So, already a week has been played of the Serie A season, the transfer market is over, and teams have made last minute moves to improve. That was just a trial run. Now with the upcoming second week, this is when the real season starts. So, it’s time to share what you think will happen this season. And what better way then with polls! In the following post, you’ll find a series of polls where you can vote on various topics of the Serie A season. This is better then just telling you to share in the comments, because I know there are some shy people out there that like to just read this terrible calcio coverage I write and shake their heads in disgust at the screen, refusing to comment. The polls will close on Friday at 12 PM est, and we’ll see what everyone thinks. Remember you can only vote once per poll. (And also remember that on some polls like relegation and european qualification you can choose multiple answers)

Who will win the 2010/2011 Scudetto?customer surveys

Who will qualify for the Champions League?online surveys

Who will qualify for the Europa League?online surveys

Who will be relegated?online survey

Which new top club signing will have the biggest impact? (or enter your own)customer surveys

Who will be the next manager to be sacked?customer surveys

Which team outside the big 4 will be the surprise of the season?Market Research

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See those wild Triestina fans in the crowd cheering and setting off flares? Of course you can’t, because they are pieces of paper. This is Serie B side Triestina’s new solution to the ever-growing problem of empty stadiums. Triestina, from the almost Slovenian city of Trieste, actually have one of the nicer stadiums in Italy, the Stadio Nereo Rocco, and English-style stadium opened in 1992 and with a capacity of around 30,000 people. In recent years the squad wasn’t great, only finishing anonymously mid-table or fighting off relegation. Last season they were actually relegated to Lega Pro but after Ancona went bankrupt they were brought back to Serie B to fill the space. Because of this, for a normal Serie B game they only get around 7,000-8,000 fans per game. And so, owner Stefano Fantinel came up with this idea of making cardboard fans to solve the problem.

The cardboard fans made their debut in this weekend’s home match vs. Pescara, and some have applauded the idea while others think it is just plain stupid. The picture of the fans is from the last time Triestina sold out a home game, which was 4 years ago when relegated Juventus came to town. Fantinel had the following things to say about his new marketing idea:

“I spoke to many of my colleagues and there wasn’t one that didn’t compliment me on the idea. Also, I’m 100% sure that some of them will copy my idea. Didn’t you see how horrible it was to watch Torino-Crotone on tv with all the empty seats?. To the critics of my idea, I challenge them to give me a better idea of how to get people to come to the stadium. Trieste hasn’t sold out a game since Juve came to play here 4 years ago. We’ve been working on this project for months, and now we are in the final phase. I think that with my new idea it gives the games more appeal on television as well. Our project’s goal is to make the stadium appear more beautiful, and I think we are doing that. One thing’s for sure, we won’t be stopping any time soon.”

Well one thing’s for sure, they’re definitely losing money at the concession stands with these cardboard fans. And what’s next? I’m guessing they’re going to set up radios underneath the cardboard fans that will play chants and cheers throughout the game. Maybe even when Triestina scores the audio guy is just going to play a pre-recorded cheer and applause on the stadium speakers. I know that attendance at the stadiums is at an all time low in Italy, but is cardboard fans really the way? I don’t think so.

For more pictures on what these fans looked like while the action was going on, click here.

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So often in American sports you hear of super agents like Scott Boras and Drew Rosenhaus who are more famous then some of their clients. In European football, agents play a big part, but you rarely hear from them or see who they are. Over the past few years, probably the football agent that has gotten the most publicity has been Mino Raiola. Raiola was Pavel Nedved’s agent back in the day, and most notably nowadays he’s the agent of players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Mario Balotelli. This summer was arguably his biggest summer, where he managed to take Balotelli away from Inter and to Manchester City, and bring Zlatan Ibrahimovic back to Italy with Milan. Raiola’s story is pretty interesting, and here it is:

Because Mino (real name Carmine) Raiola get’s a lot of publicity in Italy you may think he’s Italian. And yes, he’s obviously Italian. But what you may not know is that he really isn’t that Italian at all, he’s born and raised Dutch. Raiola was born in Nocera Inferiore (provincia di Salerno) but when he was one years old his family immigrated to Haarlem in the Netherlands, where they opened an Italian restaurant. So Raiola grew up in the Netherlands, and even played for Haarlem’s football club until he was 18 when he decided that playing football wasn’t for him. He had another talent: making deals. Raiola had met many players throughout his childhood, because many of them would be at his parent’s restaurant many times a week. At the young age of 18 in 1986, he was named head of Haarlem’s youth system. From there, he decided to become a football agent, and from there his career took off.

So, Raiola isn’t an Italian agent, he’s licensed and registered in the Netherlands, and works for Amsterdam-based firm Macguire Tax and Legal, which has offices in Brazil, Montecarlo (where Raiola lives), and the Czech Republic (that’s how he got Nedved) as well. Raiola also speaks 6 languages, and always apologizes that his Italian isn’t perfect. Raiola however has always had a connection with the country of his birth. In 1993, he was the one that brought Dutch legend Dennis Bergkamp to Inter. He then brought Pavel Nedved to Italy, first to Lazio and then Juve, where he forged a relationship with Luciano Moggi. Because of this relationship, his client Zlatan Ibrahimovic wound up at Juve in 2004 instead of other destinations. In the summer of 2009, when Ibra wanted out of Inter, Raiola went to work and managed to get him a megamillion dollar move to Barcelona (as well as his other client Maxwell).

This past year, Raiola managed to acquire the services of Mario Balotelli. As soon as the news broke out, Inter fans everywhere knew this was trouble. And it was. Balotelli wanted out, and Raiola found a new destination for the emerging Italian star: Manchester City. Then came the Ibrahimovic deal to Milan, which Raiola calls “the greatest deal he ever made”. He managed to talk Barcelona down from an asking price of around 60 million euro to a one year loan with buy out clause of only 24 million euro (that’s only twice the price of Jorge Martinez!). Milan admired his work so much that when they went to get Robinho on the last day, they sent Raiola to Manchester to negotiate the deal with Manchester City. And how do you think that worked out? Robinho to Milan.

This certainly won’t be the last you hear of Mino Raiola, who is quickly becoming football’s supreme super agent. For now his job is easy since the transfer market is closed, but once January rolls around, get ready to see him in the press again.

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Today was the final day of the transfer market, and that meant sporting directors from all over Italy crammed into the ATA Quark Hotel in Milan and scrambled to make last minute deals before the 7 pm deadline. Some directors found what they were looking for, others did not. If you missed any of the transfers from today, visit my Twitter. I updated all the most notable transfers today and you can go back and read what transpired. It was a busy day, so let’s see who were the winners and losers in today’s mad dash in Milan.

WINNERS

MILAN

The arrival of Ibra was enough to make Milan fans excited. But Robinho too? That was just icing on the cake. Milan went from easily having the worst transfer market to easily having the best. They managed to sell both Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Marco Borriello, making enough money from both transfers to autofinance the Ibra deal or even the Robinho deal (their choice). What was the best news for Milan though? Finally getting rid of Kahka Kaladze and his ridiculously large contract where he made millions to sit in the stands and watch games. Lots of optimism from a Milan point of view

MARCO BORRIELLO

Yes, he left Milan, but that was a winning choice. If he had stayed he would probably have been Ibra’s backup and wouldn’t see much playing time. That would have led to unhappiness and probably bad performances. The move to Roma reignites his morale and allows him to get consistent playing time. Roma finally get the big physical presence up front they need, and he’s not 150 pounds overweight. Roma fans should just hope his on-again/off-again relationship with Belen Rodriguez that’s all over the Italian gossip pages works out, or else he may get depressed and start playing bad.

LUIS JIMENEZ

Every summer we hear about this poor guy’s story and how he can’t seem to get out of his seemingly never-ending contract with Lega Pro side Ternana. He gets demoralized and threatens to leave Italy and never play here again and how he’s going to bring legal action against Ternana, but in the end he always winds up on loan at some club. And he we go again. New boys Cesena decided to give him a go this time around, and have obtained the Chilean’s services on loan with an option to buy in June for 8 million euro. If they don’t exercise that option, be prepared to hear Jimenez’s story all over again.

SAMPDORIA

Yes, they didn’t have a good transfer campaign at all, but today they fall in the winner’s column for not selling Giampaolo Pazzini. There were rumors that Juventus would make one last desperate attempt for Il Pazzo but that really would have made Sampdoria look really stupid. The blucerchiati’s main goal during this transfer window was to keep hold of Palombo, Pazzini, and Cassano and they managed to do that. Mission Accomplished.

PARMA

Tomasso “Fat Man” Ghirardi is really serious about making Parma compete for a Europa League spot. Today the Gialloblu signed Udinese midfielder and Italy international Antonio Candreva out of nowhere. Candreva will fit in nicely in Parma’s midfield, and caps off a spectacular transfer campaign by the Gialloblu this summer. This year’s squad is the closest thing Parma fans will get to the 90’s Parma that they admired for a decade.

LOSERS

JUVENTUS

Marotta went out looking for a big physical center forward today. He didn’t manage to find one. He tried to get Borriello and agreed to terms with Milan, but Borriello himself canceled the deal saying he didn’t want to go anywhere on loan, it had to be a permanent sale. He was looking for another central defender, and found Leandro Rinaudo. Rinaudo is not bad but not good either. If you asked me 2 years ago that Rinaudo would be a Juventus player one day, I would have laughed. It’s ok, I still laughed when I read it today. Marotta also got left back Armand Traore from Arsenal, but he’s an unknown quantity at the moment. Look on the bright side, at least Zebina is gone.

BRESCIA

Speaking of Zebina, terrible signing from Brescia. A few days ago Brescia owner Corioni said a player like Zebina would never come to Brescia. Well he was mistaken. Brescia’s defense is their weakness, and instead of signing someone that could help they sign Zebina, who is at Brescia to waltz around the pitch and collect his paycheck. What’s even more sad to say is that Zebina is actually better then any of Brescia’s current defenders. At least games involving Brescia will have goals.

DONI AND MARCHETTI

Both goalkeepers basically knew that if they did not go anywhere today, they would be benchwarmers all season. Result? They will be benchwarmers all season (or until January at least). Doni apparently was really close to signing for Fulham, but their wasn’t enough time to complete the deal. Marchetti had some interest from abroad but the only concrete offer came from Roma, who offered to take him on loan with an option to buy. Cagliari refused, and Marchetti stays put. So basically, Marchetti goes from playing at the World Cup to being Cagliari’s third goalkeeper, all because of a stupid argument with Cellino. This is going to be a long four months for Marchetti.

GENOA

Genoa were not a loser during the whole transfer market, because they had a spectacular transfer market. Today they were losers though, because Preziosi kept hinting at bringing in a surprise signing at the last minute but he never did. Usually when Preziosi says he’s going to sign someone he’s telling the truth, but this time he decided to lie. Unless that surprise signing was Kaladze, who may be the worst surprise signing ever.

If your new to the Italy Offside, usually the Monday after the Serie A weekend I’ll put up a post called “The Weekend that was in Serie A” where I’ll try to mention the weekend’s best stories, including some bad attempts at humor and very simple analysis. So, Serie A finally arrived. After the terrible World Cup for Italy and the summer months of anticipation, the league we love most finally began this past weekend. It’s a good thing, because the last two weekends for me have consisted of turning on EPL games, and then turning them off after 5 minutes because I got bored. No league excites me like Serie A does. Give me a dull, defensive, tactical 0-0 between two small Italian sides than Chelsea or Manchester United hammering some newly-promoted team 6-0 any day. I just hope there are people out there that feel the same way, or else I just look like a nut. Also if your new to the Italy Offside, and this is like the first day of school for you, my name if Francesco. I’ve been in charge of the Italy blog here since the spring of 2008 and I enjoy writing incoherent drivel about Serie A that people like to read. At least I think people like to read it. It helps me sleep at night. Welcome to the Italy Offside, and if you learn at least one new thing about the calcio world every day here, my job is done. Anyway, here’s the weekend that was in Serie A’s opening kickoff:

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Milan pulled off arguably the greatest transfer in Serie A this summer. Back in May some articles reported that Milan might have been interested in the big Swede (they had tried to get him in 2006, but Inter were faster and beat them to the deal), but it finally became reality the past week. Galliani and super agent Mino Raiola (there will be an article on him sometime this week) managed to talk Barcelona down to a loan deal with forced option to buy in the summer of 2011 for only 24 million. That is some deal. The move made Milan fans instantly optimistic about the upcoming season, but nobody should get their hopes up just yet, despite the 4-0 rout of a scared, newly promoted Lecce side. Ibrahimovic was presented at half-time (pictured above) and said in his funny sounding Italian, “Remember this: I want to win everything and I’m here to win everything.” Milan fans everywhere hope he’s right. In the meantime, I have happily added this song to my ipod.

Juventus starting where they left off: losing…

Yes, Juventus have tried to enter a new era this summer by creating a whole team from nothing, and yes, 6 of the 11 starters yesterday were new signings, but very poor first outing by la Vecchia Signora. Gigi Delneri’s side never really threatened Bari all game, and the new signings didn’t really shine all that much. Juve fans that thought the team’s problems would be fixed immediately with all the new changes are wrong. This team needs time to gel, and much more work has to be done by Delneri to get the squad to play the football he wants. They might bring a few more signings in before tomorrow’s deadline to improve the situation. But hey, look at the bright side Juve fans, last season Juve started brilliantly and look what happened. Maybe the reverse has to happen this season.

The newly-promoted sides

Lecce and Brescia had poor outings overall, being dominated by Milan and Parma. Cesena was the surprise of the weekend, holding Roma to a scoreless draw at the Olimpico, with ex-Roma goalkeeper Francesco Antonioli the hero. Cesena looked like a good side, but their attack lacks severe quality besides Giaccherini and despite the presence of Serie A’s footballing god Erjon Bogdani. Their defense looked shaky at times too. We can’t really judge Lecce from yesterday because Milan was better in every aspect, while Brescia seemed like the same Brescia you see every season in Serie B, no improvement.

Sebastian Giovinco

The pint sized fantasista was one of the best performers of the weekend. Giovinco was the man of the match against Brescia this weekend, providing a splendid assist on the first goal and had a hand in the second. Late in the game he was taken off to a standing ovation. Can this be the season Giovinco finally explodes? Throughout the years number 10 type players have always flourished with a Gialloblu jersey on, and this season could be yet another example. Are Juve completely sure they made the right decision in letting him go, especially since it was so evident yesterday they had nobody on the pitch that could provide a spark?

Sampdoria taking out their anger on Lazio

Sampdoria were heartbroken after they narrowly missed out on qualifying for the Champions League group stage, and manager Mimmo Di Carlo wanted them to transmit their anger into an excellent performance against Lazio. He got them from his squad, who after an even first half went on to score two in the second half and get their first 3 points in front of their home crowd. The first was scored by Cassano on a penalty won by Daniele Dessena and the second was a nice volley from Guberti. Di Carlo is hoping they can take that momentum into the next game, which is a big one against Juventus.

First sacking of the season

Surprisingly (or not so surprisingly because it happens all the time in Serie A) we had our first manager sacking of the season in this first weekend. Bologna manager Franco Colomba was let go by new Bologna owner Sergio Porcedda. Why? He said that Colomba was not agreeing to the project put forth by the club. It took you all summer to realize that Mr. Porcedda? So, Bologna’s youth team manager was in charge of today’s game with Inter and Porcedda said a new manager will be announced on Wednesday. According to reports it will be Alberto Malesani, the man who knows how to use the word cazzo</em efficiently.

Speaking of Bologna-Inter…

The Rafa Benitez era in Serie A started with a goalless draw today. Great point for Bologna considering their coaching problems. Inter shouldn’t be that worried, they’ve started the past 3 seasons with a draw (and who has won the scudetto in the past 3 seasons?) and still players are working hard to get back into form. At least we’ve seen over the past few days that the players on Inter are in fact human.

Mesto’s Goal

The Genoa winger’s match-winning, improvised bicycle kick goal was definitely the best goal of the weekend. Watch it here.

Fiorentina-Napoli

For me this was the most exciting game of the weekend. It was a very open game and both sides looked to attack. In the end, a draw was the best result because of the even play. However, on replay, Edinson Cavani’s goal did not cross the line, further pushing the debate of goal line technology. Fiorentina’s new signing Gaetano D’Agostino did well pushed up to his old trequartista position, and scored a great volley. Good game from two teams who may be direct competitors for European places this season.

Serie A goes on break

Even though it just started, it’s already taken away from us for a week! Prandelli’s national team start Euro 2012 qualifying this weekend and have games on Friday and Tuesday against world powerhouses Estonia and the Faroe Islands (what’s with UEFA’s weird new scheduling? It always used to be Saturday and Wednesday). So Serie A will return the weekend of September 12th.

Live game updates on twitter

If you didn’t know already, the Italy Offside is on twitter (link below). This weekend I experimented with tweeting live updates of games from the weekend. I did Udinese-Genoa and Bari-Juve this weekend. I don’t know if anyone noticed or even liked it, but I’ll continue to do it. So if you can’t watch a Serie A game on the weekend for whatever weekend, visit my twitter and read live updates as the action is happening. Also on my twitter I tweet other calcio news and updates daily like transfers or random thoughts. So if your interested in that, follow me.

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If you guessed Inter-Roma, you win nothing! Why? Because this is probably the 430 millionth time they’ve played each other over the past 6 years and basically by now it’s just a given. Two seasons ago we were spared when Inter and Roma were on the same side of the Coppa Italia bracket, and we got something new with Inter-Lazio in the SuperCoppa last summer. Luckily, this season we’re spared too because Inter and Roma are on the same side of the Coppa Italia bracket again. So here we are, another Inter-Roma final. At least this time Balotelli isn’t there to stir up controversy or spur Totti’s anger management side. It should be a good game though, because we will see the start of the Benitez era for Inter, and a Roma side that wants continue where they left off after having a spectacular season last year. Since the SuperCoppa began in 1988, there have been few blowouts and few penalty shootouts, and the games are usually close. The last Inter-Roma game in 2008 was a 2-2 draw that went to a penalty shootout, with Inter prevailing. The year before that, Roma came out on top 1-0, and the year before that a spectacular 4-3 Inter win was played. Over the years Roma and Inter have basically been each others main rivals, which means this game should be good. And if your not interested in both games, look on the bright side: Serie A is only 1 week away.

Last season’s Inter-Lazio SuperCoppa:

The SuperCoppa is this weekend and that means one thing: Serie A is a little over a week away! Although the transfer market hasn’t been very eventful, clubs have still made moves to improve their squads. So I thought it would be good to see what your starting eleven your favorite club could put out on the first day of the season. This isn’t definite at all because of injuries, coaching decisions, and other factors, but it gives you a good idea of what you can expect. Also, I think the only team that will put out a starting eleven with all players from last season is Cagliari (although they have a new manager in Pierpaolo Bisoli). So let’s go through the 20 sides:

(New signings or managers in Bold)

Bari (4-4-2): Gillet; Raggi, A.Masiello, M.Rossi, S.Masiello; Alvarez, Donati, Almiron, Pulzetti; Barreto, Ghezzal. All.: Ventura.

Bologna (4-4-2): Viviano; Garics, Portanova, Britos, Morleo; Buscè, Mudingayi, Krhin, Ekdal; Di Vaio, Meggiorini. All.: Colomba.

Brescia (3-5-2): Sereni; Martinez, Bega, Mareco; Zambelli, Vass, Budel, Baiocco, Dallamano; Possanzini, Carracciolo. All.: Iachini.

Cagliari (4-3-1-2): Marchetti; Pisano, Canini, Astori, Agostini; Biondini, Conti, Lazzari; Cossu; Matri, Jeda. All.: Bisoli.

Catania (4-4-2): Andujar; Potenza, Silvestre, Spolli, Capuano; Izco, Ledesma, Bigianti, Gomez; Maxi Lopez, Mascara. All.: Giampaolo.

Cesena (4-4-2): Antonioli; Petras, Von Bergen, Pellegrino, Nagatomo; Schelotto, Colucci, Caserta, Giaccherini; Do Prado, Bogdani. All.: Ficcadenti.

Chievo (4-3-1-2): Sorrentino; Frey, Morero, Cesar, Mantovani; Luciano, Rigoni, Marcolini; Bogliacino; Moscardelli, Pellissier. All.: Pioli.

Fiorentina (4-2-3-1): Frey; De Silvestri, Gamberini, Felipe, Pasqual; Montolivo, D’Agostino; Marchionni, Ljajic, Vargas; Gilardino. All.: Mihajlovic.

Genoa (3-4-3): Eduardo; Ranocchia, Dainelli, Bocchetti; Rossi, Zuculini, Veloso, Criscito; Palladino, Palacio, Toni. All.: Gasperini.

Inter (4-2-3-1): Julio Cesar; Maicon, Lucio, Samuel, Zanetti; Cambiasso, Thiago Motta; Eto’o, Sneijder, Coutinho; Milito. All.: Benitez.

Juventus (4-4-2): Storari; Motta, Bonucci, Chiellini, De Ceglie; Pepe, Sissoko, Felipe Melo, Marchisio; Diego, Amauri. All.: Delneri.

Lazio (3-5-2): Muslera, Biava, Dias, Radu; Lichtsteiner, Brocchi, Ledesma, Hernanes, Garrido; Floccari, Rocchi. All.: Reja.

Lecce (4-3-3): Rosati; Donati, Reginiussen, Gustavo, Brivio; Munari, Giacomazzi, Grossmuller; Olivera, Piatti, Corvia. All.: De Canio.

Milan (4-3-3): Amelia; Zambrotta, Thiago Silva, Nesta, Antonini; Ambrosini, Pirlo, Boateng; Pato, Borriello, Ronaldinho. All.: Allegri.

Napoli (3-4-2-1): De Sanctis; Santacroce, Cannavaro, Campagnaro; Maggio, Gargano, Hamsik, Dossena; Lavezzi, Quagliarella; Cavani. All.: Mazzarri.

Palermo (4-3-1-2): Sirigu; Cassani, Munoz, Bovo, Balzaretti; Migliaccio,Liverani, Nocerino; Pastore; Hernandez, Miccoli. All.: Rossi.

Parma (4-4-1-1): Mirante; Zaccardo, Lucarelli, Paletta, Antonelli; Valiani, Dzemaili, Morrone, Galloppa; Giovinco; Bojinov. All.: Marino.

Roma (4-3-1-2): Julio Sergio; Cassetti, Mexes, Juan, Riise; Taddei, De Rossi, Pizarro; Menez; Totti, Adriano. All.: Ranieri.

Sampdoria (4-4-2): Curci; Stankevicius, Gastaldello, Lucchini, Ziegler; Semioli, Palombo, Poli, Guberti; Pazzini, A. Cassano. All.: Di Carlo.

Udinese (4-3-3): Handanovic; Isla, Zapata, Domizzi, Pasquale; Candreva, Inler, Asamoah; Sanchez, Di Natale, Denis. All.: Guidolin.

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