Transfer Day Madness

February 2nd, 2009 | by: Julian |

No, this post has nothing to do with the Azzurri. But the transfer window just closed and there’s been some mighty interesting last minute transfers… Though since this is an Italian blog, all the news will be reported with a blue tint to it.

I always like to think of the winter transfer window as a tease to the summer one. It’s kinda like how you get a few presents on your birthday, which holds you over until the smorgasm of presents on Christmas. That being said, a few teams got some pretty nice gifts this year.

First things first: Robbie Keane went back to Spurs. What does this mean for Italy? For one, we get to laugh at our counterparts over in the EPL. He was supposed to give Liverpool an extra dimension up front, not to mention, goals. He provided neither and went back to the club he came from. So go on, laugh.

Felt good didn’t it?

Arsene allowed Arshavin to arrive at Arsenal (alliteration is a blogger’s second best friend). This could mean that Arsenal have a more creative outlet- if he fits in. This means almost nothing for Italy though, since he’ll be ineligible to play in the CL, being cup-tied and all. But it should be interesting to see how this one plays out.

Quaresma has been sent on loan from Inter to Chelsea until the end of the season. Along with good ol’ Keane up there, Ricky was one of the biggest flops of the transfer year so far. He really didn’t make any impact at all at Inter, and his crosses were often aimed at Mars than other players on his team. Maybe he can improve at Chelsea and return to Inter a better player, but only time will tell.

Roma had an interesting transfer window. They signed two young defenders, but most interesting, Panucci stayed. He’s not on the Cl roster though, and the two young guys are. Hopefully this won’t affect their attempt to climb to fourth and go as far as possible in Europe.

Sadly, one transfer wasn’t resolved- the ongoing Beckham saga. I’ll admit, I wasn’t thrilled at him going to Milan at first. And at his age, I’m still not sure he’s a good long term prospect. But for the present, he seems to be what Milan needs- a hardworking, talented, skilled player who can be a reliable provider for the front line. Is he playing with so much passion because he wants to stay, or because he wants the chance to play for England next year? Either way, this won’t have a true ending until the MLS season started and we see the Galaxy’s roster.

On the plus side for Milan, Kaka is still there.

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Jeff

I think that the Beckham saga is just starting and will blow up into a big back and forth between the MLS and Milan, not as big as Kaka’s saga though.
9 champs leagues

Julian, can u pls start a serious thread along the lines of our probable trumpcard in the 2010 world cup?? i mean, it is about time we stop discussing Amauris and Beckhams???
well, since i started watching football, we have always had an unexpected hero at all world cups..
1990 azzurri squad was probably the strongest technically and tactically as far as i remember…it was a complete squad..probably everyone expected us to run away with the title and expected Vialli and Carnivale to score tons of goals..but as we all know, when we were struggling to put the ball in the net, a pint sized forward was brought on late and he scored the winner and he never looked back..Schillachi was the unlikley and unexpected hero of 1990 world cup squad..
Just like that, in 1994, after a shocking first game and in the second game where he was sacrificed for a goalie against Norway and missed the next game againt mexico, azzurri was all about baggio and his exploits..1998, probably we had a very tough squad , i could not see anyone scoring against our brick defence, but unfortunately, we had to face the hosts France in the knock out stages and it took the lottery of penalties for France to advance!!Robby baggio almost scored a wonderful goal in the dieing stages which missed the post by a whisker!!!!iam sure if we had won against france, we would have gone all the way without even conceding!!2002, well..it still pains me to talk about that..we did not have a great group stage campaign, we lost to Croatia, we just about drew with mexico but the referee cheated us in the match against Korea, as we all know..It was supposed to be Vieri´s world cup but…..2006, everyone expected Toni to be Schillachi but it was definately a collective effort, we did not have any single superman..it was all about buffon, canna, Pirlo, Zambrotta, toni, maybe even materrazzi who all contributed!!
But guys, as i see the 2010 edition, iam really worried!!we dont seem to have any saviour at this moment, i mean let us be honest here, except for Gigi, we definately cant say that we are solid in all other departments, be it defence, midfield or in striking aspects..iam really wary and uneasy..we still have an year or so to sort out the thing, i certainly hope so but still…guiseppe Rossi promises a lot but can anyone see him performing like Baggio ??i mean can he open and carve up tough world class defences??Gilardino has simply not been consistent..Toni, i must admit is getting slow by the day…what about guys like Aquafresca??Balotelli??No way they will be mature in an year´s time to take on the mantle of top strikers for the national team..We have a world class talent in Cassano but unfortunately his off field antics and his rants and his relationship with Lippi makes me feel uneasy…Dinatale??well, he is a decent player who has performed at times but he will be 31 in 2010..

IF THERE IS ONE PLAYER WHO CAN LEAD US TO GLORY IN THIS PRESENT SET UP, IF THERE IS ONE PLAYER WHO HAS A PERFECT TECHNIQUE BE IT ON A CLOSE FINISH OR A LONG RANGER OR EVEN HEADERS, IT IS FABIO QUAGLIARELLA..LIPPI MUST SIMPLY GIVE HIM A PERFECT FIRST TEAM START RIGHT FROM THE FIRST MINUTE AND GIVE HIM MANY MATCHES TO MAKE HIM AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE TEAM..THIS BLOKE CAN SCORE AT ANY MINUTE FROM ANYWHERE AS HE SHOWED US ON SUNDAY WHEN HE SCORED PROBABLY ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GOALS OF ALL TIMES..ON A CROSS, HE SIMPLY VOLLEYED THE BALL BLASTING IT PAST THE HAPLESS NAPOLI GOALIE..IT WAS A VERY DIFFICULT GOAL CONSIDERING HIS POSTITION AND THE TRAJECTORY OF THE CROSS BUT THE WAY HE MET THE CROSS WAS BRILLIANT!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E46e1jDO38&feature=related

This player has scored many a memorable goals, all of highest quality with purest technique but this goal he scored last Sunday is probably the best we have seen in a long long time..
after all, things are not bleak for us!!
John Silver

9 champs: WAY too early to speculate on the 2010 trumpcard. Give it at least another six months. The confederations cup will already give a lot of indications on the matter.

Here’s an article by myself and a colleague on the upcoming Italy-England champions league clash: http://www.footballitaliano.co.uk/article.aspx?id=137 For the record, I’m the one who’s painting Italy as favourites.
tito

Can anyone tell me what time the Italy v Brazil match will be played?? I need to clear my schedule ;^>

Many thanks in advance.
http://italy.worldcupblog.org/ Julian

9 champs league- Here’s my stance on this whole thing.

As far as I can see, there’s only one superstar in the current football world. One player who can literally take teams by the balls, is playing at an absolutely world class level, and will go down as one of the greatest of all time if he keeps up his play. And his name is Lionel Messi.

Now, that’s not to say that Argentina are going to win the World Cup. I firmly believe that a great team is not built of great individuals, but of people who can work greatly together. Who was our superstar in 06? Where was our Baggio then? We didn’t really have one. Buffon was godly and canna was a rock, but who single handedly got us the world cup?

Lippi, that’s who. We didn’t have any superstars and still don’t. Rossi could be one, Gio maybe if he plays, but I’m not seeing any Messis for Italy. More importantly, I don’t think we need one. The trumphcard should be the entire team, not just one player.
forzafrankie

I was hoping Kaka would be gone. Is the issue dead just for now, and will it be reborn in the offseason?
asem

DANIELE DE ROSSI IS OUR X-FACTOR
FOR THAT MATTER HE IS OUR A-Z FACTOR
asem

In all seriousness though, I think Cassano would be the answer to what you’re saying 9 CL, not Quagliarella. Quags is farrrrrr to inconsistent and has a tendency to fade out of games and lose focus.
9 champs leagues

Tx John Silver, it was a great read, i mean ur link…well..about the champions league, it is unfortunate that Juventus is losing the momentum..Roma will not have vucunic and maybe even Totti!!and add to it the Pannucci saga!!Inter has committed foolish act by loaning out Quaresma..even the great Zidane and others like Platini, Nedved and others took more than 7 months atleast to adapt to Italian football..
Julian, i totally agree with ur assesment but iam not at all convinced about ur argument that messi is a superstar , i mean an allround superstar, he still has to carve open tough defences of say Italia, France, Brazil or maybe even England to attain that status..
9 champs leagues

asem, we definately need unpredictable ones like Quagliarella, all said and done, his technique is very perfect, the way he strikes the volleys, the way he heads and most importantly, the way he lines himself and positions himself..he is only 25? if Lippi plays him consistently in faith, ican see him doing great things..as julian said, our squad doesnt need messis, but all said and done, technically and tactically, Italia is right up at the top!!maybe we dont have dazzling showpeice dribblers like messi or ronaldo cristiano( who dives many a times9, but we have players of highest technical ability