great.. does he make this kind of reports every week? keep posting 
i want him to say juve where the best this week hehe
i want him to say juve where the best this week hehe
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Death to Sheridan Bird? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter jonathantaylor
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Is This The End Of Alex Del Piero?
Posted 09/10/07 11:15
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He's got a face that mothers and their daughters love, an attractive, likeable wife, a child on the way, more commercial contracts than Tiger Woods, a World Cup winner's medal, a lot of money inside his bank accounts and a friendship with Oasis' Noel Gallagher, apparently.
But despite all this, Alex Del Piero is facing his latest crisis (this is his 165th crisis if anyone is still counting). The dinky number 10 has always divided opinion. Well, not always, because for a few seasons between '95 and '98 he was loved by everyone in Italy and seen as the new Bobby Baggio. At France '98 he even nicked Baggio's number 10 shirt. The next decade was set to be his.
Sadly a lacklustre World Cup in 1998, and then an extremely unpleasant injury, blunted his effectiveness and robbed him of some of his previous explosiveness.
But the modest yet determined scamp fought back as best he could, and despite never reaching the pre-knee shank heights, he has had some high highs (Germany 2006 semi-final goal) and low lows (a terrible performance in the Euro 2000 final in which he missed some gilt-edged opportunities to kill off the French).
Not to mention his 12 million TV appearances and adverts. A winter evening is not complete without a cheeky Alex guest slot on some cheesy yet welcome Italian television programme, the usual drill involving a pretty young dark-haired girl and a rotund 50-year old man with very dyed hair asking the Juve legend about his forthcoming baby and favourite pop CD.
Then you can see him again in the ad break trying to sell you a large luxury scooter-motorcycle hybrid. Or healthy drinking water. Or adidas football boots.
But for how much longer will the diminutive Del Boy be on our screens as a top-level footballer? This week he has been in the news for two reasons. Firstly, he has been in a mildly squalid contract squabble with Juventus and it shows no signs of calming down for a while. The little fella knows what he feels he should earn per annum, and is quite probably very keen to remind the directors of his popularity in the Japanese market, many goals and years of good service to the club since 1993.
Conversely, the Bianconeri suits are perhaps more concerned by his age - in a month he'll be 33. And the belt-tightening enforced by loss of revenue brought about by Moggigate has meant that there is less money than usual. The thought of sending millions of Euros Alex's way for another three seasons may not rest easily with the bean-counters.
If he can't be guaranteed a starting place in the team anymore, can he really continue to command a megastar salary?
In a nutshell there are two differing views of the player. He and his advisors see him as a Juventus flag-bearer, top scorer and huge world pin-up earning the club fans worldwide...while the men in the swanky offices in Turin may consider him an ageing drain on resources.
Two crucially diverse takes on the same thing (much like opposing opinions of the Australian rugby shirt. To the Aussies it is a golden garment graced by heroes, but the rest of the planet now see it as a mustard-coloured blouse belonging to crying chokers).
And it gets worse - Italy coach Roberto Donadoni has elected to drop him from the squad for their upcoming qualifier against Georgia. It isn't the first time he has been left out by Azzurri managers, but with his advancing age counting against him, we could be witnessing the final acts of Alex in blue.
He put in a less-than-stellar showing on the right wing in the recent home tie versus France, and afterwards appeared to tell Donadoni that he wouldn't play wide again, saying, "I accepted playing in a different role from my own and take responsibility for my performance. But that was definitely the last time. I have spoken to Donadoni about this>"
Although he later denied that it was a threat, he certainly made the headlines and created more than enough controversy. And it was a risk.
The fact of the matter is that if you are indispensable to your team, like an in-form Diego Maradona, motivated Zinedine Zidane or fully-fit Ronaldo (the Brazilian one, obviously), you can stand your ground, talk tough and get away with the odd transgression, hefty wage demand or act of defiance. Unfortunately for Alessandro Del Piero, it looks more and more likely that his club and country realise that they might just be able to do well enough without him.
There is also one other question which needs to be answered. If they are pals, how do Alex and Noel Gallagher communicate? His English is basic, his exaggerated accent comical and he struggles to string together a sentence that actually makes any sense. As for Alessandro Del Piero, he only speaks Italian.
Sheridan Bird
Posted 09/10/07 11:15
EmailPrintSave
He's got a face that mothers and their daughters love, an attractive, likeable wife, a child on the way, more commercial contracts than Tiger Woods, a World Cup winner's medal, a lot of money inside his bank accounts and a friendship with Oasis' Noel Gallagher, apparently.
But despite all this, Alex Del Piero is facing his latest crisis (this is his 165th crisis if anyone is still counting). The dinky number 10 has always divided opinion. Well, not always, because for a few seasons between '95 and '98 he was loved by everyone in Italy and seen as the new Bobby Baggio. At France '98 he even nicked Baggio's number 10 shirt. The next decade was set to be his.
Sadly a lacklustre World Cup in 1998, and then an extremely unpleasant injury, blunted his effectiveness and robbed him of some of his previous explosiveness.
But the modest yet determined scamp fought back as best he could, and despite never reaching the pre-knee shank heights, he has had some high highs (Germany 2006 semi-final goal) and low lows (a terrible performance in the Euro 2000 final in which he missed some gilt-edged opportunities to kill off the French).
Not to mention his 12 million TV appearances and adverts. A winter evening is not complete without a cheeky Alex guest slot on some cheesy yet welcome Italian television programme, the usual drill involving a pretty young dark-haired girl and a rotund 50-year old man with very dyed hair asking the Juve legend about his forthcoming baby and favourite pop CD.
Then you can see him again in the ad break trying to sell you a large luxury scooter-motorcycle hybrid. Or healthy drinking water. Or adidas football boots.
But for how much longer will the diminutive Del Boy be on our screens as a top-level footballer? This week he has been in the news for two reasons. Firstly, he has been in a mildly squalid contract squabble with Juventus and it shows no signs of calming down for a while. The little fella knows what he feels he should earn per annum, and is quite probably very keen to remind the directors of his popularity in the Japanese market, many goals and years of good service to the club since 1993.
Conversely, the Bianconeri suits are perhaps more concerned by his age - in a month he'll be 33. And the belt-tightening enforced by loss of revenue brought about by Moggigate has meant that there is less money than usual. The thought of sending millions of Euros Alex's way for another three seasons may not rest easily with the bean-counters.
If he can't be guaranteed a starting place in the team anymore, can he really continue to command a megastar salary?
In a nutshell there are two differing views of the player. He and his advisors see him as a Juventus flag-bearer, top scorer and huge world pin-up earning the club fans worldwide...while the men in the swanky offices in Turin may consider him an ageing drain on resources.
Two crucially diverse takes on the same thing (much like opposing opinions of the Australian rugby shirt. To the Aussies it is a golden garment graced by heroes, but the rest of the planet now see it as a mustard-coloured blouse belonging to crying chokers).
And it gets worse - Italy coach Roberto Donadoni has elected to drop him from the squad for their upcoming qualifier against Georgia. It isn't the first time he has been left out by Azzurri managers, but with his advancing age counting against him, we could be witnessing the final acts of Alex in blue.
He put in a less-than-stellar showing on the right wing in the recent home tie versus France, and afterwards appeared to tell Donadoni that he wouldn't play wide again, saying, "I accepted playing in a different role from my own and take responsibility for my performance. But that was definitely the last time. I have spoken to Donadoni about this>"
Although he later denied that it was a threat, he certainly made the headlines and created more than enough controversy. And it was a risk.
The fact of the matter is that if you are indispensable to your team, like an in-form Diego Maradona, motivated Zinedine Zidane or fully-fit Ronaldo (the Brazilian one, obviously), you can stand your ground, talk tough and get away with the odd transgression, hefty wage demand or act of defiance. Unfortunately for Alessandro Del Piero, it looks more and more likely that his club and country realise that they might just be able to do well enough without him.
There is also one other question which needs to be answered. If they are pals, how do Alex and Noel Gallagher communicate? His English is basic, his exaggerated accent comical and he struggles to string together a sentence that actually makes any sense. As for Alessandro Del Piero, he only speaks Italian.
Sheridan Bird
Sheridan Bird is sometimes a pompous dufus... but this article was fair. Del Piero really is at a crossroads. Does he except being a supersub, like many stars before him, does he demand a transfer to a smaller team and become a big fish in a small pond, or does he retire?
He is probably my all-time favorite player, and I really hope to see him play live before he retires, but its a fact of life that guys who have suffered debilitating injuries decline quicker (even megastars like DP).
Of course, I also maintain that a lot of this is contract drama, and he'll more than likely re-sign into his final contract and be a crucial player for Juve... even if he's not a full-time starter.
He is probably my all-time favorite player, and I really hope to see him play live before he retires, but its a fact of life that guys who have suffered debilitating injuries decline quicker (even megastars like DP).
Of course, I also maintain that a lot of this is contract drama, and he'll more than likely re-sign into his final contract and be a crucial player for Juve... even if he's not a full-time starter.
:frown: 
