Satisfaction and Frustration

By: Jeremy | March 22nd, 2008

If you had told me before todays game that we would have gotten a point against Sampdoria, I would have taken it in and gone home. But after todays match, only getting a point has to be a dissapointment. Without talking about what could have been, look at it as payback for the recent Napoli game and getting wins like we did against Atalanta. The great thing about this game is that if your team is truly good, they will have moments of good and bad breaks. We have gotten our share of good ones since the Napoli game that began this turnaround. Cagliari has shown in the second half of the season they are a good team. Will this recent form be enough to save the season? I am almost beginning to think so.

There have not been two hotter teams in recent weeks in Serie A then Sampdoria and Cagliari. Cagliari traveled to Sampdoria to play them today and Sampdoria did not have a full team. Timing and luck seem to run together sometimes. I think Ballardini is starting to get it and has learned from Giampaolo and Sonetti that you cant sit back and play for a tie with a bunch of old and tired defenders and an Argentinian striker who has no clue. Today he finally put out his offensive weapons including Foggia who got the start. With Jeda and Acquafresca being supported by Foggia and the non stop Biondini, this team can play some fast moving and offensive soccer. That is what they did today and they took it to a team who likely will be playing European football next year.

Jeda should have had a goal at the 26th minute but the Sampdoria goalie made a great save. Foggia was excellent in the first half and continued pressure up the side like only he can and his crosses were great. He was finally rewarded with a goal in minute 42 with a cheeky lob over the goalie. Foggia to me is a little like a young George Best(although Bestie is my favorite player of all time and no one comes close to him in my opinion). Where Georges problem was attitude and alcohol, Foggias is attitude and fitness. Foggia is young enough where if he cant play 90 minutes because he is too lazy to be in shape or because he cant handle the knocks of soccer because of his size, then he is not getting all he should out of his talent. Small players like Messi and Maradona have shown that even small players can be huge on the pitch and Foggia can do the same. Where was the Foggia of today against Siena and Catania?

Until recently, with a 1-0 lead, especially on the road, Cagliari would have packed it in and tried to play defense only. Instead they continued to pressure in the second half. Acquafresca had two great chances and on one of them inparticular he showed his inexperience and allowed defenders to catch up to him. We expect him to be a savior at 20, but remember this is his first season in Serie A. What he is learning and gaining now will be the benefit of Inter or some other big club very soon. Get your pictures of him in a Cagliari jersey while you can Cagliari fans. A bad offside call prevented another goal he scored from counting. What can you say. Conti almost also scored a goal as he hit the bar with a nice shot. We should have put this game away so many different times today.

Storari was again a rock in the Cagliari goal. He keeps things calm and gives his players a feeling of confidence. When tested, he generally comes through and does not flub the easy chances. I think Cagliari has opened up their offense more because they have faith in him. You cannot underestimate the power a great goalie can have to make a mediocre team better or how a poor goalie takes a great team and leaves them lacking in confidence forcing more out of the field players then needed. Storari is just in Sardinia to become a legend by saving the club from the drop before he goes back to Milan. The problem is that when you play an open offense, you often get caught giving away crappy goals because the field is open and the players tend to mark the other team less closer. Of course this happens to Cagliari as Francheschini scores for Sampdoria with a little header in stoppage time and the game ends 1-1.

So close yet so far away(one of my favorite Darryl Hall songs) to the three points. I am satisfied yet oh so frustrated that one of Cagliaris better performances of the year against another a hot Serie A team and all we get is a point.

Let look at the good of todays matches. We pick up a point on the road against a top 5 Serie A team and other then Catania getting a point on the road against a lazy and mentally defeated Atalanta, things could not have gone better for Cagliari. Empoli lost, Livorno lost, Parma lost, and Reggina could only manage a tie at home against a mediocre Napoli team. If we can get our three points back from the federation, we have come all the way back. Catania, Parma, and even Torino cannot begin to think they are not relegation candidates and might even finish below Cagliari.

Next week is a great week to play Roma if you ever want to play them. You get them at home, they have shown the past two games against Lazio and now Empoli(even though they won), that they arent in typical Roma form or that their mind is elsewhere ie they have a game against some club called Manchester United in the Champions League two days after the Cagliari match. You dont think that some of their stars will be on the bench or maybe not even make the trip to Sardinia? Maybe we can steal a point or more against them.

With Empoli likely to get thumped by Sampdoria, Reggina heading to Genoa to face a tough team that just beat Palermo on the road, Parma traveling to Juve to get killed, Catania and Torino likely playing to a 0-0 draw, and Livorno playing lucky Siena, next week is a real week where Cagliari may not lose any serious ground in the relegation battle even with a loss to Roma. As we go through the meat of our schedule, if we can stay in the race, we can determine our own destiny with games against Livorno, Empoli and Reggina the last week of the season at home. If a win against Reggina at home is all we need to survive, I will take it right now. However the way they are playing lately, that game may not mean anything and we may already be safe by week 38.

It has to feel good to be a fan of this team right now. I can get upset at the fact we didnt get the deserved three today, but I am now a lot more optimistic then I was just recently. They have the confidence and Ballardini may now be playing the right players to where points on the road might be possible other then just an occasional lucky tie. Id love to have the Siena and Catania matches back, but right now,just give us the three points the federation took for something that has nothing remotely to do with on the field lineups or performance, and we can now say we are in this battle to the end.

This team has guts and I hope their hard work and efforts are rewarded. Keep supporting your team Cagliari fans and Roma, please come to Sardinia on the 30th thinking you are just on a nice island vacation before the big United match, because we will be bringing our fans big time and will believe we can get the three points.

Happy Easter Serie A fans!!