Viola... In English!

Mutu/Dica Viola Reunion?

Market: Could we also see Mutu/Dica combo in Firenze?

In Romania there is a lot of talk about the warm relations between Steaua Bucharest president Gigi Becali and Adrian Mutu.  It seems that the Viola attacker has requested that Steaua allow fantasista Nicolae Dica to leave and that he could transfer this January for about €7M.  Becali has asked for €1M in earnest money to make the deal a reality.

Officially Mutu's request has been advanced by his business partner Ana Maria Prodan, television personality/agent to Romanian soccer players.  She is Dica's agent, as well. 

Romanian newspapers theorize that an Italian club is behind this move, Fiorentina in particular.

Dica and Mutu form a formidable partnership with the Romanian national team and are known to be good friends.

Viola/Nerazzurri Struggle

Fiorentina & Inter battle for Banega

Another transfer market tug of war between Fiorentina and Inter Milan.  Pantaleo Corvino has flown to South America to see Ever Banega, the Boca Juniors 19-year-old left-sided midfielder, up close and personal.  The Argentine midfielder is known to have already caught the eye of Roberto Mancini and Massimo Moratti.

Boca Juniors is aiming high, putting a €25M price tag on the player.  The crucial thing is the battle with the Nerazzurri who have already begun an effort to land the player.  It will be interesting to see the negotiations unfold as the two Italian clubs no longer have the warm relationship that they once did.  Luca Toni's transfer to Inter that Fiorentina never concluded and Inter's interference in the Viola's acquisition of Obinna are the two latest examples of the clubs' squabbling. 

My take --  I found a nice little Adidas spotlight on him...  In English.

Rapid-Fire Primavera

Primavera: Cagliari-Fiorentina 0-3

Fiorentina decisively defeated Cagliari in the opening match of the Coppa Italia Primavera.  In the opening minute of the match Lepiller converted a penalty kick to put the Viola in front.  The lead was doubled 4 minutes later, again from a penalty kick.  This time, though, Morelli was the scorer.  The third goal came in the second half, again through Morelli who secured his brace in the 59th minute.  Cagliari had to finish the match with 10 men following Meloni's expulsion.

Cagliari-Fiorentina 0-3

Goal: 1' (pk) Lepiller , 5' (pk) and 59' Morelli

Cagliari: Fortuna, Puddu, Garu , Frau, Herrera, Cotza, Ledda, Acosta, Usai, Francescoli, Meloni. Coach: Melis (Subs: Ruzzittu, Cocco, Ragatzu, Verachi, Dettori, Valluzzi, Pintus)

Fiorentina: Pazzagli, Alex Costa Do Santos, Fedi, Masi, Tagliani, Hable, Morelli, Carcuro, Di Carmine, Romizi, Lepiller. Coach: Bollini (Subs: Pincio, Bettoni, D’Ambrosio, Diakhate, Filipe, Lepri, Nocciolini)

Referee: Branciforte (Nuoro)

Notes: Red Card Meloni 79'

Fiorentina - Atalanta Match Preview

Atalanta's fine start to the season has just become a lot tougher.  The Bergamo side began the season with a 1-1 draw away to Reggina before a confident 2-0 win at home against Parma.  Their first real test of the season will be a big one; in Firenze against a very confident Fiorentina side.

Atalanta made some nice summer acquisitions, Padoin and Langella will help.  Costinha will help, too, but not tomorrow.  He is expected to miss the match injured.  It is this writer's opinion that Atalanta's biggest, and most detrimental, summer news was losing Colantuono to Palermo.  Del Neri isn't fit to carry Colantuono's clipboard and could never replace him.

Del Neri's side will probably field a 4-4-1-1 with Doni and Zampagna as the strikers and Ferreira Pinto and Langella on the flanks.  Even away from home I expect them to try to attack a lot in an attempt to keep the pressure off of their defense.

This match will have special meaning for many of the Viola.  Prandelli played for Atalanta and managed both their senior side and at the youth level.  Pazzini and Montolivo both came up through the highly-regarded Atalanta youth system.  This match will mark Dainelli's 100th match with us.  He has worn our shirt 90 times in Serie A and 9 times in the Coppa Italia.

Prandelli has stated that he does not want to risk Montolivo and will probably have Riccardo sit this one out.  Santana will probably not play, as well, as Prandelli is playing the prudent role.  If we get a two-goal lead early I would really like to see Vanden Borre make his debut.  More to satisfy my curiosity than anything else.  Same with Balzaretti.  The only difference in our line-up from the AC Milan match will probably be Semioli in Santana's spot with a slight chance that Kuzmanovic will fit in there somewhere.  Projected line-up...

I really expect it to be just another day at the office for the Viola and hope that they can build enough of an early cushion to give some of our subs some valuable field time.

Talking Points

• Fiorentina has lost only one of its past 20 Serie A matches.
• Fiorentina has not lost at home in its last 15 Serie A contests; recording a very impressive 13 wins during this stretch.
• Pazzini has scored 3 times against his former club; making Atalanta (tied with Juventus) his most scored-upon opponent.
• Fiorentina won this same fixture last season 3-1 with two late goals from Pazzini.
• Fiorentina took both matches from Del Neri's Chievo last season.  Each match ended 1 goal to zero.
• Domenico Celi will referee the match.  This will be his first time refereeing a Fiorentina match.
• The high temperature in Firenze is expected to be 80°F (27°C) with a 70% chance of rain.

A Mutu Replacement?

Market: Corvino in Argentina tracking German Denis

According to controcampo.it one of the objectives on Corvino's South American trip wears the shirt of Independiente and is the top goalscorer of the 2007 Argentine Apertura.  We are speaking of German Denis, 26-year-old Argentine who has played in Serie B.  In fact the player, known as the tank, arrived in Italia to wear Cesena's shirt in January 2002.  He only played with their first team 28 times in two seasons and managed only three goals during that spell and was not considered worthy of a contract renewal.   Now, however, the situation has changed.  The player has finally broken out and his price tag is said to be around €10M.

An Offer We Can't Refuse?

Barça ready to offer €17.5M for Mutu

Barcelona is keen to bring Fiorentina's undisputed star, Adrian Mutu, to Spain.  According to some Romanian news sources, the Blaugranes are ready to invest €17.5M to acquire the Viola champion.  There has been no comment from the player though over the past few days he has made it known that he is very happy in Firenze and that wearing the Viola shirt is his life choice.

ViolaIE Weekend Edition

My own non-Viola-related, online retail business has kept me very busy this week (a good thing) so there are lots of very interesting stories that I have not had a chance to cover this week.  I plan on really dedicating a lot of time to ViolaIE this weekend so expect to see a lot of interesting stuff.  In truth, websites get very few visitors on Fridays and Saturdays so I don't typically do that much on those days.

The most common question that I am asked via e-mail is if I can recommend a good online retailer for Fiorentina merchandise.  I cannot as I have not used one.  I do have a deal in the works, though, to advertise for one and once I do I will order some merchandise, report how it goes, and then either dump them or keep them; depending on the experience.  I definitely need at least a shirt and a scarf so that I can post some photos in the photo album as it is so barren.  *Hint, Hint*

Prandelli's Salary

Prandelli: 4th highest paid coach in Italia

With the players' salaries already noted, today we focus on Serie A coaches.  According to the information delineated in Gazzetta dello Sport Roberto Mancini is the highest-paid coach in our league, earning €5M per season.  Next in line is Ancelotti at €4.5M per season.  Spalletti is a good ways back, and in the 3rd spot, earning €2M per season.  Prandelli and Ranieri are tied for 4th; each earning €1.5M per season.

My take -- It seems that our salary cap is not only for our players.  Personally I believe that the coach should make as much as the club's highest-paid player.  And these coaches are all Italian.  How many of the other big leagues are so dominated by coaches from that country?  Is that a good or a bad thing?

Rosina Will Not Wear Purple

Rosina: Toro rejects €8M Viola bid

Torino wants to keep Rosina.  They have now turned down Fiorentina's €8M bid for the Granata talent and Birmingham's earlier €10M bid was not high enough to even bring Torino to the negotiating table.  Rosina would like to stay with Torino but only under decidedly different conditions as the player has but one career and, understandably, he wants to get the most out of it that he can.

The key point, at the moment, appears to be adding clauses to his contract that would reward him for his on-field performances.  Rosina's representatives seem agreeable to signing an extension that would keep the the player at Torino through the 2012 season but want a release clause that would allow Real Madrid to acquire Rosinaldo at a later date. 

Serie A Team Salaries

A friendly blog, mcalcio, has scanned in the complete list of Serie A player salaries.  Some very surprising things in there.  Check it out!