Odds and Ends

By: salvatore | July 2nd, 2008

Here are a few things that have been kicking around Lazio land in the last couple of days.

First up, the new jerseys for this season were unveiled a little while back, so I thought I should put up a pic. There’s no sponsor yet (Edileuropa were on the shirt for the second part of last season), so it looks a bit plain for the time being, but if you’re like me, you can take this opportunity to order one with nothing but the team logo on it. Sweet.

Nothing too drastically different on the first shirt, but it’s subtle and pretty sharp looking. The second and third shirts have collars, which I’ve always liked (maybe I’m just old school?). Not sure about the yellow yet though. What do you think?

Third shirt (aka the Ref’s jersey):

Over on the transfer side of things, we’re still swimming in Argentinian names. Mauro Zarate is evidently a Lazio player, though it has yet to be finalized. I think there were a lot of Lazio fans who wanted Palacio instead, but frankly, I love this signing. Zarate is just as talented (if not more so), younger, and he’s already had experience in Europe. Love it. Get that shit finalized already and let’s see him in one of those new shirts.

Meanwhile, another Mauro from way down south might be heading our way in the shape of Boca Juniors forward Mauro Boselli. Depending on what source you read, it’s either already signed, sealed and certified, or a complete non-starter. Bope. In any case, it’s tough to know exactly what we’re getting here (aside from the fact that he’s young and promising). He does, after all, have a hard time breaking into the first team at Boca, what with Palacio and Martin Palermo playing ahead of him.

Here’s a clip of one of his goals:

More confusing is the fact that we have what seems to be way too many strikers. Partly this has to do with the fact that the team has 42 players under contract (mind boggling when you consider how cheap Lotito can be), and a whole lot of moves still to be made. I would expect a few players to be sold (Zauri, Stendardo, maybe Mutarelli) and others to be sent out on loan (Inzaghi, Berni, etc), but we’ll have to see where everyone ends up.

As it is, I’m genuinely enthusiastic for the upcoming season. Someone posted a comment the other day about this blog being too negative, and I’m not sure what I think about that. It’s true that I might have allowed some pessimism to creep in during the last season, but Christ, can you blame me? Last season was like being punched in the testicles for an entire year…

In any case, I’m very happy with the moves the team has made so far, and if we can offload some surplus players and bring in another midfielder (namely Augusto Matias Fernandez) I’ll be very confident for the upcoming season.

So far, this would be my starting 11:

CARRIZO

DE SILVESTRI – ROZEHNAL (MOTI) – RADU – KOLAROV

FOGGIA – LEDESMA – DABO ( FERNANDEZ)

PANDEV

ROCCHI – ZARATE

All in all it’s a much faster, creative team, and the best part is that everyone save Rocchi, Dabo and Rozehnal is 25 or younger (and Rozehnal is only 27).

Fucking Forza Lazio.