Hit the road, Giovanni
By: Joe | June 14th, 2007“Every farewell combines loss and new freedom.” Mason Cooley. Or to put a finer point on it: Don’t the let the door hit you on the ass on your way out!
For most calcio fans, summer is a time to wind down from the long domestic season, reintroduce ourselves to the concept of a ‘free’ weekend morning (Yah! honey-do lists) and, of course, fretting over our squad’s dealings in the silly season known as il calciomercato.
For the squadra partenopei, the new campaign will mean saying goodbye to some old faces to make room for players who are younger, faster, and…. better.
A list of old faces who may soon be hitting the road:
David Guibilato – the defender has been with Napoli since De Laurentis picked up the burning rubble that was S.S.C. Napoli and transformed the squad once again to a Serie A side. The veteran played a good bit at the start of the season when Reja was still tinkering with his formation and rotation strategy. I believe he switched to the 3-5-2 because Guibilato kept getting burned and he couldn’t risk having him out there for any longer than was absolutely necessary. A lack of form found Guibilato fetching Reja water during matches and regaling the lads with tales of what it was like to play on such fabled teams as Sora, Avezzano and Viterbese. He’s slow, can’t mark well, is out of contract and on the wrong side of 30. Arriverderci, David.
Andrea Cupi – The defender primarily came off the bench in the previous Serie C1 campaign but a pre-season knee injury kept him out all season. Although he was fully recovered in March, Cupi couldn’t find the form to beat out the starting backline of Cannavaro, Maldonado and Savini. A look at Cupi does indeed prove there is such a thing as a Napoletano redneck.
Christian Bucchi – The 2005/06 Serie B capocannonieri (and 3 million euro buy last year) was 2nd on the team in goals this past season. However, the Calaio/Bucchi pairing up front never really posed the threat that was anticipated. By all accounts Bucchi seems like a hell of a guy who is loved by his teammates. Calaio is really close to him (I believe he named after the striker) and I think that’s great…really, but Marino doesn’t strike me as someone who will let player sentiment get in the way of making tough personnel decisions. The considerable interest from Torino may give Marino the excuse he needs to get out from underneath his contract.
Inacio Pia – There is no doubting the 25-year-old Brazilian’s talent and quickness. Pia was a winter pickup in 2005 and played a big role in Napoli’s promotion to Serie B. However, he found himself displaced by Bucchi and later Sosa and served as a sub for the majority of the recent campaign. He made more than a few “play me or let me go” ultimatums in hopes of catching on with a new squad during the winter break. De Laurentis said there’s no way he’s moving anywhere and, to Pia’s credit, he did play much better in his limited opportunities after the break. However, I just don’t see him fitting in and with interest from Brescia, Atalanta and Inter Milan (wtf? Inter? really?), Pia could be on his way out the door.
Maurizio Domizzi – The midfielder was a regular fixture for Napoli this past season. Domizzi held the ball well and was a good distributor down the flanks. He’s a tremendous talent and is capable of top-flight football as he demonstrated two seasons ago when he was critical to Ascoli’s surprising Serie A run. He’s also a monster on free kicks and has my Dad’s temper. What’s the problem you say? He’s co-owned with Sampdoria. A decision will come down on June 20 regarding the fate of my favorite Napoletano hot head (my dad has mellowed since retiring).
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Comments
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Joe, what do you think are the odds on keeping Domizzi? I wouldn’t miss the other three, but it would be nice to see him stay. (I didn’t realize he was co-owned.)
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United Kingdom
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I don’t think there’s any doubt they really value him. Reja and Marino have both talked about how important he is and that they’ll make every effort to keep him. I am not basing this on anything other than a gut feel, but I think they’ll manage a way to keep him.
The fact is Napoli’s season ticket base (which should rise to 30,000+) is one of the highest in Italian football. The size of the city and the passion of its fan base mean the squad will automatically generate more revenue than most other clubs. If they value him (Domizzi) high enough, they’ll pay off Sampdoria.
These next six weeks are going to be very interesting.
Posted from
United States -
Great work Joe. Just one thing .. if I go to the offsides main page and click Italy>SerieB>Napoli … your blog doesn’t show .. the only way I can find it is on http://www.bigsoccer.com’s napoli board.
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