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| Friday 5 October, 2007 |
| Blog: Hail Cesare |
| James Sugrue is full of praise for Cesare Prandelli after the Fiorentina Coach breathed some life into the UEFA Cup, but is less than impressed with Italy’s other representatives |
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Thank you, thank you, thank you… that is my message to Fiorentina boss Cesare Prandelli. After another night when the UEFA Cup was shown a complete lack of respect by many of the teams supposedly ‘competing’ in it, the Gigliati were a breath of fresh air. The Viola tactician fielded a strong team in the second leg of their tie with Dutch side Groningen and was rewarded with a tense but entertaining match full of excitement and the honour of being the only Italian representative in the group stage.
However, the disgraceful showing of the other sides from the peninsula has tainted that honour. It wasn’t too long ago that the UEFA Cup was a very competitive and entertaining tournament and over the years it has given us so many great games played in packed stadiums. By refusing to use their best players in these mathes the clubs are robbing the fans of the chance to see more fantastic spectacles like that and for the tifosi of clubs like Empoli, who slumped out at the first round to FC Zurich, this competition is probably their only chance to experience the magical atmosphere of a European night first hand.
Even worse for the Azzurri, I seem to remember last season’s hype about qualification for the UEFA Cup. Striker Nicola Pozzi even made the brave decision to play on through injury despite knowing that it would cause him to permanently lose the use of one of his fingers. And what was listed amongst Pozzi’s reasons for that decision, the chance to play in Europe – I can only hope that the 135 minutes that resulted was worth it. Failing that, I hope for Coach Gigi Cagni’s sake that the loss of that finger will prevent the former Milan youngster from making the hand gestures he must surely be tempted to direct at his boss after the weak line-up he fielded.
I admit that the trophy does not have the prestige that it once did due to the increased number of teams now entered into the Champions League, but there is no excuse for the disrespect that is repeatedly shown to both fans and the opposition. If you can’t honour the competition then quite frankly you don’t deserve to be in it, so perhaps it is fitting that Fiorentina were the only Italian side to make it through. That is not to say that this problem is isolated to Italy, in fact far from it, as shown by the similar exits of Blackburn Rovers and Ajax amongst others.
I for one hope that UEFA chief Michel Platini’s plans to revamp European competition get the support they need to succeed. Anyone who was unfortunate enough to see the majority of UEFA Cup ties this week cannot deny that the system needs changing before this once enjoyable tournament dies a slow and painful death. It is starving at the moment, but thanks to people like Prandelli it is still hanging on and if it is nursed back to health then we can all start enjoying some great European football on a Thursday night again.
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