Parma v. Livorno: It’s Crunch Time

By: Francesco | October 27th, 2007

Parma-Livorno is probably the Gialloblu’s most important game of the season so far. Parma has lost the last three games and coach Mimmo Di Carlo was said to be “hanging by a thread” by owner Tommaso Ghirardi (man on right in photo). Parma has spent the last week “in ritiro“, which is the Italian football version of solitary confinement. The players spent a week away from their families in a remote spot in Emilia-Romagna where the squad could focus and concentrate on football. More info about the game after the jump.

As the banner says: “La Prima Certezza Deve Essere La Salvezza” (The First Certainty must be Salvation). Di Carlo is an inexperienced manager when it comes to Serie A, as he has never coached in the top division. I really don’t know why Parma didn’t learn from their mistake of last year by hiring an inexperienced manager (Stefano Pioli) who got the club in trouble and Claudio Ranieri was brought in to save the day. If Parma loses tomorrow, a betting man would put his money on Di Carlo getting the ax and during the week ex-Palermo boss Francesco Guidolin and ex-Inter boss Gigi Simoni were being linked as his possible replacements. The squad this season has many good players that can avoid relegation quite easily, but they seem to lack motivation, and maybe Di Carlo is just not providing that. We’ll have to see how the team does tomorrow.

But his job will be made easier this weekend against Livorno and their president Spinelli in his lucky yellow raincoat. Livorno has gotten off to a terrible start this season, leading to the sack of coach Nando Orsi and the hiring of Giancarlo Camolese, who debuted with a loss to Lazio last weekend. Livorno also spent the week in solitary confinment (ritiro). They are really stagnant in attack as Francesco Tavano has proven to be a big disappointment and Fausto Rossini has never been a great player. In goal they have poor Marco Amelia who just seems to dive for fun now.

Parma are boosted by the return of Bernardo Corradi, who will look to score a goal and then do another swimming pool celebration:

The importance of Parma’s play will lie on young Luca Cigarini’s shoulders. Parma has not been that creative this season and Cigarini has the skill to control and dictate the tempo of the game. Another player that can have an effect is Andrea Gasbarroni, who has a good amount of flair and skill and can create chances for Corradi and Reginaldo up front. Bucci is a sure thing in goal and will keep Parma in the game, but the defense needs to step up and neutralize the Livorno attack (mainly Erjon Bogdani, who is a dangerous threat in the air).

So here are the stats:

Last Season’s result- Parma-Livorno 1-0: a late strike from Giuseppe Rossi gifted Parma 3 points against the Tuscan side.

Form: Parma (D W L L L) Livorno (D D L L L)

Probable Starting 11: Parma: Bucci; Zenoni, Paci, Couto, Castellini; Dessena, Cigarini, Morrone, Gasbarroni; Reginaldo, Corradi

Livorno: Amelia; Knezevic, Pavan, Galante; Balleri, A Filippini, Dhorasoo, E Filippini, Pasquale; Diamanti, Bogdani

Players to Watch: Parma- Cigarini, Dessena, Gasbarroni, Corradi
Livorno- Dhorasoo, Diamanti, Bogdani.

If you want to read about the Livorno side of things, you can read Marco’s thoughts here.