Posts Tagged ‘Serie A’

In our first exclusive interview, Sandals For Goalposts had the opportunity to dish a few questions to David Appiah, a 17 year-old attacking midfielder currently plying his trade with modest Parma in Serie A, about life in Italy, the differences between Italian and Ghanaian football, the promising state of the Ghana national team and plenty more:

Tell us a little about your career so far. Which team did you play for back in Ghana and how did you get to Parma?

Back in Ghana, football was not so much of a big deal due to schooling. My Dad was very hard on my academia, so I never really had the chance to play for any club, just played for the school team and trained with a local club called Liberty. By the grace of God, I was spotted by a Ghanaian agent who gave me the opportunity to go for trials in Italy.

Tell us about the type of player you are. What are your strengths? Which footballers have you been compared to?

I am an offensive midfielder, basically a distributor, most websites and the Ghanaian media have linked me to ex-Ghana skipper Stephen Appiah, not basically because of the style of play but due to the name we bear: “Appiah”.

How have you adapted to life in Italy; can you speak Italian? Do you eat Italian food?

Been in Italy for a very long time, it wasn’t easy at the start but, by the grace of God, I’ve adapted very well and, yes, I speak Italian and I do eat Italian food – you have no option once you’re there.

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The majority of teams in England’s top flight utilise the same formation. Since December, Wigan have used a 3-4-3 system that has finally become coherent in recent weeks and seen them have the upper hand over the bigger teams. Salim usually doesn’t like to write about anything to do with the English Premier League as it’s well-covered, but the footprints of Wigan’s haven’t been so well-covered so, naturally, he has decided to write this.

The three-man defence has been ubiquitous with the Italian Serie A in recent times with relatively unfashionable teams, notably Napoli and Udinese, using wing-backs to take advantage of the lack of width in a league where the 4-3-1-2 system was king. Last season, Walter Mazzari’s Napoli finished third and qualified for the Champions League group stages using a 3-4-2-1 system, whilst Francesco Guidolin’s Udinese finished fourth after adopting a 3-5-1-1 system, notably scoring 4 goals at the San Siro in a 4-4 draw against eventual Champions AC Milan (who also had the best defensive record in the league). There was further relative success in the relegation fight, too, as Cesena’s adoption of three at the back  saw them finish seven points above the relegation zone.

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