Let’s not expect Serse Cosmi to perform miracles in record time because we have Roma, Atalanta and Inter over 7 days…At least Serse Cosmi has decent knowledge of how to deal with a crazy president after coaching under Luciano Gaucci at Perugia. Let’s be honest Serse isn’t the best coach in the world, he’s on his way to coaching every semi-decent yo yo team in Italian Football, but at least he should keep things interesting. He has the right attitude to bring back this squad in the fight for 17th place.

So what’s wrong with the squad ? In two words ; depth and talent. Livorno’s ideal starting eleven is in no way the worst in Serie A (sic) but a few key injuries and voilà ! Fortunately, De Lucia and the back four has been decent this season (all things consdered) and the Central Defender position is the deepest on the whole rosa Perticone, Miglionico,Knezevic and Rivas are all capable Serie A defenders. On the other hand, our fullbacks suck ass. Ok so Raimondi is a poor man Fabio Grosso at best, without the knack for attacking and don’t even get me started on Mirko Pieri.

Something needs to be done here. Did someone say 3-5-2 ? Something that Cosmi knows well. 3 central defenders solidifies the back and exploits are only strong point, it’s a no brainer.

Problem here is the midfield. Davide Moro and Filippini have loads of grit but are clearly lacking in the talent department and all the heart and legs they put in doesn’t seem to make up for it. Martin Bergvold hasn’t seen that much time this year but Nico Pulzetti has been doing his thing as always. Mozart is perfect for this team but he’s constitently out of the line up. He really is a decent midfielder able to dictate play with very decent passing and is a very good incontrista for a brazillian. Stay healthy mr. fancy name.

Candreva has been playing the trequartista role well when healthy, still very green but nonetheless the most talented player on the roster (you suck Tavano). The 3-5-2 means that he’ll be linking the midfield to Lucarelli with Mr. Tavano probably starting from the bench and coming in for a mid if the score justifies a 3-4-3. However, it seems that Cosmi will be giving Celerino a good look after increasing his workload n training. Danilevicius i’d rather not talk about… Cristiano Lucarelli really needs to unblock tough and Roma would be the perfect time. If we can get 3-4 points in the next 3 games all will be well. Let’s just hope Cosmi is really good at making instant pudding cause he needs to make this team gel in record time.

Forza Regà !

Randomness :

Tavano and Lucarelli are starting to gel well together

Our defence is solid and deep !? Miglionico,Perticone and Diniz have been fairing well and we have this Rivas who has yet to see minutes. Plus Romano Perticone can play the flank for some added defensive coverage over.

Antonio Candreva has already made me forget about Massimo Loviso and if he would have scored off of a free kick against Milan i would even be saying Alè Diamanti right now. His speed,skills and vision are one of the reasons Livorno management decided to cash in on the Diamond in the rough.

We we’re unlucky to not get 1 point in Napoli

The pace on his squad is impressive

Luigi Vitale is better than Mirko Pieri

One game doesn’t prove anything but Mozart should be a very positive addition to this Livorno side.

We should have been up at half time during the Milan game

We can reach salvezza before the last game of the season if we start closing down our many chances

HIghlights :

Livorno – Milan ;

Napoli – Livorno :

Cagliari – Livorno :

Well the sexiest part of our tridente delle meraviglie is off to the nasty part of London to try and separate the probably still ongoing brawl betwen Milwall and the Hammers. Then he’ll start playing some football under the guidance of GF Zola… Livorno make 6-7-8 Million depending on who you ask…Should be official tomorrow

To try and smooth everything out. Spinelli has announced the quasi official capture of Inter cast away Neson ”Tyson” Rivas and Mozart, ex Reggina/Spartak Moscow/Palmeiras…

Grazie Grande Alè !

Guess who’s back ?

After his Ukranian Champions league goals and some parmiggiano cheese, Cristiano – tenetevi il milliardo – Lucarelli is back home !!! I don’t care for the debate on his comeback ; Livorno welcomes back a son, that just so happens to be the perfect Centravanti for this Livorno squad (plus i’m excited about the arsenal of alliteration possiblities the Livorno\Lucarelli combination can create(And add to that all the Selvaggia Lucarelli cleavage during Google searches)

Lucarelli’s addition now gives us an adequate Serie A attacking tridente for the rush to salvezza, if Diamanti stays of course… With Diamanti, Tavano, Lucarelli, Danilevicius and Cellerino,(Volpe(Juve), Rossini (job at the local Lumbermill) and Paulinho (Sorrento, He’s a huge Dean Martin fan) are gone) Livorno’s attack is pretty much set for next year. However, there is the possibility of Cellerino and Diamanti moving but it seems unlikely at the moment. So we need to add some bodies on Defense and some midfield depth.

Squad situation ;

Goalie : Alfonso De Lucia did well enough last year to warrant the starter position in Serie A but enough doubts on his consistency have been raised for Nelson Ricci & Aldo to be considering a strong back up for the road to salvezza. Names like Roma’s Arthur, Milan’s Marco Storari, Manitta & Cassano have been seen floating around unreliable websites. I wanna see Matteo Sereni but Aldo won’t listen to me. I’ll try calling Mr. Ricci tomorrow…

Defense : Between Romano Perticone (Via Milan), Fabio Galante (Via oldness),Leo Miglionico,Mirko Pieri (Samp) and Cristian Raimondi (Via Vicenza) Livorno already has a starting back 4 confirmed for the upcoming season. Grandoni is a goner (Sassuolo or Parma) and Aldo is pimping Dario Knezevic around Eastern Europe worst than ; Insert Russian Mafia related prostitution joke here. Ukranian outfit Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk have shown interest as well as half of Russia.

Livorno are still on the prowl for a couple more defenders. One more full back and a versatile central defender. Sexiest name seen so far is Genoa’s Modesto which would be a surprinsingly excellent pick up. The rest look like this ; Castaway Lorenzo Stovini, Marco Pisano & Francesco Pratali (Probably part of that Massimo Loviso to Torino deal ) , Nelson Cribari ( Lazio’s trying to insert him in the Pulzetti deal, but screw Cribari), Ex Milan via Monaco defender Dario Simic as well as 30 year old Romanian Sorin Gionea. Ghionea has CL experience with Steau and doesn’t get injured as often as Christian Chivu ( How expensive must the insurance premium be when Juan, Chivu and Nesta go on their annual mountain biking with no helmet excursion in the Dolomites !?) Adding any of the above not from Lazio (preferably Stovini) and Modesto would be ideal.

On the U23 side of things, Livorno are contemplating Juve’s Lorenzo Ariaudo & Roma’s Marco Andreolli on loan. Aleandro Rosi will probably be back next season but he’s trying his ass off to stay in Rome. And this is me throwing Davide Santon in here for fun

Midfield :

Diego Perez from Monaco. (Woo Hoo!) 29 year old ball winning defensive midfielder. Starter on the Urugayan National team and has been playing for Monaco in Europe. Francesco Guidolin loved him during his short stay there. Seems that his transfer is 99% complete. This would be a great acquisition and a better option in front of defense than Massimo Loviso (who’s on his way out to Torino very soon)Think of him as the crackhead’s Daniele De Rossi.

Useless and maybe a little bit gay french (oxymoron? Stand Up comedian Sugar Sammy has a theory that every french man is one beer away from being gay) video that makes it look like playing in Monaco is the most non stressful thing in the world for a soccer player !

Antonio Candreva is 99% back now. Udinese is also considering loaning out Christian Obodo as well.

Official arrival from Parma ; Alessandro Budel, Big 6 footer from Parma that adds depth

Official Arrival from Bologna ; Davide Marchini most famous for getting his ass beat by Pasquale Foggia’s posse in Cagliari. Decent

Pazienza and Dalla Bona are linked with Livorno, now an Italian Tradition since 2005

Sergio Almiron’s name has been floating around on the Juve-Livorno highway (they like each other ; remember the Mutu deal ? ( and HA! HA! to Mutu, that turned out to be some verrry expensive cocaine) This Almiron to Livorno seems tied to the Christian Poulsen situation.

If the season started today we’d look like this :

A. De Lucia ; Raimondi, Perticone,Miglionico,Pieri ; Marchini, Budel, Bergvold; Tavano,Lucarelli, Diamanti

with the potential for ; De Lucia\Arthur ; Modesto\Raimondi, Perticone\Miglionico, Stovini\Simic, Pieri\Rosi; Marchini\Almiron,Perez\Budel,Bergvold\Candreva, Diamanti ; Lucarelli,Tavano…not to shabby

Aldo fa L’Americano :

Official ; Ricardo Clark has found a school for his kids at Camp Darby and will be arriving in January. Don’t know how i feel about this one, i mean we acquired some dude from the Houston Dynamo…

Here’s a comment from reader David that sums up the Donovan situation quite well ;

‘‘I think that the quality of competition concern is a legitimate one. However, I don’t think that the gulf is so vast as to keep Donovan from succeeding. The thing to remember about Landon is that he likes being “the guy”. I think that his primary interest in Livorno is that it is a club that is small enough that the competition allows for greater opportunity in playing time than a club like Milan or Juve, while allowing a high level of competition. While that may seem critical, I don’t see it as a negative. I think that, at this point in his career, he has enough maturity to deal with a league like Serie A and I really think that it could be a good fit for both parties”

I’ll have to disagree on the ”good fit for both parties thing” though… In my mind this would be a way better deal for Donovan than for Livorno on a football standpoint ’cause all the Labronici would get out of it would be some North American media exposure for some dude that couldn’t cut it in Germany. He’s in no way a step up from Diamanti or Tavano… a poor old man’s Sebastian Giovinco at best…Don’t get me wrong, Donovan isn’t a crappy player but i think he’s overestimated, especially by the American media (Freddy Adu anyone ?) Donovan has that ”ME!ME!ME!” attitude i hate, is too small, not quick enough, aging and high maintenance and you see that picture!?…so…basically…no

Forza Livorno !

Smells a lot like Aldo is jumping on the PR bandwagon again… To be fair the Gooch , as they say, has expressed his desire to play in Italy or Spain and has now been rumoured to be going much pretty much anywhere in the Big 3.Altough Aldo has mentioned the Big Syracuse bred Central back’s name in the past, it’s highly unlikely he’d be coming to our favourite Tuscan Serie A town but i think this rumour has picked up because of the American Army Base in Livorno, Camp Darby. Livorno having a semi-big american community out there so the gooch,as they say, might feel closer to Home (He does talk about never adapting to European culture in the video below)

I wouldn’t mind seeing the big american roaming the Livorno defense (why the gloves ?) but i’m pretty sure we won’t be seeing the gooch, as they say, clearing ball after ball out of the Livorno half next year.

Here’s a bunch of unorganized,misspelled, mercato ramblings

Francesco Ceravolo leaves Livorno a winner and New DS is Nelso Ricci and he’s been working overtime already…

Spoke to Milan :

Ricci: Yo Galliani ! I’ll give you a cool Million and 50% of Cesena mid Diniz for all of Romano Perticone ?
Galliani : Ok
Ricci : Sweet! Thanks Uncle Fester

Then spoke with Juve :

Went something like this : Yo Secco ! You know how Rizza and Volpe are in comproprietà…well how about you keep Volpe and we keep Rizza ? (covering the phone while he’s laughing) Secco : Let me get back to you on this one. And please charge Dario Knezevic’s return to YOUR purolator account !
We’ll see what we do with him once he gets here. Rizza was won at le buste by Livorno with a 100 000 $ bid.

Met with Parma :

Ricci : How about that Cristiano Lucarelli fellow ? We’re looking at a 2 year loan and we’ll pitch in Massimo Loviso, Guidolin likes him no? How about Dario Knezevic…? Ghirardi\Leonardo : We’ll call you back. Spinelli now saying 99% sure Lucarelli will be back

Meanwhile Spinelli is calling Walter Mazzari, Mario Beretta and just got Antoni Conte’s number…

Then they met Udinese. Seeing how they don’t own all of Giovanni Pasquale, and they kind of like him, we should try and trade him for Antonio Candreva no ? Didn’t work out…Pasquale becomes a full on Udinese player for 1.8 M Andrea Migliorini and Candreva on loan for another year.( I kind of understand Udinese not wanting to let Antonio go, even 50% of him)

Ricci also brought back a bunch of Primavera kids from Lega Pro ; Di Bella of Potenza, Dionisi of Celano and Scognamiglio of Crotone…

Who’s coming ? :

Lucarelli…?…!…?…!

Word on the street is that Livorno are interested in Catania castaway ‘Zo Stovini, Ex-Leccese Stendardo and Caserta as well as Bologna’s Belleri for central defense

Grosseto Midfielder Valeri has been mentionned somewhere

28 year old Cristian Raimondi’s contract with Vicenza has ended

Allegretti and Agliardi from Triestina have been mentionned

Someone said something about Roberto Guana for free

I’d irrationnaly’d like to see Fabio Zambrella, Marco Andreolli, Stefano Okaka Chuka, Torino keeper Sereni and David Santon (screw Bonetto)

Who’s going ? :

There’s talks of Spinelli getting decent offers from West Ham and Inter. West Ham is offering good old cash and Inter has put 4M + Nelson Rivas on the table…(How about 50% of Santon inserted somewhere)

Seems as if Nico Pulzetti will be sold. Atalanta, Bologna and Palermo are all interested. Pulzetti is said to be worth anywhere between 2.5-3 M$ and when i mean $ i mean Euros

Fausto Rossini’s contract probably won’t be renewed

Paulinho who ?

Seems like Tommy Danilevicius will be the 4th striker…

I get the feeling Diamanti is staying nonetheless

I wanna see Volpe, Grandoni, Galante, Mazzoni, The twins, Pulzetti and Danilevicius gone

Today’s Line Up :
4-3-2-1 : De Lucia, Perticone,Miglionico,Knezevic,Rizza ; Candreva,Loviso,Bergvold; Diamanti,Tavano; Danilevicius

Acquisti :
Antonio Candreva (Udinese;1 year Loan), Andrea Magliorini (Udinese ;Full ownership(FO) Leo Martin Miglionico (Samp;FO) Romano Perticone (AC Milan : FO) Rizza (Juventus,FO)

Gone:
Riccardo Bonetto (d,Lazio(puked my mouth), End Loan ), Antonio Filippini (c,svincolato), Emanuele Filippini (c,svincolato), Fausto Rossini (a,svincolato), Emanuele Terranova (d,Palermo, EL), Aleandro Rosi (d,Roma, EL)Giovanni Pasquale(Udinese, FO 4M$)

What we’re working on :

IN :
Cristiano Lucarelli (a,Parma), Cristian Raimondi (c,Vicenza), Lorenzo Stovini (d,svincolato), Luigi Sala (d,svincolato), Simone Bentivoglio (c,Chievo), Aleandro Rosi (c,Roma) Bonnetto(Lazio) Zambrella(Brescia)

OUT :
Diamanti (Inter,West Ham, Samp…) Pulzetti (atalanta, Palermo,Lazio(more puke) Loviso(Parma) Danilevicius & Knezevic (Who ever)

Not only is this Promotion extra special seeing how we should have finished first or second in the standings, it’s the fact that we eliminated Brescia, a team trascinata by a Pisano, Riccardo Taddei !, on a year where Pisa get demoted to Serie C !!!

A!?!!?…HAHAHA…A…AHHH ! Chi non salta è un Pisano !!!

The duo of Tavano and Diamanti really pulled off a brilliant season. Their 43 goals were a big part of the fight for promotion. A lot of credit must go to Alfonso De Lucia and the Defese and Leo Acori deserves some praise

Now that Livorno are back in Serie A , meaning a little more pocket money to buy some candy, what do we need to insure salvezza ? :

Defense :

Alfonso De Lucia was solid all season. He can clearly cut it in Serie A and be trsted as the number one GK once more. However, we definetly need a Serie A caliber back up, as was clearly shown during De Lucia’s payoff suspension. Brescia’s Viviano played a hell of a season and deserves some Serie A football.

Romano Perticone and Leo Miglionico formed a more than decent duo in central defense all season long. Not injury prone, solid and reliable what more can you ask? See these Grandoni and Galante guys might be fine as Serie B backups, and that’s saying a lot, but their age has clearly caught up with them. I wouldn’t mind seeing Grandoni stay if he plays a very minimal role but i’d rather go out and spend 2-3 Million on a Serie A caliber CB and give Terranova and Rizza more space to grow(if we manage to keep ‘em). Livorno have been linked to Andrea Ranocchia in the past but it’s highly unlikely that the Labronici will be able to sneak in between Bari and Genoa.

Aleandro Rosi and Riccardo Bonetto covered the flanks consistently well all season long. Bonetto was a bit more dependable but what Rosi adds to the offense almost makes up for his defensive lapses(Both Acori and Ruotolo slotted in Perticone when they wanted more coverage on the flank). I have the feeling Rosi might slot in to Fillipini’s role once in a while in Serie A, if we manage to hang on to him, which shouldn’t be a problem for Roma i think (unless they don’t buy Motta). Bonetto’s size makes him more vulnerable to Serie A offenses than he was in Serie B, he’d be a decent sub, but he hasn’t replaced Giovanni ‘’sub par” Pasquale.

Midfield :

Solid all season long and probably the position with the most depth on the squad. I don’t know if Livorno will be fielding the Christmas three and 4-3-1-2 in Serie A but Loviso, Bergvold, Pulzetti, Candreva hell even the Filipini’s helped out (mind you that was Serie B)

We definetely need a few more for an entire Serie A season, Fabio Zambrella of Brescia comes to mind as a fairly cheap back up.(Livorno were linked in the past and seeing how he singleheadedly eliminated Pisa from Serie B this season, these rumours might pick up) (extra sidenote : How often will you hear an opposing squad’s tifosi chant an oppsoing players name during a crucial match !? The Livorno faithful were singing his name during the game !!! “E la vita, la vita, e la vita è bella, quando segna Zambrella con un colpo di testa, e comincia la festa” ) We so need to sign this dude !

I really hope (understatement warning ; i’d gladly sacrifice the unholy love child of a Pisano and a Laziale for Candreva’s full cartellino) we can hang on to Antonio Candreva, the U21 regular has been an excellent asset all season long. Versatile and has a knack for goals, this kid is a future national stud. Martin Bergvold is more than just a decent mid and an excellent squad player. That tremendous Diamanti volley came off his cross and he finished off Brescia with a sexy slotted in left foot curler to officialize Serie A 2009-2010. Loviso on the other hand definetely has the most talent, but it’s his mindset, consistency and decision making abilities that are lacking. If he finally pulls it together he can return to being as useful to his team as he was for the U21 in the semi-glorious Matteo Brighi days because Serie A won’t be as forgiving as la cadetteria. Nico Pulzetti probably wants to go and probably has the best market value seeing how Palermo and a few clubs were interested in his services last summer and this January too. We could probably cash in him and get replacements for the Filipini twins.

Attack :

Francesco Tavano is Serie B capocannoniere(Let’s not get into the whol : Well-i -hope – so – fuck !? debate just yet)- and Alè Diamanti is officially a star and probably worth between 10-14 M$ now after being purchased from Prato for 7 bags of Tuscan truffles 2 years ago (mind you Aldo won’t be negotiating anymore, he’s stepping down from the Presidency and has offered it to his son, let’s see what transpires(and Aldo is always saying stuff) after the Livornese have woken up from the drunken haze of Serie A promotion (And yes, i’m deliberately writing Serie- A as much as i can)

Tavano and Diamanti are 86% the reason we will be entertaining the likes of Roma,Napoli,Palermo and Sampdoria next season (Woo Hoo!). Serie A will get to see Diamanti’s left foot again and Tavano’s egg breaking. They played well together all season long and one of them always picked up the slack when the other was having an off night. Nothing to say, they are the reason we can aspire to salvezza next season. Hell, imagine these guys without Danilevicius to babysit next year !

Livorno played with a frontman all season long ; Fausto Rossini was half decent , hell he even scored a sick Ibra-Style goal ! But let’s be honest, the only reason Tommy Danilevicius was playing in the playoffs was for him to get some exposure so we can cash in on his crappy ass by shipping him off to the highest\stupidest(because dumbest doesn’t give the full experience) bidder! Tavano and Diamanti couldn’t care less about the Lithuanian looking for the midfielders or Aleandro Rosi (this kid will be amazing, just don’t tell Roma just yet) way before giving a peak at the semi-big Lithuanian non-sensation. I don’t know if the Labronici will still field a 3 man offense next season but Danilevicius is gone and Rossini is a decent 3rd-4th Serie A striker at best. Stefano Okaka Chuka would be an excellent replacement for Danilevicius and Livorno have a decent relationship(or knack for getting points against them and snatching some decent talent) with Roma (Chiellini, Amelia,Tavano and Rosi come to mind) Paulinho will surely be discarded from the squad, probably not Volpe but he’ll be seeing more midfield action i presume

Gaston Cellerino’s boots haven’t been soiled much since January but the big Argie arrival (via Boca Juniors, Via Chile and Via Fuck You Lazio !) has shown glimpses of what he can do and i have this feeling we’ll se more of him next season. Big , quick , can run on the counter and has a decent first touch, (borderline excellent if you consider him a big target man) and seems to have a head on his shoulders, let’s see how Livorno’s coach uses him next season.

Coach :

Leo Acori was canned with 90′ minutes left to go to the Serie B season. Everybody, including Aldo and Acori, knows that Acori wasn’t to blame for anything. He coached well all season long and kept Livorno between 1st and 4th spot for 40 matches. Gennarino Ruotolo instantly instilled a winning mentality and united the group…He also kind of brought them straight to Serie A…

It seems ldo is considering 3 men for the job #1 Mario Beretta #2 Gennarino Ruotolo #3 Walter Mazzari. Of course Aldo Spinelli would love to have Walter at the helms of newly promoted Livorno squad.

Adding a 4 decent Serie A players to the likes of De Lucia, Miglionico, Perticone, Bergvold, Loviso,Candreva, Rosi, Diamanti and Tavano could seriously turn this squad into a force to be reckon with in la lotta per la salvezza.

Did i just hear someone shout Cristiano Lucarelli ?

Forza Labronici !

‘Chi non salta un pisano è”

TABELLINO
Livorno batte Brescia 3-0 (0-0).
Livorno (4-3-1-2): De Lucia, Rosi (40′ st Galante), Perticone, Miglionico, Bonetto, A. Filippini (37′ st E. Filippini), Loviso, Bergvod, Diamanti (25′ st Pulzetti), Tavano, Danilevicius. (29 Vono, 77 Grandoni, 46 Rizza, 11 Paulinho). All.: Ruotolo.
Brescia (4-3-3): Viviano, Martinez (19′ st Nassi), Bega, Mareco, Gorzegno, Rispoli (8′ st Zambelli), Vass, Zambrella, Taddei, Caracciolo, Possanzini (31′ st Okaka). (27 Arcari, 23 Dallamano 2 Zoboli, 5 Tognozzi). All.: Cavasin.
Arbitro: Morganti di Ascoli Piceno. Reti: nel st 4′ Tavano, 14′ Diamanti, 29′ Bergvold. Espulsi: nel st 45′ Cracciolo e Galante per reciproche scorrettezze. Ammoniti: Mareco, Bonetto, Perticone, Bega, Zambrella, Diamanti e Caracciolo per gioco scorretto; A. Filippini e Taddei per condotta regolamentare. Angoli: 7-3 per il Livorno. Recupero: 3′ e 5′. Spettatori: 16.334, per un incasso di 264.221 euro.