Hey Napoli, Absolutely! Any team on any day can be beaten. Like that old INXS song went "Sometimes you kick, sometimes you get kicked." No, I didn't say Napoli were pushovers. Not in the least. Napoli could beat all the teams I mentioned if things go well. Why not? I'm a proud southern Italian too. It's nice to see more teams south of Roma in Serie A. I'm just saying that Manchester City might have a better chance at winning the EPL than Napoli winning the Scudetto. After all, we're talking about top flight soccer, soccer so it won't be easy.
Bianchi speaks of a possible return to Italy. http://www.tuttonapoli.net/index.php?action=read&idnotizia=23089
Marc, Translation in one phrase: playing time and fitting into SGE's plan. I think what Bianchi is really experiencing is what I like to call the "AC Milan/Chelsea Syndrome." I named it that because of two teams that were so wealthy that they could make several first division teams. Naturally, the player's biggest complaint in that situation is playing time and fitting to a coach's lineup/game plan. He has the talent to play on any first division team, but with all choices there is a give and take. On the big team one has more of a chance to be on a championship winning team, but also the chances on sitting on the bench are far greater. Plus, if a player is ever in the doghouse with the coach, he may never see the light of day again until he leaves the team. As a contrast...Last year, back in Reggio Calabria, Bianchi was a Serie A hero that helped do the near impossible. Not only did he help Reggina stay in Serie A even though they had a huge, almost relegation-assuring penalty, but was one of the leading scorers in Serie A as well. If they didn't have that penalty, Reggina would have been in cup competition this year thanks to RB. So Rolando had a huge amount of playing time there. Currently, with RB gone and a new head coach in, Reggina are almost a shoe in to be relegated. RB had many offers from many teams. Napoli was one on the list after him, but not the only one. Big teams like Juventus were also after him too. So, now he thinks about what life and playing would be like right now if he stayed in Italy. He also mentions that the door may still be open on some teams, especially Napoli, if there ever is a need for that opportunity. Hopefully SGE will be using Bianchi more than just a supersub in the future. It would be a shame to hear that Man City would not have room for a player like Bianchi...especially when SGE is looking at Michael Owen right now.
MCFC.co.uk has a large article on Sven backing Bianchi to get back from the groin injury and be productive. We have to give him a full season before he hits the scrap heap. The guy has class and his primary game is 'cleaning up' around the net, which is something City has needed greatly over the past couple seasons. Its why Big Sam hasn't played, couldn't put enough in, Mpenza does an avg. job, but shouldn't be our sole attacking option. RB will get his time and as long as he still believes he can succeed, he will.
Fellow Citizens, The rumor mill is gathering steam. This just in from Soccernet about Bianchi: "Rolando Bianchi insists he will consider his future at Manchester City in December after admitting his disappointment at his lack of playing time for the Blues so far. The Italian was Sven-Goran Eriksson's first signing as City boss, costing almost £9million from Reggina, but has started only three of the team's nine Premier League games so far. He has been used as a substitute in a further four matches, with Belgian Emile Mpenza being used as a lone striker by Eriksson. If Bianchi does not see more action, he has hinted he may look to move on when the January transfer window opens. 'I have set a reasonable deadline of December for things to change and then we will have to consider options as I don't like playing five or 10 minutes of games,' he said. 'I'm not used to being left out of the side and we'll see what happens.'" Hopefully, this was all just bad coincidences of adujstments and injuries and Bianchi will be back in firing on all 12 cylinders. SGE is a great coach and RB is an excellent young player. Something should be working out soon.
CityBlues, Let's not panic now. Nothing is official. Right now, it's just talk. Hopefully, SGE and RB will get their stuff together and everything will be ok. To be honest, I don't think there has been enough time for Bianchi to get acclimated to the team and for SGE to evaluate him fairly. After that, then we'll see...
I dont know what to make of the comments. Bianchi is good enough to make it and he is more than good enough to make the starting 11. However, if his quotes havent been taken out of context at all then Im surprised he is going to look at his options as soon as December. He has been injured and had problems settling in due to home sickness so he cannot expect to be starting every game. Mpenza has come in and more than deserves to hold his spot and he should do but Bianchi will get his turn to impress. He should be willing to come out and fight for his place - if he expected to start every game then he doesnt know the real football game cos you need to fight for your place even if your scoring every single game. Like any player, he will always be under pressure from other players.
The title scared the crap out of me... "Bianchi plotting January exit from City nightmare"... but in reality hes just stating that if you dont play me i'll go elsewhere. Understandable considering hes at a age where he wants to play all the time and probaby trying to get into a regular spot for the Italy national team... if he does go i'm sure we will find someone else with the money received. Didnt someone here get the new home kit with Bianchi on the back?
I'm with you Alan I don't understand this. Fighting for your place is pretty standard on every Prem team. I definitely think Bianchi is going to get some more time before December. And I can't believe the headline read "City Nightmare." I think this is a little bit fluffed.
Classic Media Beat-Up. The kids just wants some minutes, He's more than qualified to expect some, Just as long as he doesn't expect it on a platter.
Sounds like a United Fan writing that headline... I guess we should be congratulating them for being so talented that they're only 1 pt. ahead of us. Bianchi is a great player and he's just frustrated right now having trouble settling in. W/ Johnson possibly out, play 2 strikers against B'ham and give it a go with Bianchi. (especially if Elano isn't ready to go)
Elano's injurred? Say it aint so...... I think due to Bojinov's injury, we don't have another striker to complement Bianchi. Mpenza is more adopted to the 1 striker role than Bianchi, who's better playing with another striker on his side. Wait until Jan when Bojinov's back, he's already training so that's good news.
I guessed he played for Brazil for the WC qualification. I don't get it, Brazil knows it's going to crush Ecudor at home, but it called Elano to travel all this way to be a substitute. He scored a goal, but it was already 3-0 at that point. Did they have to call Elano back for this one? Now our star player is all tired and jetlegged. Why can't Brazil just leave him be.............
ha ha ha, read this page: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/preview?id=219497&cc=5901 Eriksson is gonna give players hell if they think it's going to be an easy game
i think this is good for City, it won't keep the team too complacent for the Chelsea game. It didn't play that well against B'City so Eriksson's probably yelling for a better performance vs Chelsea.
Rolando Bianchi, recently sat down for an interview with Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport. While he spends the majority of the interview talking about his time at Manchester City as well as his possible moves next summer, he also said that he has no need for alcohol! He stated, "niente birra, niente vino, niente superalcolici" which means, "no beer, no wine, and no rum breezers". We can all find comfort this holiday season knowing that Bianchi won't have to add "tastes great" or "less filling" to his English phrase bank. Odd, I would have pegged him to be a huge fan of Bicardi Breezers!