When Walter Zenga was appointed Head Coach of Serie A’s Catania last week, many in the media questioned his coaching credentials. This is a man who’s coaching path has been extremely unorthodox to say the least.

Starting with the New England Revolution back in 1998 as a player/coach, Spiderman’s flare sometimes blurred the line whether he was a player or a coach, something even us players weren’t too sure of.

Then stops in Turkey, UAE, Romania (where he won the league with Steaua Bucharest in 2004-05) and Serbia (where he won the league and cup with Crvena Zvezda) allowed Zenga to cut his teeth in competitive European Football under difficult circumstances.

Before Zenga’s appointment last week, Catania had won only one game in it’s last 11 and sat at the ledge of the danger drop zone along with Parma, Livorno, Empoli, Cagliari and Reggina who all sit within 3 points of each other.

So what happened in his first game in charge? A change in formations (4-4-1-1) and a convincing 3-nil win over Napoli, who are sitting comfortably in 10th spot in the Serie A standings.

With Zenga’s contract only running through the end of the season as of now and games against Palermo, Udinese and Juventus on the road while facing Lazio, Reggina and Roma in the final match of the season at home, you’ve got to like the chances of Zenga’s men to pull out of the relegation zone completely as they now sit on 32 points and 15th place.

Reggina is the only team (besides Juventus) with something to play for while the rest of the teams are secure within the table and not likely to be affected going either up or down.

Maybe Zenga will give Beppe Galderisi a call and he’ll be hired as his Assistant. Galderisi’s coaching/playing experience would be a valuable addition as the two already have a great friendship from their playing days in the Italian National Team and playing together in the US.

image via Click

After playing to a score less draw at Parma, Paolo Maldini still had reason to celebrate as he had played in his 1,000th game for the Rossoneri (and don’t forget the 126 Caps for Italy). While he was saying all the right things that have kept him in the same colors for 23 years, Maldini’s career will come to an end for sure this time in June and going out with another Champions League Final appearance is just the way he wants it.

[image via BirkirkiraFC]

After rupturing the tendon, not the ligament as first reported, in his left knee only three minutes after being introduced as a substitute against Livorno, the Original Ronaldo’s hopes for a new contract with AC Milan looked grim. With all the MLS talk that’s been surrounding him for months and a diagnosis for Thyroid Disease that could explain the constant barrage of comments about being overweight, no one really ever knew what was in store for Il Fenomeno.

Today a story came out of Italy claiming that AC Milan Vice-President Adriano Galliano was ready to offer the 31 year old a renewed contract, according to Solicitor (Ronaldo’s agent) Fabiano Farah. French surgeon Eric Rolland has said post surgery that if Ronaldo takes care of himself physically and has the motivation to get back on the field, then in 6 months he can start light running and be back in the squad within 9 months.

[image via ZAbout]

All that talk of the original Ronaldo coming to MLS after the Serie A season won’t be happening after tonight as reports out of Italy are suggesting that he’s torn his ACL on his good knee. If you watch closely (and I know it’s not fun), you can see when he pushes off to jump something seems to go wrong.

While all the talk going into the second half of the season for AC Milan was about Pato coming into the squad, another 18 year old is starting to make waves. Last weekend it only took 18 seconds for Alberto Paloschi to hit the back of the net in a 1-nil win over Siena and with all the injuries to Ronaldo, Kaka and Inzaghi, Paloschi looks set to start against Livorno from the beginning.

image via SkyRock

When purchasing Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Ajax, Fabio Capello knew the talent the young Swede had, but also  his temperament.  Since then, Zlatan has gone on to star at Inter as Capello, who won last year at Real Madrid is now the manager of England after Juventus’ drop to Serie B in 2006 .  In today’s SkySports, Ibrahimovic gives his opinion on the Don and how they used to call him The Psychologist for his ability to handle players egos.

Dunga has to do without him this week in Brazil’s International Friendly due to his injury, but before that 18 year old Pato scored another SICK goal for AC Milan against Fiorentina. Talk about a seamless transition, even after he was dropped back to Carlo Ancelotti’s bench.

image via Google

With the rumors surrounding Swedish International and Aston Villa defender Olof Mellberg for months, confirmation may well be today with his next stop being Juventus.  After Sven the Swede dropped the ball late last month and named Mellberg a target for the Serie A club, the defender with only 6 months left on his contract has reportedly agreed and signed a preliminary agreement to wear the black and white as of July 1st.