Tuesday Football

19 May 2009

by Jerrad Peters

Juventus part ways with Ranieri

Weeks of speculation over Claudio Ranieri's future at Juventus were put to an end, Monday, when the Turin club relieved the manager of his duties and replaced him with Italian national team assistant coach Ciro Ferrara.

Although the shakeup was not unexpected, Ranieri's departure comes as an admission of desperation from the Bianconeri brass. After earning promotion from Serie B under Didier Deschamps, the club turned to Ranieri and qualified for this season's Champions' League, progressing into the knockout stages before losing to Chelsea over two legs.

While the 57-year-old wasn't expected to deliver a Scudetto in his second attempt, automatic qualification for next year's Champions' League was thought to be a foregone conclusion. The ongoing winless skid—currently at eight games—put that prospect into doubt, however, and Ranieri paid the price at an emergency meeting at the club's Corso Galileo Ferraris headquarters on Monday.

"We had decided to entrust the team to Ciro Ferrara in light of the outcome of the last few matches, especially after drawing against Atalanta," explained managing director Jean Claude Blanc following the crisis talks.

That draw—a 2-2 stalemate at Stadio Olimpico di Torino—came a day after AC Milan's 2-1 loss at Udinese. With a win, Juventus could have pulled to within a point of the Rossoneri and extended their lead over fourth-place Fiorentina to three points. Instead, they are just one point ahead of the red-hot Florence side with two rounds to play.

"The only things on the horizon for us are the next two matches," stated Blanc. "That's all we are thinking about." He added, "We would like to shake up the team and hold players accountable. The match against Atalanta was a decisive match for us in order to take second place. We were unable to capitalize on it, and now, with two matches left in the season, we want all six points at play.

Those two matches will come away to Siena next Sunday and at home to Lazio on May 31. With Siena destined for mid-table and Lazio having already qualified for Europe through the Copa Italia, neither side will have much to play for against a desperate Juventus squad.

Nevertheless, Ferrara won't be taking anything for granted as he assumes the top job at Italy's biggest club. He has already promised to avoid tinkering with the squad's style of play, saying it has already been established and would accomplish nothing to change it so late in the campaign.

Instead, he'll be hoping to make a difference in training and in his team selection. Ranieri didn't help his cause by omitting Alessandro Del Piero from the squad in recent matches. The mercurial striker will probably be recalled under Ferrara.

"I believe it's my duty to make a contribution to the team, and I am not afraid to step up to the plate in a difficult time," commented the 42-year-old. "What do I ask from the players? Seven points in the next two matches. If we get six, it's good, too."

Arsenal chaos has Wenger mulling options

Arsenal are veering towards disaster as the current season comes to a close. Destined for fourth place in the Premier League and 18 points behind leaders Manchester United, fans and shareholders of the London side voiced their displeasure with the club's direction at an open forum last week.

While a portion of the discontent was aimed at Mikael Silvestre and Emmanuel Adebayor, much of the ire was reserved for Arsene Wenger. The manager is about to complete a fourth consecutive campaign without a trophy, and the lack of success has the natives feeling restless.

Wenger—in charge of the Gunners since 1996—was criticized for building a squad without the grit and determination so vital in the English game. He was also lambasted for purchasing Silvestre, whom one of the participants in the discussion labeled "geriatric." Silvestre, 31, was signed from Manchester United in the summer after Red Devils manager Sir Alex Ferguson deemed him a surplus to requirements.

Of the players, however, it was Adebayor who came in for the most abuse. The 25-year-old striker has scored just 16 goals this season after recording a career-best 30 last semester. He has been heckled by Arsenal fans in recent games, and was mysteriously dropped from the side that traveled to Old Trafford on Saturday. The club maintained that he had suffered a mild hamstring injury. In reality, he may have played his final match for Arsenal.

AC Milan and Internazionale are ready to go to war over the Togo international. Inter's 30 million pound bid was rejected last summer, and Adebayor could probably move for 22-24 million pounds this closed season. Last month, the forward refereed to AC Milan's interest as "something special," adding, "It is like a boy being told Beyonce is looking for him."

The unrest at Emirates Stadium may have only hastened his desire to leave the capital. "It was not nice playing at home, getting booed by my own fans," he said on Monday. "I didn't know what to do anymore."

Neither does Wenger. Although he has two years remaining on his contract at Arsenal, he is being openly courted by the leading candidate in Real Madrid's upcoming presidential elections. Florentino Perez—the architect of the Galacticos era—has made no secret of his desire to bring the 59-year-old to the Bernabau. And when questioned about the possible move on French television, Wenger refused to dismiss the notion, asking only that the press allow him "to remain discreet on this matter." He also stated, "With Perez, the project will be greatly interesting for all the managers."

Understandably, Peter Hill-Wood has been in a sour mood the past five days. The Arsenal chairman was shocked by the manner in which Wenger was treated at the May 14 meetings, saying, "some of the questions were quite disgraceful."

He continued, "There you have the most successful manager in our history, and two or three of the shareholders made the most negative and somewhat hostile and sarcastic comments. I think they were completely out of order. I was very upset by these questions."

Whether or not Wenger honors the final two years of his contract remains to be seen. But this much is certain: the status quo of the past four years is not good enough anymore. There will be changes ahead of next season. And for he first time in 14 years, the manager might be one of them.

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