Is L’arciere Azzurro Our 2007/2008 Saviour?
By: fortunato | March 13th, 2008
Time to refamilarize ourselves with the new (old) striker as a means of getting us the good luck we need against the bianco-neri this Sunday.
Emanuele Calaiò was born on January 8 1982 in Palermo, Sicily. He started his professional football career with Torino making his first game debut against Reggina on January 6, 2000, where he scored a goal three minutes in. He made 20 appearances in total for Torino that season, before going on loan.
First Calaiò went on loan to Ternana and then a short spell with Messina followed. In January 2003, the young Sicilian who by this time had turned out for the Italian Under-20 side, was bought by Pescara Calcio.
With Pescara, Calaiò solidified himself as an impressive striker, the club won promotion back into Serie B in 2003, with Calaiò scoring 21 times in his first season. For the side he would eventually play 70 games and scoring 27 goals in two years.
He signed with Napoli in 2004, when the club were in Serie C. After 18 goals in 2005/2006, Calaio followed that up with 14 goals last year but has only two goals this year but with the left striker position belonging to him for the rest of the eason, l’arciere Azzurro is destined for more.
It should be noted that the partenopei almost lost Calaio in the January 2008 transfer season as President Aurelio DeLaurentiis has gone on record saying that Emanuele approached him, begging him to loan his services out to Genoa but in turn Delaurentiis asked for the moon in return as a means of showing the world that he still had that soft spot for him and Sosa for all they had done going back to the depth of Serie C1.
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Comments
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Palermo will take Calaio back if he’s unwanted in Napoli!!!!!
Posted from
United States
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I hope Calaio shows his worthiness when he has the chance.However, the game against Juventus will be a tough one.Juventus definitely want to take their revenge.
Posted from
United States -
He’s not unwanted, Lorenzo. Not if the cheers when he gets subbed on are anything to go by…it’s been convincing Reja to use him more effectively that’s been the problem.
Posted from
Italy -
Fuck it, we’ll take him anyway.
Posted from
Belgium -
Caliaio’s use this year is clearly exhibit # 139 against the sanity of Edy Reja. I don’t think Emmanuele is a world class striker, by any means, but he does bring energy, a strong aerial presence and has the ability to hold the ball up for oncoming players.
It’ll be very interesting to watch him play with Lavezzi. I don’t have the stats in front of me but I don’t believe he’s been out on the pitch with El Pocho for more than 60 minutes all season.
Posted from
United States -
Joe, what do you think are the odds we get a new coach after this season? (Or is it too early to be asking this question?)
Posted from
Italy -
Lisa, I don’t like Reja’s chances of survival beyond the season (I think he’s toast). Although it may be unfair since this is the partenopei’s first season in Serie A, the public and the President have spent some dough and have expected a better overall result. It’s one thing to lose to the Romas and the Milans of the world but it is embarrassing to lose to Cagliari twice and a struggling Empoli team, at home, not to mention the notable subpar performances this past season against Reggina, a struggling Lazio team, Parma and Torino.
DeLaurentiis is a hot head but I think when he riduced and chewed out Reja in front of his players after the Empoli game, it told me it’s just a matter of time. You’ve just given me a great idea for my next blog. Maybe we can entice Marcello Lippi to return to Napoli??Posted from
United States -
Much as I LOVE the idea, I doubt we’ll get Lippi to Napoli. Although I will be happy to eat my words if DeLaurentiis can make it happen…
I asked the question because I think we need a change of coach-although I don’t think the situation is dire enough to change mid-season. (I think that’s the only reason Reja wasn’t gone after that chewing out-unless you’ve got someone demonstrably better lined up, changing coaches mid-season isn’t terribly helpful.)
To be honest, I think a lot of our problems and inconsistency are down to the coach. I respect Reja for what he’s done for us, he got us back to A, but I think he’s taken the team as far as he can and we need to bring in someone of higher caliber if we intend to be more than just another one of the usual mid-table suspects.
Posted from
Italy -
It’s hard for me to answer the question, Lisa. I simply can’t be objective about Reja. I think he’s a Serie B coach at best. He’s too rigid…falls in love with players who clearly aren’t getting the job done…is way too defensive…has horrible substitution patterns.
All that said, over the summer Reja was holding out for a two year deal and Napoli made it clear they were only going to give him a one year deal. This went on for almost a month before Reja relented and signed. This one factor (and the blowups DeLaurentis has had when criticizing Reja) lead me to believe he’s gone. I know DeLa has backed off those statements and says they’ll talk in the summer, but I don’t think it’ll happen. I think Marino and DeLa understand that in order to take that next step, they need more quality players and a quality coach.
Posted from
United States -
I don’t understand how Calaio is 26 years old but has never scored regularly at the Serie A level. I’m not calling into question his talent or potential, but there are some questions worth asking: Why did he go down the ladder from bigger clubs to smaller ones? He went from Torino to Pescara to Napoli’s Serie C1 side. Don’t good prospects go in the other direction, from Serie C up to Serie A? Also, why was he loaned out twice by Torino? I’d love to know which Torino strikers kept him from getting lots of playing time. I find it hard to believe the problem is Calaio’s agents and coaches… good players will find a way to succeed, plain and simple. In any case, now’s his time to prove his worth. Forza Napoli
Posted from
Canada -
Neil, although I can’t be 100% certain, I think Calaio did the moving he did a few years ago, particuarly going the other way down to C1 from B with Pescara because of the $$ Napoli was willing to pay him, becoming a part of the new Napoli and also playing in front of a guaranteed 50,000 fans every home game (kind makes you feel like you’re playing in A rather than C1).
I watched a Napoli-Pescara game last year (Pescara 1, Napoli 1) and it appeared there were 7,000 fans in the stadium (rather depressing).
Believe me, Calaio isn’t my brother or long lost cousin, BUT I feel Reja has quite simply misused him this season (kind of like what he did to Bucchi last year) and although I agree with Joe’s past comment, Calaio is not a world class striker, after the Parma game in late December, I had had my fill of Zalayeta and I thought Calaio was worthy of a shot. Well, here it is……
Joe, to answer your question, according to my rcords, Calaio and Lavezzi have not started together in the same game. Calaio has only gotten two starts this year: one against Livorno and the other against Genoa.Posted from
United States -
you know, Lisa, i realize that Calaio’s absence has been the fault of the coach. Sounds ALOT like how Bosko Jankovic for Palermo has been riding the bench b/c Guidolin is a moron. it seems to me that our teams share the same problems…
regardless, i still want Calaio in rosanero!
Posted from
United States -
Jankovic is still riding the pine? Then again, a lot of Palermo’s moves don’t make sense to me, like chasing off Corini without any clear replacement for him in midfield. (And this seems even more bizarre in light of them resigning Fontana…)
Posted from
Italy
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