Tuesday 31 January 2012

Fabio turns 29 today!







Happy Birthday Quagliarella!
At 29 you probably think that he would be nearing the final years of his career, however you would be wrong. With all the latest gizmos and training techniques players are hanging around a lot longer, and believe me when I say, we still have a lot more to see from Quagliarella!
He initially came to Juventus on loan in the 2010/11 season and instantly made an impression by becoming Juve top scorer with 9 goals. However tragedy struck when they Played Parma after the winter break, a serious injury that meant the end of his season and saw Juve fall to seventh in the league. This didn’t stop Juventus from buying him outright and making him a fully fledged Juve player.
Throughout the 2011/12 season he has only managed to make 9 Serie A appearances and scoring just 1 goal, this is in large part due to the new management in Antonio Conte and the style in which he likes to play and least we forget there is no European football, so Conte has the luxury of playing with more players. This has lead to the ever growing rumour that he will leave in the January transfer window with a possible move to Roma.
Roma are looking to replace the likes of Oswaldo, who they lost to injury and Marco Borriello who they offloaded to Juventus. Even though Fabio got sidelined again after sustaining a fractured cheekbone in the 1-0 win at Lecce, I don’t believe he will go as he is contracted to the club until 2014 and he is well known for doing the unexpected, which is a quality they desire the most as evident by the draw against Cagliari, teams are fast realising a way to stop Juve from playing their game. Fabio gives them something unexpected and it would be pure foolishness to send him away.
Quagliarella still has a lot to do in what I predict will be a long and successful career!

Saturday 28 January 2012

Juventus V Udinese- the sequel







On a snowy evening in Turin Juventus still manage to grab a victory! Juve had to get a win to insure a little breathing space from Milan, who, at the start of the game were only a point behind. The Old Lady was without some regular players and had Marcelo Estigarribia and Emmanuel Giaccherini from the start. And they both worked extremely hard to help warrant their inclusion. The South American was a huge factor in the opening goal when he was able to put in a great cross which Fabio Quagliarella got a head on to it that sent it towards goal, and Alessandro Matri was the quickest to react when Samir Handanovic knocked it away only for Matri to knock it into the back of the net just 3 minutes before half-time.





Juve bossed this game and had over 60% possession with Udinese making sporadic attacks but lacking that spark. However, that spark did come in the 56th minute courtesy of Antonio Flora Flores, all credit goes to Guidolin as it was his second half substitute who got Udinese back into the game.










What I did start to notice in Juventus' game that did begin to disturb me, the player were showing the imaginary card more, especially when things weren't going their way- come on guys, you're no Inter! Throughout the game Juve had more shots with 23 compared to Udinese's 11, but only 5 were on target. They really need to work on this, because with the 2 Milan clubs getting stronger and stronger, their margin for error is quickly decreasing. After Udinese equalised I did begin to see a little panic kick in with the home team and it could have rather easily cost them. Yet Juve showed great strength of character and determination to get a second, and it was that man again, Matri, who was helped by the flick by second half substitute; Claudio Marchisio.










This was a game not helped by the elements, as the snow had made some tackle look worse than they were and players were falling to the ground more often. Yet we got the vital 3 points and possibly gave Gianluigi Buffon the best birthday present, 20 games and still unbeaten- Grazie Antonio Conte!

Gigi Buffon-Happy Birthday to You-

Happy Birthday to the Gentle Giant!















Happy Birthday “ SuperGigi”

It is still hard to believe he is only 34! He is regarded as not only one of the best keepers in the world, but also a veteran of the game. Gianluigi Buffon started his playing career at 17 with Serie A side Parma, at  the tender age of 17 and being thrust into one of the most competitive league In Europe, a normal player might have buckled under the pressure, but not Gigi, he announced himself by becoming a regular starter and then got the attention of Juventus where he has been playing since his record breaking move in 2001.
He has amassed a huge amount of success at The Old Lady but it has not been sunshine and flowers all the way, the Infamous Calciopoli scandal in 2006 which meant that he played in a lower division, yet even this major setback Buffon found a way to see the positive side and saw it as an opportunity to win something new. And lo and behold they found their way back to the top a year later. Juventus and Gigi spent a couple of years at the top but then through management changes and questionable transfer decisions saw Juve drop out of the top 4.
In the 2009/10 and 2010/11 seasons saw Juve drop to seventh in the league for two consecutive years, and what makes this even worse is the fact that this season has meant no European football of any kind. However this season has been one of their bests in a while, they currently hold top spot, albeit by just one point but they have also remained unbeaten in 19 games!
This is largely due to the heroics and consistently great performance by Buffon, some feared that we may never see the real Buffon after his back injury, but that injury has done nothing to dampen his abilities as he has shown on numerous occasions. One would think this would inflate his head, but Buffon has managed to keep his feet securely on the ground maintaining that hard work and training with the Goalkeeper coach is the key to his success, that and a little bit of luck!
He still continues to collect accolades, the latest being voted as best keeper of the past 25 years by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics( IFFHS). He amassed 226 points and came ahead of Iker Casillas and Edwin Van Der Sar.
During their meeting with Roma in week 5, Buffon performed a vital save that helped secure a point, which in turn helped the remain title contenders. During the match against the side from Rome, Buffon managed to keep his cool and stop Francesco Totti’s penalty to keep things level.
Gigi is not only loved by the fans but he is also respected and held in high regard by his own teammates, as Claudio Marchisio underlined when he was quoted to saying “ that he is a great champion” A champion like Buffon deserves to be in Europe and he has stated that this is one of his goals. We can all say with certainty, that if anyone can help Juve to get back into Europe, it’s Buffon.
Having made over 300 appearances for The Old Lady, I’m looking forward to him making 300 more!
Boun Compleanno “SUPER GIGI”

Tuesday 24 January 2012

Juventus V Roma- Coppa Italia









Juventus win by 3 goals and Il Capitano gets his goal, and what a beauty... it was as if he had rolled back the hands of time! Unfortunately for Roma their talismatic leader could do the same, and they bow out of this competition. Juventus obviously didn't want to risk injuring their players, so they used this as an opportunity to give some playing time to the fringe players like Luca Morrone, Marcelo Estigerribia, Fabio Quagliarella and Marco Borriello, the later got a chance to play the team that loaned him out, even though he said in the press that this wasn't about revenge, you could see how much he wanted to score against the team that let him go. He showed the desire and the right work ethic to be a Juve player yet Antonio Conte decided to take him off in the second half, and it may have been the right decision as he was " butting heads" with his old teammates. Before his move to Juve, Marco was not well liked by the Juve fans, they thought he was a mercenary and had no loyalties, but as he was substituted off he received warm applause... you see, every fan appreciates a hard worker and he did work his ass off!


Juve were up by 2 goals before halftime thanks to Emanuel Giaccherini and Alessandro Del Piero, Yet on the 69th minute disaster struck for Roma as Erik Lamela lashed out at Giorgio Chiellini off the ball, this incident was caught by the linesman and meant that Roma had to play the remaining 21 minutes with just 10 me. Roma had looked out of sorts when they had 11 players on the pitch, so when they went down to 10 it was all Juve with some sporadic chances by Roma.

Now Juve must play either Milan or Lazio in the quarter- finals, but first they must prepare for Udinese in Serie A- No rest for the wicked!!

Saturday 21 January 2012

Atalanta V Juventus















The Old Lady remains unbeaten after 19 games, amazing yes, but they can't be suckered into thinking they're invincible. It's understandable that they would be high in confidence but they must be sure not to lean towards arrogance. They did show a little of the arrogance in this game but it was more evident in last weekend's game where they were held, the early goal led to a sloppy error.









However, this game saw the first half end goalless, which was remarkable considering how open and end to end it was, with both sides having shots on goal in the first half and many of Juventus' goals were denied by some impressive goalkeeping and the post. Alessandro Matri had all 5 shots either going wide, hitting the post or were just to tame to trouble the keeper, he looked like a man who was lacking in confidence, I just hope he finds it soon, as it looks like he will have to work harder with Simone Pepe going off in the second half with an ankle injury. But the player that had impressed me was Paolo De Ceglie, he was working hard and putting decent crosses in and even had a couple of shots, they may not be enough to trouble anyone, but he is a defender afterall. All these rumours about him departing for Rome have obviously had an affect on him and he wants to prove his worth to Antonio Conte, let's hope it worked!









Surprisingly Claudio Marchisio looked off his game today with miss placing passes, losing the ball easily and generally falling all over the pitch. He was then taking off at half time and replace by eventual goalscorer Emmanuel Giaccherini. One player that I'm surprised was still on the pitch was Giorgio Chiellini, at one moment he was actually seen taking the Atalanta players shirt off. Sometimes he doesn't think things through and it could have meant a penalty for Atalanta and a very different game.









If you had just looked at the stats and saw that Juve had over 60% possession, that it was easy, but having the ball for a long period of time doesn't mean alot, you have to have possession in the right areas, which the side from Bergamo did have, they just lacked the final touch to make it count.









Juventus have now got a four point lead, that is until tomorrow when Milan face bottom of the table side Novara- to say that the title race is tight would be an understatement!

Thursday 19 January 2012

Happy Birthday Claudio Marchisio

The Little Prince turns 26 today!
















Happy Birthday Claudio!
Was there any doubt about how important this young lad was going to be for Juventus and the supporters? There was a public outcry when they even contemplated selling him. Before the start of the season when the transfer guru in Turin basically bought a new team for new coach Antonio Conte, there was a very real fear that they might get rid of “ Il Prinicipino”. This was not helped when they brought in Andrea Pirlo, a well known maestro of the midfield and an extraordinary player, but significantly older. Yet, this was Juve and as I have been a fan for a nearly a decade, I didn’t put it past then- even though I didn’t hide my outrage at the notion that they may sell him! Yet my fears were completely unnecessary, as he has struck up a perfect partnership with Pirlo and Arthur Vidal.


Even with clubs like Manchester United after his signature, he pledged his future to Juventus by signing another contract, keeping him at the club for another five years. This year has undoubtedly been one of his best after breaking his personal record of just four goals with six already, only one behind team mate, Alessandro Matri. He scored the first of his six goals against Parma which ended 4-1. He has always had a moment of creative genius in his game, but in week six against current Scudetto holders Milan he had two! He left it late but boy were they perhaps the most important goals!!


His great run of form also translated to the Azzurri when he scored his first international goal against Serbia in a Euro 2012 qualifier in early October after just a minute.
He received maybe one of the highest compliments in his career when Juventus legend Pavel Nedved said, “ he could be one of the greatest players in his position, he just needs more experience”. A normal player might have let this go to his head; after all he did get a major compliment from the club legend himself. Yet he has kept his feet firmly on the ground and maintains he still has a lot to do, he has stated on numerous occasions how Juve aim to return to Top flight European football. All I know is, that with the hard work, determination and extraordinary intelligence shown by this home grown talent, who dreamed of playing alongside his heroes at the tender age of seven--- European football may be on the horizon…. If he can refrain from getting to many yellow cards!


Claudio Marchisio has already amassed over 100 appearances for The Old Lady; let’s hope he continues to play 100 more---- Happy 26th Birthday to The Little Prince of Turin!!!

Wednesday 18 January 2012

De Ceglie to Roma???









You got to be kidding?? He has all the potential to be a great left back not only for Juventus but also for the Italian national squad. All he needs is for Antonio Conte to show some faith in him, and when Conte does, he has worked himself into the ground, as was evident in last Sundays draw against Cagliari. He showed spirit and was enthusiastic and least we forget he did put in one or two decent crosses! He is still very young and it shows in his game, but don't discard him all he needs is a little guidance. It has been mentioned how Chiellini can play left-back, but as we've seen in previous games, it's really not his position. I think it is cruel to just leave him on the bench and he does deserve playing time, but will he really get it at Roma??






I wish Paolo all the luck in the world and I hope he doesn't go---but if he does go, make sure you get an adequate replacement!

Monday 16 January 2012

Lichtsteiner turns 28 today!



Happy Birthday Stephen!
Lichtsteiner has quickly become a permanent fixture in the starting eleven for Juventus, and this is only his first season at the club! And what an impression he has made, his non- stop running down the right flank have earned him the nick name “ Forrest Gump”, he has often run so hard and for so long that he more often than none looked as though he was going to collapse. He made his debut in the game against Parma, and what a debut it was, as he scored the opener in the new Juventus Arena.
Stephen is no stranger to the Italian game as he played 100 games for Lazio, so it was hardly surprising that he fit in relatively easy in the Turin club. He has played in all seventeen games for the side showing to us all how important he has become, he may not be knocking the goals in, but again that’s really not his job, his job is to provide cover and defend when his team have lost the ball but also charge forward when the team have the ball. This requires you to have truck loads of stamina at your disposal, which he obviously has.
He had missed the chance to play in the 2006 World Cup but got his chance to play for the Swiss national team in Euro 08 where his performances not only secured him a place for his national team but also attracted the interests of clubs like PSG and Everton. He opted to sign a four year contract with Italian side, Lazio. He had three successful seasons in the Italian capital but decided not to see out his final year there, instead he went north to Turin, and on the 27th June he was an official Juve player and for a conservative fee of 10 million over three instalments, you could consider that a bargain for what we’ve got. Lichtsteiner is a big strong and reliable player, and at only 28 he has a long way to go!!

Sunday 15 January 2012

Juventus Vs Cagliari
























Everyone presumed this would be an easy win...oh how they were wrong. The first half was pure class by Juve, they dominated and passed well and were rewarded by the early goal by Mirku Vucinic, and Cagliari had some sporadic possession. That all changed in the second half, Cagliari came out with anger at not being awarded a penalty in the first half, and it looked as though the Coach used that anger to light a fire under the players as they scored the equalizer within 5 minutes of the restart. In stark contrast to Cagliari, Juve looked rather tired and lackluster especially since conceding a goal so soon after the restart, they did have their chances to go ahead again but either it was save by the keeper or went wide. In total Juve had eleven shots with only three on goal to Cagliari's nine shots with only one on target. This tells me that The Old Lady shot put in some more time on exercises like target practice.










This was not the same Juve as before, after conceding they didn't panic or give up some more goals as they have in years gone by, they attacked, but this was becoming difficult as they found it difficult to keep the ball and to perform some quick passes like in the first half, they didn't lose the spirit just the fluidity.A large part of this could be attributed to the fact that they ran themselves into the ground during the first half, that they simply ran out of steam. If this is the case they should learn to conserve their energy, to catch their breath they should attempt to pass the ball among themselves like Barcelona do, but then again there is a reason that Barca' do this so well--they are currently the best team in the world!










Another thing that I see creeping into Juve's game of late is that some players are to keen to throw themselves to the ground and hope to get a free kick than play on i.e Alessandro Matri and Claudio Marchisio. Matri could have used his strength and at least made the keeper work, instead he went to ground rather theatrically and saw himself get booked. And I have praised Marchisio for his great work ethic and abilities, but he is starting to go down looking for a free kick or some protection from the referee, maybe if he was Andrea Pirlo he would get the benefit if the doubt..most of the time, but when you are aggressive yourself and get as many warnings as he has,you don't get the same luxuries.










Juventus will look back at this game as one they would've had in the bag. Two points lost and maybe even slipping out of title contention. However, Juve shouldn't panic and look towards next weeks game against Atalanta as a game they really must win, and I can't believe I'm saying this but let's hope Inter beat Milan in the evening!

Sunday 8 January 2012

Atalanta V Milan..



A win that means Milan remain on top, due to their superior goal difference putting them infront of Juventus. But it wasn't as easy as the scoreline might suggest, and Atalanta with the league's top scorer in German Denis was not going to wait and kept fighting till the very end. But the Rossoneri had The Big Swede, and it was Ibrahimovich that opened the scoring with a confident taken penelty on the 22nd minute. There was however a young man who was lacking this- Alexander Pato, he had been in the media for a while now with talks of him maybe reuniting with old coach Carlo Ancellotti and Leonardo in Paris, the latter introduced him to Italian football. It would be a sad day if he left, after all, he is just 22! And a player that young and talented is a rare find and Milan would be foolish to give up on him, yes, I realise he is slightly injury prone but the Milan labs are almost legendary certainly they can help the lad. He needs to play on a fairly consisted bases inorder to regain his confidence and goals. If Milan decide to bring in Tevez, this may cause an unbalance in the dressing room, with all those egos flying about and no REAL leader, it will be a huge blow to the "Duck's" confidence, it will be as if the coach has given up on him already.



Weekend movies...







The first visit to the cinema since July 2010- that should tell you something about the quality of movies! I had my doubts about this movie, but I remained open, the movie I speak of is The Artist. A silent movie....okay now that may put you off, but the kids nowadays have be spoilt by all this 3D malarkey and they have forgotten how to use their imagination. It's set in 1927 Hollywood when silent movies were all there was but then talking movies pop up and threaten to end this form but it also a love story, to the past, present and a girl who has a youthful ambition.





This was a refreshing change from all the "fluff" out there and gets 3 out of 5, broaden your horizons and take a look!





Movie 2- Rango a great animated movie that everyone in the family can enjoy. It's about a chameleon, voiced by Johnny Depp, who's looking for adventure... and boy does he get it! After falling out of the family car he finds himself in the Moave desert- cue comic antics. But he eventually comes across a village of other weird creatures who are in desperate need for water.





This cartoon illustrates how we take water for granted and how the encroachment of man has upset the natural order. A great movie and a great way to get through to the kids- and some adults! 5 out of 5, some great voice actors!