“You bought a Ferrari, but you drive it like a Fiat.” (Zlatan on Pep Guardiola’s treatment of him during his time at Barcelona). Zlatan’s Catalan journey was anything but...
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Celebrating the Italian art of goalkeeping, from Zenga to Buffon
Regular visitors to Italy will have observed that every day jobs and tasks can be treated as an art form. Be it the barman, a waiter, a coffee vendor...
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A tactical analysis of Massimo Carrera’s Spartak Moscow
”He changed our tactics and gave us character.” Spartak Moscow captain Denis Glushakov on Massimo Carrera. Spartak Moscow haven’t won the Russian Premier League title since 2001, but they...
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Three colours of Zlatan, Part II: Inter
Arrivato: Milano After his adventure with Juventus, Zlatan Ibrahimovic set foot in Milan; hallowed ground for two of European football’s most storied factions, divided by contrasting colours – rosso...
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Following Herbert Kilpin: From Nottingham to Milano with the relatives of AC Milan’s founder
James Kilpin returns to the table with a pint of beer in each hand. He slides one across the table to me. It catches a sticky patch, causing a...
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Three colours of Zlatan, Part I: Juventus
“I want out of here!” barked a young, egoistic Swede to his agent. “In that case, you can move to Turin.” After a heated volley of curse words and slurs,...
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Marco Di Vaio: The making of Bologna’s bandiera
These days, it is rare for fans to hold a player in such high regard; to see an individual player as an embodiment of their club. It is even...
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Antonio Conte at Juventus: The anatomy of a renaissance
Juventus are a strange anomaly among the traditional footballing giants of Europe. This is a club whose fans were surprised by a new badge mid-season, and yet there was...
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Celebrating Roberto Baggio’s finest free-kicks
‘’He took free kicks like no other,’’ Andrea Pirlo remarked. ‘’I just used to stand there in training and study him for days. I think I learned something in...
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Ahmad Benali: Pescara’s Libyan hero
If you were to ask him directly, Ahmad Benali would tell you that he is, without a doubt, the first real Libyan to have graced Italy’s football pitches. That...
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