Italy

Roman Rule: Real Men Wear Pink

Suited in a masculine pink, Palermo showed the promise that had many tipping the Sicilian club for a European berth this season. Zac Lee Rigg investigates.

Oct 5, 2009 10:14:23 AM

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Javier Pastore - Palermo (Grazia Neri)

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By Zac Lee Rigg

Of the Italian teams that participated in the Champions League midweek, only one won. Inter sneaked past Udinese by the width of a 93rd minute Wesley Sneijder goal; the rest dropped points.

The only CL team to lose was Juventus. Ciro Ferrara suffered his first defeat as a head coach, sending out his team to be outclassed and outworked by a Palermo side that came up trumps by a score of 2-0.

For the Rosanero, it was only the second win of the season. Along with Napoli (which Palermo beat on the opening day of the season), Palermo has been the disappointment of the season from the list of teams not named AC Milan. In the offseason, the team brought in the coach of its Sicilian rivals Catania, Walter Zenga, along with some fresh players for its lineup.

Though he's looked largely overwhelmed, Zenga knew exactly what to do against Juventus. The Italian clubs returning from midweek action have looked jaded and exhausted this season, perhaps a testament to the parity in the league, so Zenga had his team on all-out attack mode.

Fabio Simplicio, last season's attacking midfielder, held down the defensive midfield position and looked to move the ball to the players in front of him quickly. Whenever Palermo got the ball, which was most of the first half, it pushed forward urgently, almost frantically.

Usually when coaches of weaker teams pull a similar blitz, the squad tires before the game is out. Zenga never encountered that concern because Palermo went two goals ahead in the first half. Highly rated Javier Pastore stripped a rather dismal Felipe Melo and fed Edinson Cavani for the opener, and then Simplicio played the offsides trap perfectly to slam home the cushion goal.

In the second half, it was merely a matter of Pastore continuing his brilliant link up play to the forwards, who drifted wide to find more space. The Argentine even scored a perfectly legitimate goal which was wrongfully called offsides. When pinned back and defending, Palermo wanted victory more and worked harder than the visiting Juventus.

For Zenga, the trick now is to coax this type of all-action performance from his squad week in and week out, especially against the clubs which will finish near his team come the last day of the season. Despite his bullish claims preseason that his side had its eye on the Serie A title, the games against slightly lower opposition will be where the season is determined for Palermo.

"Now I hope that this victory will make us take off, and allow us to kick start our season," the tactician said to Sky.

For Ferrara, he'll want to forget his first loss as quickly as possible and concentrate on lifting his side out of its rut (0-3-1 in the last four games). His success with turning the team around quickly will go a long ways towards indicating the overall title prospects of this Juventus side.

Julius Cesar
Consul Of The Week

The small matter of Simon Kjaer, already one of the hottest defensive prospects in the world, putting on the performance of his life helped keep the blunt Juventus attack at bay. He made at least three lunging tackles that could have earned either the ball or a card, and came up with the ball every time. Even more impressive was how he covered both the central defense and right fullback position in a new 3-4-1-2, which left a great deal of space in his charge. The blindingly blond Dane has the world ahead of him at only 20 years of age, but Kjaer is showing that he's already got the forwards of the world in his pockets.

Cleopatra
Beauteous Moment Of The Week

Narrowly edged out for the Cesar award, Francesco Totti nabs this week's Cleopatra for his first goal against Napoli.

Down by one exquisite Ezequiel Lavezzi goal, the onus fell to Totti to turn the match around, as it so often does. And, as he so often does, Totti obliged. 12 minutes after conceding, he pounced. Mirko Vucinic wiggled free by the endline and cut back for Simone Perrotta in the box. The midfielder hit the ball towards goal (whether it was a shot or a pass is unclear), where it seemed to take a deflection over Napoli 'keeper Morgan De Sanctis. Well, that deflection was actually an intentional clip by Totti, leaving the goalie stranded and equalizing.

Cicero
Quote Of The Week

"I can’t speak. I’m really sorry," Leonardo declared to SkySport.

"I have tried but I can’t physically talk and if I do one interview I will forced to do the rounds with all the news networks. Once again I’m sorry."

RR has played the fake sick card for far less egregious transgressions than leading one of Italy's major club into one of its darkest moments of recent history. Hell, Jose Mourinho goes silent if the referee happens to look at him the wrong way. So surely Milan coach Leonardo is excused from his press conference obligations after drawing 1-1 with a 10-man Atalanta.

Either way, it's unlikely he would have explained why American Oguchi Onyewu sits mired behind four other centerbacks (the most recent of which is 37-year-old Giuseppe Favalli) in the pecking order.

Brutus
Backstabber / Club Hindrance Of The Week

After proving himself fairly incompetent on the international stage, Roberto Donadoni is busy doing the same on the club level. A bright start for his Napoli side earned his visiting side the lead, but the Romans turned the game over through a Totti brace.

An impressive offseason and some of the brightest talents in the league and Donadoni is impressively squandering it all.

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has reorganized the backroom staff, replacing recently sacked Pierpaolo Marino with three different positions (two of which have been filled already). With the Italian papers overflowing with rumors of Donadoni's replacement and De Lauentiis' own rather telling quotes, it seems only a matter of time before the former MetroStars winger is out of a job.

"All the choices I make are directed towards building the club and its project," De Lauentiis said to Rai. "Donadoni? We will see whether any of these decisions will lead to a change in coach. I won't make any hasty decisions."

Results:

Atalanta 1‑1 Milan, Bari 0‑0 Catania, Bologna 1‑3 Genoa, Cagliari 1‑2 Chievo, Fiorentina 0‑0 Lazio, Inter 2‑1 Udinese, Palermo 2‑0 Juventus, Roma 2‑1 Napoli, Sampdoria 1‑1 Parma, Siena 0‑0 Livorno.

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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