Archive
Advice for CFR Cluj: don’t expect a lot of saved shots, if you’re trying to save money!
The unknown Amadio gets a chance to make a name for himself in Cluj and also have a picture on transfermarkt.de!
I’ve said it in the summer, when Nuno Claro was the Supercup hero: CFR needs to buy a reliable keeper. A certain Danut Coman was available on a free transfer back then, the sort of experienced goalie with a strong enough personality to step in and deliver for any Liga I club, yet the champions hoped that Stancioiu will not only keep the Portuguese goalie on his toes, but also do a good job when called upon. It should be no surprise to see that this strategy failed, with the two players simply too inconsistent to secure the goal and their mistakes have been so visible that the board has finally come to terms with this reality. Don’t think that they’ve taken the right calls, though! The capture of Mihai Minca – who, for the record, was Coman’s reserve last season – can be considered a decent signing, but also a bet. The 26 years old had a spell at Rapid a couple of years ago and failed to cope with the pressure, something that will be seriously tested in Cluj, where Minca, if he is to deliver in at least one of the next five years, should finally live up to the praise received in 2005 from a certain Walter Zenga…
Right now, he’s just a third keeper who can only hope that those still ahead of him in the pecking order, Nuno Claro and Stancioiu, will be either sold or released in the near future, in order to find some playing time. The imminent signing of a certain Remo Amadio (unknown 23 years old Italian keeper, who only played in the lower leagues!) on a free transfer certainly points in that direction. One that shouldn’t please CFR’s fans, though, given the questionable quality of the selected replacements, with a poor to nonexistent background and absolutely no guarantees that they’ll end up saving some shots in the coming months, not only the club’s transfer budget from January…
CFR parts ways with Sorin Cartu, after the Basel episode
“We appologize for Sorin Cartu’s gesture to UEFA, to FC Basel, to our fans and everyone else who love football and sports, in general”. In spite of the formal backing of the coach which took place earlier today, as club president Iuliu Muresan tried to assure everybody that Cartu will lead the team in the next league match, the expected announcement came tonight and Cartu leaves after just a couple of unimpressive months in charge.
Cartu, showing a ref what punishment he'd deserve for his mistakes
He took over just before the first game versus FC Basel and now leaves after the second encounter with the Swiss side, forced by his inability to control himself and an incredible gesture, which counted more than his struggles to make the team look like a title contenter in Liga I and secure a place in Europa League. This incident doesn’t come as a surprise though, as the coach has a history of similar events, once trying to break the dugout’s glass with his head, when sitting on Dacia Mioveni’s bench, and, only days before the Basel episode, chasing an assistant referee down the tunnel, to punish him for some blatant mistakes which affected his team.
A normal decision by CFR, who was tempted to wait until the winter break, but realized that the club’s image is more important than a couple of poor matches in Liga I and it’s going to be very interesting to see who gets the job, with Laszlo Boloni available…
It’s a forward’s right to be selfish?
That is THE question, after Traore decided to go for personal glory on the Olimpico, refusing to offer Culio the chance to score his third game against AS Roma, after the wonderful brace from two years ago, and maybe denying his team the chance to get another great result in the Champions League.
Arsenal, Galatasaray, Hamburg, Udinese, Napoli, Liverpool. All these clubs have been linked with „CFR’s jewel”, as the club’s president likes to speak of Lacina Traore, the big forward who offered last night, against AS Roma, the kind of display that justifies both an affirmative and a negative answer to the above question. At 0-0, he had enough luck to evade Nicolas Burdisso, but, instead of offering an assist to Juan Culio, in a situation that demanded such a decision, chose to take a shot at goal, hitting the crossbar. He would go on to offer a solid display, tormenting Roma’s defenders with his rare combination of pace, strength and skill, hitting the bar once more with a powerful left footed effort from just outside the box and getting deserved praise from Claudio Ranieri, yet I feel we should get back to that key moment that defines a 20 years old who’s at a turning point in his career.
“I am not mad at Traore. A forward needs to be selfish!” – Arpad Paszkany, CFR’s owner
“I’ve already told my players that the guy who will go for the shot instead of a pass, in a similar play to Traore’s, can kiss his salary good-bye for the following three months” - Victor Piturca, former national team coach, now at Universitatea Craiova
Lacina Traore, a forward who likes to celebrate alone. Photo from adevarul.ro
Ok, some agree that forwards need to get their share of shot at/on goal (Cristiano Ronaldo took 58 shots at goal so far, scoring just twice in La Liga!) and there are top professionals who’d like to remind everyone that football is a team’s sport. So, maybe it’s right to work a bit on the question at hand and come up with another one: “How selfish can one football player be?”. Read more…
CFR should forget the dream and prepare for a nightmare
“I’ll never forget that match, but I am ready to produce another similar performance. I think we could qualify from this group!” These are the words of the Argentinian Juan Emmanuel Culio, the man who stunned Olimpico two years ago with a winning brace that probably delighted the bookmakers and offered CFR the right to dream in a group that also featured the mighty Chelsea and Laurent Blanc’s Bordeaux. Should the world think twice before writing off the Romanian champions, ahead of Tuesday’s clash? Not really.
With Pereira gone to Porto and Muresan injured, Culio needs to deliver on his own
Even though Culio looks in decent shape, you can’t say the same about a team that will probably feature just four of the “heroes” that produced one of Champions League’s biggest surprises. Stancioiu should start in goal, the experienced Panin will play at right back, while team-captain Cadu will try to keep things tight at the back, an impossible mission looking at CFR’s recent games, including the 2-1 home win against FC Basel.
Leaving aside Sorin Cartu’s problems in finding a winning formula, the team suffered another huge blow on Friday, in the hot derby against Universitatea, losing the valuable Gabriel Muresan, the anchorman, a vital player in defense, a hard tackler in midfield and a good organizer when CFR’s in possession. With the Portuguese Dani recently sold, Cartu finds himself in a surprising position, knowing the number and the quality of players available in theory. He uses a centre-back as a left back, but the winning gamble on the massive Ionut Rada from the first match might soon be regretted, will have to shuffle his cards in midfield, moving Emil Dica and Emmanuel Culio from the flanks (where they played on Friday) into the middle, as the Argentinian Sixto Peralta has not been registered for this competition, which also happened to the often decisive striker Cristi Bud. Read more…
Who wants a coach like Dan Petrescu? Well, who doesn’t?
His decision to leave Unirea Urziceni, after he managed to break Romania’s record of points collected by a club in the Champions League’s groups stage and ahead of a challenging double with Liverpool, was considered at least strange. And certainly money-orientated, as Kuban Krasnodar was ready to spend millions on wages and transfers, in its attempt to achieve promotion in Russia’s first division. My bet is that Petrescu knew what was going to happen to Unirea, felt disappointed by the Ferderation’s choice to appoint Razvan Lucescu in charge and would have have had a difficult time topping what he achieved with a small club, if he was to take over another Romanian team.
SuperDan, a top coach not just by Romanian standards. Photo from sportingnews.ro
Mandorlini gets the sack. Two days before CFR starts the Champions League campaign!
Well, it’s bragging time on this blog, as Mandorlini becomes the second coach to have qualified CFR Cluj for the Champions League group stage and won’t get the chance to sit on the bench for at least one match. It happened to Ioan Andone and I expected this to happen to the Italian back in May (yes, I’m that good!), even though CFR was heading for a double they eventually snatched.
Sorin Cartu, ready to lay down the law
Mandorlini went into the game against Rapid having the backing of the board, but came out of it without points and with the team leaving the same impression: struggling to adjust to yet another tactical setup – a 4-1-4-1 this time -, lacking cohesion, determination and courage, sitting back and hoping that one of the players will create something out of the blue. Not the approach you’d want to see at the champion club, the club that had failed to send a single shot on goal against Universitatea Craiova, the club that felt humiliation against the newly promoted Sportul Studentesc. Read more…
Foreign coaches at a sacking, err, turning point in their Romanian adventures
Andrea Mandorlini (CFR Cluj), Lopez Caro (FC Vaslui), Vladimir Petrovic (FC Timisoara). Big names, high wages, scary anti-sacking clauses. What’s to be done once they get their teams into deep trouble? Well, Timisoara’s Marian Iancu always liked to look tough in the media, CFR’s Arpad Paszkany plays the old “Backing the coach” trick and looks very supportive (until he finds a replacement), while FC Vaslui’s Adrian Porumboiu has no other option than to beg the former Real Madrid to leave the team without asking for more than a couple of hundred thousand Euros. Not a good moment to be in charge of a club, right?
Mandorlini and Cadu, trying to understand each other
Mandorlini, saved by last season’s trophies. But not for long…
CFR won the league and the Romanian Cup with him on the bench, but the team rarely offered convincing displays, struggling to adjust to a 4-3-3 that looked good on paper, but poor on the pitch. With the whole summer ahead of him and the chance to create a roster according to his plans, Mandorlini failed once again to impose his ideas. Important changes took place in the team, but CFR kept on switching between a 4-3-3 and a 4-3-1-2, in the first rounds that left the impression that Mandorlini needed a few more friendly matches, in order to make the team click. Six rounds gone and the champions are in mid-table, with the humiliating 0-3 defeat suffered against a newly promoted, Sportul Studentesc, still hurting a lot of egos in Cluj. Read more…
CFR wins the race for Hora’s signature
Ioan Hora - photo by bistrita24.ro
Wanted by pretty much all the big clubs from Liga I, Ioan Hora was presented today by CFR Cluj, as the latest addition of the Romanian champions. The winger – who can play on both flanks, as well as a second forward – had a very good season for Gloria Bistrita and was requested by Andone to Dinamo, with Rapid also hoping to get his signature, especially with his former coach, Marius Sumudica, ready to join the club this summer.
The 21 years old had been signed by Gloria Bistrita from UTA, after a promising first season in Liga I when he was only 18, and makes another important step in his career at an excellent age and a very good moment, having enough experience in the top flight (88 appearances and 8 goals) and looking prepared to take his game to another level.
Hora signed a five years long deal and CFR Cluj paid around 350.000 600.000 Euros for his services. Knowing Jean Padureanu’s experience, I predict that a couple of players from CFR will go on loan to Gloria next season, as part of the same deal 
.
Mandorlini defeated by a former Juventus coach
CFR Cluj offered the surprise of the round, an unpleasant one for its fans, losing away at Astra Ploiesti, a struggling team that recently released six players, lost a decent Italian coach and was fearing for its future in the first division. But, leaving the result aside, it was the team’s performance (this isn’t the right term, I shouldn’t be using it in this case) that only confirms what I saw this year at the team that still has the biggest chances to win the league. Mandorlini failed to connect with his players, the team lacks style, ideas in attack and the right spirit.
Against Astra, Mandorlini sent on the pitch three attacking midfielders, Dica, Culio and Deac, plus two strikers, Bud and Kone, but, with an incredible attitude, failed to pose a threat, couldn’t muster a single scoring chance in the first 45 minutes and kept on playing for a 0-0 until Astra’s goal and, as stupid as it sounds, even afterwards. It was the poorest game I’ve seen from a title contender and this year the competition was fierce, given Steaua, Vaslui or Timisoara’s stuggle to look like a decent team at least…
In my opinion, Mandorlini should be asked to start packing, as he offered too little for the title CFR will probably win at the end of the season and even managed to put it into jeopardy.
PS Wondering about the post’s title? Well, Marin Barbu, Astra’s coach, was signed a couple of weeks ago from a third division club called Juventus Bucuresti .
CFR Cluj tries to keep alive the interest in Lacina Traore
Lacina Traore’s lack of focus and consistency, after the first transfer rumors appeared in the press, have made him lose his place in the team, in favor of Cristian Bud, a 25 years old who was playing second league football a couple of years ago.
With the interest from clubs like Arsenal, Napoli, Udinese, Hamburg or Galatasaray likely to fade away or at least affect an asking price of 4 to 5 million Euros, media reports have been trying to compensate somehow his poor second half of the season, by keeping Traore in the spotlight.
Nice work, guys, but maybe you should also look after this talented youngster and get him back in shape, not just follow the club’s interest to sell him at any cost (obviously, not for any transfer fee!) in the summer…
