral part of the Italy squad.

Aside from Cassano, there is a plethora of talented youngsters Lippi should be looking at:

1. G. Rossi
2. Sebastian Giovinco.
3. Aquafresca
4. Osvaldo
5. Palladino

Of course, we all know the names and their quality. The good thing about those five players is that they don’t come with the baggage Cassano typically comes with. I’m not the biggest Cassano fan, though I do recognize his talent. And I’m fair enough not to judge him based on Euro 08 where pretty much all our attackers were terrible. But I would like to see a few of those above names get a chance too, even if it means Cassano missing out again.

Francesco, don’t forget that the article was published at goal.com. So the whole thing was pretty unbelievable to begin with

JP, of those 5 names you listed right now the only ones I would give a shot are Giuseppe Rossi and Giovinco. Rossi and Giovinco seem to be ready to give a big time contribution. Acquafresca still has to prove he wasn’t a one season wonder, Osvaldo needs more time and needs to learn to be less selfish, and Palladino needs to confirm himself at Genoa this season and show everyone why he was such a highly rated young star.

Cassano is one the greatest NATURAL talents to ever grace this earth. Plain and simple. Heck, put him up there with Diego. It is very hard, if not impossilbe, to dispute that.

He has double the talent that Totti has or has ever had, and that’s saying alot, considering the type of skill Totti has. So, if Lippi doesn’t bring him for 2010, it would be terrible.

Think Trezeguet being omitted from France, times 8 million.

As for the lack of Azzurri news, don’t worry that will all end of August 7th.

TIme for our young guns to bring home the gold!!!!

FORZA AZZURRI

Italy strikers are pure talent; Giovinco,G. rossi, russotto, balotelli, cassano, paloschi, forestieri. Che Spettacolo
As for Cassano on pure talent alone he´s second to none but i don´t think we can put him alongside Diego (he´s the all time best.
Also i very pleased with new Juve talented kid Fausto Rossi. Forza Azurri

To be fair, Cassano didn’t deserve to make the WC ‘06 squad…so, there’s no argument there against Lippi for that.

Well I’m not saying that Lippi’s wrong for not calling him…necessarily. I was pointing out that few players can be snubbed by a coach one tourney and then called up the next

also Totti should be including for 2010,Italy is nothing without him.

You can not blame Lippi at all for not taking Cassano in ‘06. he wasn’t ready.

However, if he doesn’t take him in 2010, blood will be spilt. If he gets his head “right” and just concentrates on playing (Which I feel he will do this year. For the first time in his career, he is going into a season healthy and in shape. And at a comfortable home.) he IS THE GREATEST PLAYER IN THE WORLD. Hands down.

Andrea,

Italy is nothing wihtout Totti?

He spit on the Italia shirt when he said no to it for Euros. We have plenty of players waiting in the wings.

We don’t need fucking traitors. We need players who love the Azzurri shirt. (See: Maldini.) Totti fucking disgust’s me.

you call choosing to take time off to concentrate on family and club “spitting on the shirt”? He didn’t “ditch” Italia.

Not saying you shouldn’t give your opinion, just saying maybe you should give an informed one.

He said no to Euros.

That’s my informed opinion. We are a national team with plenty of players waiting for a chance.

We don’t need a guy who doesn’t want to play for the national team. Persiod. You can give me all the “oh, he wanted time with his family” bullshit you want. But when it comes down to it, everyone else has families, and everyone else has club teams, but they play.

Simple as that.

Cassano’s supremely talented, but he doesn’t even come close to Totti’s genius. For one thing, he’s much more one-dimensional. Sure, he can score goals and dribble his way through swathes of defenders, but he’s nowhere near Totti as a playmaker (I believe that some of you wanted to utilize Cassano as a trequartista at Euro 2008… that’s getting carried away with the Totti comparisons IMO) and Totti could give Cassano a run for his money as a supporting striker. On natural talent alone (and not necessarily results), Francesco Totti is the best Italian player of his generation. A pity that he was only ever conspicuous for Roma.

Bobo, have you not been watching Doria games last season? Who was the player behind all their goals? Again, I could care less about Totti and don’t wanna get into comparisons, but to say that Cassano isn’t an excellent player maker is rather peculiar.

this cassano dude is not the same cassanata that i used to watch 2-3 five years ago. his style of play, the way he approach the game and attitude is different….. from peter pan/the italian wayne rooney to an average player at best.
lippi forget about cassano and call giovinco, balotelli, pazzini, or rossi instead.

What is your definition of natural talent?

Totti seems to be such a polarizing figure. There’s a really good article about Totti over at the Roma Offside for anyone who hasn’t read it yet.

But I’m not sure Totti and Cassano can be compared. Cassano is great at dribbling, something Totti’s slowed down at in recent years. But in terms of vision and first touch passes, Totti’s better. It almost seems like they were born to play together.

Julian,

I thinj that article is terrible. TO be honest. You just like it because you are a Roma supporter.

Persoanlly, when you begin to compare Totti to Roberto, I start to vomit uncontrollably.

For those of you who say Cassano isn’t a good passer or isn’t a good player any more, should probably start watching some more soccer. Take some time out of your day in this upcoming season and watch a few Sampdoria games. Then come back and tell me he isn’t good or can’t pass….

I would just like to make it known that I have been “banned” from posting comments on the ROma offside. I did not curse, insult, or yell at any individual. All I did was post my opinion on Totti. Which, was different then everyone else’s.

Any time someone poses an opinion different from a Roma fans point of view they:
1) Insult you. Not knowing much about calcio, and thinking all there is to Serie A football is Roma (which they are sadly mistaken), this is basically all they can do.

2) Call Totti top 5 players EVER. All I can do when this happens is pray for them, and their helpless souls.

3) Ban you from commenting. For posting an opposing viewpoint.

Just thought I should make that known.

P.S. YOu may see this on other articles around theoffside. I just think enough is enough. So, I will make it known.

Totti didn’t “spit on the Azzurri shirt”. He spat on Poulsen’s face while WEARING the Azzurri shirt. There’s a difference. Haha.

Anyway, if you actually think Totti is not a good player, you have no idea what football is about and should watch NASCAR or something. Totti may have been a brat, he may have ditched the national team (which I do agree he did). But he was and is a fantastic player and the best (at least ONE of the best) attacking talents Italy has produced in a while. His flicks, his through passes, his chip-shot goals, his vision, and recently his newly developed sense of maturity and leadership, make Totti an outstanding player. If Pele thinks he’s good, not to mention the countless football pundits who have included him in top footballers lists over the years, then I think that says something.

I know there’s a couple anti-Roma people that like to make fun or provoke (I’m actually a Milanista, so I impartial here). But you just have to put club rivalry aside and recognize that Totti is truly great player. Keep him out of the national team, fine with me, but don’t try and lessen his value just because he plays for a hot-cold club or whatever petty reasons you can barely think of.

“There’s a really good article about Totti over at the Roma Offside for anyone who hasn’t read it yet.”

Actually no there isn’t. It’s just more of the same.

I guess that I have no idea what good football is about. Thank you for arrogantly dismissing my opinion in favor of your own.

And I don’t think that I have to do anything I don’t want to do, let alone what YOU say I have to do.

Nina, I never said that Cassano wasn’t a good playmaker. I just said that he’s not in Totti’s league (from what I’ve seen)… since when is that an insult?

Antonio,I know exactly how you feel, if you dare mention the 3 Ts, you are immediately prosecuted. You could be talking about Toto Schillachi and they think you mean Totti.
Totti, imo, is not a better passer than Cassano and he doesn’t dribble as well as Cassano, because he can’t, not because he stopped doing that lately.

Bobo,never said anything about an insult either.

I feel the same way Nina.

But be careful. We both just said that Cassano is better than Totti!! Oh my. A different belief than the ROmanista who runs this page!!

We may never be able to post a comment again…

OR, we may be heavily insulted and told to leave.

The thing about this whole thing is, we all have our own opinions, and while someone might think Totti is the greatest player ever, someone else might disagree and there is nothing wrong with that.Do I think he is a good player? Definitely yes. Is he one of the greats of Italian football like Baggio and Riva? No. Is there something wrong with having different opinions? I hope not!

Antonio, don’t think you have to worry about that here lol.It is just a mere discussion, no one is using foul language.

I happen to be a Milan fan, so none of your “crazy Romanista” arguments will work here, I’m afraid.

I also don’t think that Totti is up there with Baggio and Rivera. Doesn’t mean that I can’t recognize one of the greatest Italian players of his generation for what he is. I don’t believe the article explicitly stated such a comparison either.

Cassano may come to approach Totti’s level as a playmaker, but comparing his vision and passing to those of Totti at his prime (which is the only useful comparison as we’re trying to assess talent), I personally think Cassano comes up short. Like you said, we’re all allowed to have an opinion here. My opinion is that Cassano is not quite as talented as Totti (although I hope that he’ll prove more useful for the Azzurri).

Also, I wasn’t aware that being a better dribbler automatically makes one player greater or more talented than another (Denilson will be happy to hear that).

I didn’t say I agreed with everything in that article. I just think it’s a good read because it gives one side of the Totti view (which obviously is the side that he’s one of the best players in a long time).

Personally I think he’s very talented but I’m not sure how he stacks up compared to say, Baggio. In terms of the national team he doesn’t hold a torch (Totti didn’t singlehandedly drag us through a world cup) but for his club, I don’t see many others who give so much. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- I’m a diehard Roma fan. They’re the club I support and I won’t deny that. But I’m Italian and I live and breathe Azzurri. I don’t let my club views get in the way of my blogging, or at least I try my best not to. But everyone has some bias.

Anyway, that’s one side of the issue. I realize not everyone agrees and that’s why we have a comments section down here. For the discussions. I encourage people to disagree and argue down here- as long as it’s civil and respectful. And heck, I’ll jump in on the discussions too.

But just a point- I didn’t bring up Totti at all in this post. It was about Cassano originally. I don’t mind the talk since it is Italy related, but for those who suggested that I might be a little too Roma biased, just remember Totti wasn’t the point of the post at all.

Bobo,

I respect you opinion, however mine is quite differnt. As you may have read above.

when cassano manages to score 165+ goals (with most of them as an attacking mid), lead his team to a scudetto and 5 runner-up spots in the last 8 years, win a world cup, win the golden shoe in his 30’s, named serie a player of the year 5+ times, then we can talk about comparing cassano with totti.

antonio maybe you were banned for insulting people’s intelligence.

julian, of course he wasnt but many of these guys love to take shots at totti whenever they think they have an opportunity. it’s amazing really.

then again, i did read somewhere that a certain someone actually proposed the notion that cassano is as good as maradona. i’m italian and i cant stop laughing. ’nuff said.

Both players are hugely talented i, for myself, believe that Cassano, as it comes to natural talent is more talented than Totti but we can safely say that Cassano can not be compared to a GOD (maradona). Anyway i miss those days when Totti and Cassano played together and were the best attacking duo of the world.

Bobo, the dribbling aspect was in reference to a previous comment, maybe you missed that part. Anyhow, I’m done with this Totti thing, for all I care he could be better than anyone who ever played.

lamagica,

Once again, you posted your opinion, then proceed to to “attack” me. It is there for all to see. And Roma fans have been doing it for a while now.

It’s ok. That’s the way you guys operate.

I believe Cassano is a better player than Totti. Better skill, better everything. That is my opinion.

But as you see, I stop at it that. Maybe you should learn that sometime…

But it’s ok. Good luck in life.

Julian, I can attest that for as long as I have been participating in discussions in this blog, not have I seen you even once pick on someone because they said something against Roma, and like you said, this is about the national team. Your views might be different than some of us, but you are always rational and civil.

maybe you should get that skirt back from your sister if you call that an attack.

you are whining on every board i’ve visited today about being “banned” in the roma forum. get over it. ever thought it may be a glitch like many others have experienced? also, stop playing the martyr role…i do remember your first message in the roma blog a few weeks back which was hardly lacking insults or provocation.

i got an idea for you. if you dont want to hear/read about totti being so good (or whatever favourable opinion a romanista may have on him) then stay clear of there. your personal mission to bash roma, bash totti, diminish his merits, make a claim that so-and-so nobody is better is a futile one. even if it may be trendy around the other blogs to take a shot, you are going to meet some resistance in the roma blog. it’s pretty simple. feel free to do that in the other blogs if you want someone to agree with you. just look at this particular blog. what triggered you to impart your ‘wisdom’ regarding totti when julian didnt even mention him in his entry? your first comment departs into a tirade over vomitting about a comparison between totti and baggio yet the article almost exclusively discusses cassano…and no mention of totti…or baggio. seriously, wtf?

There seems to be a lot of very sensitive people posting here. If anyone disagrees with someone else, they are accused of being belicose and offensive. Then everyone starts using foul language and getting upset. I do love it though, these debates about a simple game and it’s players can get more intense than debates on politics!

lamagica,

“Cassano is one the greatest NATURAL talents to ever grace this earth. Plain and simple. Heck, put him up there with Diego. It is very hard, if not impossilbe, to dispute that.
He has double the talent that Totti has or has ever had, and that’s saying alot, considering the type of skill Totti has. So, if Lippi doesn’t bring him for 2010, it would be terrible.
Think Trezeguet being omitted from France, times 8 million.”

My first comment.

Anyways…….

P.S.- everywhere I have posted my “ban story” people have agreed with me about Roma fans……just saying.

“He has double the talent that Totti has or has ever had, and that’s saying alot, considering the type of skill Totti has.”

Oh, and if you trouble reading my post’s correctly, I just wanted to point this out for you. THis is a compliment to Totti.

Who I consider a terrific calcio player. Terrific.

All you had to do was scroll up….

beautiful, antonio. your cut-and-paste homage to cassano brought a tear to my eye again. how eloquently put, particularly the part of him being on par with diego….i’m sure you mean milito, right? please say it is so cause i can only stand one laugh attack a week if you are implying maradona.

also, i’m going to sleep much better knowing that you think totti is a terrific player. you have no idea how long i was holding my breath hoping for antonio to give totti his props. otherwise, i’d have a hard time convincing myself what a great player he is.

ps. i’m happy for you that you managed to get people to agree with you on your ‘ban’ / possible glitch with the web site. it must have given you a real sense of satisfaction, particularly since you originally came into that blog firing your guns and then pretending to be innocent and victimised by “attacks”. what a sucker that chris guy is, huh? you are no doubt a master of illusion….or is it delusion?

lamagica,

“your first comment departs into a tirade over vomitting about a comparison between totti and baggio yet the article almost exclusively discusses cassano…and no mention of totti…or baggio. seriously, wtf?”

First off, I corrected that statement by copying and pasting my CORRECT first comment. I made it even easier for you, (considering all you had to do was scroll up) but what can I say, I’m a nice guy.

“your cut-and-paste homage to cassano brought a tear to my eye again. how eloquently put, particularly the part of him being on par with diego….i’m sure you mean milito, right”

On par with Diego? Once again, I will scroll up and read for you. So there’s no confusion. Here is what I said: “Cassano is one the greatest NATURAL talents to ever grace this earth. Plain and simple. Heck, put him up there with Diego. It is very hard, if not impossilbe, to dispute that.” That was a “NATURAL SKILL” comparission. Another one down….

“ps. i’m happy for you that you managed to get people to agree with you on your ‘ban’ / possible glitch with the web site. it must have given you a real sense of satisfaction, particularly since you originally came into that blog firing your guns and then pretending to be innocent and victimised by “attacks”. what a sucker that chris guy is, huh? you are no doubt a master of illusion….or is it delusion”

Firing my guns? Sorry my buddy, wrong again. My first comment, was my opinion on Totti. IT was not directed towards anyone. After posting my comment, which was different from everyone else’s on the page, I was attacked. Then banned.

As for delusion…I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but everyone believe’s it. Roma fans are the masters of delusion. You guys have actually convinced yourself that you stand up there with the likes of Juve/Milan/Inter. Gianfranco posted a terrific comment on his Thursday post which basically defines ROma fans on this site. But, I’ll let you actually go and read that one. The finger movement is good excersise….

I gave the credit for the terrific comment to the wrong person. (Even though Gianfranco had some very good, and truthful, comments about Roma supporters.) Alessio, is the writer of this novel:

Re: Roma, I’m not too surprised. They’ve drunk the Koolaid, and they are so whipped up in a fury about everything it’s border-line laughable. Maybe pathetic. There are a few sane heads over there, but unfortunately they have gotten outnumbered in the last year, a lot. The irony is that they are not on the level of Juve/Inter/Milan, more close to their brothers Lazio and Fiorentina, but they are convinced otherwise. They talk of their beautiful calcio, the “storia,” their legends, and the city. Rome’s a nice city and all, but Firenze is better. And I’m partial to Bari. So who cares? And storia? It’s a story of being runner-up in everything. Legends? We’ve all got ‘em. And beautiful calcio? I’m not a “sexy football” fan, but regardless it’s not like they are Barca. They’ve been playing funky attacking formations with Spaletti, not much longer. Capello certainly didn’t play an attacking formation, he got off that kicks at Milan.
Now that Serie A is recovering, they are being left in the dust. If Prade+Sensis don’t act quickly, they will be left behind.

blah blah blah Cassano is good Totti is better. At least for now. Totti is on the downslide and Cassano hasnt reached his peak yet so its hard to tell, but as of now, totti is better. (but ADP is better than all y’all, so EAT IT!)

antonio, great effort there on proving absolutely nothing to me. i believe the topic was cassano so i’m not really sure what all this baggage is about but i’m sure it means a lot to you given the effort and time you spent on tracking down other contributors’ comments from other blogs. i guess if you don’t know how to say what you think for yourself, it’s always a good fallback to quote gianfranco or alessio. however, for the record, i couldnt give a flying fuck what you or those other two guys have to say about me or a collective group of people (i.e. “you roma fans”). whsat does that matter to me? obviously it matters to both of those guys and to you. i don’t see this kind of shit being tossed around by the roma blog author (and believe me, there is ample opportunity to do so), who in my opinion is by far the most knowledgable and most entertaining at the offside hands down. maybe it’s because he couldnt really give a damn about all this other shit that seems to consume you and a few others.

ps. yes, i wonder why a roma fan would consider being “up there” with juve inter or milan? i’m not sure, but ever thought that it might have to do with having won a title and finishing runner’s up for 5 of the past 8 years? not to mention doing this without having to resort to cheating their way through those achievments and or chucking rediculous amounts of money at has-been or close-but-no-cigar type players. personally, i’m actually quite content with the notion of roma not being “up there” with them. scandals are not really my cup of tea and i’m actually going to enjoy watching roma participating in europe this coming season. maybe this time inter will actually show up and do better than roma given their quadruple payroll and overinflated squad.

“maybe this time inter will actually show up and do better than roma given their quadruple payroll and overinflated squad.”

Must I remind you who the most recent CHAMPIONS are?

I guess being better than EVERYONE else over the course of an ENTIRE SEASON, can be considered, as you put it, “doing better.”

But, I guess the standings lie sometimes. It’s a crazy world out there….

really, inter did better than roma in the cl? they are actually champions, you say? wow, inter won the cl. i must have missed that after mancini’s ‘resignation’. yes, it is a crazy world out there if that actually happened and the majority of the football world hadnt noticed. i guess moratti and co. managed to corrupt that league as well…..

as for the domestic league (since now you bring that up), again, you’d probably say, “how could any roma fan consider roma close to inter”, right? the fact that roma were actually on the verge of making the 11-point deficit comeback complete on the last fixture day (and actually were temporary leaders at halftime) would make roma sooooo distant from inter, right? then again, cassano is on par with diego maradona in your world so i’m not expecting a logical response.