First, he was incompatible with Bati, and then he competed for the main force with Vieri. The Serie A silver boots were still born at the wrong time

At the request of my friends, let’s talk about Montera, this Serie A silver boot that was born at the wrong time.

On June 18, 1974, Vincenzo Montera was born in Fort Chesterna in the Apennine Campania region. This player has a very sharp sense of smell in front of the goal and a fast reaction speed. He can always appear in the most dangerous places and is simply a natural striker.

However, when he was a teenager, Montera did not join the youth training camp of the wealthy families, but chose Empoli. Because the club's youth training camp lacks excellent seedlings, Montera's brilliance is particularly dazzling and has won the reputation of "Empoli Prodigy". As early as the 1990-91 season, Montera was promoted to the Empoli first team.

Empoli at that time was in the Italian League C, and he was very eager to upgrade. Against this background, Empoli believes more in experienced veterans than in the fledgling Montera. It was not until the 1994-95 season that Montera became Empoli's regular main force. Over the whole season, he scored 17 league goals and made a certain reputation.

As the saying goes, people walk to a high place. After Montera shines in the Serie C League, she naturally wants to go to the Serie B League or even the Serie A League. In the summer of 1995, Montera transferred to Genoa and took the stage in the Serie B. In the following season 1995-96, Montera won the four sides in Serie B, scoring 21 league goals, becoming a star player in Serie B. In the summer of 1996, Montera changed his team again and became a member of Sampdoria, and then stepped onto the stage of the Serie A. Perhaps even the most optimistic Samp fans did not expect that their new players would be so vigorous. In the 1996-97 season, which was the first season when Montera joined the team, he scored 22 goals in the Serie A League, second only to Inzaghi and became the Serie A silver boot. In the following 1997-98 season, Montera continued to perform well and scored 20 league goals.

Montera played so well that Sampdoria was increasingly relying on the Serie A silver boot. By the 1998-99 season, Montera encountered injuries and missed many games. During this period, Sampdoria suddenly became unable to play football. Not only did her attack power decline significantly, but her defense even became weaker. By the end of this season, this old Italian club was unfortunately relegated...

Fortunately, Montera was already a star player in the Serie A. Even if the boss was relegated, he was still a hot spot in the transfer market. In the summer of 1999, Roma did not know how much effort it took or how many competitors it defeated, so he recruited Montera and formed an offensive trident with Delvicio and Toti. The division of labor between the three players

is quite clear. Montera mainly operates in the opponent's penalty area and is responsible for siege and siege. Delvicio served as the wingman and undertakes a large number of support tasks. As for Totti, at this time, he mainly showed his identity as a waist.

Montera is still very comfortable to play under this division of labor. In his first season with Roma, he scored 18 league goals for his new club. His goal efficiency is quite high and he is definitely worthy of his main position.

However, in this context, the Roma team still recruited soldiers in the transfer market and introduced the famous "God of War" Batistuta in the summer window of 2000. Then, the good days in Montera are over.

First of all, there is a dispute over jersey numbers. As we all know, Batistuta is the owner of the No. 9 jersey, both in the Argentina national team and in Fiorentina. But the Rome No. 9 battle jersey at that time was already worn on Montera. This is destined that these two people will start a war of invisible gun smoke around the ownership of the No. 9 battle jersey.

Although Batistuta is more famous and has a higher status in the world, the Rome No. 9 jersey has been worn by Montera. As long as Montera, the Serie A silver boot, is not allowed to give in, even if he is as strong as Bati, he can only change to other numbers...

Montella and Bati, who were quite unhappy in the number dispute, quickly started a competition, that is, the main seat competition. It’s not that the two are unwilling to work together, but their technical characteristics are incompatible, and it is difficult to achieve the effect of one plus one equals two on the court...

, the two players are best at scoring and scoring. As for retreating and catching the ball, pulling the side to support, organizing offense, etc., it is not the conventional weapons of these two people. As long as these two people appear at the same time, the space in the penalty area will often be squeezed, which will limit each other's performance. Therefore, the then Roma coach Capello was more willing to use the forward combination of Batistuta and Delvicio.

The result is that after Batistuta joined Rome, Montera's role has dropped a lot. In the 2000-01 season and 2001-02 season, Montera scored 13 goals in the league. Although the output was quite good, it was a significant decline compared to his heyday.

The incompatibility with Batistuta in the club has already made Montera very troubled, but the problem that makes this Serie A silver boot even more troubled is still coming. When he arrives at the Italian national team, he must face the unfavorable situation of competing for the main force with Vieri.

When you see this, you may ask a friend: Italian team often plays double strikers, why does Montera compete with Vieri for the main force, but join forces to fight against the enemy?

The logic is very simple: with Montera's technical characteristics, the role he is most suitable to play is the role of the penalty area terminator. But Vieri is also good at this kind of role. And, given Vieri's status and goal efficiency at that time, it was impossible for him to serve as a wingman for Montera.

Although Montera is strong, compared with Vieri, it is really not enough to see it. The result is that Montera had almost no presence during his time in the Italian national team. Not to mention being the main player, he was not even a major rotation.

cannot compete with Vieri, so I can only wait patiently. But when Vieri faded out of the Italian national team, Montera's own age also rose, and he was no longer the powerful striker who regarded goals as a mustard of grass back then...

Looking at Montera's player career, this Serie A silver boot is very strong. It’s a pity that he was born at the wrong time and met Batistuta and Vieri. Otherwise, his career would be even more brilliant.