You call it soccer(lens) then there must be quarters. If so, Serie A has just passed the first quarter, which certainly means that there’s a lot to go even until halftime but a lot of things have happened since August and there are guys who made such great impressions that you can now take wild guesses who will be members of the Team of 2007-08. In my selection for the first quarter I’ve chosen a 4-3-3 formation for a simple reason: there’s no way I’d leave Pazzini out!

Jimmy Fontana (Palermo)

The funny looking guy who you’d rather expect to see in a pub coming up with nasty jokes rather than flying in front of a goal with astonishing speed and precision. Sat his bottom hard on the Inter bench then fell out with Serie A’s little donkeys of Verona but since then he has been outstanding in Palermo. For the upward rides of his team’s roller coaster season he deserves a huge grazie from his teammates and while Frey is still outstanding, Julio Cesar is reliable and Buffon is still from the top drawer I say not helped by an outstanding defence he is the one who ruled the first quarter!

Lorenzo De Silvestri (Lazio)

All right, I’ve gone completely crazy, I give you that. Choosing a defender from Lazio, who won only twice, scored only 9 goals and are 7th — from the bottom! But with an entire hospital ward filled with Lazio defenders they finally came up with something to cheer for in the panty-blue half of the Olimpico: a great right back. At the age of 19 you don’t see youngsters storming back and forth nutmegging defenders and running down midfielders, do you? Inspired curls he already makes, a couple of pounds of muscle and some vital experience and it’s good bye to Oddo!

Alessandro Gamberini (Fiorentina)

While the entire Milan-primaveras’ sides are shaking with laughter at Nesta and Maldini, Materazzi is headbutting nurses and doctors for bad hospital-food and Mexes can’t really find pace with Juan who else is there to bite through throats of strikers? Yes, Fiorentina (like last year) received a barely noticeable amount of goals and let alone the genius of Frey it is the Dainelli-Gamberini pair that made it possible. The Viola played Milan, Juve and Roma (not to mention all 3 of their Tuscan-derbies) and came out undefeated. Good luck to all Serie A strikers brave enough to go close to our man here…

Alessandro Lucarelli (Genoa)

There’s a nest of good footballers who are named Lucarelli in Livorno. The Genoa central defender doesn’t score as many goals as Shakhtar’s old pinko but let me draw your attention to the fact that Genoa is fifth and received 3 of their 8 goals in their Serie A debut vs. Milan, which means that their defence allowed only 5 goals in 7 games. He may not be very fast but is clearly the captain of his men at the back office of Rossoblu. Wanna know more? Ask Del Piero and Trezeguet, they’ll remember last week.

Maxwell (Inter)

There are two things altogether you can’t do with Inter defenders: get past them and like them. The love-child of Jack, the ripper and Nosferatu certainly had a lot to learn from the other messengers of death at Inter defense (Materazzi, Burdisso, Samuel — my shin pad broke in my bag as I wrote the names down) being originally a midfielder but has sure grown up to be one of Serie A’s best left backs. Is this the year when Inter finally win something that counts? If so, Maxwell will have his share in it.

Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina)

Already an Azzuri international the young playmaker is considered to be the new Pirlo. He doesn’t have the age and confidence to openly criticise Prandelli for not sending him up as trequartista, which he claims to be his position but at the lower edge of Fiorentina’s attacking diamond Ricardo does what he has to. Wenger has a perfect smell (and a beautiful nose to help it) sniffing around Fiorentina in search for someone to replace Rosicky. He will do more than that, I assure you.

Esteban Cambiasso (Inter)

Thank God, someone gave him a mirror and made him lose that mop from the top, which made him look like worn-out pigeon. Not that he’d stop for a second for you to inspect his new hairdo, he is busy pouring salt into the wounds he scratches on various parts of pride and body of the opponents’ playmakers. With Vieira sidelined (for an additional period as we learnt this week) he is responsible for providing the stability of Inter’s midfield that is crucial for the wings to fly free since uncle Figo has never tackled anybody during his 125 years career. And our man here does just that!

Clerence Seedorf (Milan)

God loaned the ebony tulip his left leg and he makes good use of it. Shoots like a mortar passes like Magic Johnson and what’s even more vital he knows exactly which one to do in a given situation. However, Milan is plummeting with 3 engines on fire but the one that is working is not the surprisingly feeble Kaká, not the not-so-surprisingly faint Gilardino but our forever young leftie, Seedorf. Milan’s Christmas-tree formation (sometimes they call it a slide as it is shifted to the left due to Clerence) has only one player this year who fills his role.

Ezequiel Lavezzi (Napoli)

Ezekiel 25:17 — the path (to the goal) of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men (defenders — evil they are!). Blessed is he who (finally can score goals for a team packed with youngsters), in the name of charity and good will (which means he will not be signed by Inter), shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness (darkness it would be in Naples without him…). For he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee (A lot of times, I predict around 15 by the end of June) with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you (leading Napoli to the UEFA-cup).

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter)

A typical example for a player you can only like if he plays for your team. And you want him to play for your team if you have an eye! Zlatan may be as honourable as a Columbian customs officer but no one cares as long as he preoccupies two defenders, each with due fear in their hearts. He goes past and if he can’t he literally goes through! As far as I am concerned he is one of the most likely contestant for the Golden Shoe (along with the surprise participant, Benzema) and should he maintain his form and dribble injuries, too he is more than likely to score over 25 goals this season.

Gianpaolo Pazzini (Fiorentina)

When Luca Toni was sold to Bayern and the Viola were not busy looking for a replacement I thought there would be too much pressure on Pazzini. Remember Nesta’s tears at San Siro? Last weeks scissor-kick goal and what’s more his back-heel assist to Mutu? So how do you think he handled the pressure? Yes, he is the guy to score the first goal in the new Wembley (which later grew to be the first hat trick, too) and has everything Luca had plus a decided bonus of a brilliant sense of passing. He is still a little young and inexperienced for a center but fits perfectly to either a 4-4-2 or a side of a 4-3-3 so keep an eye on him!

Do you think Bence is right, or has he lost his marbles? Who would you put in your Serie A Team of the Season? Let us know in the comments below.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

This article is a submission for the Soccerlens Football Writing Competition; to participate, please read the details here.

Written by Bence Martha. The author is a Hungarian blogger. He translated this post from Hungarian to English and I’m publishing it intact – kudos to you if you can figure out my favourite sentence from this article.

Let’s suppose Kaká was serious when he came up with the possibility of moving to Spain after Milan had failed to recover from the goal-distressed period against Celtic, which had just begun to be kind of embarrassing for the defending CL champion (before finally they broke through against Lazio last week). Kaká’s move would most certainly be a rock into a middle of still water and despite the transactions strange and almost impossible nature it surely raises thoughts in the world of football.

Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, aka Kaka is the best football player in the world. With his remarkable elegancy and intelligent contribution to his team’s offense he grew to be an indespensable link between the security-packed Milan midfield and the forward. Never dives, never argues, never tackles with the intention to kill (leaves it to his mates, who there are!) with one word, he behaves like a gentleman on and off the pitch. He was named player of the year by FIFPro and stands a good chance to receive the same acknowledgement from more recognized places this year. Kaká thus is the 8.5 million Euro apple of Milan’s eye worth God knows how much now (we just might get to know exactly if this post proves not to be just a useless riding of an idea) no wonder most of you might ridicule even the possibility of his departure —and arrival in Madrid.

If the match of Real and Kaká is not meant to be then I don’t know what is. Kaká was born to play in the Bernabeu he is everything that famous white jersey represents being as Royal on the pitch as the club itself. The fact that Real is one of the few clubs able to put up the money for his transfer in the country named by the player also supports our storyline along with our suspicion that the other Spanish giant is the only club in the world that as for the moment does not need Kaká. I am not trying to suggest that Barca-societés wouldn’t swap Deco without a second of hesitation but if there’s a problem with Barcelona’s lineup (we are convinced there isn’t, anyway) it is not the playmaker’s position as the Catalans have a squad so packed with players of the highest standard as far as passing and positioning are concerned that Kaká’s genius will not have enough space and attention to shine. In Barcelona he would be one of the great players, in Madrid the one to hold the flag high. The one the team is built around, slows down, speeds up, assists and scores — roughly what he does now for Milan. However, Barca would also have their share in his move…

Make it a 4-4-2 and you have an excellent playmaker on the upper corner of the Madrid diamond, make it a 4-3-1-2 and you have a trequartista to assist your strikers and score tones of goals himself (Milan’s 4-3-2-1 Christmas-tree-formation is based on his constant presence in front of the goal) but as I see the coming of Kaká would provoke drastic changes in order to make the best out of the young Brazilian’s skills and this would require the sacrifice of the past ten year’s Real-icon, Raul. The possible 4-2-3-1 lineup (Guti, Diarra — Robinho, Kaká, Sneijder — Van Nistelrooy) does scare the hell out of all future opponents — deservedly. And if not more they would at least be worthy opponents of Barca, where pass/sec index reaches sky-high figures.

And what is with Milan then? They have never been blighters (who would, backed by Berlusconi?!) they don’t need the money as badly to sell the player who finally steered them onto the top of European football but could they hold him back if he wanted to go? What’s more, if there’s a chance for a swap for the better (hm… definitely not worse, I reckon)? Because who would deny that Barca is ready to let Ronaldinho go for a definite amount of money, which one can always use if one’s favorite free-time activity is buying world class players. Rijkaard is in trouble: Iniesta may look like an immature 14-year-old but with the absence of Ronaldinho he made his statement loud and clear: here I am! The Brazil has been seeking his previous form for almost two seasons now and voices stating he needs to change to regain it are getting louder and louder. Rijkaard would even whisper a grazie to Milan to take the burden of having Ronaldinho play when he is so out of form off his shoulders. Nevertheless, Ronnie would surely have a new challenge in a new atmosphere along with new world-class mates and maybe a raised pocket money in Milan, presently the ruling football city of Europe.

Close your eyes now and try to imagine a Kakáless Milan. Does not look good, does it? Now mix and stir, take in and out, push and pull and here you go: Dida – Oddo, Nesta, Kaladze, Jankulovski — Gattuso, Emerson — Ronaldinho-Seedorf-Pirlo — Ronaldo. Do you have the efficient defense that you can’t even imagine Milan without? You surely do. Do you have the offense with an excellent passing rate and a chip of brilliance? Hell you do! Remember Seedorf playing in the middle (not in Real, that was ages ago) but vs Siena when almost the entire starting lineup was missing and Seedorf had the baton in his hand? The 1-1 does not suggest he did well but I assure you he was like a 20-year-old: ran, passed, tackled, assisted, shot. With Ronaldinho on his left and Pirlo on his right that would be a deadly attacking force behind Ronaldo (should he ever recover) or Inzaghi, not to mention Pato. Pirlo, by the way may be as grey as a drape of a Volvo but (as we saw it eg. against Liverpool) is able to run 12 kms/match and shoot the hair out of Carragher’s nose from 40 meters while giving Gerrard’s balls a massage with one hand and sweeping unruly tufts from his sight with the other. So, how does Milan look like now? Better, isn’t it? Give me that: they’re no worse…

And what about Barcelona? Would you accept the Catalans to send their team on with the usual 4-3-3 with Iniesta on the left? Xavi and Touré controlls midfield, Deco steps back to collect balls and send Messi and Iniesta on the attack or directly launches Henry from the offside-line. If required, Iniesta could step back to the middle and play defensive midfield anytime, thus giving Barcelona a wider variety of tactical formations then with an unquestionably unique Brazil up front, who has never made a sliding challenge in his life. Don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to put Ronaldinho down as he is the one and only but the time has come for him to move on — like he moved from Paris SG when that time had come.

All’s well that ends well, we have three parties satisfied with their situation, and all we, supporters have to do is get prepared for the most amazing rivalries in the history of Spanish and Italian football and see how these guys fit into their new milieu. Perfectly, I would say.

This article is a submission for the Soccerlens Football Writing Competition; to participate, please read the details here.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News