The 2010/2011 Serie A season seemed so far away and it felt like 2009/2010 just ended, but the new season is upon us. With today’s calendar drawing, it officially means the season is upon us. Tomorrow will be officially one month until kickoff. The season will run from August 29th to May 22nd. The first day of the season doesn’t have any big teams squaring off, but it has some interesting encounters. The big teams will be happy with their opponents. Here is the first matchday: Bari-Juventus; Chievo-Catania; Milan-Lecce; Parma-Brescia; Roma-Cesena; Sampdoria-Lazio; Udinese-Genoa; Palermo-Cagliari; Bologna-Inter; Fiorentina-Napoli. Inter will start their title defense on Monday, since they will be involved in the European Super Cup with Atletico Madrid on August 27th. The best game looks to be Fiorentina-Napoli, a battle between two teams looking to aim high. Other good games are Sampdoria-Lazio and Bari-Juventus (especially if Giovinco goes to Bari).

And now some notable games: Roma-Inter will take place on September 26th at the Olimpico in the 5th round. The following week, Inter host Juve at the San Siro on October 3rd. Milan-Juve will take place in the 9th round on October 31st. December 19th brings about a great day of action: Milan-Roma, Fiorentina-Inter, and Sampdoria-Genoa derby.

Speaking of derbies, the first one of the season will be Lazio-Roma on November 7th, and then two weeks later on November 14th will be Inter-Milan. Sampdoria-Genoa will be on December 19th as I said above, and the Puglia derby of Lecce-Bari is back in Serie A for the first time since 2001 and will take place on January 6th.

There are three midweek rounds: September 22nd, November 10th, and February 2nd.

There will be the traditional round played on the epiphany (January 6th) after the winter break but it may not happen because the player’s association is saying they would like a longer winter break. They said they are willing to move the January 6th round to a midweek round right before Christmas to have a longer break. Apparently a petition will be signed by players and presented to the Lega.

Prandelli’s Nazionale has Euro 2012 qualifying and therefore there will be 3 national team breaks throughout the season: September 5th, October 10th, and March 27th.

For a nice interactive full Serie A 2010/2011 calendar, click here.

Follow the Italy Offside every day of the 2010/2011 season:
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Hat-tip to Vince and DirtyTackle for the find.

Felipe Melo, you continue to impress.

(Follow me on twitter.com/juventusoffside as I tweet the new Serie A calendar)

Even though his agent Mino Raiola says nothing has been signed yet, Mario Balotelli will definitely be a Manchester City player by the end of the week. The soon to be 20 year old left with Inter for their USA tour (where they will play Manchester City in a friendly on Saturday) just to make it not obvious that he’s leaving. In the training sessions in the USA so far, the team has been working with the ball while Balotelli has been training alone in the gym and the pool. Balotelli will reunite with Roberto Mancini, who introduced Balotelli to Serie A two years ago. Love him or hate him, you have to acknowledge that Balotelli is a talent and personally I hope he fixes his head so he can finally realize his potential and become a star for Italy (especially at a time when Italy needs young talents). Am I hopeful? Not really. Balotelli is nuts. More news after the jump.

-Tomorrow the Serie A calendar will be unveiled. The same format will be used as last season (no seeding system) so it’s possible that the big teams could meet on the first day. Also the game times are a little different this season. Any team involved in a Champions League match during the week will play on Friday. Saturday stays the same with two games, one anticipo at 6 PM and a posticipo at 8:45. Sundays have changed. There will be a lunch time game like the EPL has at 12:30 pm (meaning earlier wake up times for US fans watching calcio, which stinks), followed by the other teams playing at the normal 3 PM and then the posticipo at 8:45 pm. The Lega will also experiment with a Monday night game like the EPL has, and the experiment will be used only 6 or 7 times this season. When a Monday night game is to be played, it will be the Saturday 6 PM anticipo which will be moved to the Monday slot. I don’t like this new schedule. Why did they have to change a good thing. They complain about Italian attendance records, yet they now expect people to forget about lunch on Sunday and go to a soccer game instead. Never get between Italians and food!

-Looks like Italy goalkeeper Federico Marchetti and Cagliari have decided to go their separate ways. While it’s always been known that Marchetti has had many clubs interested in him, it always looked like he would stay in Sardegna. However Cagliari owner Massimo Cellino didn’t like an interview Marchetti gave to Gazzetta dello Sport where he said he was open to leave. Cellino said Marchetti should have talked to him first. So, Cagliari have officially announced that Marchetti is on the market, and if he leaves, the starting goalkeeper will be Michele Agazzi and not Chievo goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino as some media outlets reported. For Marchetti, the most viable option right now looks like a move to England, seeing as most Italian sides have already taken care of their goalkeeping situation.

-Wondering why Sampdoria’s transfer campaign has pretty much sucked so far? Well sporting director Sergio Gasparin said their mercato depends on what happens with the Champions League qualifier. Pretty stupid, because if Samp do qualify for the Champions League group stage, that will occur on August 25th, allowing Gasparin only 6 days to to find some players before the mercato closes on the 31st.

-Gianluca Zambrotta is an optimist I guess. He says that Milan even without a few other signings is competitive already. I don’t know Zambrotta, when your entire midfield is over 30 it’s pretty hard to be competitive…

-Parma sporting director Pietro Leonardi has come out and said that Parma looking for a player with fantasista qualities. He said that Sebastian Giovinco, Hatem Ben Arfa, and Alessandro Diamanti all fit the bill and Parma is looking to get one of the three.

-Speaking of Giovinco, it was reported today that Bari has surpassed Parma and is now in pole position to get Giovinco. I don’t know how true that is, especially since Bari owner Vincenzo Matarrese came out today and said they will only sing Giovinco on loan and nothing else. They don’t want to pay money for him.

-Fiorentina will apparently close the deal with Liverpool to bring fullback Emiliano Insua to Florence before the end of the day. Let’s see if that happens.

-Eder, dubbed the “Kaka of Serie B”, was Serie B’s top goalscorer last season and is looking for a move to a bigger club. According to reports Lazio and Empoli have been discussing a deal for weeks and apparently it is very close to being done. Lotito has to spend those 18 million euro he got for Kolarov on something…

-Inter are looking to use the money received from the Balotelli sale (and maybe eventually Maicon’s) to bring in two of Bentiez’s pupils: Mascherano and Kuyt. While it is almost fairly certain that Mascherano will be joining the Nerazzurri this summer, the Kuyt deal will be a little more complicated, but could be made easier if Liverpool wind up singing Royston Drenthe.

-Roma really want West Ham and Switzerland winger Valon Behrami. They apparently want him on loan with an option to buy, but West Ham isn’t interested in that type of deal. So Roma may have to give the London club some players, and they might decide to hand over Brazilian goalkeeper Doni and young Italian striker Stefano Okaka, who spent the second part of last season in London on loan with Fulham. I wonder how the Roma fans will react to an ex-Laziale playing for them.

-Luca Cigarini was once touted as the new Pirlo, but hasn’t really lived up to the billing. Napoli spent a load of money on him last summer but once Mazzarri showed up he decided there was no room for Ciga in his starting 11. So Cigarini wants to move on, and Sevilla are rumored to be interested (where he would form an all-Italian central midfield pairing with Tiberio Guarente, and the two played together at Atalanta). Sevilla have supposedly put in an offer that is deemed too low for Napoli: 300,000 euro for the loan and then the option to buy for 6 million at the end of the season.

-Newly-promoted Brescia have done next to nothing on the transfer market, only signing goalkeeper Matteo Sereni so far. Manager Beppe Iachini announced to the press today that for Brescia to achieve salvation the squad needs some reinforcements. Brescia are looking at bringing in West Ham’s Alessandro Diamanti. That would be a great move, but I don’t know if Diamanti would accept a move to relegation zone team.

-Mauro Camoranesi has been linked with a move away from Juve since May. First it was thought he would go to Olympiakos, but the Greek club couldn’t finalize the deal. Now it seems newly-promoted La Liga side Hercules CF is interested in the Italo-Argentine, and they are willing to offer him two year deal worth 1.5 million euro a season.

-And finally, Nicolas Burdisso. The Argentinian defender desperately wants a permanent move to Roma, but the Giallorossi really don’t have that much money to spend. In addition, after Totti’s words to the press about Inter, they are not going to be the easiest to negotiate with. It’s almost a month until the start of the Serie A season, and Burdisso’s future is still unclear.

Though recently, it looks like Giovinco is heading to Parma, Bari fans have made their voices heard. They want Giovinco.

Just as in the last few years, I figured I’d do one giant Pagelle for the entire season before the new season gets too hectic, as I did in 2007-2008, and 2008-2009. I’ve tried to remain objective of course- I’m no fan of Zebina or Melo, but I’m trying to rate them based on their performances, not their fighting with the fans. Besides, they ended up playing terribly anyways. In general, I follow similar numbering systems to the pagelle in Italy:

These judges gave better ratings than I did

4- Dreadful. Consistently producing horror shows and generally completely incompetent.
4.5- Poor.
5- Subpar. Never impressing, and while not terrible, never playing well either.
5.5- Mediocre. Not something a player should be pleased with.
6- Decent.
6.5- Solid. Putting in consistently good shifts, though not exemplary.
7- Excellent. Playing well typically, and capable of brilliance.
7.5- Outstanding. Consistently winning MOTM awards.
8- Phenomenal.
9- Legendary.

Injuries don’t directly factor, as that has weighed enough on their performances as is. So without further ado, the Juventus Pagelle for season 2009-2010.

At last, Marotta can stop flirting with Dzeko via several social networking sites and sometimes late at night on Blackberry messenger, like so. “Edin it’s me… Beppe“, Marotta would write. “Guess who I’m thinking of?” he’d ask. Then Edin would respond, “Me?“, after thinking for forty minutes. Now obviously Marotta was heartbroken upon hearing Wolfsburg’s managing director Dieter Hoeness categorically deny the possibility of a summer transfer this afternoon. So for Marotta’s viewing pleasure, here’s a recent video on the Bosnian striker to heal the pain, plus photos from the team’s first practice session in Varese.

“We have decided to end the recurring speculation: both Edin Dzeko and Zvjezdan Misimovic will be staying at Wolfsburg, no matter what offers come in for them. We did not want this speculation to become endless as we move closer to the start of the season. It made no sense to continue going around in circles. Now everybody can concentrate on the new season. Furthermore, both players have clear contracts which don’t leave any room for misinterpretation. There was not a single offer for either of them anyway so this discussion was only virtual.” -Dieter Hoeness

“It’s a dream that isn’t over, an objective that we will follow for as long as possible, though conscious of the enormous difficulties involved. But it’s nice that Dzeko expressed his pleasure at the prospect of Juventus being an eventual destination. It means that the appeal is still strong.” -Truly, madly, deeply… Beppe

IERI… OGGI… DOMANI… SEMPRE JUVE!!!

This post is written for all the non-soccer (or newly-converted) fans out there, be it in the US/Canada, Asia, Africa, wherever! Every 4 years, The World Cup manages to pull plenty of new fans into “soccer.” I can definitely see that here in America, where a decent run by the Yanks managed to really pique some interest. Since then, I’ve had a handful of friends, previously who showed no interest in soccer ask me about different leagues and eventually, “what team should I support?”

Which is an impossible question, really. It’s cliche as hell, I know, but you don’t pick a team, it picks you. Though it was entertaining to read Bill Simmons “which EPL team should I pick”, it seems too methodical, too planned, too mechanical….too heartless. When I was in Madrid, I had no intention of following any Spanish team, but the tremendous fan support of Atletico Madrid made me a bit of a sympathizer. It’s not planned or calculated, it just happens. What I would do first, is choose which league you prefer, and then watch games.

Francesco over at the Italy Offside has a great post of 10 Reasons why you should follow Serie A. Many of you might consider following Serie A because you have Italian ancestry. Other very good reasons include the rich history of the league, the fact that it is fairly balanced, and it is a tactical league. If you enjoy a chess match, Serie A is your league. Spain’s league for me is too poor defensively, and England’s is just a case of kicking the ball up the field and hoping your big man can get to it. Both which lead to a lot of goals, but as time progresses…you might want something more.

So ultimately, why this post is 10 reasons why you should follow Juventus, you might not. You might start watching some Serie A games, and for whatever crazy reason, starting cheering for the team Juve is playing against. Or, for example, if you have Sicilian ancestry, you might watch a Palermo game and feel a genuine connection to the shirt. No one can make the decision for you, but here’s some reasons why you should at least watch some Juventus games, and give us a chance to be your squadra del cuore.

#1) Juventus is the team of all of Italy

Do you love Italy? Do you love every different city? Not sure where your family is from in Italy? Then Juventus is a good choice. Most teams in Italy have a very strong connection to the city of region they are from, in fact, almost all of them are named after the city. Juventus is the exception, it is massively popular everywhere, an estimated 33% of the Italian population pledges its’ allegiance to Juve, and that is widely regarded as being a low estimate, as it doesn’t count the massive amounts of fans (particularly in Southern Italy) who call Juventus their 2nd favorite team, after the local squad. You can find Juventini (Juventus fans) in cities like Rome, Florence, and Milan, all which are home to archrivals of Juventus. Last year, I went on a two week road-trip in Italy. When I was in northern Italy in Venice, the owner of a restaurant saw my Juventus jacket, grinned, dragged me into his kitchen to show me a massive Juventus flag and clock on the wall. Later, I was in Positano, in the Campania region (Naples) and two young kids playing some soccer in the streets, and started cheering Del Piero’s name upon seeing my jacket. (the captain of Juventus) No matter where you go in Italy, there are Juventus fans. No other team can claim that. There’s plenty of Juventus fans worldwide, too- the club has reported that 170million people worldwide call Juventus their team, distributed throughout the world. (About 100million in the Far East)

Gianluigi Buffon- the captain of the Italian National team, and the alternate captain of Juventus

#2) Juventus has a very proud tradition within the Italian National Team

If you’re a fan of the Azzurri, you probably know several Juventus players. The Old Lady (one of our nicknames) has a proud tradition of playing an Italian core, which is becoming rare in Italy. Juventus is the only team in Italy to have a player in every Italian World Cup squad. This year, as always, Juventus had a large contingent within the national team, though it went poorly for both. In the 2006 World Cup final against France, 5 Juventus players played for Italy. The last time Italy won, in 1982, seven Juventus players took part in the final against West Germany, including 4/5 of the defense, and two of the goalscorers. (Paolo Rossi and Marco Tardelli) It’s such a phenomenon, there is even a seperate “Juventus FC and the Italian national football team” Wikipedia article.

#3) We have some of the best players ever to play soccer/football

The prestigious and highly respected “Ballon d’Or” prize goes out on an annual basis to the best player, as voted by a panel of journalists. Juventus are tied as the club with the most honored players, with legends like Omar Sivori, Paolo Rossi, Michel Platini, Roberto Baggio, Zinedine Zidane, and Pavel Nedved winning it in Juventus colors. Platini is one of three 3-time winners, and he is the only player to win it 3 consecutive times in a row. And plenty of runners-up, like Gianluigi Buffon, Toto Schillaci, Zbigniew Boniek, Dino Zoff, and John Charles. And that’s only the Ballon d’Or. We have plenty of legends who are recognized as the best in their position, be it poacher-extraordinaire David Trezeguet, fantasista Alessandro Del Piero, defensive giants like Cabrini, Gentile, and Scirea, and brilliant midfielders like Tardelli, Conte, Davids, and a whole host of others that will be honored in the Hollywood star-style walk of fame at the new stadium.

Our capitano, Alessandro Del Piero while playing for Italy

#4) Our captain who is still playing, is the greatest Juventus player of all time

You could not pick a better idol than the captain of Juventus, Alessandro Del Piero. Now is a good time to start following him, because he won’t be playing for much longer! At 35 years old, Del Piero is not the young player he used to be, but is still plenty lethal. And he’s the greatest Juventus player of all time, and will probably not be surpassed anytime soon…or possible, ever. He has the record for the most games played for Juventus, as well as the most goals scored. He’s made over 600 appearances, and scored over 300 goals for the club. Hes finished top scorer of Serie B, Serie A, and the Champion’s League (twice), Europe’s premier club competition. Consider this- the average striker typically breaks into the first team around age 22-23, and retires around 10 years later at 32-33. There’s about 45 games a season give or take, and a striker would be proud of scoring 15 goals a season, and to do so consistently for 10 years would be tremendous. If a player did that, he’d finish with 150 goals and 450 appearances. (Barring injuries small or large, etc) Another words, still a far cry from Del Piero’s record. He’s also a phenomenal person off the pitch- he’s well known for being humble, not arrogant, a class act. He’s not the type of player to be seeking the limelight, he’s very much a “quiet” person. A lucky fan met him two months ago during the Juventus North America tour, and said Del Piero was extremely gracious and welcoming.

Juventus celebrating our 29th national championship back in 2005-2006

#5) Juventus is the most titled and storied team in Italy

29 national championships, 2 European titles, and we’re the first team ever to win every title possible, not just in Italy, but in all of Europe. We’re in a low-patch right now, and since we’re coming off our worst season ever, you won’t be considered a bandwagoner!

An artists rendering of the inside of our new stadium

#6) Despite a very poor season, the future looks very bright

Compared to, say, fellow Italian giants Milan, the future looks very bright, despite finishing 4 places below them. During the past season, the Juventus management completely revolutionized. Our new club President is Andrea Agnelli, who’s family has been a crucial part of Juventus for nearly a century now. We’ve snagged one of the smartest Directors of Sport (the guy who conducts trades) in Italy, in Giuseppe Marotta. The club is doing very well financially, and we have virtually no debt that plagues many of the other European giants. We’re building our own state-of-the-art stadium that unlike the rest of Italian stadiums, will be owned by us ($$$ goes to us, we can revamp it at will), will have modern facilities (restaurants, bars, stores), and will be the closest to the field in all of Italy. Lastly, our youth team, the Primavera, continues to churn out excellent talent, they have won the prestigious Viarreggio tournament the last 2 years in a row, and 6 times in the last 8 years. While we haven’t integrated them the best, they usually do get a chance in the first-team. Primavera graduates that have played at Juve in recent years include Antonio Nocerino, Raffaele Palladino, Domenico Criscito, Sebastian Giovinco, Claudio Marchisio, and Paolo De Ceglie. This year, we have the preceding three in the first team, as well as Davide Lanzafame. We may be in a lull right now, but with money, a new stadium, competent management, and great youth teams, the future is bright indeed.

#6) Our jerseys are awesome.

Black-and-white, and have been for over a century. Pure class.

#7) Our players are very technology-friendly, compared to others in Italy

Alessandro Del Piero, Giorgio Chiellini, and Claudio Marchisio on Facebook. Chiellini also has a Twitter account. More will probably join up soon.

#8) The greatest keeper in the world, of all time, is currently playing for us

His name is Gianluigi Buffon, and many reckon him to be one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, if not THE greatest. He’s struggled a bit with injuries in the last few years, but when healthy, there is no one better.

The above video is only his saves from last fall…

Legendary tough-tackling hardman Paolo Montero fighting for the ball in the 2003 Champion’s League final

#9) The Juventus spirit is wonderful to watch

Juventus doesn’t play the prettiest game in the world. We’re the type of team that prioritizes a clean sheet (conceding no goals) over scoring 5. And our players don’t always have the most flair. What we lack in style, we make up in spirit. The team is known for its “never-say-die” attitude, its grinta (determination) and mental toughness. Juventus doesn’t give up when the going gets tough, it digs in and fights back. It might not be sexy football, but after watching a few games, I guarantee you’ll learn to appreciate it. (Assuming our new coach, Delneri, brings it back. Last year, this spirit was sorely lacking)

#10) You have Roberto and myself, Aaron, blogging for you, and a great community in the comments section as well

Be it The Offside, or other blogs, writers come and go. Consistent blogging is tough work, let me tell you, people definitely underestimate the type of commitment required. Posts can take up to 2-3 hours. The Juventus Offside team, however, has been here for some time. Though The Offside was only formed in 2006, Roberto has been posting here since 2007, and I have been since February 2008. We try to bring you timely and relevant news, previews, reviews, what have you, all with a sometimes sarcastic, bitter, or downright bizarre twist. And the community down in the comments section is first-rate. They are equally, if not more informative and insightful than Roberto and I. (Give yourself all a hand) Whether you need links to watch a game online, info on when the game is being played, or thoughts on different players, they are fantastic. I’d love for frequent (or infrequent) commenters to add to this article, post below some other reasons to become a Juventus fan, serious or not.

For those fans who got a taste of soccer/football/calcio and enjoyed it, I hope you take my advice. Check out Serie A, as we call it, the most beautiful championship, and watch a few Juventus games. Whether you join us as a Juventino and a Juve Offsider or end up one of “those”, it’s definitely worth your time.