Candy-Man
May 2 2005, 07:11 PM
Serie A's Heroes And Villains: Round 34
HEROES
Gilardino & Lucarelli
The two strikers will go in Serie A history as the only two players to have scored a poker of goals in the same encounter. The game is obviously Parma-Livorno which ended 6-4 in favour of the Gialloblu where these two Italian strikers proved their worth yet again. It¡¯s a rare feat to see a player score four goals in a match, let alone see two different players scoring four goals each in the same encounter! Definitely Azzurri material.
Milan
The last team standing in the Champions League proved on Saturday they still have the strength to fight for both objectives as the Rossoneri defeated Fiorentina 2-1 in a very difficult encounter. With all the absences due to suspension and the players¡¯ minds probably already on the PSV game, Ancelotti¡¯s squad still managed to win three precious points ahead of Sunday¡¯s big game against Juventus, which with all probability will assign the Scudetto to either side. And thanks to Saturday night¡¯s crucial win, Milan seem to have the edge over the depleted Juve side.
Serie A
Serie A was one of our heroes last week and to prove our point Italian football offered us another brilliant goals and excitement galore weekend. With 44 goals scored throughout the whole weekend, at an average of 4.4 goals per game, Serie A showed doubters how wrong they are to think that calcio is boring with no excitement whatsoever. Let us just hope this excellent season continues this way for the last 4 matchdays as well.
VILLAINS
Juventus
Not for their on-pitch performances, which did improve in recent weeks, but for their off-pitch antics. A press silence ahead of the most important match of the season? Very unfair for the public in general as we will not be able to hear both sides of the story. Maybe it is true that recent episodes have damaged their reputation and minimized their pitch performances but still, issuing a press silence will definitely not be helpful. On the contrary it might be more damaging as the players and club will not be able to respond to the insinuations and allegations. Very questionable decision.
Montella
Serie A¡¯s top-scorer could have awarded Roma with the first win in over 2 months and guarantee that the Giallorossi would not be mixed in the relegation battle. Yet Montella shot an amateurish penalty which the opposing keeper had no difficulty in saving. You would expect something better from a veteran player like him, but that penalty angered the Roma fans even further. Obviously he did not take it that way on purpose, even though it did seem so! An excellent season he is having might be marred by this mistake.
Fiorentina
So many mistakes made by this club during this season that it would take too much time to list them all down. The current situation is just a culmination of all the errors Della Valle and company could have easily avoided. Probably the biggest mistake was the sacking of Mondonico. The coach had been building the team from scratch in summer and was even helping the team fight for a Uefa Cup place. However, he was still sacked following some negative results which pushed the ambitious club towards a mid table position. Same story for Buso, who kept the team away from relegation, which brings us to the main point. The Viola¡¯s biggest mistake? Easy to answer: Zoff. A great player and an also good coach but definitely not the right man for Fiorentina. He single handedly brought the squad a step away from relegation after all that money spent by the club during the past year. Survival is a mirage now even though anything can still happen, and if the team does get relegated then a whole project would have been dismantled by very poor management from the top officials of the club. Well done Della Valle and Zoff.
HEROES/VILLAINS
Fabio Cannavaro
Yes that video puts the Italian national team captain in this week¡¯s list. Thing is that the drip he was having was something legal and no one can go against that. It is something which all players take and still do as it is not doping. What may put Cannavaro in a bad light is that he was probably taking it too lightly and joking too much about it. So the Juventus defender is either a hero for being a ¡®martyr¡¯ or he is a villain for being caught doing so and joking too much about it. Your call.
Glenn Debattista
HEROES
Gilardino & Lucarelli
The two strikers will go in Serie A history as the only two players to have scored a poker of goals in the same encounter. The game is obviously Parma-Livorno which ended 6-4 in favour of the Gialloblu where these two Italian strikers proved their worth yet again. It¡¯s a rare feat to see a player score four goals in a match, let alone see two different players scoring four goals each in the same encounter! Definitely Azzurri material.
Milan
The last team standing in the Champions League proved on Saturday they still have the strength to fight for both objectives as the Rossoneri defeated Fiorentina 2-1 in a very difficult encounter. With all the absences due to suspension and the players¡¯ minds probably already on the PSV game, Ancelotti¡¯s squad still managed to win three precious points ahead of Sunday¡¯s big game against Juventus, which with all probability will assign the Scudetto to either side. And thanks to Saturday night¡¯s crucial win, Milan seem to have the edge over the depleted Juve side.
Serie A
Serie A was one of our heroes last week and to prove our point Italian football offered us another brilliant goals and excitement galore weekend. With 44 goals scored throughout the whole weekend, at an average of 4.4 goals per game, Serie A showed doubters how wrong they are to think that calcio is boring with no excitement whatsoever. Let us just hope this excellent season continues this way for the last 4 matchdays as well.
VILLAINS
Juventus
Not for their on-pitch performances, which did improve in recent weeks, but for their off-pitch antics. A press silence ahead of the most important match of the season? Very unfair for the public in general as we will not be able to hear both sides of the story. Maybe it is true that recent episodes have damaged their reputation and minimized their pitch performances but still, issuing a press silence will definitely not be helpful. On the contrary it might be more damaging as the players and club will not be able to respond to the insinuations and allegations. Very questionable decision.
Montella
Serie A¡¯s top-scorer could have awarded Roma with the first win in over 2 months and guarantee that the Giallorossi would not be mixed in the relegation battle. Yet Montella shot an amateurish penalty which the opposing keeper had no difficulty in saving. You would expect something better from a veteran player like him, but that penalty angered the Roma fans even further. Obviously he did not take it that way on purpose, even though it did seem so! An excellent season he is having might be marred by this mistake.
Fiorentina
So many mistakes made by this club during this season that it would take too much time to list them all down. The current situation is just a culmination of all the errors Della Valle and company could have easily avoided. Probably the biggest mistake was the sacking of Mondonico. The coach had been building the team from scratch in summer and was even helping the team fight for a Uefa Cup place. However, he was still sacked following some negative results which pushed the ambitious club towards a mid table position. Same story for Buso, who kept the team away from relegation, which brings us to the main point. The Viola¡¯s biggest mistake? Easy to answer: Zoff. A great player and an also good coach but definitely not the right man for Fiorentina. He single handedly brought the squad a step away from relegation after all that money spent by the club during the past year. Survival is a mirage now even though anything can still happen, and if the team does get relegated then a whole project would have been dismantled by very poor management from the top officials of the club. Well done Della Valle and Zoff.
HEROES/VILLAINS
Fabio Cannavaro
Yes that video puts the Italian national team captain in this week¡¯s list. Thing is that the drip he was having was something legal and no one can go against that. It is something which all players take and still do as it is not doping. What may put Cannavaro in a bad light is that he was probably taking it too lightly and joking too much about it. So the Juventus defender is either a hero for being a ¡®martyr¡¯ or he is a villain for being caught doing so and joking too much about it. Your call.
Glenn Debattista