And the Winner is……..

1.Ronaldinho

Close but not quite……
2.Paolo Maldini
3.Lionel Messi
4.Ronaldo
5.Zlatan Ibrahimovic
6.Francesco Totti
7.Ryan Giggs
8.Cristiano Ronaldo
9.Samuel Etoo
10.David Beckham
11.Zinedine Zidane
12.Stephen Gerrard
13.Alessandro Nesta
14.Kaka
15.Wayne Rooney
16.Luis Figo
17.Fabio Cannavaro
18.John Terry
19.Gigi Buffon
20.Diego Forlan

Gotta take the whole decade into account when deciding on this list, not just a year or two of brilliance.
Goalies are real iffy but Buffon is that good.

I always thought Lippi knew what he was doing for the most part, but now I am more sure after this weekends announcement that Cagliari midfielder Davide Biondini was named to the Azzurri for the November 14th game against the Dutch and November 18th against Sweden.

Now I am no judge of talent having never made it past bench warmer on the college level, and I am probably a bit of a Cagliari homer, but it is always great to see under the radar hard work and talent noticed by those who understand the game. Biondini has been one of my favorites since he came over from Reggina a few years ago. The guy hustles, plays for the team, and knows how to put himself in the right place to maximize his talent and exposure. With a little work on his shooting, I think he could establish himself as a reserve on the national team for a brief period as long as he does not get a big head and want a transfer to a bigger team so he can end up on the bench rather then in the regular first team.

The midfield is strong for Italy but there are some bench spots that he might be able to sneak into especially with age and injury a factor for the team. The fact he is in the mix shows he is getting some notice as his talent clearly is on the rise and I could not be happier for him.

Here is the Italy squad:

Goalkeepers: Buffon (Juventus), De Sanctis (Napoli), Marchetti (Cagliari)
Defenders: Bocchetti (Genoa), Cannavaro (Juventus), Cassani (Palermo), Chiellini (Juventus), Criscito (Genoa), Grosso (Juventus), Legrottaglie (Juventus), Maggio (Napoli), Zambrotta (Milan)
Midfielders: Biondini (Cagliari), Camoranesi (Juventus), Candreva (Livorno), De Rossi (Roma), Galloppa (Parma), Marchionni (Fiorentina), Palombo (Sampdoria), Pirlo (Milan)
Forwards: Di Natale (Udinese), Gilardino (Fiorentina), Palladino (Genoa), Pazzini (Sampdoria), Rossi (Villarreal)

Speaking of Biondini, he showed his strengths and weaknesses this weekend against Sampdoria. He put himself in a great position with his speed and hustle only to hit the bar when he tried to finish. If he could just be a better finisher, he would really a player. I am still glad he is on our team.

Ultimately though the team won even if it was not a well deserved win. Cassano should have been given a penalty kick and going down to ten men takes any real analysis away from the game. When a team loses with a man less, you cant really say one team played better then the other no matter what happens as they are playing. Cagliari hung tough, got the break, took advantage of it, and deserved the three points. Beyond that, it does not matter who might be the better overall team.

The next game against Milan will be a great one. They can be beaten and Cagliari is on such a roll and with good things happening like Biondinis call up, the team will go into Milan stoked to take a victory.

But for now all Cagliari fans should just give Biondini a big round of applause. He deserves it and it couldnt have happened to a more deserving player who epitomizes what this team is all about.

If you dont think as recent as a week ago Coach Allegri was spending extra time looking over his shoulder for Cellino thinking he could be replaced any second, then you dont know Cagliari and you dont know Italian football.

Just a week ago, Cagliari was fresh off a loss to Catania, one of three worst teams in Serie A, leaving them sitting just above the relegation zone, and heading into a three game stretch against Genoa, Lazio, and Atalanta, not an easy run in a weeks time. With the state of his teams play, especially at home, any more then a combined three points from those three games would have been surprising and such results likely to have seen the coach fired as the downward spiral may not have been able to have been turned around.

What a difference a week makes as Cagliari won all three games and now sits on 16 points, well above safety, and tasting the European positions. Can we have those games back against Siena and Catania?

Italian football is probably the sport with the least job security for a coach as any game with a major following. Other then Mourinho(and dont think he is not under more pressure then anyone considering Inters woeful Champions League performances), is there a coach in Serie A who does not have to worry about getting axed if they lose a few in a row or have a bad game(Juve)or sit in 14th place after a quarter of the season when the fans want you to be in 5th(Lazio). Even in the NFL or NBA, its rare a coach is getting axed after a quarter of the season no matter how bad they are. It happens, but not like it does in Italian Fooball.

Allegri was close to being the next victim of the game and league we all love and he made some adjustments knowing he had little time to turn things around.

Say what you want about foreign players needing time to adjust to the Italian league, but a striker with real finishing ability cannot be buried on a bench, especially when you paid big money for him and allowed his equivalent to walk without much of a fight. Despite the improvement in overall depth, Acquafrescas leaving left a big hole and his chosen replacement was getting splinters and pundits wondering why.

Allegri dusted off his most expensive asset and Nene showed today why Cagliari will extend the budget and spend big bucks for a player like him while Matri, despite his occasional flashes, is the type of player Milan pays us to take the other half of his contract and own him outright.

Yeah I know I bash Matri quite a bit and it must be noted that he has had some big goals for us(I still remember the game against Napoli when we scored two in the final 5 minutes to steal a game), but a striker who has a nose for goal and can finish with authority is worth much more then a guy whose goals are typically scored with little authority and who is likely more suited for midfield. Nene has this talent. Acquafresca has it. Matri and Larrivey do not.

Nene today through down the gauntlet and showed aspects of his game that Cagliari needs if they are to not only be safe but to be real players in this league. That first goal was a header with authority, not a Matri type flick that if it goes in is by pure luck, and that second goal was about beating a lazy defender to a spot and finishing. With Cossus crossing ability this is a dangerous combination and Nenes presence will do so much for the whole team and will make Matri or Jeda look a lot better.

Allegri got him in the lineup this week and he was helpful in a grinded out win at Lazio and the smash the opponent and rub his face in it win today against Atalanta. Teams without that kind of striker cant have games like they did today.

Allegri can say all he wants that it took time for Nene to adapt to the league, but you cant adapt if you dont play. Maybe he has actually adapted faster then we thought. While he wont have games like this every week, we are a better team with him as a starting striker. Period. Maybe Allegri finally gets it and took the club to hit rock bottom to make him see if that was true.

While Allegri tries to fend off expectations by talking about us now being 24 points from safety rather then a just a few points from the Champions League, expectations have to be higher then just survival if Nene is the player I think he is. For all the bad about coaching an Italian team, the good is that most of the clubs are so close, that winning 3-4 games in a row will turn your team from a relegation struggler to a fighter for a European spot. We are now in the latter and with Allegri seemingly now ready to use his expensive weapon regularly, this club could move up higher then where we sit today.

Are you ready Sampdoria? We are coming for you next week.

While Lazio has higher expectations then Cagliari, they may not be any more talented then we are and they will have to turn some of these draws into wins if they are going satisfy the rabid ultras. The maybe unrealistic expectations do not stop their fans from protesting outside the practice facility when things arent going well and pundits must be wondering how long before Ballardini gets let go after his questionable switch from a Palermo side that seemed to have a load of potential to what he thought was the more stable job. The poor guy has really been on the coaching roller coaster and you have to feel for him as what seemed like a safe decision has now turned into a mainland version of Cagliari and Palermo. Atleast it seems like he has the support of management which is not something coaches enjoy for long in the islands. I am sure Cellino and Zamparini are laughing a bit at Lazios struggles.

But is Lazio really in crisis? They have faced a tough schedule so far and have managed to earn draws witht the likes of Samp, Palermo, and Fiorentina, teams they expect to fight with to get to European spots. Their problem has been losing points to teams they really need to beat. That being said, they are only 5 points out of a great position and a couple of wins will turn it around quickly. Its simply too early to tell what will happen and their fans need to back off or they will continue to play tight ala Atletico Madrid and give away points to teams they should beat.

Cagliari is very similar to Lazio in that they have the same number of points and have played some teams tough, yet have given away points to bottom teams like Catania and Siena where results that most would have expected to have gone the other way would put our team in a european spot in the standings. Either way we are where we are and it is a little disappointing. Even the five readers of this blog had to shake their head when I start hinting at Allegris exit if he does not start using his players correctly.

Allegri made changes for the game against Genoa which included Nene starting for the first time. Needless to say the offense showed more confidence and he even put away a PK. The jury is still out on what he will do but we need to find out as Matri and Larrivey are not the answer to replace Acquafresca. If Nene starts again in Rome, it may be that Allegri gets it. If he is benched because its a midweek after a weekend game, it is just another indication that Allegri is still trying to fiddle with his lineup.

With a slew of talent in the midfield and a reminder of how the team went to Rome last year and thumped them, after the win over Genoa, they have to feel they can get a result.

Lazio has been a little inconsistent offensively and while the talent is no doubt there to score some goals, the distractions may make it even worse.

Considering I cant seem to predict anything with any kind of consistency, my thoughts dont mean much but I do like Cagliaris approach on the road. However when facing a team that is under a bit of pressure, they seem to come up a bit short. Quite frankly I dont know which team will show up for either side so I will play it safe.

Prediction:
Lazio 1-1 Cagliari

Prediction record to date:
3-6

Another shock weekend with a surprising result, this time in our favor as Cagliari used the homefield and a bit of help to edge Genoa in the latest of what will be many must win games.

The most important note of the week was the starting of Nene who scored on a PK to tie the game, but who still needs more time on the field to get Cagliaris offense rolling. His presence made the offense better even if the chances were still created and typically finished by the midfield players. Dont make too much of this rare start as a midweek game tells us Allegri wants to use the depth of the team to his advantage even if he is playing his strikeforce depth from the bottom of the deck.

Bad luck for both teams made this game a high scoring enjoyable one, but Cagliaris strength in midfield won this game as it will often have to do until some offensive stability is created.

Genoas first goal was total luck off a deflection where Marchetti had no chance. Cagliaris equalizer by my man Biondini came after a sequence of kicks following a clear offsides. Luck evened up. Genoas second go ahead goal could not have been teed up any better by Lopez who continues to find a way to gift easy goals to the opponents at the wrong time. The hand ball that lead to Nenes penalty kick was really unexplainable as the Genoa player did not know where he was and had no need to do what he did. Luck evened up again. The winning goal from Lazzari was probably the best finished goal of the day after Matris lucky flip giving Cagliari a great win. Lazzari would be a better strike partner then Matri for Jeda if Allegri is unwilling to play Nene.

You can call it luck or whatever you want, but the overall midfield pressure created those chances and the strength of the team which allows substitutes such as Lazzari to come in fresh without a drop off in team performance will win games like these. Cossu continues to be his brilliant self and if we keep him past the winter break, it will be a surprise. He will be with a big club next year but enjoy him as he really should be in the national team for the World Cup.

Allegri may have just played Nene from the beginning because we have a midweek game and he needed to rest Matri and Jeda. Despite the obvious, Allegri surely must see that he needs to give Nene a consistent run of games as his success is needed or we are more likely to lose games like this then win them. Dont expect Nene to start midweek against Lazio but if does not start next weekend, he truly is buried on the bench for the forseeable future.

Despite the win, the team is still too far down in the standings relative to the talent. There are holes with Lopez in the defense and Matri up front, but they can be fixed and a real swarming team does exist if Allegri will let them go at it. This weekend was just a taste of it, but it has to be frustrating to be able to come back twice and fight strong against the likes of Genoa yet we fail miserably against teams like Siena and Catania. If we had beat those two bottom dwellers we would be top four in the standings and that is not asking much. Very tough to figure our team out.

The race for relegation is shaping up and there are 3-4 teams that clearly have problems and Cagliari seems to be just above them even at their worst. That being said, we are relegation candidates until the team can put together 3-4 wins in a row.

With a midweek game on the road to Lazio, a team struggling and feeling like Cagliari that they should be higher in the standings, another tough game is in store for us so lets see how we respond to a confidence boosting win.

Overall we are probably 2-3 points lower then we should be at this point in the year. We have won a couple of games where draws may have been more the expected result and lost a couple of games we had no business losing, but with the overall talent in Serie A, midtable seems to be our ceiling simply because we are too inconsistent like most teams without great players in all positions. We are struggling because we are missing a striker and who we brought in for whatever reason has not been able to replace what we lost. This must be resolved and my thoughts as to what must be done have already been outlined in previous posts.

Its going to be a roller coaster ride for this team this year which should end up with us just safe enough to be happy. While safety should make any fan happy, some of us are wondering what must happen to take that step for a 6th to 8th place finish. We have to feel the talent is there and with a little tweaking, it is not an unrealistic expectation.

Lets go to Rome and take three points and put Ballardini on the hotseat. Why he left Palermo for Lazio is beyond me I dont care how crazy their owner is.

For those of you who care about the Coppa Italia, and we should, we quietly got bounced this week in the third round against Triestina, a decent team, but not of Serie A quality. Say what you want, but that is disappointing and should not happen if the team is ready to begin the season. Not an omen I hope.

There have been a few changes in the offseason most notably the loss of Acquafresca who has now made his way to Atalanta. He has been replaced by Brazilian Nene, last seasons Portuguese leading goal scorer, who the team hopes will mesh with countrymen Jeda to form a nice attack. Nene is for some reason slowly adapting to his new team and Allegri is clearly not going to see what we need from him immediately. We have also added Empoli youngster Mazzoratti who will hopefully motivate fellow defender Canini to improve. Matheu has returned to Argentina. We have also added Barone from relegated Torino who will give Conti support and experience in the midfield which could end up being a team strength if Sivakov can show some talent. Mario Brkljaca, the Croatian who signed when Barone did, receives less attention but could end up helping in the midfield as well. Fini has gone to Siena and while he is getting old, he was a good player for Cagliari who will be missed if one of these new midfielders does not emerge. Bianco has joined Acquafresca in Atalanta. Overall we have added some players needed to replace our losses, but I still wonder if we are missing something, likely in attack.

Lets look at each area of the team and see what could be our strengths and weaknesses….

Coach
Allegri returns to Cagliari after leading Cagliari to a ninth place(should have been higher) finish in his first year. He survived the standard wooing that any young coach with success gets, but he is where he needs to be at this stage of his career. The early season loss to Triestina does not bode well for his preparation mindset. If the team gets off to a bad start, I think it is on him this year. They need to be competitive right away.

Goalie
Marchetti is to goalies as Allegri is to coaches and we are lucky to have him back. He is the top young goalie in Italy and will soon start getting more national team exposure. He should be even better for us this year and will win us some games other goalies do not. His performance in the back will say a lot about how well we do.

Defense
Still a maligned group headed by Diego Lopez who comes back to anchor the defense for one more year. He offers experience and is true Rossoblu in his loyalties, but age is making him mediocre at best. Canini and Mazzoratti are young and have talent but they need to step it up. Agostini should see more playing time and Pisano will get his chance, but there is an open spot and one reason why the Juve youngster is on the radar. This is a weak area for the team but there is real potential and it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Midfield
With Conti coming back and still being our leader, combined with Barone, a player of similar style and experience, we have the leadership needed to control the midfield. If Biondini plays like he did last year and continues to show his energy, along with probably our best player, Cossu, back again in the attacking midfield role, this is our teams strength. Watch how the midfield is controlled and you will see the attackers get more oportunities to score. Sivakov might see some time but Lazzarri is the likely player to get the occasional start and be the super sub. He played great for us last year. Brkljaca is unknown but he will fight Sivakov for the spot after Lazzarri. Depth is needed in midfield and we seem to have it.

Attack
I am really uncertain about the team simply because of the unknown that exists with this group. Acquafrescas loss will be tough, but the team stepped up and bought Nene. He can finish, but he seems to he having a tough time adjusting. Its early but we have placed our goal scoring on him and if he cant be Acquafresca or better, we could be in for a lot of losing 1-0 or boring 0-0 draws. Yuck. Jeda is back and will be the dominant forward until Nene steps up. Matri is still around and will get some starts over Nene until he is ready. A Jeda/Matri attack is not that good. Larrivey is also back from loan lingering around and I dont want to see him on the field. Youngster Ragatzu is another year older and I would like to see him get a chance when Nene and Jeda are not playing. We need to develop this guy. Lots of talent up front, but lots of question marks and inconsistent play which does not bode well for Serie A success. The ball needs to go in the net and it does not matter how well you pass the ball around and dominate in the midfield if you cant score. Fans need to hope for something up front to click or frustration will soon set in.

As with all small teams who manage to survive another year in Serie A, there are new faces and lots of excitment with not too much expectation. The goal is to survive even if we think we can hit Europe because of last years performance. What will make the uncertainty even more interesting is the bottom part of the table is improved over last year. Hopefully we can ease relegation talk with a fast start, but if we lose our first five games, we are in trouble.

So where does the season begin , but in Livorno against a team making its return to Serie A after one year hiatus in Serie B. When you think Livorno, you think Lucarelli. He is to them as Gigi Riva is to us. He is their goal scorer and their success will be based on him. They are in the relegation mix so an early season road game against a relegation team is very important even in week one. I dont know much about this team but they have their own turmoil as they have injuries and we will not see their top team this weekend. This can only help us.

If you remember 2007-08 when we opened in Napoli, a team just returning to Serie A, we opened on the road and destroyed them and had their own fans booing them off the pitch. We are a better team now and there is no reason why this cant happen at Livorno.

With Nene not yet in form, we will see the Jeda/Matri attack. Biondini is injured in midfield so Lazzarri will likely have to step in. An early game on the road will make the experience of Barone and Conti all the more important. Cagliari will look to slow the game down, control the midfield, and take the fans out of the game. Hopefully a surprise goal will lead us to victory.

Early season matches are very unpredictable, especially between on the surface closely matched teams talent wise. At this point it will be exciting to just get back in the thrill of the season. If Allegri really is a good coach, there will be a quick start to the season and I think it begins this weekend.

Prediction

Livorno 1-2 Cagliari

You know its getting to be that time of year for us to get excited as the start of the season is just weeks away. We have our new kits(surely there are better looking players then Biondini to model them), our new sponsor in Dahlia, and even a couple of new players. As the summer has progressed, while understanding a lot goes on at the last minute, part of me is wondering if the team is doing all it can to keep up with the other improving teams in Serie A.

Over the summer we lost Acquafresca and Fini as regular contributors from last years team. While we have seen a couple of other players ie Maggliochetti et al go out on loan, the question is have we replaced these guys adequately to not only maintain a mid table type position, but to possibly improve.

The early signing of Nene, the Brazilian who was the leading scorer in Portugal last year, was clearly a coup. Partnering with countryman Jeda will allow fans to be in for a real treat and thus we have to feel like we replaced Acquafresca adequately and this could actually turn out to be an improvement.

Fini was a nice player and had a great work rate, but he was getting up there in age. We basically replaced him with Mikhail Sivakov, who came over last spring and didnt see the field, but is considered good enough to where we can get younger without feeling like we lost talent by letting Fini move on to Siena. Fini was experienced but Sivakov or maybe even another young player should replace him without a problem in a similar role as the season progresses.

The other player we got was from Empoli in former Milan youth product Lino Marzoratti. He is a good young defender with some under the radar expectations like those of Michele Canini. While Canini has not developed like we had hoped, Marzoratti is young with potential and the type of player Cagliari gets hoping he will show his star power a little later then expected allowing for an asset to be created and used as needed. He will add quite a bit to the defense.

We have gotten some other less known players such as Peana, Cocco, and former Samp man Dessena, but most of them will be out on loan or not a factor for us in 09-10. We also lost Bianco, a nice player who provided depth, but again not an indespensible player. With the return of Larrivey after an exile back in Argentina, the question must be asked is are we through getting new players or are we happy with what we added?

As of right now, Cagliari is probably a 12-15th place team in Serie A. Unless Nene carriers his goal scoring results to Italy, Larrivey finally becomes the new Batistuta, or the defenders all improve significantly taking the pressure off Marchetti, we are just a step above the relegation teams. With the new teams being better then last years new teams, it is going to be a fight to survive. That being said, if anyone can read what is going to happen once you get past the top six teams so early in the year, I hope your bookey is on speed dial.

After finishing ninth, the goal was to see some real effort to improve for the future, especially a future that involves a new sponsor and stadium improvements. Instead, we probably maintained the status quo and with teams like Napoli and Atalanta likely to be better, where does that leave us? I dont think anyone knows even if Allegri seems very content with his team considering the resources available. We could easily be better then expected.

As much faith as I have in management to make for the most part good decisions on which players to keep and which to let go, I still wonder if we have done enough. With new players comes uncertainty and we may find what we brought in makes us better, but I still have concerns. Players like Napolis Mariano Bogliacino could slide to us before the window closes, but I do think another forward or midfielder is needed unless Larrivey is suddenly good or Ragatzu gets to see the field and shows the talent he has.

Its time to get back into the swing of things so lets enjoy who is actually here now. The Dahlia Cup was played this past weekend and it was basically soccers version of speed dating between Fiorentina, Cagliari, and Catania. Catania won and we did little to show we can score, but it was fun to see the team back in action. We are still competitive and easily could have won the Cup.

Lets hope we are not done for the summer. I will keep an open mind, but as we get closer to looking at the players we have, I still think we are a bit short in overall talent. The good thing is that there always seems to be some surprise players every year in Serie A. Lets hope we got one of them.

I am pretty white but was somewhat offended by this topic and the narrowmindedness of idiots who run this website who dont follow soccer and think everyone who knows as little as they do pretends to like soccer for no reason or because they want to look hip and cool to their suburban neighbors.

We all have a story as to why we like the teams we do and my guess is that in most cases we like our teams more and know more about them then the bandwagon jumpers of other sports who like the Patriots, Duke Basketball, or the Yankees when it is convenient. Soccer fans are pretty loyal to their team and can spot a bandwagon jumper a lot easier then the fans of most American sports.

Have a look and share your thoughts.

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/03/03/80-the-idea-of-soccer/#comments

PS…Forza Cagliari!!!