Eat, drink, and be meritocratic.

December 27th, 2011 | by: gadsby | Comments Off

So, with the winter break hitting its stride, and the transfer window yet to open, we arrive in a doldrums of calcio. Fortunately for us in the journalistic and blogging fields, Prandelli has chosen to make things interesting with some controversial selections.

Firstly, we have 29 year old Gubbio defender Simone Farina called up as part of Prandelli’s ongoing re-definition of the word meritocracy. Farina has not been called up for any (God Forbid) footballing prowess. After all, if he was, it would be unlikely that he would be playing at a mediocre Serie B side, though, in fairness, that didn’t stop Alessandro Del Piero in 2006-07 or Angelo Ogbonna in 2011. No, Farina has been called up because, when offered a bribe, he thundered out a “Thanks, but no thanks” that made the world stand still. Rumour has it that Alessandro Matri has asked Fabio Quagliarella to offer him a bribe to improve his chances with Prandelli, but this is still unconfirmed.

It is not known if Simone Farina will get a game, as, with respect to him, this is a move that has Cesare will fix it written all over it in ninety foot flaming letters. Nonetheless, if there’s anything we’ve learned from the last two years, it’s that a call-up to the national team can catapult any player to national attention, even if it ends up completely throwing his career under the bus.

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In other news, we’ve come a long way when since the beginning of the year, a dreary era when Simone Farina could legitimately be considered a starter based on form. While not all are convinced, I think Prandelli has done excellently on the meagre cards he has been dealt, bringing La Nazionale back from the catastrophic state the second coming of Marcello Lippi had plunged it into to genuine Euro hopefuls. We’ve seen the emergence of Alessandro Matri and Mario Balotelli as truly top class players, the league dominance of Inter come to an abrupt halt, a resurrection of a competent ItalJuve, a friendly win against the surprisingly beatable Spain, and a revival in squad depth. We are no longer dependent on any one player, as we were under Prandelli and Lippi (Honestly, Gilardino? What was he thinking?). Cassano’s injury proved that. I can say that, as 2011 closes and 2012 begins, for the first time, I have hope.