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A few days in London

I arrived from Florence at the start of the week. I stayed at the Copthorne Hotel, Stamford Bridge where the Manchester United players were too for the FA Cup quarter final. In Italy only Juventus own their own stadium so you would never see such a complex of 2 hotels, restaurants and bars within a football stadium. I think Chelsea showed some vision under Ken Bates to develop Stamford Bridge which occupies a lot of prime real estate in the way they did. After the game v Manchester United I was in the lift with Jose Mourinho who looked none too happy.

Cairney2On Tuesday Alan invited me to Fulham v Blackburn. Craven Cottage being compact and quaint could not be more different but I adore it for its charm and picturesque setting by the river. Alan was very expectant but said that Fulham invariably let you down. I was especially interested to see Tom Cairney whom Alan rated as good as Federico Bernardeschi. I am sorry to say he is not for one simple reason: he so too left sided to play central midfield. At one stage he had to turn 360 degrees to get the ball on his left foot. He could be to easily worked out by standing on his his left foot and forcing him to the right. Fulham play pleasing tici-taca passing but too often in the first half the final cross was not telling. An Italian team leading by a goal in a crucial match know how to close a game out. Sadly Fulham did not conceding in the 94th minute. They need a strong central defender alongside Tomas Kalas who reminds me of another Tomas, Repka but Alan says every time they play Sigardsson he makes too many errors and was subbed last time he played after 25 minutes.

MartiraMy most exciting time came yesterday. La Daphne was chatted up by the owner of Cacio Pepe in Pimlico, Mauro Della Martira, who informed her that he played for Fiorentina in the seventies. I remember him well: a strong defender who played in the side that won the Coppa in 1975 and a competition for Anglo Italian Cup Winners with West Ham, who beat Fulham to win the cup in May 1975, in December 1975. He married one of the 5 daughters of President Ugo Ugolini and played 83 games for I viola. After the end of his playing career he joined Lazio as Giorgio Chingalia’s number two. He now owns this restaurant and his daughter Enrica was a finalist in Master Chef. I went with a British friend of mine who lives locally and is knowledgeable about most things. He introduced me to Mauro and it was not long before he showed me team photos of Fiorentina teams in the 70s. I went to the Stadio Comunale to watch with my father and recalled the team. The stars were De Sisti and Antognoni.

guardiolaLast night I watched on tv Monaco v Manchester City. With their huge budget, I am surprised City have not done better in European competition. Clearly to concede 6 goals albeit against the top goal scorers in Europe is not impressive. I have always doubted the credentials of Pep Guardiola as he managed Barcelona, a team of stars he inherited, and Bayern who can buy the best Bundesliga players every season. Now that he has to create his own winning team in competition he is finding it much tougher. You start off with a reliable goalkeeper, he had one who is now at Torino. Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho proved themselves at Aberdeen and Porto. Guardialo is still to convince.

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About Stefano Ursolini

The son of a leading Florentine art dealer, Stefano initially worked in the Uffizi Gallery. He went into journalism and soon became a popular stringer writing on Tuscan wines, art and football. Stefano lives with his partner Umberto in the Santa Croce quarter of Florence. A dedicated supporter of AC Fiorentina his elegant articles on the Viola as well as the Serie A have earned him an appreciative global audience. More Posts