I need to see mountains again....

... My heart will always pine for the beauty of Italia, the magnificent buildings, the awe inspiring landscapes and the amazing food. Italy may be a poor country to some people, but in my eyes she  should be considered the riches. Italia has a powerful past and a warm culture as well as having near perfect weather. Yes, I know there is corruption and people struggling to pay their bills, but it's not as if Italy is boasting about being the all powerful nation while their people are living of scraps i.e the U.S and "Great" Britain

The history is perfectly working in harmony with the here and now and the man made buildings work in sync with mother nature to create something beautiful that will last through all the ages. Just to name one of the most popular destination: Rome. Rome is one of the most populated city with over 2.7 million residents and a history that spans over two and a half thousand years, and most of it is still standing! The Roman Empire was once the dominate power in Western civilization, one could argue they still have power and influence us in the way we build shopping malls and other monuments, roads, literacy, military, gardening and not to forget the catholic church.

The natural landscape is a major factor for me, it has been proven that the more green an area the more relaxed and calm the people, this could be why many people in London are the rudest people in Europe!

Another reason is the distinct lack of fast food chains, Mc Donald's and Burger King have started to rear their ugly heads, but with huge disgust from the locals. Italy is famous for their fresh and delicious food, so as a response to this unnatural sugar laden food came the " Slow Food Movement" to make their stance known and to make sure that the sickening food of the fast food world doesn't infect everyone. I mean how busy has your lives become that you don't have time for a well balance nutritional meal? I mean there is a reason why people in the UK and the U.S are so fat, it's because of the Mc Donalds diet. And one thing that I find disturbing and you should aswell, every Mc Donalds meal anywhere tastes the same. Does no one see how unnatural this is?!

Italia is also known for the Renaissance art, particularly Florence. Renascence  basically means "reawakening" it was a way of trying to get back to the glory of Ancient Rome. And who wouldn't want to bask in this beauty and become enlightened? And I answer: the British, they would rather piss in the streets and get drunk- nothing much has change for them as they still are like this, only now the whores don't charge for their services! Not to forget that Italy is also known for the Baroque, Classical and Romanesque styles that many cities today still try to replicate.

I first fell in love for everything Italy at age 10, the history was just so rich and people had so much pride in their country and for good reason, it's amazing! Another thing I noticed is how warm and accommodating the people are, I didn't speak Italian but they tried their best to help me, it's a refreshing change to the UK.

Italians have so much pride in the way they dress, act and in their culture, unlike here, where they work like dog's and then go on a drinking binge at the weekends, they have no culture. The Italians enjoy life and all her beauties, which in Italy is a lot!

I need to return soon, this place is suffocating me! ( I am just excercising free speech and this is just my opinion, afterall...we do live in a "Democracy")

Bye bye Milos....

I've learnt over the years not to get to attached to my players ( Diego!) and even though I am deeply saddened about Krasic's imminent departure, it was just cruel for Juve to leave him on the bench. Football is a very fickle buisness, one moment you could be a God with the ball and the next you're not even good enough to warm the bench as last weekends game against Udinese showed. People seem to forget that this is only Krasic's second season and it is only natural that it would be harder, after all people now know who he is and his style of play- he's no longer a secret!

He is no Pavel Nedved, even though when he first arrived in Turin, that's exactly what everyone said. First of all Krasic is a winger and Nedved was an attacking midfielder, not exactly the same position! And secondly they have very different physiques, Krasic is taller and thinner, it is harder for him to take all the knock that Nedved did but they were eventually too much for Pavel, did anyone contemplate that maybe Krasic didn't want to be in constant pain like the Czech. Milos doesn't have nearly as much trickery about his game and didn't work as hard as Nedved, that was unique to Nedved and I think it was highly unfair to burden Krasic with this expectation of being the next Nedved.

Krasic had great pace and he had the potential to be as good as, but under this new system that Conte brought in he hasn't really played for the Bianconeri in two months and he is desperate for first team football. But even Krasic has to prove his worth and Conte seems to be leaning more towards Simone Pepe who not only helps withe attacking side of the game but also runs back to defend, this is something Krasic isn't known for doing and so he is always going to be second best.

At only 27 he still could have a bright future, however that may be incredibly short if he is going to be heading toward the premiership as the rumour mill has suggested. He has not got the physical presence to endure the yobbish way the British play.

Please show mercy and save him from this terrible fate!

Udinese V Juventus

Not exactly what you expected from two teams who are famous for their counter attacking style. This was a game highly billed as a potential goal feast, yet we we denied this joy as it ended 0-0, which was good for the table but not for the fans.

It started very attacking and open, Juve had 17 shots with only 5 on goal, and that tells me two things...number 1, They INTENDED to win it 2, They need to be more clinical upfront. Earlier this week Claudio Marchisio received the highest praise, when Juve legend Pavel Nedved said he could be "the best midfielder in the world". I dare say it, but maybe all that praise has gone straight to his head, as he was misfiring, but having said that he was the closest Juve player to open the scoring as Alessandro Matri was to busy rolling on the floor! The longer the game went goal less the more frustrated The Old Lady got. This is something the I expect Antonio Conte to stamp out- they're not Inter. However the amount of times they would fling themselves to the floor and complain to the referee, one would think that they were!

I understand that the cold weather adds to the injury, and even though it may not look bad it feel bad, but I have to admit that when Matri went down and then got back up when the ball was put out of play was utterly shameful! It not only taints the league and the game but it also puts your team at a disadvantage, because if you got up straight away you could actually help your team mates. This needs to be taken out of the game and also players shouldn't kick the ball out, the ref should decide, otherwise what happened in this game will happen in others- Udinese put the ball out twice for Juve but when an udinese player was down Juve didn't and it caused an uproar in the stands. Also if a player does go down because of an injury and it halts the attack he should be made to go off the pich for at least 10 minutes, this will soon deal with faking because you can't risk putting your team at a disadvantage for that long.

1 point each and Juve remain joint leaders with Milan going into the winter break.

Juventus V Novara

A 2-0 victory in the end for Juventus, but don't be deceived by the scoreline, it was a tough fight and Novara had no intention of rolling over. This was the first Piedmonte derby in recent years and because of that, there was a little more to it than just the points..it was also about pride. Juve started the game with more control and presence and were shortly rewarded with their first goal when Simone Pepe got on the end of a fabulous cross by Paolo De Ceglie to put them up on the fourth minute. After that Juve felt more in control and thus relaxed ever so slightly. Throughout the game Juve had as expected over 60% possession but they still could put the game to bed till the 75th minute when Quagliarella got his first goal in almost a year and equals the 100 mark.

All credit must go to Novara for frustrating the home side and even putting them under pressure at times. Novara had 14 shots with only 3 on goal to Juve's 26 shots with 12 on goal. What should be taken from these stats is that Juve need to be more clinical upfront, however the Novara goalkeeper; Samir Ujkani has to be given all the credit as he stopped Del Piero from scoring his first goal of the season and holding off wave after wave of Juve attacks.

By the end of the first half and during the second half you could see the frustration starting to bubble over as the game started to introduce more and more niggling fouls and Giorgio Chiellini getting a bit too "eager" with the ball, and if this was a less lenient ref, we might have seen more cards , yet miraculously only 3 yellow cards were produced. What was slightly alarming to see in this game was how the Juve players would surround the ref every time a decision didn't go their way, I would expect this from the likes of Inter not from The Old Lady.

An important three point ahead of the game in Udine, let's just hope this winning momentum can endure the new year!

Roma V Juventus...

This was a game between a team in brilliant form ( Juve) to a team in crippling form (Roma), and for Juventus to only get a draw was frustrating to say the least. Juve had 22 shots with 9 on target to Roma's 3 that were on target, so the same will and desire was with Juve, just not the accuracy. At times Andrea Pirlo looked a little slow, he was misplacing passes and his free kicks were tame and predictable, nothing to trouble the Roma keeper who was exceptionally good to stifle The Old Lady. As a fan this was incredibly frustrating, but I'm a fan and I'm allowed to get frustrated, I wont get sent off, which Vidal very nearly did. He played a major part in De Rossi's goal, and I don't like to blame individuals, but the way he swiped at the ball was the way he plays- he's hot- headed and Conte should have calmed him down at half time.

The second half saw a more cohesive Roma team and the had the ball for large portion of the half, but Juve were not going to surrender their unbeaten record or pass up a chance to reclaim top spot and they pushed on and eventually got the equaliser through Giorgio Chiellini on the 61st minute. However the game very swiftly shifted back in Roma's favour as Francesco Totti got awarded a penalty. On the 64th minute, with Juve only just equalised, they almost lost the lead 3 minutes later but Gianluigi Buffon went the right way and denied the home fans of the satisfaction, but no one from Roma were following up- I think everyone was so sure that Totti would score it, after all it is Totti. Tempers began to rise and their were little kicks being thrown at each other, the good thing was the referee let many of them go thus letting the game flow better, yet with this particular future, it was never going to play out seamlessly and 6 minutes were added on. 6 minutes! I was close to having a heart attack!

Juve have a lot to ponder after this game and they only just reclaimed top- spot and that was due to goal difference, had Milan won their game Milan would be sitting on top. But having said that, Roma surprised everyone and played a very good game. Whomever said Italian Football was dying cleary needs to open their eyes to a little more than just the premiership!

Roma-Juventus preview

Coppa Italia- Juventus v Bologna

It may be an overused cliche' but it is true nonetheless, there are no easy games, as was evident last night as Juve had to fight hard for their victory. Juventus had the majority if possession and chances, but they were either of target of denied by the wonderful talent of the Bologna keeper. This game was a chance for some of the less used players to prove themselves, and Milos Krasic was given his first start and what was clear by the way he played was that this was a man lacking confidence.

He was one player I was secretly praying that he did well as I think he deserves to be playing regularly, yet he didn't find his rhythm, which wasn't a shock since the whole team seemed disjointed at times. The team was not used to playing together and it wasn't entirely their fault as they have not had much playing time, so it wasn't a shock when you saw misplaced passes and mistimed runs. Back to Krasic, he was again substituted on the 65th minute which I believe was a mistake as he had started to get into the game, but what do I know compared to Antonio Conte.

They got the opener at the death of the game when Emmanuel Giaccherni got his first goal as a Juve player, but the Legend that is Del Piero couldn't seem to find the net as shot after shot was either saved or slightly off target, and when it did go in he was a yard off side.

At the end of the 90 minutes there was 5 minutes added time and the game did get a bit heated as a scuffle broke out and Pazienza was brandished with a yellow card. In my humble opinion they were still reeling from that and had not been paying attention as Raggi got on the end of a Bologna corner to push the game into extra time but not to worry as we have Il Principino to clinch the winner, and now we face either Milan or Roma in the quarter final, the latter we also have on Monday- NO REST FOR THE WICKED!

Tevez to Milan???

At first glance you would not be mistaken for thinking that Milan had lost their minds considering what aggravation he has caused at Man City. He has this belief that he was bigger than the club and you couldn't begrudge him for thinking that, especially how he was allowed to take extended holiday to Argentina to see his family.

He has an enormous wage bill that might just be too much for the Milanese side to cope with, but they have apparently agreed a loan with the option to buy- however Man City have not agreed to this, again it is all Tevez. The Manchester club should be over the moon to get rid of a loose canon, he has done nothing less that annoy the fans and his team mates with his antics, will Milan be just the tonic to calm him down, just look at how Milan shaped up Cassano and Robinho. Afterall he is an amazing footballer with a tremendous work ethic ( on the pitch) and can score the odd goal. Yet, the reason behind him kicking up a fuss with Man City was because he started to lose his place with other players coming into form, aren't Milan afraid that the same might occur in Italy? Least we forget, he has Zlatan, Pato and Robinho ahead of him. And we all know about Ibrahimovich, he can be a bit of a diva, but I believe If Milan can sort out the

aforementioned player they can deal with Tevez. People may have forgotten that part of the reason why Tevez became a liability for Man City is because of Manchester, everyone forgets that and we have to admit that Milan is a more glamorous city. All I can say with certainty is that the rest of Serie A should be on high alert- Things are going to become more heated and feisty at the top!!

Visite de Turin

Film review

The Adjustment Bureau- This would have worked better as a comedy, I'm not saying it's terrible but it's not exactly great! It had an interesting premise, there are "beings that control the important things", let me just ask you this... if you had that much power would you use it to control something as trivial as love??

The acting was not terrible but their was no chemistry between the two leading actors, and they're meant to be destined to be together- someone please pass me the puke bucket! And when the so called " angels" revealed themselves to Matt Damon's character, it was done in a flippant way, there was nothing that would make you feel it was serious. Subtle hints of racism did rear it's ugly head, in the hospital waiting room when Thompson reveals how they were involved in the Renaissance and when they left people on their own we got the dark ages. This is blatantly Euro centric, are you telling me that during these tomes nothing else happened?? While Europe was in the dark ages, China was at the height of their civilisation.

The ending just showed how stupid Emily Blunt's character was, she just blindly followed a crazy man who was wearing a " magic hat"- bring in the men with the white coats please!!

Finally the little sum up at the end was a sure sign that this was not worth paying £9 to watch in the cinema.

2 out of 5!