[FM14] I Gondolieri - A New Club in Italy

2015 – 16 Pre-Season Review

AS Venezia pit themselves against six teams this preseason, playing Scottish side St. Johnstone, Spanish sides Hércules, Albacete, CE Europa and Zaragoza. They also played River Plate, who call Argentina home.

ST. JOHNSTONE 0-1 AS VENEZIA

Line Up: AS Venezia: (4-3-3) Kuszczak, Seitaridis, Terlizzi, Sørensen, Biraghi, Reyes, Moi Gómez, Espinosa, Madej, Grealish, Vietto
Line Up: St. Johnstone: (5-3-2) Smith, Wabara, Dean, Mackay, Young, Ehret, Bostock, Dawson, Birchall, Shroot, MacLean

The first game of the club’s second ever pre-season saw them travel to Scotland to play St. Johnstone at McDiarmid Park in front of 1,887 fans. The game was cagey, which was understandable, as it was both sides first game of the season, and was more about regaining fitness than getting the result. But, it was I Gondolieri who managed to seal the victory in the fifty-first minute, after Bedin intercepted and played the ball forward towards de Silvestro, who played through Seijas, who then, almost instinctively put the ball into the top corner of the near post, beating the keeper. Venezia controlled the possession all game, and looked good for a first pre-season game, still riding the highs of last season.

Luis Seijas (51)
Luis Seijas

HÉRCULES 1-3 AS VENEZIA

Line Up: AS Venezia: (4-4-2) Liçi, Tete, Terlizzi, Mio, Biraghi, Reyes, Moi Gómez, De Silvestro, Seijas, Toniolo, Vietto
Line Up: Hércules: (4-2-3-1) Menéndez, Manolo Gaspar, Carbonell, Pamarot, Muñoz, Ramos, Santana, Gilvan Gomes, Clausí, Migue, Mosquera

Venezia’s second preseason game saw them travel to Spain to play LIGA adelante side Hércules in front of 3,390 people at the José Rico Pérez. One of the tougher games of this year’s pre-season, ASV made light work of it, running out 3-1 winners. Terlizzi put I Gondolieri in front after nineteen minutes, after a Seijas corner missed two defenders heads, and Terlizzi struck a powerful volley on the resulting ball, and putting it into the back of the net. But, two minutes later, Hércules equalised through Mosquera. Ramos played Migue through, who ran to the by-line, and took on Kenny Tete and then played it back to Ramos, whose shot was blocked. He rebound fell to Ramos, he immdeditely gave the ball to Mosquera, who instinctively put the ball into the bottom corner. Venezia then took the lead for a second time, after a Seijas ball into the space behind the Hércules defence was met by the head of Vietto, and knocked it on to Toniolo who was bursting through the middle and was clean through. The sixteen year old showed real composure, and blasted the ball into the back of the net. The final goal of the game came around the sixtieth minute, after Juanma Espinosa free kick was cleared by Terlizzi, who subsequently gave the ball to Sørensen, who had the chance to break. Sørensen beat a defender and played a fantastic ball to Toniolo, who then beat the last remaining defender and scored.

Christian Terlizzi (19)
Jhon Mosquera (21)
Agostino Toniolo (34)
Agostino Toniolo (61)
Toniolo

AS VENEZIA 3-1 RIVER PLATE

Line Up: AS Venezia: (4-3-3) Kuszczak, Tete, Sørensen, Bacchetti, Reyes, Valenta, Espinosa, De Silvestro, Moi Gómez, Toniolo
Line Up: River Plate: (4-4-2) Peratta, Mercado, Torsiglieri, Álvarez Balanta, Ferreyra, Sánchez, Ponzio, Cirigliano, Rojas, Gutiérrez, Rivas

A crowd of 7,781 came to the Stadio Pierluigi Penzo in Venice to watch I Gondolieri beat Argentinian giants River Plate on a warm Saturday afternoon. It took nineteen minutes for Venezia to take the lead, with Gómez intercepting a rather wayward pass from Rojas, to set Venezia on the counter attack. Gómez immediately gave the ball to Toniolo. He ran and then laid the ball off to De Silvestro, who managed to beat the River left back with a clever run inside. Once the ball was under control, he passed it to the overlapping Tete, who found himself in plenty of space, but played it back to De Silvestro, who was under pressure, and passed it Espinosa. Espinosa played a fantastic ball to Valenta, who was on the shoulder of the River Plate centre back, and found himself in plenty of space. On the turn, he gave the ball to Toniolo, who made no mistake with the touch and fired it into the top corner, leaving the goalkeeper scrambling in the air. The next goal came after the half time interval, with a Moi Gómez free kick being played towards the penalty spot, where Toniolo was waiting, and took the ball under control. He then dropped his shoulder and floated the ball into the top corner, and netted his fourth goal of preseason. Venezia shortly added a third, with Espinosa’s free kick from the right edge of the penalty box finding the head of Sørensen at the back post. He headed the ball downwards, which beat the keeper and the defender on the line, and rolled into the back of the net. River Plate then added a consolation goal, which gave the Argentine side hopes of an unlikely comeback, after Sánchez’s free kick was whipped in with pace and height, beating the defenders, and found the experienced striker David Trezeguet, who met it on the volley, and put it into the bottom corner, well out of an on rushing Kuszczak’s reach. Not many chances then followed, and the match ended three one in the Italian sides favour.


Agostino Toniolo (19)
Agostino Toniolo (55)
Frederik Sørensen (56)
David Trezeguet (65)
Toniolo

ALBACETE 2-4 AS VENEZIA

Line Up: AS Venezia: (4-1-1-3-1) Kuszczak, Peruzzi, Sørensen, Mio, Biraghi, Reyes, Seijas, Madej, Adorján, Grealish, Vietto
Line Up: Albacete : (4-4-2) Dani Jiménez, Eslava, Ruymán, Arzu, Héctor, Israel, Benito, Óscar Pérez, Moral, Airam, Álex Sánchez

The fourth game of preseason found AS Venezia playing LIGA adelante side Albacete at the Carlos Belmonte in front of 2,058 people. The night did not start well for Venezia, with Seijas having to be replaced midway through the first half, after damaging his elbow in a fall, and will miss between two to three weeks, ruling him out of the first few weeks of the season. But it didn’t date long for Venezia to take the lead, with Luicano Vietto netting his first goal for the club, after Israel’s ball was cut out by Sørensen, who gave the ball to Madej, who was seeing a rare outing, and gave it to Javi Espinosa. Espinosa floated a marvellous ball in between the opposition’s two centre backs, where Vietto, who was bursting through the middle, met with the ball. Using his pace, he was behind the defence and one on one with the goalkeeper, and finished expertly, powering a shot into the roof of the net. Albacete then equalised, after a freekick found the foot of Álex Sánchez and put the ball into the back of the net. After the half time break, it took a while for any chances, but after Moi Gómez was bought down by Juanra, Antonio Cassano, who came on at half time, made not mistakes with the resulting spot kick, finishing it confidently to give Venezia the lead once again. Venezia then made it three, with Moral’s freekick being cleared by Espinosa. Gómez then ran on to the resulting loose ball, and skipped past two defenders, before cutting inside and finishing it expertly after the fantastic run. But, Albacete pulled it back to three two, after Navarro’s shot form the edge of the eighteen yard box whistled into the top corner, beating young Liçi. But ASV made sure that a comeback was not on the cards for Albacete, Toniolo made sure by netting his sides fourth, and his fifth of preseason.

Luciano Vietto (30)
Álex Sánchez (38)
Antonio Cassano (pen 58)
Moi Gómez (72)
Borja Navarro (83)
Agostino Toniolo (87)
Moi Gómez

AS VENEZIA 1-1 ZARAGOZA

Line Up: AS Venezia: (5-1-2-1-1) Kuszczak, Mio, Terlizzi, Sørensen, Peruzzi, Biraghi, Reyes, Moi Gómez, Espinosa, Grealish, Cassano
Line Up: Zaragoza: (4-2-3-1) Alcolea, Roy, Álvaro, Arzo, Rico, Taddei, Barkero, Simón, Víctor, Montañés, Jordà

AS Venezia continued their preseason by pitting themselves against Spanish side Zaragoza at the Stadio Pierluigi Penzo, in front of 7,869 fans. Antonio Cassano gave his side the lead thirteen minutes in. Kuszczak booted the ball up field, which found the head of Zaragoza defender Arzo, but Peruzzi managed to intercept the header towards Montañés, and gave it to Moi Gómez, who read the situation. He then laid it off to Cassano, who gave it to Grealish, who played a lobbed through ball towards Peruzzi, whose run had escaped the attention of Zaragoza’s number three, Rico. The ball found him and he laid it off to Cassano, who beat the two centre halves with a burst of speed, and slotted it home, underneath the crossbar. But after half time, Rico made up for his mistake in the build up to I Gondolieri’s goal, scoring a fabulous freekick from the edge of the area, beating Kuszczak easily. Not many more chances came and the match always looked like it would end a draw, despite Zaragoza having sixty-two per cent of the possession.

Antonio Cassano (13)
Diego Rico (56)
Diego Rico

EUROPA 0-3 AS VENEZIA

Line Up: AS Venezia: (5-1-2-1-1) Kuszczak, Mio, Sørensen, Bacchetti, Peruzzi, Sini, Reyes, Bottone, Valenta, Cassano, Vietto
Line Up: Europa: (4-4-2) Pascual, Marín, Román, Grandal, Luis Javier, Martí, Dani Toledo, Daniel, Soto, Osés

AS Venezia rounded off preseason by travelling back to Spain to play semi-professional side Europa at the Nou Sardenya in Barcelona. A crowd of 4,232 people watched Venezia run out clear winners. Cassano began where he left off, after Vietto passed the ball to his Argentine compatriot, who ran at the defence. Once he reached the by-line, he crossed it in, where Cassano’s know-how in the box paid dividends, meeting the ball with his head and putting it past the keeper. Vietto then got his first of his double, with Valenta finding Cassano, who played a lobbed pass to Bottone, who saw the run of Peruzzi round the back of the Europa left back, and passed the ball to him. Peruzzi, who found himself through on goal, got tackled and lost the ball. The defender cleared, but Reyes won it back, and gave it to Valenta. Valenta then gave it to Bottone, who had missed most of preseason through injury. He then played it back to Valenta, who gave it to Cassano. Cassano lost the ball, but it luckily broke to Valenta, who gave it back to Cassano and he played through Vietto, who finished it confidently. Vietto then went on to add his second midway through the second half, after Peruzzi intercepted a pass, and gave it to Gómez. He then gave it to Toniolo, who picked a pass to Vietto, who was running behind the centre back, to finish calmly.

Antonio Cassano (18)
Luciano Vietto (20)
Luciano Vietto (65)
Vietto

OVERVIEW

AWARDS

Player of Preseason
FREDERIK SØRENSEN – The Danish centre back has continued his fine form from last season, having a part to play in all six of the preseason games. With an average rating of 7.06 over the six games of preseason, he showed he will be an important piece in Nesta’s side, and will be key in the Venetian club staying in Serie A. He also made four key tackles and conceded only two fouls.

Young Player of Preseason
AGOSTINO TONIOLO – The 16 year old striker was the club’s top scorer during pre-season, scoring 5 goals. He also made one assist. Having only played 127 minutes, scoring 5 goals is a real achievement and shows Nesta, that despite being so young, he can perform and score goals, but will do nothing to put off suitors Juventus.

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NEXT MONTH: AUGUST

I Gondolieri will play three games in the month of August, kicking their season off with a debut in the Italian Cup with a qualifying game against Pavia, before playing Chievo away and Sampdoria at home.

Meet the Squad

AS Venezia have announced their squad numbers for the following season, which will see the club compete in Italian football’s top division, Serie A, for the first time in the clubs very short two year history.

Here is the squad in full

Goalkeepers

Defenders

Midfielders

Strikers

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Sixteen and Senior

In Venezia’s squad, there are a few players that have just left school, and are training with some of the world’s best, and will be playing at top level. They are part of Italy’s new generation of players, and all have good futures ahead of them. Two players really stand out though – Agostino Toniolo and Edoardo Mio. The sixteen year olds are officially the first two players to come out of Venezia’s youth system and play for the first team. They are rated so highly that the press are comparing them to Chelsea’s Diego Costa and Italian legend Franco Baresi. That just shows what lies ahead for the two youngsters.

But, they are not the only sixteen year olds in the senior squad at I Gondolieri. Albanian goalkeeper Alban Liçi is also a member of the first team along with Italian midfielder Marco Bedin, who is being compared to Bayern Munich’s Javi Martinez, and goalkeeper Renzo Pietro Guariento, who has been called up to the senior team for this season to fill the third choice goalkeeper spot. They all have great futures ahead of them, but Mio and Toniolo will have key part to play in this season’s fight for survival.

Rising Stars

There are also more established young players in the squad, that this year could be pivotal for. It could make them or break them. Players such as Javi Espinosa and Moi Gómez fall under this category. We all witnessed Espinosa working his magic that he learnt at Barca’s La Masia in Serie B last season, but whether he can do the same in Serie A will be another story. Moi Gómez joined from Villarreal, but never had the chance to impress at the Spanish side, and looks like a player that will develop well. He is in the same situation as Espinosa, and that if he doesn’t perform, he could well not be cut out for top flight football.

But the real rising star is twenty-seven year old Venezuelan Luis Seijas. No one had heard of him when he joined Venezia for their maiden campaign. But now, clubs are taking notice. He was ASV’s best player last season. He may not be the best player in the world, but his consistency and high level performances made him certain on the team sheet. He continued to show the same kind of performances over preseason, which could again secure a starting spot in Nesta’s team. If he performs in the top flight, bigger clubs will take notice and he will become a household name in Italy.

Key Components

And of course, every team has those players they cannot do without. And I Gondolieri’s is Danish centre back, Frederik Sørensen. Signed from Juventus on a free, he became a key part in Nesta’s defence, and thus became a fan hero with his high level performances and his amazing tackling skills. He made 30 league appearances for the club last season, and scored a total of two goals. He looks like he will play a huge part in the battle to stay up, and if he plays well throughout the season, he will be one of the reasons why. He also deals with crosses very well, which is important as many teams like that type of game. He is twenty-two years of age, which means the Gondolieri fans will see more as he develops into a world class player.

The other key component in Venezia’s squad is goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak. The Manchester United reject was a surprising success for the Italian side, as his performances last season were important to ASV winning the title, and consequently won him Goalkeeper of the Year award. And just like Sørensen, his performances will be vital when trying to avoid the drop.