Forget Safety, We Want Europe!!

By: Jeremy | January 25th, 2009

For those of you that are true fans of Cagliari or any other yo yo/relegation type club, you know coming into a season, your first thought is what must be done to survive to play another year in Serie A. This mindset makes it difficult to be overly positive about your team as every time you take one step forward you take two steps back. You are counting points typically until the final weeks when you realize your fate or manage to survive barely for yet another year. The result is that when you discuss your team or are given a forum to comment, you often show a little more negativity then you like. That Pavlovs Dog theory is definitely true.

That being said, our recent performances continue to amaze even the most positive fans and we now seem to take two steps forward for every one we take back. After todays smack down against a highly placed and in form Lazio, on the road, we now find ourselves in the top half of the table and instead of continuously looking back at survival theories, lets become positive and do the opposite and start believing we can qualify for Europe. For those Cagliari haters out there who might laugh, dont laugh too loudly or you could find us passing you in the standings.

Todays game had a little bit of everything and Allegri continues to show his brilliance while Marchetti and Jeda are showing why they will be serious targets for bigger clubs in the offseason and while the concern over the loss of Acquafresca is at the forefront, Cellino wont hesitate to sell high on these two. Lets hope the new money being put into the stadium makes him think twice about selling the assets you need on the field to justify such a big stadium.

Allegri, who was without Cossu in the offensive midfield, to every ones surprise tossed out Matri to play with Jeda and Acquafresca. This is a move I have always supported and suggested as long as Matri was going to stay on the roster. He is not a lead striker, but with him in a supporting roll to two studs like Acquafresca and Jeda, he can provide some offensive surprises. We knew that with this move, Cagliari was going to open up the attack and go for it.

Ater Lopez made a bad pass as clumsy as the handball in week one against Lazio, it looked it would be deja vu all over again. Instead Cagliari attacked and Jeda scored two before Lazio fans could say “Roma Sucks”. The cheers turned to jeers real quick and Matris nice cross to someone who like Jeda who can finish was a great play even if the Lazio defense seemed like they had cement shoes the whole match. Lazios backline will keep it out of Europe. With Acquafrescas penalty and Matris clumsy but successful header, we were up 4-4-1 at half.

While Lazio pushed forward in the second half and didnt quit, they missed two penalties, justified or not, and you cant do that in Serie A. Marchetti again showed why he is this clubs MVP. While Matri missed an open net as he usually does once a game, the final scoreline was justified. Lazio has to be shaking their head while our confidence and team unity continue to grow.

This game is the kind of game that makes challenging for Europe not such a pipedream. We went down quick on a bad mistake to an in form team on the road and instead of quitting and packing in the back further, instead immediately fought back keeping Lazio on their heels the rest of the game. A typical Cagliari team would have folded but there is simply too much talent and fight in this team to give up. While it is basically the same set of players that lost the first five games, whatever causes players to get results and play with more spirit and confidence certainly has found us.

As of right now, we are probably a top four team when it comes to momentum and an entertaining style of football. Milan, Roma, and yes even Palermo, are the others. To get into Europe, we have to keep this up. The higher you get in the standings, the more a loss hurts. Unlike relegation where a modest streak can keep you safe, wins are a must weekly, especially at home,just to keep a decent position.

So who can we hope to pass and move up? Lazio and Napoli are my first thoughts and something about Fiorentina does not seem right. Genoa still has to show more and Palermo, while playing great lately, is still in our sites.

We have a quick turnaround midweek at home against an improved but still boring Siena. They are the team most like the old Cagliari. They do what it takes to survive and when they win, they win ugly. When you lose to them, it really hurts and the loss to them in week two is probably what destroyed our teams early potential for confidence and set us on a bad path. A loss midweek to them could but us back to the mindset that 15th-17th place is still the likely result for this team.

For now, lets look up for once instead of down. If the boys keep playing like this, the rest of the teams will fear us instead wanting to play us.

FORZA CAGLIARI!!!