One more and its a streak
By: Marco |
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I was hoping for three points against overachievers Parma and La Dea came through. Riding on the momentum of last weeks victory against Udinese we were coming into the match with plenty of purpose. After a very disappointing start we definitely need to continue to win.
Parma had an early chance from a Dzemaili freekick but after a Pannuchi handball Valdez converted the penalty to give us the one goal lead. Later on in the secold half Tiribocchi, with a recent run of good form, converted to give us a 2-0 lead with a header. In the 77th minute Italian prospect Paloschi scored another header minutes later to give Parma a chance to come back. In the end though Parma would lose with Peluso finishing off the Gialloblu in the 83rd minute.
This was definitely a great win and we have a chance to make it a streak when we play Livorno next week. After that we face off against Cagliari before the big game against Juventus. If we can get a cushion before the Turin game a loss shouldn’t hurt us that bad. We do have two Italian Cup fixtures against Lumezzane after the Siena match and domestic matches against Roma and Fiorentina.
Currently we are out of the drop zone in the 16th spot with Catania, Bologna, Livorno and Siena behind us. Once the table straightens out after a few months we should start seeing patterns showing up. I expect Atalanta to push for a mid-table spot but we still have a lot of work to do. Acquafresca needs to start scoring, I know that he can, and with Trib doing well we should do fine.
Category: Atalanta Team News
Well I certainly wasn’t expecting this
By: Marco | 3 Comments
Going into the Udinese match I was expecting a defeat. With Di Natale out of the lineup the chances weren’t stacked as high but it wasn’t looking good. I expected us to shell up in a 4-5-1 and contain the game and scrap it through in true relegation style. But to my surprise they shock me again. Sure 1-0 win seemed plausible but 3-1? Tiribocchi opened up the scoring early in the fourth minute but Lodi equalized a few minutes later (usually this happens). Valdez managed to give us the lead later on near the 70th minute mark before De Ascentis finished it off in the closing minutes of the last half. Overall our team performed great and our midfield definitely was the highlight. Udinese had more possession then us which is a worrying sight but in the end they simply couldn’t get all of those shots on goal. (20 total shots with only five on goal.)
Conte grabbed his first win of the season and De Ascentis made his comeback in a great way. Udinese did put up a fight and linked together some good combination’s and their usual quick passing play caused us some harm but Consigli was on form today and gave a great performance.
Even though we are at the bottom of the table (out of the drop zone for now) we do have more quality than our relegation rivals. We started out with a difficult schedule against Lazio, Sampdoria, Genoa, Bari (horrible match tbh.), Catania, Chievo, Milan and Udinese. We lost the first three matches 1-0 and got drubbed by Bari before tying Catania 0-0 and drawing Chievo, Milan with 1-1 scorelines. Plenty of hard losses and lackluster play against the likes of Chievo.
If I have learned anything from fighting relegation in FM or watching footy you have to beat the teams that you can beat. Don’t lose against Chievo, Bologna, Siena and the like. Milan lost against Genoa and Bologna last season at the beginning and they could have won the Scudetto with those six points. But in Italy the smaller teams tend to give you the biggest problems and overall that is the story of football. Whether its the tortoise play style or Italian time wasting upsets happen a lot and more than it happens in other leagues.
Next we host Parma, sitting at fifth in the league, who have been enjoying a great first season back from the Serie B. But as with Bologna last season I don’t expect them to be in that spot for long. Yeah it would be nice to see but frankly history dictates otherwise. They are 4-4-2 in the first few games and have done well at home with three home wins and one loss. Their away form is 1-2-1 but on the road anything can happen. Regardless we need to capitalize on the momentum from this match and bring in another three points against Parma, Livorno and Cagliari before hosting Juventus.
Category: Atalanta Team NewsRamblings: A new approach to training
By: Marco | 1 Comment
What do Smokey Bears have to do with football training? You ask. Hypothetically everything. Footballers are notorious whiny little girls. If they don’t get a couple hundred thousand a week with a ninety-eight hundred thousand goal bonus with god knows how many in appearances, release, relegation, wage rise per yer, blalalla they start talking about leaving.
You have the Cristiano Ronaldo’s of the world prancing around, showing up late for training and half-assing it all day. They play for money and fame and that’s about it. Sure they still win and look pretty but maybe that isn’t enough.
Maybe they need a little more motivation. Imagine to the teams surprise that the coaches have been replaced with drill instructors from Parris Island and if you leave the training within the next month or two you will be released. The players are forced to stay and endure hell. Smokeys spitting right in your face and screaming about the way your jersey looks or how your Mamma’s chicken dumplings really suck.
Then they start the day the Marine corp way with PT. PT PT everyday. After fifty situps, pushups and pullups they go on a ten mile conditioning run. After that maybe some log pt and another conditioning run. They run another mile to get some lunch, they have to eat it within a certain amount of time and if they leave anything on the plate you get chewed out and have an extra hundred pushups coming your way. After eating they throw some flashbangs and smoke grenades in and get them back out on the pitch for another ten mile run, pushups, situps, log pt heck maybe do some field games and haul big logs / boats around. At the end of the day they finish off with a final conditioning run at 3 in the morning and hit the showers. Then they wake up at five in the morning for the same thing. Give them a few weeks and your team would be so ripped, disciplined and effective you would be epic. Ronaldo would actually try and tackle the other players and win the ball back.
It’s just in theory and honestly probably wouldn’t work but I would pay to watch that instead of half the crap on TV. Gattuso would love everyday of it. Instead of a bunch of 18 year olds you get pretty Italian guys flicking their hair, Spanish guys prancing around, Portuguese doing whatever they do you name it.
Of course the only problem is that the instructors haven’t touched a football and probably never will. Nor would they even know the first bit about the sport at all. To them Cristiano Ronaldo is some guy they want to eat, digest and poop out.
Category: Atalanta Team NewsOn and Off the Pitch
By: Marco | 5 Comments
You can say the title is corny but hey I could think of worse. It has certainly been a while. Even Daryl forgot about me. I have to confess though. I have had a hell of a past few months. After last season I found myself burned out when it came to football. It wasn’t the sport itself but I noticed everything had lost its excitement. I suffered from depression, I still do, but it was getting bad. I decided that I needed to do something and do it quick.
After a few days of planning and organizing vacation time from work (as if there is such a thing) I went out and I travelled. I first flew to London, England and caught up with a friend of mine and hardcore Derby supporter. I also had the chance to catch up with some friends from a few years ago. We hadn’t seen each other in years and it was great to get back together and keep in contact. After two weeks I flew to Palermo and spent some time with my grandfather. I hadn’t seen him in a few months and he certainly helped put things in to perspective. A former spook / career military man he definitely knew how to put it the right way. I spent the next few days fishing and generally relaxing. I even managed to play some football with some guys from around the town. Scored a controversial Inzaghi-esque offside goal in true Pippo style and had a blast. Just being on the pitch felt great.
I will spare you the rest of the story but if you want to hear it just ask me. I travelled to Amman, Jordan then back to Palermo, up the Milan, back down to Palermo then back to London before heading back to the U.S. Spent a lot of money and spent a lot of time travelling but I found something that I was looking for all along.
I was at the Milan – America friendly in Atlanta and I watched Milan get tossed by Chelski in the tournament but still retained hope about the season. Don’t get me wrong I had a chance to meet Leonardo a year or so ago and he was a really nice guy. Also he was a pretty good back for Milan back in the glory days and is a class act. You have to be in order to sit between two of the biggest arseholes in English football history (I forget the names). But as a Football Manager I consider myself to have much more experience than him. I even guided Milan to 13 CL trophies, 11 Serie A’s and 6 Italian Cups among others in the past three seasons of FM. Can Leonardo or Ancelotti match that? Nope 
I was disheartened after the first few Milan fixtures, and I still am, but I regained that passion for football from unlikely sources. Accrington Stanley. Yes now you are saying “Who the f*** are Accrington Stanley?” And I am supposed to respond “Exactly.” And finish my milk. Even though the only milk I like is chocolate milk, when it comes to drinking milk that is. Igea Virtus. Alessandria. Sunderland. Atalanta. Palermo. Of course I have always been a Milanista / Palermitani and I always will. But after watching Igea Virtus, reading Sunderland: A Club transformed, following a little bit of Alessandria’s (another FM LLM favorite) push to the upper leagues and thinking back at last season’s Atalanta I found that passion. I always worried about winning and losing. I would always get pissed off after Milan lost or Team Africa / South America won the Scudetto again. But I realized that football isn’t always about winning that big trophy.
If you obsess over winning championships that you probably won’t win and destroy yourself if you don’t you miss out on the real stuff. I realized that footy is about the battles, the passion, the fans and the future prospect of glory if not end of season glory. Sometimes three points after a seven game losing streak will feel like a championship. It’s about loving a team with all of your heart and continuing to support them even if they are in the doldrums. Even if Milan get relegated, go bankrupt (I heard Qadaffi bought some shares. God knows he can’t even find his way back to his tent.) and become the next Pro Vercelli, I will always love to wear the red and black. I will proudly wear my scarf even if I despise the owners and manager. Even if Atalanta never gets that scudetto, even if Alessandria get relegated back to the Serie C2/A.
Even if Igea Virtus disappears from professional football and even if Sunderland drop down to the Blue Square I won’t forget them or stop loving them. I won’t forget about that Igea Virtus match under the beautiful Sicilian sun. I won’t forget about Roy Keane having his back against the wall and pulling Sunderland forward when the odds were stacked. I won’t forget about those 698 hours of Football Manager 2009 over the last year or so. I won’t forget about the 2,123 hours of Football Manager 2008 last season either. I will rant on how I guided Alessandria to the Serie A but never reached the CL. I will gloat about Robert Cau, Bellini and co who fought it out in the Serie C/B. I will boast about the regen striker who carried my team to near glory and became one of the greatest strikers in Serie A history. The same striker who I sold for 56M euros and bought back for under 1M once he became old. He finished his career with us by the way.
The beautiful game is just that…beautiful. No other sport that I have watched conveys the human emotion and the struggles and wins of life as that game does. On the outside it’s just a game with passionate fans. On the inside it’s full of epic battles and struggles, legacies that have been continued and others that have been tarnished, epic rivalries and important matches; decisive wins and heart breaking losses; big signing transfers that bust the wallet and the ten thousand euro signing that is twice the player of any of your current ones. Udinese – Atalanta and Roma – Milan may seem like early season fixtures but you can already find interesting stories. Atalanta needs to win and capitalize on last season’s successes. With zero wins, three draws and four losses they desperately need to scrape it and get a blanket before Christmas comes. The odds are already stacked against them and the season is definitely going to be a rough one. After Udinese they get chances against Parma, Livorno and Cagliari before heading up against Juventus. Those are nine points that we should be able to get. Udinese are looking great and will probably get the better of us and I doubt, unless we pull a Palermo, that we can stand up to Juventus.
Milan are definitely hurting. We simply haven’t been able to get it right. I will let Gianfraco do the Milan commentary, I am waiting on his emotional outburst and rage quit or I will have to do it myself at the end of the season. Again this might seem corny and nobody will probably read this but if you do just take one thing out of this for me. Even if you already do it or know it just remind yourself. Love the game. Don’t obsess over trophies and ultimate glory / perfection. You won’t ever reach them. Once you get there you will want to climb the next mountain but what happens when all the mountains are gone? Remember that a midseason fixture is more than just a game. Remember that it’s more than just two teams playing on a field.
So to sum it up I am back and I found my passion again. Kaka and Ibra may have left but its not the end of the world. When the next fixture comes around I will slap up a nice and pretty match preview and then have a dismal, depressing and egotistical post-match review blaming the refs, calling it match fixing and gloating that I am twice the manager of Antonio Conte, Luigi Del Neri and Angelo Gregucci combined before getting really drunk and singing Atalanta ultra songs. After that I will probably send in my FM resume to both Milan and Atalanta and wait for a response.
Category: Atalanta Team NewsThe best time of the year
By: Marco | 2 Comments
It’s transfer talk time. My favorite time of the year especially on Football Manager. But unlike FM I can’t make a Atalanta “Galacticos” team, watch the downfall of Inter and Torino (well the latter happened) or actually manage a team. But we can speculate. With Kaka’ leaving and going to Madrid for 65M and Gaynaldo hopefully going to Madrid (can’t wait for it actually) and the possibility of Madrid destroying itself from the inside out the past few weeks have been interesting and the future is bright.
As for Atalanta? Cigarini is gone or going to Napoli and Acquafresca might be coming to Bergamo after he signs for Genoa. That is all I know so far and no Saudi’s have bought us yet…maybe we need a Mr. Omar Sadiki to help us out in the financial area while supplying us with some nice buildings. Though we have a limited budget I can estimate that we have at least 4-6M euros to spend depending on our expectations next season so that doesn’t leave much room. I do have some targets though. (At least one of these players would be great unless we can get some bargains.)
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1. Daniele Cacia
I remember seeing this kid become a great Serie A forward in FM08. I haven’t watched Lecce that much but I can guess that this guy has some potential. He isn’t a Pato or Jovetic but he could turn out to be a decent player. Plus he wouldn’t cost us that much even though he has a co-ownership deal with Lecce and Piacenza.
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2. Roberto Acquafresca
I love this guy. Sure the rumors sound pretty outlandish to me this guy is going to be class. I can see him being a more physical Inzaghi. He can poach goals and can play with his back to the goal. He has a great future and it would be great if we could snatch him up. Better us than Inter.
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3. Paulo Ferrari
Ferrari shows some promise and is a good fullback in Argentina, or has the potential to be, and could probably be bought at a good price. While I am more concerned with replacing Doni and improving our midfield he could add some speed to the defense and support the buildup.
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4. Augusto Fernandez
Maybe its a personal dream but this guy is a legend. If you have read my Palermo FM blog you will see me ranting and boasting that he was a legend in 08. It was true…unfortunately D’Alessandro is a journeyman and will probably never step foot in Bergamo and Augusto would cost a pretty penny but it would be worth it. I could see him doing well in Italy with his pace even though he is lacking in size.
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5. Juan Manuel Torres
We could buy him for peanuts. He is a legend and I dubbed him as “El Dogo” since he is basically the Argentine Gattuso. Hard working, mean as shit and dirty to match it he could bolster our midfield but would miss chunks of the season due to his temperament. Either way it would be worth it. I have seen him hit some great passes and could play a support / defensive role very well.
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These are just some targets that I would love to see come into Atalanta. At least one of the latter players would be great but I haven’t listed the jewels of the Serie B or some lesser known players. With Cigarini leaving we should get a few million that could help with our transfer kitty.
Category: Atalanta Team NewsSeason review
By: Marco | 7 Comments
I am back after a two or three month hiatus (or seems like it). Anyways it’s the end of the Serie A. My TIVO and numerous DVR’s are full of games that I have recorded so I have catching up to do. I did watch Paolo’s last game and I cried at the end like any Milanista but with Enchilada leaving and the possiblity of no Seedorf and Favalli makes it all so much better. Plus Leonardo is Brazilian. Ka-Pa-Ro anyone?
As for Atalanta the season had its ups and downs. We stomped Inter and beat some of the big boys while flopping against donkey’s and other smaller teams so its another mid-table season. Del Neri is out and I have no idea about any of the candidates. Let’s just hope its not Zenga. Cigarini is going to Napoli which is the stupidest move that I have seen but then again let’s hope that we made some serious euros off the chigger man. Maybe Inter or Man City want to buy Bobo Vieri from us?
I only watched Atalanta once or twice over the course of the season but that isn’t important. I was impressed with some of our results especially considering the lackluster squad that we possess. Now for my favorite time of the year. The transfer market. I will come up with a huge list on potential transfer targets and my hopes and dreams that will be eventually crushed.
Category: Atalanta Team NewsFloccari gets the double and SuperPippo becomes a spartan
By: Marco | 3 Comments
Well we finally break the three game losing steak with a win against Bullshit FC. God I hate that team…nothing like a win against well…we shouldn’t have lost against Chievo but the Milan loss was great. HOW CAN YOU SAY THIS MARCO? Well first SuperPippo is my idol. Sure Maldini is all that is man but Pippo is Pippo. He can’t hold off a challenge, run that fast or kick that hard but the man is the best positional striker of all time. He is the definition of the poacher. Nistelrooy can take notes.
Enough with my man crush on Pippo. With eleven games left in the Serie A season clutch time is approaching. My favorite time of year for relegation battles and Milan finishing in 3rd even though they should be first. Maybe next year which is what we say every year. Floccari, as everyone knows, has put in 12 goals this season and is the highlight so far. He deserves the Italy call up since the more capable strikers the Azzurri have the better.
He scored the first on 46 minutes and the last on 73 minutes giving us another solid win. The season has been iffy so far. We should have won a lot of games against smaller sides while we shocked Inter and Roma. Had a couple good wins against the likes of Lazio and Napoli while losing to Chievo and the minnows. Ah…the Serie A how I love you.
What I do love is the anti-Serie A propaganda that is flying about. Sure I could rant about how most English football fans are either American or Asian but I won’t. The EPL is a good league. Arsene Wenger, Fergie and co are brilliant managers. I have plenty of English friends and London is great. But come on guys. It’s football not war. When the 6 x 5 rules comes around, it will, the EPL will be crippled especially Arsenal. Considering the quality of the English players isn’t up to Spain or even Italy on their bad days. Look at the depth of the national team. Italy can call up plenty of good players and even though Sky in all of their brilliance and class says the Serie A is a retirement home what about Dessena, Cigarini, Ballotelli, Fiorillo, Pazzini, ect? I can keep listing them on and on and on but I don’t feel like going through the trouble. You could say that the reason why there is so much propaganda is that most of them are so insecure about their own league that they HAVE to attack others.
I could also rant about the EPL fanboys over in the states and the rest of the world but I won’t. Now don’t come running because I offended you. I don’t care you are wasting time by flaming me. If you want to be a fanboy you should be used to being called it. There is nothing wrong with supporting an English team if you are American, Asian, Angolan, I don’t care. I wish my beloved Hampton & Richmond and Swindon Town weren’t shit but I still love them. But don’t show your ass about it all the time. Congratulations. You are another Manchester United fan outside of the U.K. Nobody cares. When United start losing and another team takes their place which will you support? And they will. That is football. Even if its 40 years from now the teams of today will fall and new powerhouses will arise.
Maybe in 40 years Newcastle might be good team…actually that won’t ever happen (<3 Daryl) MAYBE they should sign Daryl as at least the ass man. He could probably do a class job. Maybe Swindon will become the new Arsenal, a team of youngsters who have so much class but can’t get the trophy. Hampton & Richmond will come up from the depths of the lower leagues and dominate the game. Alessandria and Pro Vercelli will come back to the Serie A after falling from grace…well at least Alessandria. Vercelli are proper sh** right now.
As for Atalanta the closing games are a mixed bag. Our toughest opposition will be the old bitch Juventus but I can expect a loss against them. Maybe we will upset them like Inter and Roma? You never know. We have beaten Napoli and Lazio before. Fiorentina I honestly don’t know. They have been on and off this season. If we win against all of the minnows we should be fine. Another midtable finish…mediocrity for another year even though we were much better this year than last.
Category: Atalanta Team NewsBah
By: Marco | 1 Comment
I have been too tired and swamped to update for the past few days. So we lose to failure extraordinaire Cassano (no offense Sampdoria the guy has no class) and Sampdoria. Well actually Pazzini scored the game winning goal signaling his transfer to his new club from the ugly men in purple. Great time to do it also. Luca and Cristiano had a decent game while everyone else sat around and watched. In other news Doni is knocked out of the “vital” match against Chievo this weekend. Great…and the pretty men in pink want to have Luca in their midfield. Give us Cavani, Lanzafame, Amelia and Kjaer and we will think about it.
No Steven we will only accept those players plus an additional five million. Yes Steven we wouldn’t mine having Guana on our team (for free) as the water-girl. That is how we roll in the transfer market. Also in other news my headphones decided to give up on life and they essential snapped in half while taking them off. I noticed that they were uneven when I bought them but I didn’t pay attention to it. Skullcandy…why have you done this to me? Time to go back to the Siberia’s…
Category: Atalanta Team NewsCiiiigggggaaaa
By: Marco | 5 Comments
Sorry for the delay. Last weekend we faced off against Cagliari in an exciting match (sarcasm). Cigarini gave Atalanta the winning goal getting us another three points. Another win even if we scraped by. Our potential firepower didn’t get a chance to fire but I am not complaining about the win either. At least we staying under the radar for a while which means not as much pressure going into matches. If we beat the small teams we can stay in the top half of the table but everyone knows how the minnows are in Italy.
Pinto Pinto says that we should be able to beat Roma in the upcoming fixture and considering their form we should be able to get some points or at least a draw. I don’t see us losing if we can net a few goals even though Roma’s “resurgence” from the depths of Italian football has been steady I guess. We can always put their breaks on and stop them and it would be funny to not see Roma in the top four which is better for Milan and the rest. Personally my prediction for the top four will be this: 1. Milan 2. Inter 3. Juventus 4. Roma / Fiorentina if either team doesn’t self-destruct. Yes I am pipping Milan for the title and all of the Interista’s can shove it. I guess paying the referee’s in Europe doesn’t work like it does back home Inter?
Category: Atalanta Team NewsFour steps forward two back, another two steps back and then another step forward. Lets do the midtable dance
By: Marco | Add Comments
After our historic 3-1 victory over Inter we came into the Siena and Bologna fixtures with heads high and morale boosted. But Siena and Bologna in their usual manner did the upset again and topped us 1-0 each. Del Neri insisted that we deserved more in the fixture and prior to kickoff Doni and Padoin warned the team to keep their collective heads down and take the game seriously. We did the opposite and lost. At least a draw guys especially against either of the teams. But the Serie A is the Serie A and is always unpredictable. We managed to stop the slow decay with a 1-0 victory against Catania.
We started out strong and fast with Pinto Pinto (yes I coined that name) giving an good effort and Guarente eventually scoring in the 24th minute. Padoin and the rest of the on form guys had a decent second half and we deserved the three points against the elephant men. The Old Hag wants to buy Floccari and if he has to go we might as well get something out of the deal even though I know we won’t make any big moves in the off-season. But we can always hope for the likes of Titus Bramble in the back-line.
Del Neri is now saying that big teams are struggling against the little minnows lately which in Inter and Juve’s case (congrats Cagliari) it must be true. Personally I think Milan should have won against Genoa but it happens. Fiorentina have self-destructed after barely making it in the top four last season while both Lazio and Catania, who were in the top 5 earlier in the season, have done the same. It is a long season though so you never know. I am hoping that the power outages stop for good because I don’t enjoy freezing. Ciao Ciao
Category: Atalanta Team News
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