Giorgio Chiellini

Club: Juventus FC
DOB: 14 August 1984 (Age 24)
Nationality: Italian
Position: Center Back, Left Back

After Italy's humiliating defeat to the Dutch at Euro 2008, the world must have thought that the famed Italian defender was done and dusted. Horrific performances by Andrea Barzagli and Marco Materazzi added fuel to the fire. But, come the match against Spain, Giorgio Chiellini rose to the occasion. Juventus fans already knew what he was capable of and against Spain in the quarter finals, Chiellini gave a heroic performance, keeping two world class strikers, David Villa & Fernando Torres, quiet for 120 minutes. The match saw the rise of a star. Never have I seen a more awesome and commanding centre back. Some people may not agree but I think Giorgio Chiellini is even better than Fabio Cannavaro.

Giorgio Chiellini started his career as a left back but Ranieri smartly shifted him to the center of the defence. The rest is history. Juventus took on Inter Milan for the first time since the Calciopoli scandal on 4 November 2007 and 22 March 2008. Chiellini stole the show by completely marking Inter star, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, out of both the games. Since then such performances have become a regular sight for the Juventus tifosi.

Chiellini has all the attributes of a perfect centre back. He is tall, strong, quick, has great heading and jumping ability and defensively world class. His tackles are timed to perfection and he is never afraid to take a knock for the team. For that matter he is never afraid to knock out someone for the team. I remember him taking out both the opposition player and a teammate in a sliding tackle. He reads the game superbly and in most cases, intercepts passes or clears the ball before it reaches its intended target. He is a true leader and organizes his defence better than anyone. In many matches his goalkeeper, Gianluigi Buffon, has not even had to make a save. He is definetely second in line to receive the Juventus captaincy from Alessandro Del Piero. He is an excellent header of the ball and is likely to score 5 or so goals every season, with his head alone. Since he started off as a left back, and a very successful one, he is very good moving forward and has a very powerful long shot. He has all the attributes of a libero (for the uninitiated, Google the word), a type of defender hard to find today. His body language exudes confidence and this is what sets him apart from the rest.

If he were to be ever sold by Juventus FC, his transfer fee should easily surpass the money paid for Rio Ferdinand & Lilian Thuram by Manchester United & Juventus FC, respectively. At 24, Chiellini is already one of the best defenders on the planet and one day perhaps will become one of the best ever.

Competition includes Rio Ferdinand, Carlos Puyol, John Terry, Fabio Cannavaro, Nicola Legrottaigle, Alessandro Nesta, Lucio etc.

Matches scouted in
All Juventus FC matches since their demotion to Serie B

Felipe Melo de Carvalho

Club: ACF Fiorentina
DOB: 26 August 1983 (Age 25)
Nationality: Brazilian
EU Passport: No
Position: Central Midfielder

In his first season at Italian club ACF Fiorentina, Felipe Melo has established himself as a first team regular. Defensively sound, Melo keeps an eye out on the wingers and provides pinpoint passes to them. This ability allows him to switch play to the opposite flank. It is an ability that all good midfielders should possess. He has slowly increased his level of play and the improvement showed against Juventus at the Stadio Olimpico in Turin where he completely dominated the midfield against Mohamed Sissoko and Claudio Marchisio. He is a very tough tackler and at times tends to go overboard, therefore the numerous yellow cards. If he keeps going like this, he will get his first red card in a Viola jersey, soon enough. He really needs to control his temper and respect his fellow players. I say this, because he was caught slapping Cristiano Zanetti, while playing against Juventus. Sometimes he appears to be extremely lethargic, which would indicate a low work rate. Not good for a tough tackling central midfielder.

But despite these quirks he is a very good player. He has very good vision and is able to find attacking players with his accurate crosses and killer long balls. With his good positioning and anticipation, time and again, he is able to intercept passes and break up play. He prefers to operate just in front of the defenders and rarely goes on forward runs.

If he can control his temper and focus that energy on his game, he is bound to improve further. I feel Melo is far from world class but perhaps the right coach can do wonders with him. The potential is there but it needs to be unlocked. As of now, though, there are better options out there.

Matches scouted in:
Fiorentina v/s Inter Milan - 29/10/2008
AS Roma v/s Fiorentina - 30/11/2008
AC Milan v/s Fiorentina - 17/1/2009
Juventus v/s Fiorentina - 24/1/2009