Another re-scheduling apparently happened again for Serie A match between As Roma against Inter Milan as after only being relocated from 20.45 kick off into 15.00 on Saturday, the Lega Serie A have to move the day into Sunday as well.

This situation arrived because the snow problem apparently still can’t be solved on Saturday despite having the match being pushed forward into an evening kick off, as at the moment the weather already showed some serious situation.

There’s a fear that the match won’t be played at all this weekend but apparently according to the latest news from Italy, things can be sorted out on Sunday, which is a good news for football fans considering Roma v Inter is one of the most anticipated match this week. Obviously, the fans around the globe that watch from television must be content with the fact that they can’t enjoy the comfort of watching two, three big games in a different day but having the games being played is obviously more important.

Aside from the Roma against Inter, there are also another important match which was being re-scheduled due to bad weather issue, that game is Ac Milan’s encounter against Napoli. That tie was supposedly set for 20.45 kick off on Sunday but got pushed up to 15.00 on the same day, despite the Rossoneri was actually asking for a postponing instead.

The bad weather in Serie A this winter have really been disturbing the competition as until now there have been several matches that got postponed because of this situation. A condition that raises the worries of many people, hoping that a solution can be found immediately not only for this current month but for next season, so there will be no more canceled match as of today.

 
photo credit: batrax

Lazio’s main winter target, Keisuke Honda, admitted his disappointment in failing to join the Biancocelesti as the player revealed that Serie A has become his preference compared to other competitions.

Despite already failing to play in Italy this winter, Honda hasn’t close his dream yet in moving to the Pizza land especially when the transfer market opens again next summer, but at the moment his focus remains with CSKA Moskow.

Speaking to the Japanese media, Honda hinted that although there’s been linked with clubs such as Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, the midfielder promises that he would still chose Serie A. The free kick specialist apparently also won’t limit his option on Lazio as should other Italian clubs are interested, the Japanese international would likely accept especially if other big teams also showed seriousness in approaching him.

I was waiting for a better future during this transfer session and hoped to the end that I’d arrive in Serie A. I now have only CSKA in my mind, but my contract is set to expire and I am honored that my name has been linked with the likes of PSG or Manchester City. My objectives have not changed and I have no intention of changing them,” Honda revealed.

Honda apparently is a keen admirer of the Italian league, which he claimed as one of the most difficult in the world mainly because the strong tactical battle that would improve any players’ quality. That’s why he was very excited after understanding Lazio’s serious interest on him, but unfortunately the deal collapsed after the Biancocelesti failed to reach an agreement with CSKA.

Honda has been attracting many interest from many clubs after performing excellently in the World Cup for his country and also at CSKA, mainly in the Japanese international earlier season. Apparently the interest has been dropping recently as the midfielder picked up a bad knee injury last summer, which forced him out for quite some time and probably become one of the reasons why the Russian team is willing to depart with the left footed midfielder.

photo credit: Vincent Teeuwen

Thiago Motta’s departure from Inter Milan apparently leaves an interesting facts which was revealed by his agent, Alessandro Canovi, stating that there’s actually some conflict of interest going on regarding the player’s future before finally moving to Paris Saint-Germain.

Canovi hinted that the Nerazzurri’s management, lead by Massimo Moratti and Marco Branca are very eager to sell the player, while coach, Claudio Ranieri actually isn’t that keen in losing Motta, who has been an important figure for Inter until this season.

Canovi further explained that Moratti and Branca’s decision to let Motta leave for Paris was because they understand that the player already lost his appetite in playing for the Nerazzurri. However, Ranieri still believes that the Italian international is still very much needed by his team especially since this season Inter’s record when playing without the ex-Barcelona man has been pretty poor.

“Massimo Moratti and Marco Branca understood the player’s state of mind, as he could no longer find the motivation to play with the Nerazzurri until June. Staying to the end of the season would’ve been a difficult situation. Claudio Ranieri wanted him to stay, because there are few players like Thiago Motta and it’s only normal a Coach would not be eager to let him go,” Canovi stated.

Many expert believes that losing Motta is a big loss for Inter, especially now their starting to lose another grip in the league, although the investment being made looks pretty promising indeed. After the
ex-Barcelona player’s departure, the Nerazzurri picked up two interesting players, Angelo Palombo from Sampdoria along with Porto’s Freddy Guarin, who have been catching many eyes of talent scouts from big teams.

However, despite already acquiring Palombo and Guarin, there’s still some doubts about Inter’s ability in coping with Motta’s departure since the latter does have different characteristic compared with the previous two names. Obviously the proves on whether the Nerazzurri can really cope well with the departure of an important act in midfield especially since Wesley Sneijder hasn’t been himself this season.

photo credit: fenderjaguar

Having already “lose” several matches in the past few weeks due to bad weather, Lega Serie A commissioner decided to make a change for some matches for this upcoming week in order to avoid another forced postponing.

The rescheduled games are, As Roma v Inter Milan, Cesena v Catania and Ac Milan v Napoli, who will now be played in the afternoon instead of their previous evening schedule, hoping that the cold weather won’t be troubling yet at an early hour.

Two matches, Roma v Inter and Cesena v Catania will still be played on Saturday, while Milan v Napoli also isn’t changing any dates despite previous request from the Rossoneri vice president, Adriano Galliani, asking to change the game into different dates. This decision seems to be welcomed well by the clubs as no objections been filed following the fixtures changes, although it remains to be seen whether changing hours would be an effective decisions for those teams.

The weather have been a problematic situation in Serie A for the last few seasons, mainly because the quality of many stadiums in the league that hasn’t been updated, giving difficulties for both players and also supporters. Moreover, there have also been some ideas of changing the schedule especially in winter time by expanding the holiday, so when the fixtures starts, the cold weather won’t be much of an issue anymore.

However, improving stadiums or expanding the holiday would also bring problems, as for the first idea, it would take sometime before teams managed to get their home base updated with the latest technology. Meanwhile, giving extra time off for players, eventually will make the competition gets longer, something that probably isn’t something profitable for television, which is the main financial support for Serie A teams.

photo credit: mitsurinho

There is an interesting battle going on at Inter at the moment between the manager Claudio Ranieri and Inter’s best player Wesley Sneijder. And it is a battle that Sneijder cannot win.

Sneijder was taking off at half-time during Inter‘s defeat at Lecce last weekend and when asked about being substituted after the game by Sport1, Sneijder said:

“The coach’s decision. I’ll probably talk with him about it tomorrow.”

The problem for Sniejder is that he does not fit into Ranieri’s style of play. Asked about Sneijder, Ranieri said:

“Sneijder must learn the language that Inter is speaking: everyone must attack and everyone must defend. I’m not worried about keeping great players on the bench.”

Talking specifically about the Lecce substitution, Ranieri went off to say:

“It wasn’t only Wesley, but also the two strikers should have interpreted the match better. We were too stretched as a team. Sneijder is an important element, but he must learn the language the team are speaking. At Barcelona everyone fights to win the ball back. There are no big egos. The best teams in every league play well whether they are attacking or defending. I said it would be wonderful, but difficult, to slot in quality players like Sneijder and Forlan. If these players fit into the the framework of the team, we can improve. If this doesn’t happen I won’t waste time thinking about it too much and will fall back on the team that has been getting the results so far.”

Ranieri said there had been no run in with Wes for the time being:

“I haven’t spoken to Sneijder yet, I probably will during the technical meeting this evening. I see him playing behind a lone striker or behing two forwards: to make an attacking midfielder successful behind two players requires sacrifices on the part of everyone. When we play compact, we get results. If we can’t playing two forwards and Sneijder, I have no scruples about making changes. It doesn’t take me long to work things out. Having players available has never been a problem for a coach. A quality squad allows variations in the formation, so you can use the players who are fittest and gradually slot in the others.”

As I said this is a battle that Sneijder cannot win, and I expect to see Inter sell him during the summer, and use the proceeds to make Inter younger and more athletic.

Inter Milan were the busiest team on transfer deadline as they brought in three players and let two leave.

Inter signed both Fredy Guarin and Angelo Palombo to reinforce their midfield and also Juan to help out with their defence.

The additions of Guarin and Palombo allowed Inter to finally allow Thiago Motta to join Paris Saint-Germain for around €10m.

Inter coach Claudio Ranieri had said on Monday he had “no fear” that Motta would be departing the club he joined from Genoa in 2009.

However, Motta leaves Inter having made 83 appearances for the Nerazzurri, famously winning the treble in 2010.

A number of other deals were completed just as the transfer window shut in Italy.

Roma sent Chilean midfielder David Pizarro to Manchester City on loan until the end of the season. Pizarro shone on occasions for Roberto Mancini’s Inter Milan in 2005-06 but after three good seasons at Roma, injury and fallouts with managers started to cut his appearances.

“Pizarro, I know him very well, he is a good player and a good midfielder,” Mancini told Sky Sports after the 1-0 league defeat at Everton.

Serie A leaders Juventus moved to strengthen their midfield on transfer deadline day by signing Simone Padoin from Atalanta and also let Vincenzo Iaquinta and Ciro Immobile leave.

Toni signed for Dubai’s Al Nasr and now fellow World Cup winner Iaquinta moved to relegation-battling Cesena until the end of the campaign.

Elsewhere, Lazio loaned Antonio Candreva from Cesena and sent Simone Del Nero the other way. Cesena also signed Mario Santana from Napoli.

Meanwhile, Albania international Erjon Bogdani joined Siena on a four-and-a-half year deal, also from Cesena.

AC Milan midfielder Alexander Merkel will be out of action for at least two months with a knee injury, the club have confirmed.

Merkel was hurt in training last week and tests done on the 19-year-old revealed ligament damage on his right knee.

A statement from AC Milan read:

“If there are no complications, Merkel will be available to play in eight weeks.”

Merkel’s injury a setback for Milan boss Massimiliano Allegri. The Germany Under-20 player was brought back from Genoa earlier this month due to the Rossoneri’s injury problems.

Milan are already without midfielders Mathieu Flamini, Gennaro Gattuso and Alberto Aquilani due to injury and it will be interesting to see if Milan go into the transfer market as they try and chase down Juventus in the league.

Milan are also in the last sixteen of the Champions League and the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia, and a season that promised so much a month ago is threatening to end up in disappointment due to injuries.

They have been the two best teams in Italy all season, and AC Milan and Juventus will continue their battle in the Coppa Italia semi-finals.

AC Milan recovered from an early deficit to boo their place in the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia with a 3-1 win over Lazio at the San Siro.

Lazio had won four of their five previous ties with Milan in the Coppa and it looked like being another good night for the Rome side when Djibril Cisse put them ahead inside the opening five minutes.

However, within 13 minutes of that goal Lazio were trailing as Robinho (15) and Clarence Seedorf (18) netted in quick succession for the hosts.

Milan substitute Zlatan Ibrahimovic then added a third goal six minutes from time to seal the win and earn his side a mouthwatering semi-final showdown with Serie A title rivals Juventus.

Juventus kept up their quest for a league and cup double by easing past Roma 3-0 in their Coppa Italia quarter-final match.

The Bianconeri, the unbeaten leaders of Serie A, were in control from the first whistle as Emanuele Giaccherini followed up his first league goal for the club at the weekend by bursting on to Andrea Barzagli’s through ball and finishing calmly six minutes in.

Alessandro Del Piero added a stunning second on the half-hour mark by thumping in from 20 metres off the underside of the bar. Roma’s quest ended as Erik Lamela was sent off before Simon Kjær diverted Fabio Quagliarella’s cross into his own net. AC Milan or S.S. Lazio await Antonio Conte’s men in the last four.

The other semi-final pits Napoli against Siena.

Coppa Italia Semi-Finals
08 Feb: AC v Juventus – Buy AC Milan v Juventus Tickets
09 Feb: Siena v Napoli – Buy Siena v Napoli Tickets
21 Mar: Juventus v AC Milan – Buy Juventus v AC Milan Tickets
21 Mar: Napoli v Siena

Wesley Sneijder says he wants an explanation from Claudio Ranieri as to why he was substituted at half-time during Inter’s defeat at Lecce this weekend.

When asked about his withdrawl after the game by Sport1, Sneijder said:

“The coach’s decision. I’ll probably talk with him about it tomorrow.”

Inter tactician Ranieri however, had a more logical explanation for his decision to replace Sniejder:

“He was not playing badly but I wanted to restore [defensive] security,” Ranieri explained, pointing out to his side’s frailties when getting caught out on the counter attack. “We’re still not developing well with 4-3-1-2 [and] we can express ourselves better with 4-4-2. Can he play in behind the forwards? We’ve said it many times before, he is a central player that must be free to make mistakes. He’s a trequartista, he cannot be conditioned to play on the outside. He could play in a 4-4-1-1 but we must then strive to adapt well to a diamond [formation in midfield. We tried it [the diamond] today but we have seen again that the team didn’t cope well with it. We were unable to press well and I changed it. In future we will try maybe with a 4-2-3-1, with [Diego] Forlan on the wing and Sneijder a bit behind the striker. We should try that because in the first half today we did not have the necessary solidity.”

Reading between the lines of Ranieri’s comments, it is clear that he is having trouble fitting Sneijder into his preferred style of play. That is why I expect Sneijder to be sold this summer, as Ranieri prefers to play without him these days.

Not many surprises arrives on week 20 in Serie A beside Inter Milan’s seven winning streak end in the hands of Lecce after Guillermo Giacomazzi netted the only goal that clinched the victory.

The Nerazzurri did actually put the ball in the net twice in the second half but all of those goals were correctly disallowed by the referee because of offside.

Claudio Ranieri didn’t really commented much about the disallowed goals as he was more concerned with his team’s performance against Lecce, something that should’ve been seen earlier since Inter last couple of games were pretty poor despite getting the three point. The defeat brought the Nerazzurri back to fifth place as Lazio dethroned Ranieri’s team previous fourth spot, making things much more interesting in the coming weeks.

For the moment the Scudetto race leaves Juventus and Ac Milan getting toe to toe as the one point margin stands until this upcoming midweek where the league starts again. This weekend, the Turin giant successfully defeated Udinese 2-1 with goals from Alessandro Matri, while Milan destroyed their visitor, Cagliari 3-0 at San Siro, thanks to the contribution of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Antonio Nocerino and also Massimo Ambrosini.

Week 20 also seen Lazio and Genoa being successful as the Biancocelesti stormed Chievo 3-0 with goals coming from Hernanes and also Miroslav Klose’s double in the final minutes of the match. Meanwhile, the Marassi outfit managed to stun Napoli, beating Walter Mazzarri’s team 3-2 with Rodrigo Palacio’s brace and Alberto Gilardino’s strike. The Partenopei did made things interesting though after Edinson Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi scoring within just two minutes, giving the last 10 minutes a difficult time for Genoa.

Complete Serie A result for Week 20:
Catani a v Parma 1-1; Juventus v Udinese 2-1; Fiorentina v Siena 2-1; Cesena v Atalanta 0-1; Chievo v Lazio 0-3; Genoa v Napoli 3-2; Lecce v Inter 1-0; Palermo v Novara 2-0; Roma v Bologna 1-1; Ac Milan v Cagliari 3-0

photo credit: .a_dit.