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Quagliarella, ella, ella (eh eh eh)

December 6th, 2008 | By: Julian | 9 Comments »

There’s a word that gets thrown around a lot in Italian football- trequartista. A trequartista is an offensive player who plays between the midfielders and the forwards (In Italian, “trequartista” means three-fourths; ie, the player isn’t in the midfield and not quite at the position of the forwards, but somewhere in between). Trequartistas are revered for their creativity and ability to push the game forward. They link the midfield and attack and are often the main offensive force on the team. Think of them as the toothbrushes of soccer; you don’t have to have them, and English people certain don’t like them, but they just add so much when you do use them. Famous trequartistas include Totti, Baggio, and Del Piero, amongst others.

Don’t touch his nipples. He doesn’t like that.

Trequartistas usually get all the praise because of their ability to create attacks that no one else can seemingly see, to pull off slick passes and flicks that dazzle and mesmerize. However, trequartistas seem to be a dying breed in soccer, as more and more emphasis is placed on the physical nature of the sport, rather than the creative nature of the players.

But there’s at least one young player plying his trade in Italy who’s playing creatively and pulling out goals from his ass. And he’s not even a trequartista. Fabio Quagliarella is a different kind of player entirely, capable of scoring seemingly any kind of goal, from anywhere.

He’s had nice volleys, which may not dazzle but still impress:

But some of his goals are just jaw dropping. I’ll let these videos speak for themselves:

If Christiano Ronaldo had scored this one, it would’ve been goal of the decade.

Turn and shoot. He makes it seem so simple, yet he wasn’t even looking at the goal when he pulled the trigger.

And he’s not afraid to take chances with the ball, either.

Quags has also been quite the showman on the Azzurri, as well:

Finally, here are a few compilation videos that show some of his best, most creative, and just flat out mesmerizing goals. My full apologizes for the music, which sounds like something you’d hear in sketchy strip clubs.

44 seconds into this one is just incredible.

He’s great at shooting right after a quick turn, and also has stunning accuracy from long range. And if you give this guy a sniff at a volley, he’ll bury the ball in the back of the net. In fact, the only problem Quagliarella seems to have is that he’s maddeningly inconsistent. He’ll probably never score 25 goals in one season, and the only goals he seems to score are spectacular ones. Which means he’s amazing footy eye-candy, but he’s not going to be the focal point of the attack. He’s currently at Udinese and plays alongside Di Natale and Pepe, two guys who provide consistent goals and work rate, respectively. Quags often provides the creativity and bullshit factor that many teams are desperately lacking.

So people often complain that trequartistas and creative players are fading out of the game. But guys like Quags remind us that there’s always room for invention and entertainment.

Tags: Fabio Quagliarella, Group E, Italy, trequartista

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Comments

By vin | December 6th, 2008 at 11:39 pm

If you go over to the Udinese page, I posted an… interesting photo of Quags.

Posted from United States

By kqql | December 7th, 2008 at 12:21 am

Azzurri Fwds as of 12/6/08 from Serie A, Bundesliga, Liga.

Toni -> 8 Goals + 3 Assists/ 12 Games
Gila -> 9 Goals + 2 Assists / 12 Games
Miccoli -> 7(2 P.K) Goals + 2 Assist / 12 Games
Rossi -> 6 Goals + 2 Assists / 10 Games
Quags -> 5 Goals + 1 Assist / 14 Games
Cassano -> 5(1 P.K) + 2 Assist / 14 Games
Toto -> 5(2 P.K) + 1 Assist / 9 Games
Acquafresca -> 5(1 P.K) + 0 Assists / 13 Games
ADP -> 4(1 P.K) Goals + 3 Assists / 12 Games
Iaquinta -> 2 Goals + 1 Assist / 11 Games
Borriello -> 1 Goal + 1 Assist / 7 Games

Amauri -> 7 Goals + 0 Assists / 14 Games :p

By MAD | December 7th, 2008 at 4:16 am

It seems that you have divined Cordoba’s most devastating defensive tactic:

The Dreaded Purple Nerple!

dum dum DUMMMMM

By 9 champs league | December 7th, 2008 at 11:13 am

look guys, let us be honest with ourselves!!i have just finished watching the afternoon matches…i will be eagerly watching the evening derby between genoa and sampdoria…..facts r facts r facts…still, i repeat, the two topItalian strikers r Gila and Toni definately!!i mean, their lack of success in the national team can be attributed to bad luck/injury/lack of confidence..whatever….It is a matter of time for them to fire..i mean Gilardino just today scored two great goals for Fiorentina against an ultra defensive Torino..let us not dwell on past…in the future, if Gila and Toni click, then we r in for a great time…Gila is leading the serie A charts with 11 goals( Zero penalties) as opposed to 11 goals of Milito( 4 penalties)…all this talk about miccoli and others is useless, i cant see Miccoli scoring in big matches…We dont need Amauri, he should never even be selected for our great team…Gila, toni, Quagliarella, Di Natale, Iaquinta is just good enugh…
Giovinco scored his first vital goal for Juve and what a goal it was!!!
Also Vieri scored for Atalanta against a rapidly deteriorating udinese??? and iam happy for the veteran who has had a great deal of bad luck in recent times owing to injuries..

Posted from Spain

By gio | December 7th, 2008 at 11:21 am

thank you, thank you, thank you, Julian.

YES!

it is so about time that someone spoke up about this guy. his goal count maybe lower than some others because he also knows how to divide the glory and allow his partners to score as well, but scoring goals is not the only trick. because of the danger he poses from all angles and all distances, he draws the opposition out of their ordinary defensive positions thus creating more space in which his teammates can act.

if he is fielded with the right set up behind him for support, he would be the most valuable player for the Azzurri short of bringing Totti back.

hope Lippi comes to the same opinion. Loose Toni and Gilardino and get this guy in.

excellent spotlight.

By gio | December 7th, 2008 at 11:28 am

Gilardino and Toni can only work in a 4-4-2. since the Azzurri resorting to 4-4-2 is the equivalent of returning to catennacio, this is not going to happen with the current crop of players nor with Lippi. thse two guys will not score otherwise and should be replaced for sure.

Toni was a good striker but he has become slow and lazy because the midfield of his Bundesliga team does all the work for him. Gilardino has scored so much only because of his midfield support and flanking strikers – if you ever watch Fiore, Melo, Monti, Kuzi, Jovetic and Santana provide him with so many excellent and accurate passes. Moo2 and Gila are otherwise fairly replacable. If Fiore had Miccoli, they would be doing even better. look at how many amazing scoring opportunities Gila has missed.

simple goals to games played in the blue shirt favours Quagliarella over both Toni and Gila since e-2208.

By 9 champs league | December 7th, 2008 at 11:52 am

quagliarella is an excellent prospect…he should be started rather than being feilded as a sub for the last 8 minutes or so..i mean, he could be feilded in the hole behind two strikers..with the likes of Pirlo, De rossi and montolivo behind him supplying all the ammo, he could be devastating , especially in shooting long rangers or even making it simple for the two main line strikers

Posted from Spain

By Vincent | December 7th, 2008 at 9:55 pm

Sorry, but Gila scores goals, simple as that. Even in his first season at Milan, he had 17. What he needs is another striker to play off of. If he played with Miccoli, ADP, Totti, etc… he would do much better for the Azzurri.

By kqql | December 7th, 2008 at 10:16 pm

U21 Players this week:
From Saturday

Balotelli – 0 Goals/ 6 Games (1 CL goal + 2 CL Assists in 08/09)
Was banished to Primavera by the special one

De Silvestri
Played 90″ vs. Inter – Sucked today

From Sunday

De Ceglie
Came in 82″ vs. Lecce

Giovinco
Played 90″ vs. Lecce – Played great, scored his 1st Goal w/Juve in Serie A

Marchisio
Played 90″ vs. Lecce. – Did well…..future Azzurri player

Lanzafame – 0 Goals + 1 Assist/ 8 Games (But not many minutes)
Slept in vs. Cagliari

Abate
Came in 63″ vs. Fiorentina

Osvaldo – 0 Goals/ 7 Games
Came in @ 76″ vs. Torino

Bocchetti
Played 90′ vs. Sampdoria

Criscito
Played 90″ vs. Sampdoria – Did well

Coda
Played 90″ vs. Atalanta

Motta
Played 90″ vs. Atalanta

Cigarini
Is out Injured

Consigli
Warmed the Bench vs. Udinese

Dessana
Warmed the bench vs. Genoa –

Santacroce
played 90″ vs. Siena – 1 Yellow Card

Russotto
Slept in Vs. Siena

Acquafresca/ Freshwater – 5(1Pk) Goals/ 13 games
Played 62 vs. Palermo

——————————————->
Extra

Pelle – 0 Goal + 2 Assists/ 8 games
Came in 89″ vs. Heracles

Lupoli – On Loan @ Norwich City – 4 Goals + 1 Assist/ 13 games
Came in 90″ vs. Ipswich

Di Carmine – On Loan @ QPR – 1 goal/ 11 Games (Not many minutes latley)
Came in @ 90″ vs. Wolverhampton
———————————————->
Sorry I don’t have Serie B players info.

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