“Gasperini is the coach who put me in most difficulty. I would change but he would adapt, time and again.” - Jose Mourinho Hastily made first impressions and endless weary comparisons. Everyone is constantly guilty of them and as football fans and observers become more judgemental than ever before, both are becoming increasingly more frequent. Small, inventive Argentinian striker? Label him the ‘new Maradona’. Tall, mobile French midfielder? Quick, compare him to Patrick Vieira. Young, articulate and successful Porto coach……..you [...]

All week we have unveiled the winners of our Team of the Year voting with a mixture of regular and guest writers. Here’s your winner for every position, starting with TB’s take on the strikers. There are a multitude of fantastic strikers plying their trade in Serie A, but for the 2010-11 season, two names rose to the top: Napoli’s Edinson Cavani and Inter’s Samuel Eto’o.  The former garnered 32% of your votes while the latter picked up 25% to [...]

This week, and with little fanfare, Marco Boriello officially became a Roma player with the capital club paying Milan €10m to make his loan spell permanent. Simultaneously, speculation abounded about Bojan Krkic joining Giallorossi ranks in a convoluted agreement with his current employers, FC Barcelona. But while Borriello’s formal acquisition went almost under the radar, perplexed tifosi discussed the mechanics of the proposed ‘Bojan deal’ and indeed the merits of Barca’s diminutive forward. Talk of Krkic as a ‘Nou Camp [...]

Inter have been coach-less for little under a week since Leonardo’s official departure from the club last Friday (June 17, 2011). An outsider may look at Inter’s recent coaching trend and make a false assumption that the club has returned to the frequent coaching turnover of the late 1990s and early 2000s. This is not the Inter of ten years ago, as many casual observers would like to believe. In the past thirteen months, Inter have won trophies at the [...]

All week we will be unveiling the winners of our Team of the Year voting with a mixture of regular and guest writers. Here’s your winner for the trequartista position, as Francesco Pizzolla explains Kevin-Prince Boateng arrived at Milan under curious circumstances. The German-born Ghana international had impressed at the 2010 World Cup and caught the eye of Genoa owner Enrico Preziosi. Preziosi bought Boateng and brought him to Serie A. However, after undergoing a medical with the Rossoblu and [...]

All week we will be unveiling the winners of our Team of the Year voting with a mixture of regular and guest writers. Hernanes: Lazio (34% of vote) That Lazio bounced back to become serious contenders for European football owed much to their Brazilian midfielder.  He brought a balance, vision, flair and character to the team which it had sometimes lacked.  If they can keep a hold of him, they have a man who could be at the heart of [...]

“I prefer to close out the season, remembering that, according to what we’ve said to the president, I will surely remain at Palermo next year as well.” These were the words spoken by Palermo starlet Javier Pastore towards the end of last season. Naturally, the talented trequartista was continually asked throughout the entire season whether or not he would be moving on, and each time he provided a similar response. Javier wanted one more year with the Rosanero before a [...]

As recently as a month ago, not many people could say they had heard of Stephan El Shaarawy. Serie B can be very hard to follow (in Italy as well as abroad) and very few could say they had seen the fantasista work his magic on the pitch. Fast-forward one month and the 18 year-old is on the way to becoming a household name. After some stunning performances in the Serie B Promotion Playoffs, the Genoa-owned player attracted the attention [...]

All week we will be unveiling the winners of our Team of the Year voting with a mixture of regular and guest writers. Good things tend to come in two: Bert and Ernie, pairs of socks, Franco Baresi and Paolo Maldini. Following in the footsteps of the later this season have been two outstanding centerbacks for AC Milan, Thiago Silva and Alessandro Nesta. Like Harry Potter and Professor Dumbledore, the former has taken to the Azzurri legend as a student [...]

All week we will be unveiling the winners of our Team of the Year voting with a mixture of regular and guest writers. Here’s Rocco Cammisola on a suprising choice. Some players can go an entire season unnoticed, but they put their fair share of effort and work rate in. The results are positive and they develop both on and off the field. These silent partners in football’s team game will rarely win a game for your side, but they [...]

All week we will be unveiling the winners of our Team of the Year voting with a mixture of regular and guest writers. Mattia Cassani has exhibited all the qualities of a great right back for the Rosanero, earning him accolades and acknowledgment as one of Serie A’s best at the position. Possessing a quiet leadership that earned him the vice-captaincy at Palermo to go along with superb technical abilities, Mattia commands the right line week in and week out. [...]

All week we will be unveiling the winners of our Team of the Year voting with a mixture of regular and guest writers. Here’s the first entry, courtesy of the excellent Danny Penza. For much of his career, Christian Abbiati played second fiddle to a number a different goalkeepers. Right or wrong, Abbiati rarely got consistent minutes in goal as a starter. Furthermore, the goalkeeping position for Milan had basically been a revolving door for the past couple of seasons, [...]