Midseason Assessment (Ha-Ha, I Said Ass)

By: Marco Stucazzo | December 29th, 2007

* unfortunately, not gonna happen ( Even if Spinelli said he had a verbal agreement with Shaktar, sending Lucarelli back, should they drop out of the Champions League)

Hey! This might explain Lucarelli’s departure !

Livorno is hovering above the relegation zone with a very non-comfy 1 point cushion. Not exactly what was expected of the Amaranto before the season started, but considering their poor (more like bankrupt) start to the season this is an acceptable position in the table. I mean, even Bobby McMahon predicted an 11th place finish for the Labronici.

They looked woeful and awful at the start of the stagione. They were humiliated 5-1 by Juventus in the first game and never looked really competitive. Fernando Orsi, who salvaged the Amaranto from damnation to Serie B last year, couldn’t get the job done in his first 7 games in charge. He could only claim draws with Inter and Genoa, before Aldo Spinelli pulled the trigger.

Don’t get me wrong, Livorno is a provincial team from a city of 150,000 only, but the Labronici were battling for a Champions League (yes, CL!) spot 2 seasons ago. None of the supporters expect a top 4 finish from the Amaranto but are hoping they can at least stay around 10th place in Serie A.

In comes Giancarlo Camolese for the Lazio game and has changed the whole mentality of the team. The Athletic preparator was fired, He sent Dhorasoo and Diego Tristan to the farm team for a little bit of AAA ball. Vikash’s ego couldn’t take it so he left for retirement or Grenoble (great nuts in Grenoble btw)

But Diego Tristan scored one with the kids and has been playing better games every week since then. He only has one goal (a beauty vs Roma) and we’re waiting to see more from the Spaniard in the 2nd half.

Like Giancarlo Camolese said after the Roma game, nothing less than 10+ goals will impress the people who have jumped off the Tristan bandwagon long ago.

So who went and came this summer ? :

Out went : Cesar, Bazzani , Kuffour , Fiore , Pfertzel , Coppola , Passoni , Lucarelli , Morrone and Manitta

In came : Albanian forward Erjon Bogdani from Chievo Verona; Edgar Alvarez on loan from Roma; Daniele De Vezze a.k.a. DDV from Messina ; Giuliano Giannichedda from Juventus; Alessandro Diamanti from Prato; Massimo Loviso from Bologna; 50% of Francesco Volpe from Juventus; Emanuele Filippini from Bologna; Midfielder Nico Pulzetti from Verona; Diego Tristan on a free from Mallorca; Goalkeeper Alfonso De Lucia from Parma; Fausto Rossini from Catania Francesco Tavano from Valencia for a fee of €6m
Livorno basically spent less than 10 M$ on the market and made around 14M$. So there should be some money left for a little push during the Winter market.

Pfertzel is the player that was not adequately replaced. The Frenchman could play on both flanks but it seems Livorno have signed Sidny, a Cicinho-esque ( As in small, quick, attack minded and sucks at marking) left back from Nautico of the Brazilian league. The deal is all but official and rumours have it that Sidny is already in Livorno as we speak.

The sale of Cristiano Lucarelli brought in a nice amount of money that could have been better used on the Transfer market. It would be stupid to think that one new player could recreate the crazy goal tally of Lucarelli, but his departure doesn’t justify relegation

Ironically Spinelli has called this Livorno squad the best he has put together since he bought the club in 1999. The problem with Livorno is not so much the roster or the coach. They have proven that they can stay in Serie A with some decent positions in the standings for the past 4 years, but there’s no long term project in Livorno. Since his arrival, Aldo the Volcano has never invested in the youth squads or the front offices. Even if he has mentioned his plans to invest in better scouting and infrastructures, his desire to erect a ‘’Livornello’’ hasn’t materialised.

It looks like he doesn’t really care about the long term success of this club or he’s just waiting for those TV Rights Euros that should be arriving in 2009. He needs to move his ass a little during the Winter Window, if he wants to be sure to see the Amaranto in Serie A next year.

Here’s an approximate and non-professional estimation of team capital.

Goalkeeper Marco Amelia (€10m); Defense: Giovanni Pasquale (€4m), Alessandro Grandoni (€2m), Dario Knezevic (€2.5 m), Martin Bergvold (€2.7 m); Midfield: Giuliano Giannichedda (€3m), Massimo Loviso and Nico Pulzetti (€2m) Diego Tristan (€ 5 m), Francesco Tavano (€ 6m).

Positive points:

We’re out of the Coppa Italia : Livorno really don’t need to be battling on more than one front this season anyways. After the season opener Aldo claimed that ; “The Coppa Italia is nothing but an annoyance for us”

Giancarlo Camolese : He’s been working miracles. After losing his first 2 games in charge he helped Livorno finished the 1st half of the season on a 7 game unbeaten run that started in Reggina. The all around work ethic and grit of the squad has was tremendously improved since the mini manager has gotten to the Picchi.
He’s been playing the 3-5-2 in all the games

Francesco Tavano and Diego Tristan seemed to have found their footing and some sort of understanding on the field. There not exactly a lethal duo but they have 7 of Livorno’s 19 goals this season and we’re still waiting on a little bit more contribution from the Spaniard. Ciccio Tavano has found the back of the net 6 times this year and gives Livorno an excellent option on spot kicks. 5 of his 6 goals have been scored since GC Camels’ arrival

Dario Knezevic seems to have fully developed into an adequate Serie A defender. Enough so that he has attracted AC Milan’s attention. Alè Grandoni is looking better and better every game. He scored against Atalanta and, like Knezevic, has 2 goals this season.

Martin Bergvold has been a nice surprise since the arrival of Camolese. He‘s one of the only midfielders that has a decent shot and has a huge upside. More will be expected from the Dane during the Second Half of the season.

Negative Points:

Livorno can’t defend well on dead ball situations. A lot of their goals came off the heads of their adversaries.

Midfield non-talent: Livorno has a lot of different midfielders but none that really link the midfield to the attack.

Expections :

Livorno will most probably avoid the drop. If no major injuries occur we should be able to enjoy another season in Serie A.

This goes out to you guys
What and who do Livorno need? What could realistically happen during the Winter Market?

* I’ll assess the needs and probable departures in the next post!

Forza Ragazzi!