Coach Steve's Corner

The international break is fast approaching as next week the nations of Europe will play their final World Cup qualifying group games. Thus most national teams have released their list of call ups for their two fixtures. As usual there were some surprising decisions made by managers, including some questionable exclusions. I'd like to focus on two of those exclusions, Radja Nainggolan by Belgium and Jorginho by Italy, as they have been two of the best midfielders in the early stages of the Italian Serie A season. I think both should've been called up and I'll explain why below. Radja Nainggolan Since, his arrival at AS Roma from Cagliari in January 2014 Radja Nainggolan has been one of the best midfielders in Serie A and arguably one of the best in Europe. He plays an all-around game and is a true box-to-box midfielder. Nainggolan's work rate is second to none and he routinely wins the ball back for Roma with his clean, hard tackling. Nainggolan is also good at hold...

Earlier today Bayern Munich relieved coach Carlo Ancelotti of his duties after he coached the team for a little over a season. Ancelotti led Bayern to the Bundesliga title last season but after getting overrun in Paris yesterday against PSG, 3-0, his time was up in Bavaria. Ancelotti is regarded by many in Europe as one of the best managers in the game and it's likely that he will be on the market for long if he makes himself available. The rumor mill has already begun to churn with his former club, Milan, along with others being mentioned. However, I'd like to see Ancelotti go in a direction that he hasn't before and that is coaching a national team; in particular, Italy. With the World Cup just around the corner it's unlikely that Italy would make a change but I'd like to explore the possibility. To begin, as mentioned earlier, Ancelotti is regarded around Europe as one of the best managers around. Oftentimes, whatever team Ancelotti has gotten his hands on has ...

Many of you may be wondering why I am making a reference to fairy tales when writing a sports blog. After all, March is many months away and we won't be talking about Cinderellas in the NCAA tournament until then. However, the fairy tale that I'm referring to has nothing at all to do with college basketball. In fact, this fairy tale could never play out in the United States with the way American professional sports are structured. This fairy tale was written and continues to be written in the northern Italian city of Ferrara, Ferrara is home to a professional football (soccer) club SPAL 2013 which stands for Società Polisportiva Ars et Labor. SPAL are plying their trade in the Italian first division Serie A this season but it is the way that they arrived there that makes this a fairy tale story. What is the Promotion/Relegation System? For those unfamiliar with the promotion/relegation system in European countries, like Italy, which have multiple divisions of soccer, I...

After a very underwhelming match day 1 from the Italian contingent in the 2017-18 Champions League; Juventus, Roma, and Napoli must step up with wins in match day 2 or their chances of advancing will take a big hit. Below I will take a look back on match day 1 and look forward to this week’s match day 2 for each team. Juventus  Juventus were faced with their toughest task of the group stage in match day 1 when they traveled to the Camp Nou to face heavyweight Barcelona. In my Champions League preview I said that a loss at the Camp Nou wouldn’t be anything to fret over because it was the one game that I felt Juve could afford to lose. However, the way that Juventus lost was a bit of a concern to Bianconeri fans. Juve lost big to Barcelona 3-0 in a game which they conceded 61% possession and were unable to thwart a potent Barca attack. It’s a result like this that will make you wonder how much Juve will miss Leo Bonucci leading their back line against opponents like Barca who hav...

I will admit that I haven't seen much of the Arizona Diamondbacks playing live this season. Living on the east coast I will occasionally catch a few innings on MLB Network before bed. However, often when I do I seem to come away a bit more impressed. The Diamondbacks have quietly amassed 88 wins this season while all along being overshadowed by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West. Coming into play on Thursday they trail Los Angeles in the standings by 8 1/2 games but lead the NL Wild Card race over another NL West rival, the Colorado Rockies, by 5 1/2 games. In fact, their 88-65 record is even better than the defending World Series champion and current NL Central leading Cubs, who are 84-67. Winning the one game wild card is never a guarantee for the team with the better record since baseball can at times be so unpredictable. However, if they D-Backs can get past either the Rockies or Milwaukee Brewers in that one game playoff, I believe they can upset a contend...

As we enter the last two weeks weeks of the Major League Baseball regular season four of the six division titles are but clinched. The Dodgers, Astros, Nationals, and Indians all ran away with their respective divisions, leaving only the American League East and National League Central in play. Entering play tonight, the Yankees trail the Red Sox by 3 games and the Brewers trail the Cubs by 3 1/2 games. Both of those races are far from over with 12 days left in the season. As fans of any trailing team would hope, the Brewers will get one more crack at the Cubs when they open a four game set in Milwaukee starting on Thursday. This is a four game series that for all intents and purposes will determine the winner of the NL Central. It allows the Brewers a chance to win the division without relying on the help of other teams to trip up the Cubs. The AL East however won't have a meaningful head-to-head match up between the Yankees and Red Sox for the rest of the season. In fact, whe...

Ciro Immobile burst onto the scene as a 21 year old while playing for Italian second division side Pescara during the 2011-12 season. Immobile was there on loan from Juventus as he gained valuable playing time and experience under the tutelage of the ultra attack minded Czech Zednek Zeman. Immobile blossomed in Zeman's attacking system next to other budding Italian talents; Lorenzo Insigne and Marco Verratti. With the ultra talented trio leading the way, Pescara cruised to the Serie B title and Immobile became a household name in Italy after scoring 28 goals in 37 matches while winning the Serie B goal scoring title. You can check out all of his Pescara goals below. After his breakout season Immobile earned a move to Serie A side Genoa who owned half of his rights with Juventus as part of a co-ownership deal. The season on the Ligurian coast was not all that kind to Immobile as he only scored 5 goals in 33 matches for the Grifoni and was subsequently sold to Torino by Juventus...

Baseballs have been flying out of major league ballparks at a record clip this season and teams that hit a lot of home runs often seem like a good bet to win a lot of games. However, this isn't always the case. The most glaring example that power hitting isn't always enough to be a contender is the Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles came into Sunday leading the league in home runs, yet they are barely staying afloat in a crowded American League Wild Card race. In fact, their playoff hopes are almost all but dead after they've fallen to 5 games back of the second wild card spot with 13 games to play and five teams ahead of them. How can a team that hits for so much power be so unlikely to make the playoffs? The answer can be expressed quite clearly by the old baseball adage "pitching wins ballgames." The Orioles starting pitching is quite simply awful. The other reason is not enough run production when not hitting home runs. Offensive Prowess? Lords of the Long B...

The long awaited return of Alessandro Florenzi finally occurred at the Stadio Olimpico today against Hellas Verona. Florenzi started and played 90 minutes in his first game in almost a year after two knee surgeries. Florenzi tore a knee ligament last October before re-injuring the same knee in training in February which resulted in a second surgery and another long rehab. Florenzi looked like his old self today despite the long layoff from game action and provided plenty of energy down the right side of the pitch. He even provided a lovely cross that Edin Dzeko buried for Roma's second goal of the evening. It was an emotional night for the Roman born and bred Florenzi who always leaves it all on the field for his beloved Giallorossi. Now that his emotional night has come and gone without incident, I believe Florenzi will provide a big boost to both Roma and Italy. Florenzi is a talented player who is coming into his prime at 26 years of age and on top of that he has become one ...

The UEFA Champions League is set to kick off this week and the Italian Serie A features three participants in the 2017-18 version of the tournament. Those teams are Juventus, Roma, and Napoli. Below I will preview the group stage for each team. Juventus Juventus again earned automatic qualification to the Champions League by winning their sixth consecutive Serie A title last season. The Bianconeri had a superb run in the 2016-17 version of the tournament making it all the way to the final where they fell to Real Madrid. Juve was able to win their group which featured Sevilla, Lyon, and Dynamo Zagreb with 14 points and no loses. The Bianconeri continued their undefeated run into the knockout phase where they knocked off Porto, Barcelona, and Monaco. They didn't lose a game until falling to Real in the final. Juventus will be expected to have a another strong campaign after achieving so much success last season both in Serie A and the Champions League. This season Juventus wa...

Luis Severino went into 2016 with high expectations after he pitched very well in 11 starts for the Yankees 2015 (5-3, 2.89 ERA). However, last season quickly turned into a nightmare for Severino. He was awful. There's no two ways about it. He was so bad that he got demoted and spent a good portion of the season in the minors. Severino's 2016  season consisted of 22 appearances for the club, 11 of which were starts, and he finished the season with a 3-8 record and 5.83 ERA. Not the numbers expected from such a talented, promising young pitcher. Fast forward to today and Severino's story couldn't be any different in 2017. This season Severino has emerged as the ace on a staff that badly needed one. With Masahiro Tanaka looking like a shell of himself, the Yanks needed somebody to step up and Severino has done just that.   Severino stifled a powerful Rangers lineup today in Arlington, going 7 innings and allowing only one run on one hit while striking out 10. Even tho...

The Yankees are coming off a very successful weekend after taking three out of four from the division leading Boston Red Sox at the Stadium. They picked up two games and cut the Sox division lead down to 3 1/2 with just about a month to play. It's a shame the Yankees don't play the Sox again down the stretch because if the race stays this close a late season series with the division crown at stake could've been a real treat. However, head-to-head the season series with Boston was a success for the Yankees who took 11 out of 19 games from their rivals. This weekend was huge for the Yanks who bounced back nicely after being swept earlier in the week by the red hot Cleveland Indians. The Yankees were successful on many levels this weekend and in my opinion proved that if they can find a way into the playoffs either as division champs or more likely a Wild Card, they could potentially do some damage. The Yanks got strong starting pitching, some timely hitting, and good relief...

CC Sabathia did it again last night for the Yankees. In what has been his best season since 2012, Sabathia continues to put in solid performances in big games. CC is no longer the ace that the Yankees signed prior to the 2009 season. However, after struggling through a few seasons of deteriorating stuff and injuries Sabathia began to reinvent himself as a pitcher last season and had a respectable bounce back season. This season he has pitched even better to the tune of an 11-5 record with a 3.71 ERA in 22 starts. CC no longer overpowers hitters with only 96 strikeouts in 121.1 innings pitched but he finds ways to get outs and limit damage. He has pitched a few clunkers and missed a few starts with minor ailments but he has certainly been a valuable commodity for the Yankees. Sabathia's value to the Yankees has been most evident in his four starts against the division leading, rival Boston Red Sox this season. Last night's win was Sabathia's fourth in four starts against...