<div style="float: right;margin-left: 5px"><a href="http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/entertainment/udinese-calcio-siena/image/8624627?term=di+natale" target="_blank"><div><figure class="external-image"><img loading="lazy" class="alignright" style="border: 0px initial initial" src="http://view4.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/8624627/udinese-calcio-siena/udinese-calcio-siena.jpg?size=500&amp;imageId=8624627" border="0" alt="Apr. 25, 2010 - Udine, Italy - epa02131368 Udinese Calcio forward Antonio Di Natale jubilates after scoring a goal against AC Siena during the Italian Serie A soccer match at Friuli stadium in Udine, northern Italy, 25 April 2010. Udinese won 4-1." width="240" height="262"></figure></div></a></div>
With the winter break, I’ve decided to look at this season’s current top goalscorers. It has been an interesting season, and there are some veterans accompanied by new signings which populate this list. Here’s a look at the top 10 Serie A goalscorers so far this season:
<ol>
<li>Di Natale (Udinese) – 10 goals</li>
<li>Cavani (Napoli) – 10 goals</li>
<li>Quagliarella (Juventus) – 9 goals</li>
<li>Eto’o (Inter Milan) – 9 goals</li>
<li>Di Vaio (Bologna) – 9 goals</li>
<li>Ibrahimovic (AC Milan) – 9 goals</li>
<li>Matri (Cagliari) – 8 goals</li>
<li>Borriello (Roma) – 7 goals</li>
<li>Hamsik (Napoli) – 7 goals</li>
<li>Pastore (Palermo) – 7 goals</li>
</ol>
A unique mix to say the least. We have Di Natale at the top of the list having scored 10 goals so far this season for Udinese. I shouldn’t be surprised, mainly because Di Natale has always scored plenty of goals, but every season I think that his goalscoring record will slowly die off, but I’m always wrong. Di Natale’s ten goals this season have been crucial to Udinese’s campaign, and he has scored about 48% of Udinese’s goals this season. Not bad for a 33 year-old.
<div style="float: left;margin-right: 5px"><a href="http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/entertainment/uruguay-germany/image/9324179?term=edinson+cavani" target="_blank"><div><figure class="external-image"><img loading="lazy" class="alignleft" style="border: 0px initial initial" src="http://view3.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9324179/uruguay-germany/uruguay-germany.jpg?size=500&amp;imageId=9324179" border="0" alt="July 10, 2010 - Port Elizabeth, South Africa - epa02244165 Uruguay&apos;s Edinson Cavani celebrates after scoring the 1-1 equalizer during the FIFA World Cup 2010 3rd place soccer match between Uruguay and Germany at the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, 10 July 2010." width="180" height="324"></figure></div></a></div>
Cavani is joint top with Di Natale, and while I was slightly doubtful at first regarding the Uruguayan’s abilities, he has proven himself to be a true goalscorer. The 23 year-old is tall, fast, and knows where the goal is, and playing alongside two other young stars, Lavezzi and Hamsik, he has found his place at Napoli. A large part of Napoli’s success in the Serie A this season (second place, just three points from AC Milan) has to be attributed to Cavani, and the Uruguayan has also been scoring important goals in the Europa League. If Cavani can finish the season with at least 20 goals – a notion which seems very possible – then there will be “bigger” teams knocking on Napoli’s door for the striker.
After Di Natale and Cavani we have a quartet of players all with nine goals. Quagliarella, Eto’o, Di Vaio, and Ibrahimovic have all been key players for their sides this season. Quagliarella has been a target for Krasic’s crosses, Di Vaio has scored 56% of Bologna’s goals, Eto’o has started wonderfully scoring goals for fun, and Ibrahimovic has been wreaking havoc under Massimiliano Allegri. If Juventus, Bologna, AC Milan, and Inter Milan didn’t have these players, they’d be in a very different position in the Serie A. We’ll see if Di Vaio can continue scoring and keep Bologna up, and we will also see if Eto’o can continue to score under Leonardo…
Matri is always among the top goalscorers, and that is probably why there were rumours circulating that he might join AC Milan in the January transfer window. With the long-term injury to Inzaghi, and Pato having difficulty with niggling problems, Matri could be a hard-working partner for Ibrahimovic. But maybe AC Milan have already found a different partner with the name of Antonio Cassano. Cassano will be joining the likes of Ibrahimovic, Ronaldinho, Robinho, Gattuso, and Boateng, talk about adding another lunatic to the asylum…
The rest of the list is Borriello, Hamsik, and Pastore all with three goals. I wasn’t sure about these three and their amount of goals. Borriello had a shaky time at AC Milan, Hamsik was fairly quiet last season, and Pastore tends to set up more goals than the ones he scores. But I’m pleasantly surprised, an Italian along with two young talented midfielders isn’t a bad image for the Serie A at all.
What do you think about the current top scorers of the Serie A? Share your comments below!

Di Natale And Cavani Leading In Goals

Di Natale And Cavani Leading In Goals - World Soccer Talk

<div style="float: right;margin-left: 5px"><div><figure class="external-image"><img loading="lazy" class="alignright" style="border: 0px initial initial" src="http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9545246/sports-news-august-2010/sports-news-august-2010.jpg?size=500&amp;imageId=9545246" border="0" alt="" width="210" height="315"></figure></div></div>
An extremely interesting few games were played out, and they show a few things about the team which might win the scudetto. Inter Milan, Roma, and AC Milan all played out their second match-day games, and while the nerazzurri won, the other two title contenders lost.
Inter Milan didn’t have too much difficulty against Udinese, they played at the San Siro, and they were in front by the seventh minute. It was Lucio who found the back of the net from a corner, the Brazilian controlled at the far post, then smashed the ball where Handanovic wasn’t. Udinese tried to make things interesting around the half hour mark with Floro Flores scoring a very nice header. But inevitably, Inter Milan found the winner thanks to Samuel Eto’o.
Rafa Benitez’s men earned a penalty, and the Camerun striker had his shot saved, but he followed up quickly to hide any possible humiliation of missing a penalty. From there, Inter dominated the rest of the match, only suffering with Udinese’s quick counter-attacks. In the final minutes Benitez decided to take off Milito, who was disappointing, and put on Muntari, shifting Eto’o to the center. This is where the forward thrived and hit the post in the dying minutes, almost making it 3-1 for Rafa Benitez, who will probably be glad with this victory.
AC Milan found things a little harder away at Cesena, but the nation was waiting to see Ibrahimovic play alongside Pato, Ronaldinho, and maybe Robinho. The Swede was given the start, while Robinho started from the bench. Milan began by playing great football, an attacking style which utilized Pato’s speed and dribbling ability. But the rossoneri weren’t able to conclude anything, and Cesena were beginning to gain confidence in front of their fans.
It was in the 31st minute that the shock goal arrived, a well worked play which set up Bogdani with a header was what made the Stadio Dino Manuzzi explode into joy. Then Massimiliano Allegri’s team was shell-shocked again right before the half, this time it was the lightning fast Giaccherini who with a long range finish punished Abbiatti’s bad goalkeeping. It was the perfect finish from a long run which the AC Milan defense couldn’t end, the ball pinged off the post and into the back of the net, sending all of the Cesena fans, staff, and players into dreamland.
The second half began and AC Milan were desperate for a goal. They fed long balls up to Ibrahimovic who couldn’t do much as he was surrounded by a swarm of white Cesena shirts. Allegri tried to go for the super-sub option by taking of Ronaldinho and putting on Robinho, but the new Brazilian found himself surrounded by his teammates which were slightly out of ideas and breath.
But the golden chance arrived for AC Milan, in the final minutes of the match, they were awarded a penalty. Ibrahimovic stepped up to take it, but he sent his curling effort onto the post, ruining the day for any anti-Inter fans. In the end, Allegri was forced to put on Inzaghi, and the 37 year-old turned out to be the best player for AC Milan. But the match ended 2-0 for Cesena, and after two games against Roma and AC Milan, the newly promoted side has been able to overachieve and grab four points. AC Milan on the other hand have slightly under-achieved with this loss, letting Inter slip just a little farther away.
Roma were truly humiliated, while AC Milan lost 2-0 and missed a penalty, Roma were defeated 5-1 away at Cagliari. And there will be plenty of joy for Inter fans since their ex-player Nicolas Burdisso, who decided to leave the nerazzurri for Roma this summer, gave Cagliari a penalty, and was sent off in the early stages of the match.
But lets take this match from the beginning: Cagliari went ahead in the 8th minute thanks to a stunning volley by Daniele Conti, a contender for goal of the season. Ten minutes later Roma equalized with De Rossi, and the comeback seemed imminent from Ranieri’s side. It was in the 22nd minute when Nicolas Burdisso charged with a two footed tackle in the penalty area into Conti’s legs, earning a direct red card, and giving Cagliari a penalty. Matri scored from the spot, putting his side in front as they now had to face ten-man Roma.
In the 38th minute, Acquafresca headed a looped ball from Biondini’s pinpoint cross over Julio Sergio to score the third goal for Cagliari, which would be followed by two others. Matri headed the fourth goal, and then Lazzari tapped in the fifth and final goal, giving Roma a humiliating 5-1 loss.
It’s really interesting to see how people have been doubting Inter Milan, and touting AC Milan and Roma for the title. Now we see that the nerazzurri truly have the consistency in their team, even when all players aren’t playing well. What are your thoughts on these three games? Are they just small blips for AC Milan and Roma? Share your thoughts by commenting below!

Milan and Roma Humiliated as Inter Milan Rise

Milan and Roma Humiliated as Inter Milan Rise - World Soccer Talk

<div style="float: right;margin-left: 5px"><div><figure class="external-image"><img loading="lazy" class="alignright" style="border: 0px initial initial" src="http://view2.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/8037050/cagliari-calco-parma/cagliari-calco-parma.jpg?size=500&amp;imageId=8037050" border="0" alt="Feb. 21, 2010 - Cagliari, Italy - epa02045534 Andrea Lazzari (C) of Cagliari Calcio celebrates with his teammates Nene (L) and Lorenzo Ariaudo (R) after scoring the opening goal against FC Parma during their Italian Serie A soccer match at Sant &apos;Elia Stadium in Cagliari, Italy, 21 February 2010. Cagliari won 2-0." width="240" height="184"></figure></div></div>
Cagliari has become an enigma, now that their old caoch, Allegri, has left for AC Milan, the team seems to have little direction. With Allegri Cagliari played an attacking game, using the youth of the team to tire out opponents, often playing through extremely exciting matches. But now, their leader has left, and Cagliari has a very similar team to last seasons, in fact, the starting 11 will probably be the same, unless some new players are signed.

New signings
Cagliari can’t boast a wealth of new signings, so far there have only been four official signings, all coming from teams which are below the Serie B except for Biasi from newly-promoted Cesena. The signings have been players which will help reinforce the squad, especially in defense, and hopefully the 17 year-old Martignoni will fulfill his potential in the future. Cagliari’s big hope is that they can seal the signing of Roberto Acquafresca, currently owned by Genoa. The young forward was on loan at Cagliari last season from Genoa, now Cagliari would like to buy half of the player and have him play for them this upcoming season. While there’s rumors that he’s already been bought (half of the player) by Cagliari for 5 million Euros, it’s not sure because so far the negotiations have been long.
What’s missing
Cagliari aren’t missing much, but they could use some fixing up. If Acquafresca has joined Cagliari then the board shouldn’t worry about more forwards with Matri, Nene, Jeda, and the young Ragatzu. The only big problem Cagliari have is that if Marchetti is bought by one of the many interested clubs in him (Arsenal, West Ham, or Fulham), this would leave a shaky defense with a shaky keeper. &nbsp;Cagliari woul only be left with Agazzi as the starting keeper, and Aresti and Vigorito as the reserve keepers, none of which have any considerable Serie A experience. Cagliari should also look at a decent midfielder to help out the slightly aging group of midfielders.
Formation
Under Pierpaolo Bisoli the team should play a 4-3-1-2, the starting 11 consisting of Marchetti in goal (if he’s sold then Agazzi), Pisano, Canini, Astori, and Agostini in defense from right to left, Biondini, Conti, and Lazzari in the midfield supporting Cossu who will act as a trequartista, and the attacking duo of Nene and Matri. If Acquafresca joins, then Bisoli could have a little problem: either he has to change formation to accomodate three forwards (a 4-3-3 or a 3-4-3) and probably take out Cossu, or he has to put on the bench either Nene or Matri. Between Nene and Matri I’d keep Nene in the starting 11 and put Acquafresca with him, mainly because Matri is a great “super-sub” and he has a great ability to find important goals at the right time.
I’m not sure how Cagliari will do this season, but I think that it won’t be as bad as last season (16th). And while the dream is to push into the mid-table and maybe in the top ten, it could be a challenging season for this Cagliari team. The toughest part for Cagliari will be that they’re pretty much exactly the same as last season, except with a new coach. Hopefully Bisoli can gather up the talent in this team and find a way to do better than last season, but I think that he will eventually be fired, to be replaced by… Allegri?
The Cagliari enigma baffles me, but what do you think? Share your thoughts by commenting below!

Serie A preview &#8211; The Cagliari Enigma

Serie A preview - The Cagliari Enigma - World Soccer Talk

Serie A preview – The Cagliari Enigma

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