Violence in Serie A

The violence from last year in Catania brought many changes to the league, matches were cancelled, calls to suspend the season were brought up, but a measured approach was taken and new relegations were setup to limit away fans at controversial matches, a new ticketing policy was setup that had league officials stating violence inside stadia was down 80%. That may be, but as we've all seen in the reports, violence can spark at any time.

In a filling station near Arezzo, Italy this weekend, 5 miles from Florence in Tuscany, there were a group of Juventus and Lazio supporters that met on the way to a match, a fight broke out and the police were called in, warning shots were fired and a stray bullet killed a Lazio fan. As soon as word broke of what happened, the powder keg that is the Italian football landscape turned into the violent equivalent of one of the many wildfires we've had here in Los Angeles. Insatiable and uncontrollable it spread to Rome, Atalanta and many other cities in Italy and while it may have looked like a football problem, this most definitely reaches deeper into the fabric of modern Italian society.

The FIGC weighed in, "It is a day in which there will be major institutional steps taken." Many are calling for the suspension of the league, tighter controls in and around the matches, limiting away support, etc. While some of those may be effective, it ignores the crux of the problem.
Those that seek the answers in emulating the "English model", where safe and sane, family friendly stadia changed the fabric of English football are bound to be disappointed. These aren't hooligans who are in it to "get a few thrills" or "up the aggro" though they look outwardly much the same. The ultra on the curvas see their enemy, not across the way at the other side of the stadium with the away support, but in authority itself. It's not about taking the stadium, invading the pitch, knocking down the other firm, although all of those things do happen. Football is not the end, just a means to another end. It's about confrontation, and escalating the response, destabilizing society and ultimately anarchy. The authorities in this sense too are caught in a viscious cycle; that violence leads to a violent response, leading to more violence., and as such, the police are just as much the problem as the solution.

This must be met, not only by the FIGC, but by the Italian government itself. The response needs to be all-encompasing and not just a cosmetic fix. Frankly, targeting only the ultras is a mistake. Everyone should look themselves in the mirror.

Mando from FF 

Every year, the infamous Fifa World Player of the Year Award comes out and every year I find myself wondering why I ever paid attention. Yes, if you’ve been living under a rock, or as I have suffering the after effects of jet lag and Barcelona, here’s the list. ‘ll join you after you read it.

FIFA World Player of the Year nominees:
Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Fabio Cannavaro (Italy), Petr Cech (Czech Republic), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Deco (Portugal), Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast), Michael Essien (Ghana), Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon), Gennaro Gattuso (Italy), Steven Gerrard (England), Thierry Henry (France), Juninho (Brazil), Kaka (Brazil), Miroslav Klose (Germany), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Frank Lampard (England), Rafael Marquez (Mexico), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Alessandro Nesta (Italy), Andrea Pirlo (Italy), Franck Ribery (France), Juan Roman Riquelme (Argentina), Ronaldinho (Brazil), Wayne Rooney (England), John Terry (England), Carlos Tevez (Argentina), Lilian Thuram (France), Fernando Torres (Spain), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Netherlands), Patrick Vieira (France.

See anything glaring? Now I won’t argue that Lionel Messi, Didier Drogba, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ruud or even Riquelme deserve to be on that list. Maybe Essien. They all had spectacular years. Kaka, Gerrard, Pirlo and Gattuso met in the Champions League final so you could also make a case for them as well. But the rest? How many of these are here because of reputation? Thuram and Viera are washed up has beens. Ribery hadn’t yet come into his own, and Torres had never lived up to his billing in Spain. Tevez spent most of the year on the bench at West Ham, Buffon most of the year in Serie B, and most everyone else spent a significant portion of the year injured; except for Deco who spent most of the year being confused with Iniesta and Xavi. Am I getting to my point yet?

I think I’m not arguing that these people shouldn’t be nominated, I’m not even worried so much with who will win because it’s obvious that one of these, Kaka, Drogba, C. Ronaldo, or Messi, deserve it just as much as any.

Yet, eternally injured Rafa Marquez gets nominated, over the Golden Boot winner in Europe- Francesco Totti?

I realize that I’m biased for Totti, but I’m trying to be objective here as well. Is Petr Cech more deserving of the award than Pepe Reina who got his club to the CL final? Is Miroslav Klose more deserving than Raul Tamudo or Daniel Alves who both met on the field in Scotland for the UEFA Cup final? God, even David Beckham deserves votes for inspiring his club to wins down the stretch for Real Madrid.

I realize this is a popularity contest, and Francesco Totti, who isn’t even liked by the majority in his own country (outside of Rome I guess) won’t be winning any, but there are glaring cases like this that completely underscore how stupid this award really is. Give it to Kaka, who seems the darling of Fifa anyway, and of Brazilian extraction which helps for starters but don’t come to me afterwards and tout a player by how many individual awards he’s won, because clearly don’t matter.

Mando from FF

Here's a serious question for you all.

I was in one of the online forums that I belong to, an Arsenal group, and the topic was on the Thierry Henry transfer. I criticized the Arsenal not for letting Henry go (I had no problem with letting go of an aging 29 year old striker with cronic leg problems), but for not getting sufficient quality in return. Ok, it's still early and there's still some money left in the kitty to cover some of our other needs, but none of that was mentioned. In a forum known for intelligent conversation, the ultras started coming out of the wordwork.

Instead I was a numpty. I wasn't passionate enough, that Wenger knows best and I shouldn't be criticizing his transfer policy. I also wasn't sufficiently "supportive" or passionate about the club to call myself a supporter. He ended it by figuratively whizzing in my drink and giving me the beat down. I laughed. Doesn't really mean much if he does it in an online forum, does it?

What I'm saying is, what was I supposed to do? Shut up and take it or stop drinking the Kool-Aid and demand more from my team. What ARE the responsibilities of being a fan of a club? Is blind devotion enough? Does it depend on the club? Does it depend on when you came to support the club?

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Sorry, just had to get your attention, but it is relevant. When Thierry Henry was first sold to Barcelona, people expected Arsenal to buy big, and buy expensive with names like Eto'o or Carlitos Tevez being mentioned. Instead, today Arsenal bought DooDoo, oh well, his nickname is Dudu.

His real name is Eduardo Alves da Silva Silva, and he's 24 years old. He's a Croation by Nationality and by Club, since he comes to Arsenal from Dinamo Zagreb, but by birth as the name explains he is most definitely Brazilian. He was born in Rio, played for amongst others a Bangu Atleticu in Rio, but emigrated to Croatia at the age of 15 looking for a place, like many other Brazilians today, in a country that needed his services. There are many Brazilians playing today as naturalized citizens in Mexico, Italy, Spain and even Japan for that matter.

He played 6 years for Dinamo and then loaned out to Inter (Zaprecic not Milan) for a year, and in 119 games in Croatia he has scored 83 goals. He has also played in 12 games for 7 goals internationally for the Croats mainly as a second half substitute.

It seems all well and good, another in the line of nameless international players that have settled first to Highbury and now to Ashburton Grove, but I guess I'm disappointed as an Arsenal Fan.

My question is, "If we needed Kaka why did we settle for Du Du?"

-BfHerbie