Barcelona battles with Real Madrid over the La Liga crown. Juventus narrowly edges out Milan for Lo Scudetto. Manchester City maybe wins the Premier League – but only after some mad spending. Porto wins in Portugal with Benfica as runners up. See the pattern? Am I the only one who’s tired of seeing the same teams winning again and again?
May
12
Football – Isn’t it just a wee bit boring?
Apr
16
Retire the shirt, ruin a dream
Napoli have done it, Milan have done it, Brescia have done it – retired a shirt to honor a great player of the past. On the surface it seems like an easy and beautiful way to show respect to a player, who one way or another has been important to the club and who still serves as a corner stone in the club’s history. Good examples are Maradona in Napoli, Baggio in Brescia, and Baresi in Milan. There is however another side to the story.
Mar
28
Juve, Milan and the defeat that wasn’t
Last week we saw one of the most ridiculous controversies of recent Serie A history. Juventus played Milan in the Coppa Italia semi final. Juventus lost 1-2 (or did they? Oh the suspense…) after a 2-1 victory in the first game, and thus the encounter went on into extra time where Juve clinched a draw, or a victory, due to a Mirko Vucinic screamer. The debate broke out whether Milan had put an end to Juve’s unbeaten 2011-12 streak or not. Some people might call this an academic matter, a thing which is apparently of little significance despite the importance of universities in the development of our civilization, but since I have after all been a university student for eight years I thought that I would delve a bit into the matter anyway.
Mar
20
Novara and the InTesseresting future
Last summer Novara Calcio was promoted to Serie A for the first time in half a century. Surprisingly they swept directly through Serie B and into the top division. They have however, as expected, found it hard to make their presence felt in Serie A. They have even fired, and rehired, their successful coach Attilio Tesser, who had taken them through one promotion after the other. While the coaching funfair that is Italian football is often too much, I have the feeling that exactly that small hiatus for Mr. Tesser was what the team and the club needed.
Mar
12
Calcio the Gathering – the black magic of Milan
In this second article of five where I will try to match the five colours of the fantasy card game Magic the Gathering with five different Italian football clubs I will deal with the colour black. While black has traditionally been connected with death, infestation, and evil it is also the colour of sacrifice, pride, and power, so fans Milan fans shouldn’t despair. It’s not all doom and gloom even if I’ve chosen your beloved Rossoneri as the black force of Calcio.
I hope that both Milan fans and people without the slightest knowledge of the wonderfully wicked world of Magic the Gathering will stay with me through the oncoming power ride. Let’s go!
Feb
29
Why we need goal line technology now
Does anyone remember Edinson Cavani’s Serie A debut fro Napoli? I Do. It was a nice day in warm late summer Florence. Napoli played Fiorentina and gave debut to the much hyped Uruguayan forward. He had already shown his worth against Elfsborg in the Europa League and Serie A fans were eager to see how he faired now that he had exchanged Palermo’s pink for Napoli’s light blue.
Cavani did well. He scored the opener on a powerful header. Napoli went on to get a decent 1-1 against a Viola team which was in a little higher regard back then. The only problem was that Cavani in fact didn’t score. Just like in the case with Sulley Muntari’s goal against Juventus last Saturday, goal line technology would have revealed the truth.
Feb
23
Calcio the Gathering – the blue Napoli magic
As any well educated young man I have plenty of interests – Italian football obviously being one of them. I am however also fond, to put it nicely (obsessive with be another and probably more suitable term) with the card game Magic the Gathering. Some of you might play it yourself, and for you I’m sure this article, not to speak of the ones yet to come, will be geeky and cleverly silly in just the right way – I hope.
For those of you who for whom Magic the Gathering represents some hazy high school memories this article might be ok funny and maybe give you some inspiration to take the game up again – I hope. For those of you who have no idea what so ever what I’m talking about this article will probably be a total blur. Bear with me. I couldn’t help it and probably need some kind of medication.
Feb
11
The best winter transfers – at last
The infamous January transfer window has shut. To everyone else it’s old news but here at Pondering Calcio we like to linger, or ponder you might say, a little longer on certain, if not all, things. Today I have put together a small list of the transfers I find the most wise of the winter. Read along and see if you agree with me or you find me to be an utter imbecile.
Jan
26
Danes in calcio – Klaus Berggreen
Now that Serie A has seen the arrival of Danish midfield fighter Daniel Jensen, who has recently joined Novara I have been inspired to bring you another installment in the series ”Danes in calcio”. This time we’ll deal with another Danish fighter. He graced the peninsula for six seasons, probably much longer than will be the case for Jensen. His name should be known to fans of at least Pisa, where he played for four seasons. His name is Klaus Berggreen.
Your comments (and ours)
- Richard: I agree with pretty much everything, however - It isn’t so bad in the EPL now: Man City are a new...
- lickstra: i hate all italian clubs. you are a bunch of wild animals.
- Maurizio: I guess it is a matter of perception as I see the two legs as one game/contest. I think he, Galiani, is...
- Beppe: This has to be one of the strangest articles I have come up in last few months. And I mean good strange
- Ono: That means you have almost 10 years of knowledge more than me. My parents weren’t into football, either....
- bianconeri: @Rob how? palermo, although inconsistent, have gotten enough results to be top half of table. it would...
- bianconeri: i thought genoa had a great window as well, with gila and biondini. the big losers IMO were lazio, honda...
- TT: I know the feeling. I wasn’t old enough either. I knew Berggreen from the Danish team, but Italian football...
- TT: Hearing that Naples’ mayor is not opposing a new stadium or a significant rebuild of San Paolo is...
- Ono: Enjoyed the story, which happened in a time I wish I had been born to watch (italian) football. And I think this...
May
04
Calcio the gathering – the green magic of Atalanta
by TT
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Atalanta
Leave comment