Caffè e Cornetto: Tuesday February 21

Prima Pagina: Corriere dello Sport - Rome Edition

English summary: Roma are dominate at home. And some nonsense about the whole Spalletti-Allegri swap EPL deal thing. Just pure fake news.

Headlines:

Olimpico: via le barriere dopo il Villarreal, ma ecco telecamere dedicate alle curve (Romanews.eu)

English summary: The process of removing the barriers from the Curva Sud will begin this week following the EL fixture on Thursday!!! However, they will be installing security cameras as a “replacement”. I am curious to see if the Curva decides to still protest, since the cameras and fines still make this seem more like a police state than football match...

CALCIOMERCATO Roma, Atletico Madrid e Siviglia su Perotti, che piace anche ad Everton e Tottenham (Romaforever.it)

English summary: Slow morning of news, so here’s some BS transfer rumors of Diego Perotti being liked by Atletico, Sevilla, Everton, and Spurs.

Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images

Mike Piazza Learns How to Be an Owner. Of a Soccer Team. In Italy. (NYT)

James Pallotta: If you are reading this, I recommend reading the article above. Heck, I recommend everyone reads it. For those who aren’t from the USA/familiar with baseball, Mike Piazza is widely regarded as one of the best of all time at his position (and was my childhood hero). He was bored after retiring and decided to buy a Serie C club, Reggiana. Some of the top quotes:

Gabriele Miari, 30, noted that Piazza sometimes left little notes on a Facebook fan page devoted to the team that Miari helps moderate. He described being at an away game this season at Lumezzane, a cold day in a nondescript city, when Piazza walked over to the stands to chat with some fans. “At least it’s not hot like Miami,” Piazza said sarcastically in Italian, making them laugh.

“He made us feel close to him even though he’s a very wealthy man,” Miari said. He shrugged when asked to rate Piazza’s language skills. “His Italian is like our English,” he said. “It needs practice.”

And

Noting that he had met with groups aiming for expansion franchises in Major League Soccer before buying Reggiana, he said: “I’d rather be poor in Italy than based in St. Louis. You can’t get a good meal there!”

Hmmmm, actually flies to Italy often, learned some Italian, and leaves notes to the fans rather than calling them “fucking idiots”? All for a Serie C team? Where do I sign up?

Meme/Video/Gif of the Morning:

Politicians and journalists spent today touring the proposed site of the Stadio della Roma. So here it is in all of its glory: Tor di Valle, featuring the architecturally significant building (and other great amenities)!

Morning Match Ratings:

Since there were complaints that we didn’t do match ratings for Sunday’s match, here they are, from almost every paper imaginable:

LA GAZZETTA DELLO SPORT

Szczesny 6; Manolas 6.5, Fazio 5.5, Juan Jesus 6.5; Peres 6, Paredes 7, Strootman 7, Emerson 6; Salah 7, Nainggolan 7; Dzeko 7.5. Sostituti: Vermaelen 6, Totti 6.5, Perotti SV. Allenatore: Spalletti 7.

IL MESSAGGERO

Szczesny 6; Manolas 7, Fazio 6, Juan Jesus 6; Peres 7, Paredes 7, Strootman 6.5, Emerson 6; Salah 7.5, Nainggolan 7; Dzeko 8. Sostituti: Vermaelen 5.5, Totti 6, Perotti SV. Allenatore: Spalletti 7.5.

LEGGO

Szczesny 6; Manolas 7, Fazio 7, Juan Jesus 6, Peres 6; Paredes 6.5, Strootman 6.5; Emerson 6.5, Salah 7.5, Nainggolan 7.5; Dzeko 8. Sostituti: Vermaelen 5.5, Totti 6, Perotti SV. Allenatore: Spalletti 7.

IL TEMPO

Szczesny 6; Manolas 7, Fazio 6, Juan Jesus 6, Peres 6.5; Paredes 7, Strootman 6.5; Emerson 6.5, Salah 7.5, Nainggolan 7; Dzeko 7. Sostituti: Vermaelen 6, Totti, 6.5, Perotti SV. Allenatore: Spalletti 7.

CORRIERE DELLO SPORT

Szczesny 6; Manolas 7, Fazio 6, Juan Jesus 6, Peres 6; Paredes 7, Strootman 6.5; Emerson 6, Salah 7, Nainggolan 7; Dzeko 7. Sostituti: Vermaelen SV, Totti, SV, Perotti SV. Allenatore: Spalletti 7.

CORRIERE DELLA SERA

Szczesny SV; Manolas 7.5, Fazio 6.5, Juan Jesus 6.5; Bruno Peres 6.5, Paredes 6.5, Strootman 7, Emerson 6; Nainggolan 7, Salah 8; Dzeko 7.5. Sostituti: Vermaelen SV, Totti SV, Perotti SV. Allenatore: Spalletti 8.

LA REPUBBLICA

Szczesny 6; Manolas 7, Fazio 6.5, Juan Jesus 6.5; Bruno Peres 6.5, Paredes 7, Strootman 6.5, Emerson 6.5; Nainggolan 7, Salah 7.5; Dzeko 7.5. Sostituti: Vermaelen SV, Totti 6.5, Perotti SV. Allenatore: Spalletti 7.

TUTTOSPORT

Szczesny 6; Manolas 6, Fazio 6.5, Juan Jesus 5; Bruno Peres 6.5, Paredes 7, Strootman 6.5, Emerson 6.5; Salah 7, Nainggolan 7; Dzeko 7. Sostituti: Vermaelen SV, Totti SV, Perotti SV. Allenatore: Spalletti 7.

ROMANEWS.EU

Szczesny 5; Manolas 7, Fazio 7, Juan Jesus 6.5; Bruno Peres 6.5, Paredes 7, Strootman 7, Emerson 6; Salah 7.5, Nainggolan 7; Dzeko 7. Sostituti: Vermaelen SV, Totti SV, Perotti SV. Allenatore: Spalletti 7.5