Two juicy soundbites emerged today from Italy. Admittedly, one was from Facebook, and since that merely exists in a hypothetical cloud, it’s not exactly from Italy, but both concern players’ compatibility. Giuseppe Rossi? So compatible he could have his own Match.com. Marco Borriello?
Not so much.
Italy beat the Ukraine in a friendly today, in which both Giuseppe Rossi and Alessandro Matri scored. The former’s goal was quite poacher-esque and drew some comparisons to a certain other Rossi:
In his post-match interview, the New Jerseyian stated that he was glad to see his former youth teammates play so well together on the senior side.
There’s always been a good connection with Giovinco and we also had Montolivo, Aquilani and Nocerino from the Under-21 side.
Both [Cassano and Giovinco] are very talented and I get along with everyone, so it’s not an issue for me. Perhaps I feel that I am a second striker more than anything else, as I like to get hold of the ball. That is how I play at Villarreal in a 4-4-2.
Rossi is now certainly in contention for a starting spot on the national side. His adaptability, as he points out, is crucial to the team. He’s also creative enough and deadly enough in front of goal to warrant a place in the starting eleven. For the Azzurri, all seems rather peaceful at the moment.
For Roma, however, things could be better. Thomas Di Benedetto’s deal to buy the club is nearly complete, but Marco Borriello has stated that not all is right in the locker room:
We are together for 340 days a year, so it’s only normal that within a team there are highs and lows. You can’t always get along.
On one hand, he does have a valid argument. It simply is impossible to get along with everyone all the time. He also did state “In any case, I am happy with both my teammates and the directors,” so his words shouldn’t be taken out of context too far. On the other hand, given Rossi’s statements hours before about his adaptability, the statements don’t paint Marco in the most glamourous of lights. Furthermore, it’s certainly not what Di Benedetto wanted to hear about the club he is days away from completing.
Marco should be very careful to ensure he’s not replaced this summer.
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