| NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS August 30 - MARCO IS GONE! We lost twice to Juve! First, in the Supercoppa, 2-1, then at the end of the calciomercato, as they stole Di Vaio from us. We will have Matteo Brighi for the season, but it leaves a very inexperienced and unproven forward selection of Adriano, Gilardino and Bonnazoli. My expectations for the season just went way way down... August 8 - FABIO IS GONE! He moved to Inter last night--a surprise, because it looked like he was bound for AC Milan. Anyway, good luck to him, I didn't expect him to stay, even in the slow market this summer. Also, we lost to Man Utd 3-0 in the Amsterdam Tourny and finished last. We'll see what happens... August 2 - We lost to Barcelona in the first game of the Amsterdam tourny with Ajax and Man Utd. Riquelme was apparently brilliant, scoring twice and setting up another. Di Vaio and Marchionni scored for Parma. Fabio played, but he hasn't been with the team long, so maybe that's why we let in four goals. Massimo Donati made his debut in the second half, having just joined today! It looks like we are actually stronger than last season, despite the fears that everyone would leave. Team: Frey; Diana, Cannavaro, Bonera, Gresko; Marchionni, Lamouchi, Matuzalem, Nakata; Di Vaio, Adriano. July 24 - We played Torino and Celta Vigo in a friendly tournament, and finished dead last. Celta won both games, Torino beat us on penalties. We didn't even score once! Adriano missed a penalty! But, time yet to get it right. Nakata and Cannavaro still aren't training with the team. We should get Luccin from Celta, he's a great player in the middle--perfect cover for Lamouchi. I wonder if Matuzalem is the real thing. July 7, 2002 - Well, I'm sure you all know how bad the world cup was. Junior was on the winning team, and Suker got to the semis without scoring a goal (typical Parma striker). Cannavaro was suspended, or else Italy would not have been knocked out!!! So, transfer season is hotting up. We still have Fabio and Di Vaio, amazingly. Adriano, Inter's other Brazilian phenom is half ours and will play with us for the season--hopefully he won't get the Parma curse! We traded Sartor for Siviglia, and Almeyda for Gresko, neither of which I find particularly good for us. Paulo Cannavaro is back, but Montano and I think Bolano are loaned out. Bonera has joined, as has Gilardino, and a young back named Maggio who's supposed to be good. Bennarivo, Torrisi, Boghossian, Micoud, Mboma and Milosevic are looking for new clubs, while we might still lose Frey, Nakata, and of course Cannavaro and Di Vaio. We'll have to wait and see about those last few players, but overall, we could have a exciting young team, and with the promoted clubs not looking so good, it could be a easier year for us this time. We have some really good pre-season games coming up against top teams, so it should be exciting! There doesn't seem to be much money around in the market, so we may just get lucky with our stars! FORZA PARMA! 5/15/02 - GOOD NEWS: WE BEAT JUVENTUS AGAIN! This time, to win the Coppa Italia! Also in the news, Prandelli is the new manager. I don't know much about him, except that he lost all 5 games of his this season in Serie A with Venezia. The Tanzi's say that Parma is aiming for 6th place and a UEFA cup spot. Young players will be the new scheme, as Cannavaro is leaving, along with perhaps Lamouchi, Almeyda and hopefully not Di Vaio. Also, failures like Djetou, Sukur, and Micoud. I hope Nakata and Di Vaio stay, as well as Ferrari and the rest of the young players. We just need a belief in ourself and some inspiration, and we can be a surprise team. At least the pressure is off. Forza Parma and Forza Italia at the World Cup! 4/28/02 - LA SALVEZZA! We beat Fiorentina 2-1 so we are staying up! Now, if only we can beat Juve in the Coppa--but it's all for fun now. We are in Serie A and the UEFA Cup next year, no matter what. But, who is going to go and who can we convince to stay? Di Vaio? Cannavaro? Nakata? 3/24/02 - Good news: WE BEAT JUVENTUS! 1-0 on a 88th minute Lamouchi strike, amazing. Ferrari and Nakata played well, but the surprise was Bennarivo, in for struggling Djetou, who shut down the Juve attack (well, there was no DP, but...) and also Taffarel in goal for injured Frey. We played 3-5-2, and the game changing substitution was evidently Appiah! And if Di Vaio and Bonazzoli had put away a few chances, it could have been better, but then, if Nedved had done the same, it might have been worse. But, it feels good to (probably) put them out of the title race... Since last time, Passarella has gone, as has the UEFA cup (lost at home to an Isreali team) and we were doing a little better in the league under Carmigniani, and now we look safer. Next week, Milan... 12/06/01 - From now on, I only report good news, which means I don't have to spend that much time here, hehe. No, but today is very good. We beat Brondby away, 3-0. I guess that's where we do well this season, away from home in Europe. Why? Ferrari played (yay) and well, and Nakata started and scored as we went back to a 3-4-1-2, which I like, but it meant Appiah got pushed to the bench. 11/25/01 - Passarella has lead us to two Serie A losses and a home draw in the UEFA cup. Today, Milan scored on a lucky attack and easily held us off for the rest of the game, even after twenty minutes spent a man down. At least we went back to the 3-5-2. Nakata almost scored, but two players were sort-of offside. Inzaghi spent the last 10 minutes of the game playing the ball around the corner flags. Appiah and Lamouchi were good, but Di Vaio had no help from either Bonnazoli or Milosevic. If only we could score. Any strikers out there want to play for Parma... 11/4/01 - We finally won, beating Perugia 2-1 on a stoppage time goal from Di Vaio. Ulivieri is gone, though, and the interim trainer played Milosevic and Micoud and Mboma (both as subs), which worked, I guess. We drew 0-0 with Utrecht, so we're through. Unfortunately, Lazio is also back to winning, with Crespo netting a hat-trick in a 5-0 win over Brescia. So, we're still in the bottom half. Last week we drew with Verona at home, and this week they almost beat Juve. Good week for ex-Gialloblu. |
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