Enthusiasm for Lucarelli as Parma take on Inter

By: Francesco | January 18th, 2008

The arrival of Cristiano Lucarelli couldn’t have come any sooner, as he can now help the Gialloblu’ take on the “Mighty” Inter (I still can’t get past the fact that Inter are actually a great team now. I grew up watching the Inter we all felt bad for, the Inter with the enthusiastic president who spent so much money but got no results, the revolving door of big names that fail, etc.).

The former Livorno hitman will be able to play as his transfer arrived this afternoon. I still don’t understand, how in the Age of Technology, paperwork for a transfer can take so long. What kind of mail do they use, the Pony Express?

Di Carlo will probably start him from the beginning, because we need his firepower, but it will be interesting to see how he changes the formation. I’m guessing a 4-4-2 with Lucarelli partnering Corradi and a midfield consisting of Reginaldo and Pisanu on the flanks, Cigarini and Morrone in the center. However Dessena may start in place of Reginaldo to give the midfield some more steel and less flair.

The emergency is at center-back, as Falcone and Paci are both out due to head injury which means young Marco Rossi steps in alongside Fernando Couto. Should one of them get injured, we have no center backs on the bench to fill in. Marco Rossi is going to have to put in a great performance to handle Ibrahimovic and Cruz.

It will be a tough game. Inter seem to have no trouble scoring and can beat anyone. Although seeing Siena trouble them last week gives the Gialloblu’ some hope. Anything can happen, a point here is like a win.

The Tulio De Melo Saga

Last summer and in the first part of the season all transfer rumors read that Palermo were after a 22 year old Brazilian striker Tulio de Melo, who plays for Le Mans of France’s Ligue 1. His contract is expiring and this month he was free to sign a pre-contract with any club and transfer to them in June on a free transfer. Palermo seemed to go in and swoop for him, but it seems Ghirardi flew to France and held talks with the player, and had him sign a pre-contract with Parma. Palermo is now claiming that De Melo signed a pre-contract with them as well, however Parma is claiming they got his signature first, and even submitted his contract to the Lega Calcio for approval. Either way, Mr. De Melo is not very smart, as signing two contracts means he’ll face a possible suspension. This is all too similar to the Luis Figo situation in the mid-90’s, when he signed for Parma first and then signed for Juventus and was suspended for 2 years from signing with an Italian club. We’ll have to follow this saga in the coming days, and knowing how nuts Maurizio Zamparini is, we haven’t heard the last of it.

Here’s Tulio De Melo in action, he looks like a good goal poacher with nice finishing ability:

TV: Inter-Parma will be on live at 2:30 PM EST Sunday on RAI International and FSC in the USA.

Commemorative Jersey:
As Garry mentioned in the comments, Parma will be wearing a yellow and blue striped jersey to commemorate Ghirardi’s 1 year in charge. The jersey was worn in the 1957-58 season by Parma.
Inter were actually nice enough to agree to wear their second kit to allow Parma to wear this one. Here it is:

AVANTI CROCIATI!