"And this is the verdict,
that the light came into the world,
but people preferred darkness to light,
because their works were evil.
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light
and does not come toward the light,
so that his works might not be exposed.
But whoever lives the truth comes to the light,
so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God."
John 3:14-21
that the light came into the world,
but people preferred darkness to light,
because their works were evil.
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light
and does not come toward the light,
so that his works might not be exposed.
But whoever lives the truth comes to the light,
so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God."
John 3:14-21
For example, one would think "Sweet Baby" and their advocates would rejoice at the Steam curation list showing all of the projects in which they've been involved: after all, it's free advertising! Instead, they are doing everything in their limited power to not only get the list removed, but to punish the Steam user who created it.
Another instance involves the "Libs of TikTok" account: all she does is re-post videos other people have made-- one would think those content creators would be thrilled at having all of the added clicks! Instead, they have tried to destroy her life because, counter-intuitively, she's made their videos more visible.
The Sarri Scoop
Things have gone from surreal-to-even-moreso since I wrote this post a month ago. Yesterday against Udinese, a team which had only won three games all season, the Lazio players spent the entire second half running around with no discernible formation: they were going wherever they felt like, oftentimes dribbling with the ball for no apparent reason until it was stolen.
What was surreal wasn't the second half though-- it was the first. In the first half, the players decided to actually utilize "Sarriball", and they created chance after chance after chance, moving the ball quickly and looking like a totally transformed team. In other words, it's a light switch: they can turn it on when they please, and they can turn it off when they please. This was hugely informative to me, which I will discuss momentarily.
In the meantime, we have now lost five of the last six games, with four losses in a row. Even under Davide Ballardini we never outright lost four games on the trot. In fact, in nineteen seasons of watching the club I have never seen them play this poorly. In the aforementioned month since my lengthy earlier remarks, I've been able to better piece together what's happening. I will present each party's perspective in turn:
- The Mercenary Players: There is a contingent of players which can't stand Maurizio Sarri, and who hate the 4-3-3 system. These senior players have taken over the dressing room completely, and think they run the show. Among them I'm almost certain: the neurotic Luis Alberto, who is "king"; Felipe Anderson; Ciro Immobile; Mattia Zaccagni; Matias Vecino; Alessio Romagnoli; Manuel Lazzari; and Adam Marusic. Then you've got the highly paid disaster that is Daichi Kamada, most probably moping around, which isn't helping things. These players despise Sarri so much, that they are actively sabotaging him on the pitch, basically throwing matches at this point.
- The Lost Maurizio Sarri: Morose and candid, scrubby and guttural, Sarri is not personable to put it mildly. Simultaneously though, he's a bit of a push-over and brings to mind a Helenio Hererra quote: "As a coach, the instant the players stop fearing you, it's all over." He tries but has completely lost the battle of wills with the players, who run around and do whatever they want, whenever they want. This explains why he told them "no" when they asked if the team could change shape: "Just do as I say!!" It was his deficient attempt at stamping authority. At present, the players are essentially throwing matches trying to get him fired-- and he's powerless to stop them.
- The Furious Claudio Lotito: He understands exactly what is happening, and that is why he's been so adamant to stand by the coach. Lotito has an enormous ego: he is boss, not the players! Their behavior is an afront not just to him, but to the coach who he perceives to be a top-drawer manager. There is no chance, come hell or high water, he is going to let the mercenary players run roughshod over the project! Lotito is a man of settled opinions, and he has chosen "his side" in this battle. Presently, he has ordered the players into a punitive "ritiro" until further notice.
In light of this new information, I'd be more apt to send the players packing instead of the coach. Ciro is one of my top three favorite athletes ever, but it's time for him to go to Arabia. He can take Marusic with him. Alberto can go to Spain, and Zaccagni can go to Juventus along with Felipe Anderson. Lazzari can go to Inter, and Kamada can take a train back to Germany. Castellanos can go back to the rubbish Globohomo rainbow flag American league. Bye bye everyone!
The trouble would then be, how to rebuild the squad with our Mickey Mouse-style management? It may sound ridiculous, but I'd be tempted to give Igli Tare a phone call: I was a critic of his, but at least he was feast and famine, versus the hopelessly vanilla first mercato without him. It would essentially mean buying a whole new team, as the only players even worth retaining are few-and-far between:
- Goal Keepers: Provedel, Mandas
- Central Defenders: Patric, Romagnoli, Casale, Gila
- Fullbacks: Pellegrini, [NEW PLAYER], [NEW PLAYER], [NEW PLAYER]
- Registas: Rovella, Cataldi, [NEW PLAYER]
- Mezzalas: Guendouzi, [NEW PLAYER], [NEW PLAYER], [NEW PLAYER]
- Wingers: Isaksen, [NEW PLAYER], [NEW PLAYER], [NEW PLAYER]
- Center Forwards: [NEW PLAYER], [NEW PLAYER]
We know that one of the new fullbacks is Valeri-- but even then, we would need to acquire eleven new players. A savvy management might be able to pull this off by fully leveraging loans and other flexible financing-- I have seen newly-promoted sides successfully accomplish it before. But with our current management, it seems like too tall an order. One thing is for sure: Tare or Fabbiani or someone else, Lotito needs to delegate the responsibility to someone else this time.
Embarrassed
Maybe a couple of years ago, I downloaded an ISO of "Sonic CD" and found it to be the worst level design I had ever encountered in a video game. Fast forward to a few days ago, when I decided to give the game another shot via "Sonic Origins Plus": it turns out, I had accidentally downloaded one of many unfinished betas of the game! To my complete astonishment, outside of maybe the first three levels, the stages were one hundred percent different than the ones in the ISO I'd grabbed!
I've since played all the way through the game twice in three days, and will promptly overwrite my previous review. It's now perhaps my favorite Sonic game, as the almost "Knuckles Chaotix"-esque slower, exploration-focused approach is right up my alley.