Benvenuti a Maggio e Denis!!!

By: fortunato | June 11th, 2008

After the Monday massacre at the hands of the Oranje, my two cents has always been that Donadoni has still not done enough to transform to a youth movement with the national team and continues to rely on veterans that are or are getting too long in the tooth, particularly in the midfield and the backline. Although it is easy to second guess the lineup after the fact, I watched many of the national team games through the Euro qualifications and felt that Donadoni was way too loyal to certain players. Truthfully the national team did not impress me very much outside of a nice performance in a friendly against Portugal. For me, the likes of the Milan midfield would be gone (Gattuso and Ambrosini in particular- where the f&#k was DeRossi?) and under no circumstances would the Matrix and the 78 year old Panucci (God love him for the goal against Scotland) be on my team. Sorry, this may be controversial but Luca Toni has done nothing, outside of a nice game against the Ukraine in World Cup 2006 to convince me that he excels at the international game. If it was me, Quags and Borriello (two Napoletani) would be given a chance. That’s my two cents.

Enough of that, I would like to share some very positive news as it relates to our Partenopei and the transfer market:

Benvenuti a Cristian Maggio. Napoli will pay an €8m transfer fee and a pay the ex Sampdoria defender €800,000 per season in a deal spanning five years. Maggio had a superb 2007/08 season for Samp, and was one of the best right full backs in Serie A. Maggio is coming off of a killer Serie A season where his trademark runs down the flank were a key factor in Samp’s qualification for the UEFA Cup and as a defender he tallied nine goals in 29 games. The season was so good that there was some outrage when Donadoni stiffed him for the Euro torunament. The Partenopei beat out Aston Villa and AC Milan for Maggio’s services.

His background, taken from the CBC website reads as folows:
Maggio is an attacking right hand sided full back or wing back. Italian born and capped at u21 level. He began his carrer in 2000 at Vicenza and played there until 2003 when he was transferred to Fiorentina. Still only 24, Maggio didn’t really find a way to become a regular at Fiorentina and made 52 appearances in the 2and a half seasons he spent in Florence. The transfer window in 2005 was a chance to reestablish himself as a first team player and Maggio moved on loan to Sampdoria. Still to fulfill his youth international promise Maggio is a much talked about player who has the ability to become even better.

My reaction? This is a big signing….Maurizio who? Good bye. The 26 year old Maggio is quite simply, nearly world class (if he isn’t already) and a current backline consisting of guys like Santacroce-Maggio-Cannavaro-Rinaudo warms the cockles of my heart. My Palermitano friends (particularly my fellow terrone Lorenzo RosaNero) advises that Rinuado is a hell of a ballplayer and that we will fall in love with him. The future is looking very brig my friends and this Maggio deal appears to be the signing of the summer thus far.

As reported here a week ago, from what I am reading, it is just waiting the official stamp but the Tank, German Denis will pair with Ezequiel Lavezzi this coming season as the main strikers in our lineup. The Argentine hitman, nicknamed ‘The Tank’ has been in prolific form since joining Independiente from Colon in 2006, scoring 44 goals in just 65 games. The 26-year-old, who is renowned for his power, has won two caps for Argentina. Napoli will pay around €11m for Denis.

My reaction? Truthfully, I haven’t seen him play very much outside of watching some videos on You Tube. I do remember that a few years ago he played with Cesena and was somewhat of a bust. The numbers on this guy are impressive but my only concern is, how long will it take Denis to adapt to the Serie A game and are his best years behind him?
Sorry to sound skeptical, but the Argentinean league results are different than Serie A results. Sorry but that’s the truth. Maybe I need to see him a little more or hear it from someone who follows the Argentina soccer league that this guy is all he is cracked up to be.

Lastly, it appears that the aforementioned Maurizio Domizzi will soon sign with Lazio. I wish him well. He was a good player for us and I respected his passion, grit and hustle over the last two years. He was stalwart for us and I know he will serve the Laziali very well.

That’s it for now. Thumbs up to Marino, particularly for the Maggio signing!!!!