Can Diamanti Emulate Di Canio?

Can West Ham United’s new Italian talent have the same impact on the Hammers as club legend Paolo Di Canio did between 1999 and 2003? Gianfranco Zola signed Alessandro Diamanti for a fee of around £6 million in the summer. Big money for an untested player especially in light of West Ham’s supposed financial handicap. But it could prove to be a smart acquisition by Zola in light of the past weekends game.

After scoring a controversial penalty against Liverpool on Saturday he has been thrown into the limelight for the wrong reasons. Chris Waddle who commentated on the match for ESPN UK was convinced that Diamanti touched the ball twice – as he took the penalty- but the Italian himself is adamant he scored a legitimate goal, “I don’t care what TV shows. It deserved a goal. I don’t believe I touched it twice. I was trying to hit it down the middle and that is what happened.” I will leave you to make up your own mind.

Signed from Livrono in Serie A, Diamanti was a star in Serie B last year, guiding the Amaranti to promotion with six goals in the final ten matches of the season as the Tuscan side went up via the playoffs. He is also accustomed to scoring magnificent long-range efforts, such as the edge of the box volley for Livorno against Triestina.

His current boss has likened the player to himself and former Hammer, Di Canio, as Zola told Italian sports daily, Gazzetta dello Sport: “He’s a cross between myself and Paolo Di Canio.” These are large boots to fill given the standing Di Canio has amongst the West Ham faithful and after the performance against Liverpool he showed that the potential is most definitely there.

Alessandro Diamanti is a very pacy player with fantastic ball control and explosive shot, with the added bonous of being a set-piece specialist, it appears West Ham have unearthed another Italian gem. He is somewhat of a late bloomer, spending most of his career so far in the lower divisions of Italian football with hometown club Prato, and it wasn’t until he befriended Fabio Galante who recommended him to the Livrono chairman.

More recently, for West Ham reserves he banged in two magnificent free kicks in a 6-0 rout over Birmingham, after almost six months out. It is his goals but also his personality that will win over the fans, Diamanti stated on joining, “I chose West Ham because the club have the tradition of playing great football. Also, because the West Ham fans are really passionate and that is the way I am.”

Once full match fitness is achieved he will be a real thorn in the side of Premier League defences. You have been warned.

When Will Paul Scholes Learn to Tackle?

Manchester United finished up 3-1 victors over Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane, but the victory was somewhat spoiled by the sending off of Paul Scholes, who was made to walk after two yellow card offences. Did the punishment fit the crime or is it about time the ‘Ginger Prince’ mastered the art of tackling?

It is often said that Paul Scholes simply cannot tackle; he is a magnificent midfield player who has an Achilles heel. Against Tottenham he showed his full repertoire of tools, the long range passing, his ability to hold the ball and find space for himself, his ability to spot a cutting edge pass and bring others into play, in addition to his undeniable capacity to mistime the tackle.

This uncanny gift Scholes possesses, earned him the ninth red card of his career. It was coming, from the moment Scholes was booked for his rash and clumsy tackle on Jermain Defoe, he was walking a thin line. The second yellow is far more contentious, a 50-50 ball, which he and Tom Huddlestone both competed for and to his credit, whenever Scholes knew he was not going to win the ball he, in my view, pulled out of the challenge.

The sour taste is echoed by Sir Alex Ferguson, “He’s never touched him. He’s been sent off because his name is Paul Scholes. That is why he was sent off. It was a ridiculous decision.”
However, Paul Scholes is a professional footballer who, at 34 years of age, should know the laws of the game, and I would hope, has practiced ‘tackling’ of some sort, during his many training sessions at Carrington. I wonder why he can be so reckless in his challenges time and time again, especially when already carrying a yellow card.

His penchant for the yellow card has ruled Scholes out of many important games, whilst getting himself sent of in important matches has also been an illness which needs remedied. The most famous and significant match in which he picked up a yellow card was the 3-2 victory over Juventus in the 1999 Champions League Semi-Final that subsequently ruled the midfield maestro out of the Final.

Time may not be on his side with his extremely successful career winding down, but please Paul learn to put in a legal challenge, if not, it may cost your beloved Manchester United dear in the future.

Lacklustre Italy in Attendance Once More

Italy took another step towards World Cup qualification a 2-0 victory over Georgia courtesy of a Kakha Kaladze own-goal brace. However, this result does mask what was a lacklustreperformance from the Azzurri and if this is the best Italy can do then the title of ‘World Champions’ will most definitely be shifting.

As the line ups were announced, Lippi sprung a couple of surprises, preferring Domenico Criscito to Fabio Grosso while giving Marco Marchionni his firstAzzurri start since 2006 and starting He also started with a 4-4-2 formation, instead of the 4-3-3 that has been the Italian staple for the last couple of years.

In terms of player performances, the most notable were Criscito along with Camoranesi, substitutesD’Agostino and Quagliarella. Buffon also did well when called upon and produced a couple of truly stunning reaction saves, for me, still the best in his position.

It must be said; the lack of creativity and killer touch in attack is vast. Giuseppe Rossi was given a rare start and produced a woeful performance, which led to his removal. Iaquinta for all his hard work does not, it seems, possess the required quality to play at this level, for all his endeavour he continues to be wasteful in front of goal.

Criscito made a fine claim for the starting left-back slot as his marauding runs forward were proving to be extremely dangerous to the Georgian backline, and on one occasion he dribbled past three players in the penalty area before being bundled over, but the referee waved play on.

Quagliarella was dangerous when he came on, looking lively upfront and hitting the upright with a diving header. D’Agostino carried his form over from last season and was extremely assured in the centre ofmidfield.

Problems for Lippi remain, the Antonio Cassano question will not go away. When asked after the match if the team needed a fantasista he replied, "We have our own fantasista in goal, his name is Gigi Buffon. A great goalkeeper like him does nothing for an hour and then comes up with a decisive intervention."

This is all well and good, having a top-class ‘keeper is essential in the modern game but for me and pretty much every other Nazionale supporter, Cassano is a must have in the team, going on his performances of the previous year. One other addition could be his partner in crime, Giampaolo Pazzini, who has been unable to stop scoring since his move to Sampdoria in January.

After the indifferent performance against the Georgians, he also went on to say Italy will be a much stronger team come the World Cup in 2010, “We have always been a national team built for tournaments. Now we are focusing on getting to there, but wait until the World Cup, as in those 30-40 days it will all be different.”

Things that appear different are actually the same, Italy have all the same problems they did at the Confederations Cup and Lippi does not want to remedy them. The lack of firepower is apparent withalternatives in Serie A begging for a chance, the possibility of Amauri being given an Azzurri chance seems more and more likely, with the Brazilian commenting, "I hope to be in South Africa. If the call comes, I would be honoured to wear the Azzurri shirt." But with issues over his passport application it should only be a matter of time till he puts on the blue of Italy.

Milan Destroyed!

As anticipation grew, the media focused on whether or not Jose Mourinho could overcome a Milan side that were assured and impressive in the first round of games. Milan, it seemed had turned a corner, Ronaldinho finally found his range of passing and regained the creativity which had been lacking in the previous campaign, Pato looked ever the world class centre forward and with Nesta returning to shore up the rearguard, the Diavolowere having a wonderful time of it.

Inter though, plugged the creative gap in their team with the signing of Wesley Sniedjer who slotted into the Nerazzurri midfield as the trequartista, just behind Samuel Eto’o and Gabriel Milito. Christian Chivu and Walter Samuel made the starting line up with Javier Zanetti moving to the right side of midfield. Inter looked a formidable unit, and so it proved.

Milan coach Leonardo’s face told a million stories, the lack of creativity going forward, an ineffectual Ronaldinho and complete lack of physical imputes. All the optimism the Rossoneri had going into the 271^stDerby della Madoninna had dissipated within the first thirty minutes. Inter had clearly moved up a number of levels from the previous weekends disappointing draw with Bari. Milan were well and truly destroyed.

Marco Boriello managed to keep his place in the Milan first eleven; I personally want an explanation for that. He did not justify his inclusion; he was poor against Siena and invisible on Saturday night. Maicon ruined Marek Jankulovski throughout the evening, with the Czech at fault for a couple Inter’s goals. Gattuso has definitely lost some of the physical prowess that was the foundation of his game, perhaps this led to his sending off, as he could not compete with the Inter midfield and alongside Pirlo, who again looks well past his best, Milan were well off the pace all night.

One glimmer of hope was Alexandre Pato, the young Brazilian terrorised the Inter defence, especially when drifting to both flanks, he is truly a world superstar in the making, but this alone is not enough for the Rossoneri.

The team were shown up by a far superior side, Silvio Berlusconi is kidding himself if he thinks this squad has the quality to challenge for the Scudetto never mind the Champions League, as said in the summer, a complete overhaul is needed badly. As mentioned previously, Milan Coach, Leonardo did not seem to have any answer to the Jose juggernaught, his face told of a coach void of ideas and with no clear direction in his tactics of team selection. My early season optimism has evaporated.

This was a sore defeat and one that will ring loud on the ears of the Milan faithful, one that will surely make the AC Milan hierarchy realise, this team needs to be changed. Not only were they beaten by a superlative Internazionale side, they were beaten by their own inadequacies. Problems that have surfaced over and over, finally led to a humiliating capitulation and rout. Milan may overcome the smaller teams in Serie A but when it comes to the stronger teams, I’m afraid the flaws, which are already there, will be exposed time and time again.