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Phalanx Prophecy: Nutty Napoli
Before looking at the games in American television this weekend, Zac Lee Rigg glances back on the jangled mess Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis created in the past two weeks.
Oct 16, 2009 4:19:36 AM
By Zac Lee Rigg
Aurelio De Laurentiis is crazy.
Depending on your view, it's either the the benign, funny crazy or the full-blown, lock-him-up-now crazy. Since De Laurentiis is usually the solution when I'm scrambling late at night to find a topic for a column, I tend to fall into the first camp.
But that's neither here nor there. Back to the insanity.
Since the last Phalanx Prophecy (roughly two weeks ago because of the international weekend), Napoli president De Laurentiis has fired his general director Pierpaolo Marino, created a new sporting director role for Riccardo Bigon, fired coach Roberto Donadoni seven games into his tenure and replaced him with former Sampdoria coach Walter Mazzari. Then he announced his intentions to build a new "avant-garde" stadium.
Apparently the life of a club president gets dull during international breaks.
The sacking of Donadoni wasn't a surprise. In fact, De Laurentiis never should have hired him in the first place (which he admitted a day before pulling the plug on the former Italy national team coach). Throughout the season, a very talented Napoli side looked disorganized and scattered. After failing quite emphatically with Italy, the signs point to Donadoni -- despite his brilliant Wayne Coyne curly gray hair -- not having the tactical nous to survive at the top level.
His replacement in the hotseat, Mazzari, is relatively unproven. He builds tough, organized sides that generally punch above their weight, but his biggest accomplishments include avoiding relegation despite an 11 point deduction at the beginning of the season (in 2007 with Reggina), finishing sixth in Serie A (in 2008 with Sampdoria) and making it to the final of the Coppa Italia (a year later, with the same club).
That swap, the most high-profile of his moves in the past two weeks, will likely proffer instant improvement on the pitch, so De Laurentiis has largely avoided criticism. However, what may have the deepest implications is the firing of Marino. As general director, Marino essentially ran the club for the five years he was there, bringing the club back into Serie A from the lower leagues and showing the Midas touch by striking gold with Ezequiel Lavezzi, Marek Hamsik, Christian Maggio and Fabiano Santacroce.
Given a rather hefty sum to spend this summer, Marino's purchases haven't panned out as planned just yet. However, seven games in, to expect all the new players to have settled is . . . well . . . insane.
Now it appears that De Laurentiis will involve himself more with the day-to-day running of the club. That may mean avant-guard stadiums, but it also means Napoli will rely on an eccentric film producer rather than the talented football man it had in Marino.
Right now, there's no telling how it will turn out.
And with that note of uncertainty surrounding the future, PP makes its predictions about the games to come.
Last week: 2/4 (50%)
For the season: 2/4 (50%)
Centurion – Roma @ AC Milan
Sunday, 2:30 p.m. Eastern
Fox Soccer Channel
Depending on the result and the impatience of Milan's owners, this could be the last game Leonardo coaches for Milan. Firing him would be premature, but the results have sagged. Reports indicate that a meeting with the old guard (so, about three fourths of Milan's squad then?) convinced Leonardo to switch to a flat 4-4-2, which would likely see Ronaldinho dropped to the bench in the absence of a playmaking role. That's the formation Claudio Ranieri instilled at Roma upon taking over two games into the season, to a much steadying effect. The capital club hasn't lost since Ranieri took over, winning three and drawing two. The fitness of Francisco Totti is a concern for Roma. With a lot of hubbub about a possible return to the Italy squad, Totti is in a tear domestically, scoring 6 and assisting 4 in 7 starts. That's the form the rather penetrable Milan defense doesn't want to face Totti in.
Key man: Leonardo (Milan) will roll the dice for possibly the last time with this switch to a 4-4-2. The Brazilian hasn't coaxed the sort of performances out of his players that they are capable of and needs to remedy that swiftly.
Prediction: Roma win. The last three times Roma has played Milan in the San Siro, it has won.
Optio – Fiorentina @ Juventus
Saturday, noon Eastern
Fox Soccer Channel
When Roberto Baggio traded in Fiorentina's purple kits for the rather more boring black and white ones of Juventus, Florentine fans rioted. Felipe Melo didn't elicit the same reaction when he made the same swap, probably because he had only joined the Viola a year prior, but also because the rivalry has cooled slightly. In fact, relations between the clubs were civil enough to see Fiorentina pick up Juvetus chaff duo Cristiano Zanetti and Marco Marchionni without exorbitant fees like the one needed to snare Melo. Winless in four, Juve coach Ciro Ferrara will demand victory, if only to alleviate the pressure on him.
Key man: Diego (Juventus) lost his blistering early season form in an injury, and needs to prove he can find it again. The three facing their old clubs (Melo, Marchionni, and Zanetti) will be motivated and a talking point, but the game will hinge most on Diego's performance. If he's subdued, Fiorentina could nip something. If he's in the mood, that'll be enough to give Ferrara three precious points.
Prediction: Draw. It's doubtful either team will look especially good as both squads hastily reassemble following the international break.
Decurion – Inter @ Genoa
Saturday, 11:30 p.m. Eastern
Fox Soccer Channel
Without the front pair of Samuel Eto'o and Diego Milito that has scored 8 goals in 7 games this season, Inter coach Jose Mourinho will need to come up with something deserving of the title "Special One" if he's to beat plucky Genoa. A glance at recent results will tell him that his 4-3-3 isn't getting the job done and that a return to the diamond 4-4-2 will reap better results, but less clear is which player should slot next to Mario Balotelli in attack. Genoa has its own personnel problems. Livewire attacker Giandomenico Mesto is suspended and defenders Domenico Criscito, Giuseppe Biava and Sokratis Papastathopulos are injured. Luckily for boss Gian Piero Gasperini, midfielders Ivan Juric and Marco Rossi should return from injury.
Key man: Hernan Crespo (Genoa) donned Inter colors last season. With former Genoa players Milito and Thiago Motta injured, he'll be the only one looking to impress a former team. Even at 34 years old, don't vote against the Argentine striker.
Prediction: Genoa win. Perhaps PP's bravest prediction to date (which isn't saying much), the home advantage and recent lackluster form of Inter should help Gasperini's men nick three points.
Legionary – Sampdoria @ Lazio
Sunday, 9:00 a.m. Eastern
Fox Soccer Channel
When these two sides played in last year's Coppa Italia final, Lazio held the trophy aloft. Things have changed greatly since then. New coach Luigi Del Neri has instilled a ferocious team ethic in his Sampdoria team, leading Antonio Cassano and co. to the top of the table. Lazio also made a coaching change, but lost too many talented players to take full advantage and currently sit midtable. Ahead of hosting Samp, Lazio is without Julio Cruz, Stephen Makinwa, Cristian Brocchi, Lionel Scaloni, Sebastiano Siviglia, Fabio Firmani and Mobido Diakite, and likely doesn't have the bench to recover from so much lost quality.
Key man: Antonio Cassano (Sampdoria) is the player to watch, whenever he's playing, on whatever pitch.
Prediction: Sampdoria win.
Civilians:
Because all the top teams are playing each other, none of the other games carry much significance. One battle worth watching, though, is the one between AC Milan and the United States Soccer Federation. Following Oguchi Onyewu's knee injury incurred on international duty with the U.S., Milan vice president Adriano Galliani asked publicly for economic compensation for the defender's wages. (USSF denies any contact with Milan over the issue.) Galliani normally would have a point, except that Leonardo probably wouldn't have used Onyewu in the four month spell he'll take to recover anyways.
Most likely, this is just more huffing and puffing from the boardroom at Milan that is grasping for anything to detract from its own detriment to the club, but it could make for an interesting story line if Milan decides to pursue it.
Zac Lee Rigg is an associate editor of Goal.com
Keep up to date with Serie A and Italy news with Goal.com's Italy page
Aurelio De Laurentiis is crazy.
Depending on your view, it's either the the benign, funny crazy or the full-blown, lock-him-up-now crazy. Since De Laurentiis is usually the solution when I'm scrambling late at night to find a topic for a column, I tend to fall into the first camp.
But that's neither here nor there. Back to the insanity.
Since the last Phalanx Prophecy (roughly two weeks ago because of the international weekend), Napoli president De Laurentiis has fired his general director Pierpaolo Marino, created a new sporting director role for Riccardo Bigon, fired coach Roberto Donadoni seven games into his tenure and replaced him with former Sampdoria coach Walter Mazzari. Then he announced his intentions to build a new "avant-garde" stadium.
Apparently the life of a club president gets dull during international breaks.
The sacking of Donadoni wasn't a surprise. In fact, De Laurentiis never should have hired him in the first place (which he admitted a day before pulling the plug on the former Italy national team coach). Throughout the season, a very talented Napoli side looked disorganized and scattered. After failing quite emphatically with Italy, the signs point to Donadoni -- despite his brilliant Wayne Coyne curly gray hair -- not having the tactical nous to survive at the top level.
His replacement in the hotseat, Mazzari, is relatively unproven. He builds tough, organized sides that generally punch above their weight, but his biggest accomplishments include avoiding relegation despite an 11 point deduction at the beginning of the season (in 2007 with Reggina), finishing sixth in Serie A (in 2008 with Sampdoria) and making it to the final of the Coppa Italia (a year later, with the same club).
 |
Given a rather hefty sum to spend this summer, Marino's purchases haven't panned out as planned just yet. However, seven games in, to expect all the new players to have settled is . . . well . . . insane.
Now it appears that De Laurentiis will involve himself more with the day-to-day running of the club. That may mean avant-guard stadiums, but it also means Napoli will rely on an eccentric film producer rather than the talented football man it had in Marino.
Right now, there's no telling how it will turn out.
And with that note of uncertainty surrounding the future, PP makes its predictions about the games to come.
Last week: 2/4 (50%)
For the season: 2/4 (50%)
Centurion – Roma @ AC Milan
Sunday, 2:30 p.m. Eastern
Fox Soccer Channel
 |
Key man: Leonardo (Milan) will roll the dice for possibly the last time with this switch to a 4-4-2. The Brazilian hasn't coaxed the sort of performances out of his players that they are capable of and needs to remedy that swiftly.
Prediction: Roma win. The last three times Roma has played Milan in the San Siro, it has won.
 |
Saturday, noon Eastern
Fox Soccer Channel
When Roberto Baggio traded in Fiorentina's purple kits for the rather more boring black and white ones of Juventus, Florentine fans rioted. Felipe Melo didn't elicit the same reaction when he made the same swap, probably because he had only joined the Viola a year prior, but also because the rivalry has cooled slightly. In fact, relations between the clubs were civil enough to see Fiorentina pick up Juvetus chaff duo Cristiano Zanetti and Marco Marchionni without exorbitant fees like the one needed to snare Melo. Winless in four, Juve coach Ciro Ferrara will demand victory, if only to alleviate the pressure on him.
Key man: Diego (Juventus) lost his blistering early season form in an injury, and needs to prove he can find it again. The three facing their old clubs (Melo, Marchionni, and Zanetti) will be motivated and a talking point, but the game will hinge most on Diego's performance. If he's subdued, Fiorentina could nip something. If he's in the mood, that'll be enough to give Ferrara three precious points.
Prediction: Draw. It's doubtful either team will look especially good as both squads hastily reassemble following the international break.
Decurion – Inter @ Genoa
Saturday, 11:30 p.m. Eastern
Fox Soccer Channel
Without the front pair of Samuel Eto'o and Diego Milito that has scored 8 goals in 7 games this season, Inter coach Jose Mourinho will need to come up with something deserving of the title "Special One" if he's to beat plucky Genoa. A glance at recent results will tell him that his 4-3-3 isn't getting the job done and that a return to the diamond 4-4-2 will reap better results, but less clear is which player should slot next to Mario Balotelli in attack. Genoa has its own personnel problems. Livewire attacker Giandomenico Mesto is suspended and defenders Domenico Criscito, Giuseppe Biava and Sokratis Papastathopulos are injured. Luckily for boss Gian Piero Gasperini, midfielders Ivan Juric and Marco Rossi should return from injury.
 |
Prediction: Genoa win. Perhaps PP's bravest prediction to date (which isn't saying much), the home advantage and recent lackluster form of Inter should help Gasperini's men nick three points.
Legionary – Sampdoria @ Lazio
Sunday, 9:00 a.m. Eastern
Fox Soccer Channel
When these two sides played in last year's Coppa Italia final, Lazio held the trophy aloft. Things have changed greatly since then. New coach Luigi Del Neri has instilled a ferocious team ethic in his Sampdoria team, leading Antonio Cassano and co. to the top of the table. Lazio also made a coaching change, but lost too many talented players to take full advantage and currently sit midtable. Ahead of hosting Samp, Lazio is without Julio Cruz, Stephen Makinwa, Cristian Brocchi, Lionel Scaloni, Sebastiano Siviglia, Fabio Firmani and Mobido Diakite, and likely doesn't have the bench to recover from so much lost quality.
Key man: Antonio Cassano (Sampdoria) is the player to watch, whenever he's playing, on whatever pitch.
Prediction: Sampdoria win.
Civilians:
Because all the top teams are playing each other, none of the other games carry much significance. One battle worth watching, though, is the one between AC Milan and the United States Soccer Federation. Following Oguchi Onyewu's knee injury incurred on international duty with the U.S., Milan vice president Adriano Galliani asked publicly for economic compensation for the defender's wages. (USSF denies any contact with Milan over the issue.) Galliani normally would have a point, except that Leonardo probably wouldn't have used Onyewu in the four month spell he'll take to recover anyways.
 |
Zac Lee Rigg is an associate editor of Goal.com
Keep up to date with Serie A and Italy news with Goal.com's Italy page
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