Borriello and Nocerino to Westham

The news was made official today as Marco Borriello from Roma, and Nocerino from Milan, penned loan deals to the London club. What does this mean for a Westham side? Good things, really. Nocerino will take a heavy weight off Kevin Nolan’s shoulders. Borriello is reliable up front, has both a left foot and a right foot, unlike the maligned Andy Carroll.

Fantasy managers should consider adding Nolan now. Not Nocerino or Borriello. The thinking here is that Nolan will be tougher to double up on, and that oppositions will be shifting personnel to cover Nocerino in the mid field. Nolan is a verifiable goal threat, with his attacking style, and for points, he demands consideration.

Dani Osvaldo

The decision to move Osvaldo to Southampton over the summer was shocking. Osvaldo, an extremely competitive player, moving to a team with more potential for relegation than anything else. It was not until Southampton signed Dejan Lovren that I thought they could actually make a push. And up until Christmas, they pushed.

Osvaldo was not a major focus of that push. Lallana and Lovren were. Boruc, Ricky Lambert, and Jay Rodriguez were more influential in the wins than Osvaldo. But none of that would cool Osvaldo’s ego. Whether or not he is the next Maradona – he does not question. He accepts the incredible weight of being an amazing player. Yeah.

This was not his first bout of domestic abuse. Last year, he was suspended for his locker room brawl with current Tottenham forward, Erik Lamela. That fight was over whether or not Osvaldo was as good as Maradona. It was possible that Lamela disagreed.

Caveat emptor. Dani Osvaldo has incredible potential as a goal scorer, but he comes with a fiery ego and doesn’t take criticism well. On a small team, he could be incredible for fantasy points. And that team will probably do better with him. But if he moves to a big team, he should be ignored.

Southampton was never his team. It was like he was sleeping with another man’s wife. It couldn’t last forever. As Southampton are in free fall, Dani might be getting the best end of this arrangement.

Domenico Berardi – New Football Sensation?

There’s a 19 year old striker who has made the leap from big deal to biggest deal today, after scoring 4 times against AC Milan, like it was nothing, in a come from behind win.

His name is Domenico Berardi. I first noticed him when he scored a hat trick against Sampdoria. I checked him out, realized that Juventus, as usual, just bought his rights. Typical.

The following week, Berardi scores a goal against Roma, resulting in a draw. The goal was bullshit, in the extra time of all extra times. But it was a goal against a good team.

He’s promising, but a bit overrated for scoring 4 against Milan. Milan are a sucky team this 2013-14 season, despite being packed with talent at both ends. The talent is a bunch of riff-raff (Balotelli, Robinho, De Jong) and underachievers (Adil Rami, Mexes, Matri, Kaka, Emmanuelson). So he still needs to prove himself. Of course he won’t beat Juventus. Not allowed. But I would like to see him play in some international friendlies, and see if he is for real.

Italian football is changing. Many teams are moving to 3-4-3 formations. This change happened very recently. But also very welcome from the traditional conservative style.