Reuters Soccer Blog

Serie A gets wackier as Leonardo joins Inter

Italian soccer on the pitch has a largely undeserved image of being boring, with 1-0 wins and catenaccio supposedly the norm.

Off the pitch Serie A is surely the craziest league in Europe with match-fixing scandals, coaches being sacked the day before the season, and players and managers switching between rivals like they were picking teams in the school playground. 

Former Inter Milan hero Zlatan Ibrahimovic joining AC Milan just a year after saying he was bored with Italy was weird enough but ex-Milan boss Leonardo becoming Inter coach takes the biscuit.

Leonardo is Milan through and through given he was also a player there but his season in charge of the Rossoneri last term was not that successful so why on earth would Inter president Massimo Moratti choose him to replace Rafael Benitez?

Can you imagine the reaction in England if Arsene Wenger went to manage Manchester United? Sure Mark Hughes was a top United player and went on to manage Manchester City but it wasn’t just one season later.

Yes Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho used to work at Barcelona but it was a while ago and he was only an assistant at the Nou Camp.

Inter had their fingers burnt once before employing a great rivals’ coach. Marcello Lippi was gone in a year after joining from Juventus in 1999.

Are AC Milan now Serie A favourites?

As the dust settles after the end of the transfer window, Italian soccer fans are gradually coming to terms with a possible shift in power at the top.

No one is outwardly saying it, but whispers and hints abound. AC Milan may finally have a squad capable off wrestling the title off Inter Milan after five long years.

Owner Silvio Berlusconi decided to loosen the purse strings and recruiting Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Robinho has seriously spiced up Milan’s front line, at a time when Inter decided not to invest at all and rely on last term’s treble winners minus Mario Balotelli.

It is easy to see former Inter man Ibra fitting straight into Milan’s system in the middle of a front three also containing Ronaldinho and Alexandre Pato. I reckon Robinho has been bought from Manchester City to be a reserve for either Ronaldinho or Pato, who’ve had their injury problems of late.

Besides Robinho’s troubles at City, the only downside to Milan’s transfer business which I can see is that the decision to let strikers Marco Borriello and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar leave for AS Roma and Schalke means there is only 37-year-old Filippo Inzaghi remaining as a substitute target man in case anything happens to Ibrahimovic. 

Inter are probably in a similar situation though with only Samuel Eto’o, Diego Milito and Goran Pandev recognised as established forwards in their squad and if they all start then what options are there for the bench?

The strange story of Ibra and Pep

As Barcelona close in on the signing of Javier Mascherano from Liverpool, Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s future at the club seems to becoming ever more complicated.

Coach Pep Guardiola’s decision to move for the combative Mascherano is understandable after Yaya Toure’s departure to Manchester City.

Added to the signings of David Villa, a proven goalscorer already familiar with half the squad from Spanish international duty, and the versatile Adriano Correia, who can cover Dani Alves at right back or play in midfield, they look like sensible choices.

But can Guardiola’s judgement be questioned is in his handling of the Ibrahimovic conundrum?

The hefty Swede was Guardiola’s choice to replace the prolific but problematic Samuel Eto’o a year ago and set Barca back serious cash in an eye-watering swap deal with Inter Milan.

Ibra responded by scoring 21 goals in all competitions, a tally not to be sniffed at, yet he clearly slipped to second choice at number nine during the title run in last May behind teenager Bojan Krkic.

Ibrahimovic? Milan need something

AC Milan have confirmed they are trying to sign Barcelona forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic and judging by their pre-season form, they really need a spark.

Ronaldinho showed some good touches in Sunday’s drab 0-0 draw with Juventus, Milan’s final pre-season friendly, but he will never be the player of old and has never been a out-and-out striker.

Marco Borriello was isolated upfront alone despite owner and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi ordering new coach Massimiliano Allegri to play two up top this season after Leonardo’s conservative approach last term earned the Brazilian a ticket home and third place in Serie A for the Rossoneri.

Ibrahimovic is similar to Borriello in some ways and Milan do have other options in Alexandre Pato and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. Filippo Inzaghi is also still running around like a whippet at 37.

Milan are lacking gravitas but Berlusconi, who said in July that ex-Inter man Ibrahimovic might not fit into Milan’s dressing room, has been very frugal in his spending in the last two years — so much so that the Rossoneri have loaned three Genoa players this summer and brought in Mario Yepes on a free.

The fact Ibrahimovic had a mixed first season at the Nou Camp and was left out of Saturday’s Spanish Super Cup second leg may make Milan think they can do a deal with Barca and the Swede but at what cost?

Why Henry’s move might not kickstart transfer window

Barcelona’s Thierry Henry is heading to New York Red Bulls in a widely expected move but don’t think the first big post-World Cup transfer means the window will suddenly be awash with deals.

An event before the World Cup is a major reason why Henry has decided to follow David Beckham’s lead and try out MLS. David Villa’s early move to Barca from Valencia meant there was no room for Henry at the Nou Camp and after France’s flop in South Africa there were few other interested parties.

Barcelona were seen as the major drivers for this transfer window given they are also keen on Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas. However, noises coming out of North London suggest the midfielder is set to stay in the Premier League for now.

The fact Fabregas could not get a start in Spain’s victorious World Cup team might make him realise that he would not be an automatic first choice at boyhood club Barca either given international team mates Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets all play there.

Coach Pep Guardiola is staying at least another season but Barca’s money problems mean any really big buys might be out of the question and Arsenal clearly want a lot for Fabregas.

Another bit of transfer gossip affecting Barca is constant rumours linking Zlatan Ibrahimovic with a move back to Milan after one season. The only difference is that AC Milan want him rather than former club Inter.

Predictions league hails the power of Drogba

Didier Drogba’s second goal in Sunday’s 2-0 win over Arsenal was the epitome of the Chelsea striker’s immense power.

It’s hard to know how any defence can stop him, even Inter Milan’s…

Top Premier League strikers are certainly having the best of it at the moment with Manchester United talisman Wayne Rooney scoring another in the 5-0 thrashing of Portsmouth.

Constrast Drogba and Rooney with Barcelona’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has scored once in his last 10 matches, and misfiring Juventus forward Alessandro Del Piero. His side have slid all the way to seventh in Serie A.

Talking of who is in or out of form, our Premier League predictions competition had one standout performer at the weekend — leader Paul Radford, who was spot on with Chelsea’s 2-0 win. Paul racked up four correct scores in all, bagging a maximum five points for each, while he picked up three singles for guessing the right result in three other games.

A midweek fixtures programme awaits and as many of our panel are away at the Winter Olympics, here is a perfect chance to sneak up on them while their minds are focused on luge and freestyle skiing.

If that doesn’t tempt you, any new entrants get double points for the rest of the season. Oh, and we trust you to total up your own points too.

Ibrahimovic volley gives Barcelona bragging rights

A Barcelona-Real Madrid game that veered from the brilliant to the banal, as is pretty much always the case in these contests, was settled 1-0 in favour of the Catalans by a great finish from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, following an even better pass from Dani Alves.

Real will go back to the capital content with their performance in all areas … apart from in front of goal. They will rue missing six or seven good chances to get something from a game that was pretty even, although that was partly to do with the sending-off of Busquets for a daft handball.

The result took Barcelona back top of La Liga but it obviously didn’t settle anything. What it did confirm is that Real have become a much tougher team to play against with all that new talent and that coach Pellegrini is on the right track. So they couldn’t get the ball off the Barcelona midfield at times? I can’t think of a single team that wouldn’t have had problems at Camp Nou against Iniesta, Xavi, Messi and the rest.

The Ballon d’Or will be announced on Tuesday and you can bet it will go to Messi, but after watching that match I was reminded that Iker Casillas and Carles Puyol deserve to be up there as well.

But what did you make of the game? And who do you think should be named Player of the Year?

PHOTO: Barcelona’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic reacts after scoring a goal during their Spanish first division soccer match against arch rivals Real Madrid at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona November 29, 2009. REUTERS/Gustau Nacarino

Let’s hear it for the World Cup’s 33rd team

While a lucky pool of soccer millionaires can now get down to some serious daydreaming about World Cup glory in South Africa next year, there’s another group of equally well renowned and respected players who will be spending the summer sprucing up the gardens (or getting their agents to buy them fridges).

Here at the Reuters Soccer Blog we’re a little bit saddened by this fact and, doing some daydreaming of our own, we’ve come up with a plan for a 33rd team at the World Cup, made up of players whose countries have failed to qualify.

I’m nominating Sven-Goran Eriksson for the job of coaching them, provided he will agree to swap his plush office at League Two Notts County for a month whipping our World Cup ‘unfortunates’ into shape.

Here’s my stab at a starting XI for the opening game, with a few standbys for the bench.

Sven’s unfortunates (4-3-3): 1-Petr Cech; 2-Yiri Zhirkov, 3-Thomas Vermaelen, 4-Josip Simunic, 5-Christian Chivu; 6-Andrei Arshavin, 7-Luka Modric, 8-Mohamad Zidan; 9-Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 10-Eduardo da Silva, 11-Emanuel Adebayor.

Subs: Shay Given, Razvan Rat, Robbie Keane, Martin Petrov, Dimitar Berbatov, Edin Dzeko, Adrian Mutu.

Razvan Rat makes the cut purely because of the headline grabbing potential of his name, while Shay Given and Robbie Keane deserve something to go right for them.

Ibra needs more than jeers to prove his worth

Barcelona striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic ignored the predictable boos on his first return to Inter Milan without answering the sceptics who still doubt his ability to finally make a mark in Europe.

Wednesday’s 0-0 draw in the Champions League Group F opener prompted more questions than answers for both sides, even if Barca shaded the contest in terms of chances and technical ability.

Swede Ibrahimovic hopes his pre-season swap deal with Samuel Eto’o can turn him into one of the most feared strikers in the continent after invariably flattering to deceive for Inter in the Champions League.

His talents in domestic soccer are undoubted, given he inspired Inter to three Italian titles, and he was fully prepared for jeers from parts of the San Siro.

“Some whistled, it’s normal when you lose a player you did not want to lose,” he told reporters. “With a bit of luck I could even have scored.”

In truth, Ibrahimovic snatched at a good early chance and generally failed to impose himself despite some tidy link-up play.

Who will win the battle between Ibra and Eto’o?

Boy, the Champions League is back with a bang. How much juicier can you get than holders Barcelona at Inter Milan in their first game?  

If the Spanish champions against their Italian counterparts wasn’t enough, we’ve got the added spice of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Samuel Eto’o playing against their former clubs at the first possible opportunity following their extraordinary close-season swap deal.

Barca midfielder Xavi has told Reuters it will still be strange to line up against Eto’o on Wednesday while Inter’s Jose Mourinho, who has had an up and down relationship with the Catalans, has been stealing the headlines as usual.

“Eto’o is the best attacker in the world. My players are always better. Last year Ibrahimovic was the best forward in the world, now I say Eto’o,” he told reporters.

So will Ibra come back to haunt the San Siro or will Eto’o prove that Inter are not missing him?

No one is really sure what reception the Swede will get on Wednesday.