Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season
I love the rivalries and its atmosphere especially in Italy but why the hell does it get so boring when it comes to watching the clashes? any opinion about this?
if u're referring to this week roma-lazio... well, we're still talking about a lousy coppa italia match, so it's no big surprise if the game wasn't that exciting.
actually on this concern, i've noticed quite a pleasant change in italy, as in the last 4, 5 years, most of the derbys have been pretty nice games!....... even more surprising, i've noticed an opposite trend in england, where derbys (wich were usually the most exciting games) became quite dull matches.
there were some pretty nice roma derbys in the last few years....
some of the latest genova derbys (samp-genoa) were among the most exciting games i've watched in the last 5 years...... i can also remember some very nice milano derbys and the palermo-catania derbys are usually a goal feast (in the last 2 years, palermo and catania played each others 4 times; 12 goals weere scored in those 4 matches, with an average of 3 goals per match)
traditionally instead italia derbys were the least exciting games in the season (till a few years ago)....
and they didn't just happen to be boring... they were supposed to be like that.
u see, like i said many times, italians don't really have a good sport culture (at least when it comes to support football clubs). italian fans don't have the same healthy approach to the games that english or germans usually have.
football here is something that permeates the fabric of society. and that has an impact on the way some games unfold... especially those derbys among clubs wich play in the same city.
loosing a roma derby or a genova derby for a fan means being exposed (for the nest 6 months) to the verbal teasing and the mockery of the "winning fans".
every italian club has its own "gathering places", many meeting spots spread all over the city. and in those cities like roma and genova (where there are 2 clubs) each group of fans has its own meeting places and areas (it might be a bar or a cafetteria... any sort of small shops).
well, the day after a derby, u can see the winning fans paying a visit to all those "loosing fans" meeting places. mind u, i'm not talking about violent fans wanting to start a fight here. i'm talking about normal people.....
they go in those "opponent's bars and cafetterias" only to tease their rivals and have a laugh at them.
from a neutral point of view, it's quite an hilarious experience... watching theese 30, 40, 50 or 60 years old grown up men acting like silly childs and teasing each others, basking in the glow for their big win. and the loosing team fans obviously have to endure this: the fans etiquette demands it. they to take it like men and wait for the next derby, for the next chance to turn the situation upside down.
i personally know a a roman cassazione judge (the cassazione court is the most important court in italy, some sort of a supreme court). becoming a cassazione judge is pretty much making it to the top of the judicial ranks. so as u can expect this man is quite an important figure, one of the most respected persons in the roman community.
yet, this over 50 years old, very important, educated and sophisticated man, who also happens to be father of 2 children, has his ritual every "after-derby" day. he's a laziale, so, whenever lazio wins a derby, he takes some time off his very busy day-schedule
to visit a butcher shop wich is very famous for being a romanistas meeting point. he goes there with a mocking smug on his face, just to tease the butcher (big time roma fan) and those other roma fans or ultras who usually happen to be there.
so as u can see the concept of football rivalry in italy isn't something that involves just a dozen of violent fans or a few hundreds of teenagers.... it doesn't just involve blue collars. white collars aswell (big time lawyers, doctors, politicians) are involved into this and enjoy teasing their loosing rivals just as much as, say, the local butcher.
now, if u watch this "from the outside", from a neutral perspective, it's quite fun and hilarious....
but for the fan themselves, it's a torture.
for a roma (or a lazio) fan it would be nice to have a chance to go teasing their rivals for the next 6 months........ but the most important thing is not having to endure the same treatment from their rivals. so if u talk to them the day before the derby, they will most likely tell u "
yeah, it would be great to win, but the most important thing is not to lose".
the players, the club owners, the coaches, they're all well aware of this. they know they can't afford to lose as in that case, their fans will be teased by their rivals till the next derby.....
so that puts huge pressure and heat on the players themselves. wich is why italian derbys, till a few seasons ago, used to be the most tactical and boring matches of the season.
as for the reason why this trend seems to be changing in the past few years, i have no idea.
ancelotti once told a story. back when he was a roma player...during the week before a derby... it was 7:30 pm and carletto was in his car, taking his young wife to dinner. he stops the car at a red traffic light, and then he hear someone talking to him from the car on his left, so he lowers the car window to hear him out.
"
carletto what are u doing outside this late? u're supposed to be resting at home right now! we got the derby sunday!"
carlo kindly replied "
resting? mate it's 7:30 pm! it's not even dusk! i can actually still see the sun in the sky! and it's not like i'm heading to a club or a discoteque, i'm just taking my wife to a restaurant"
so the fan from his car replied "
yeah... but there's the derby this week!"
and then carlo "
man, we're in tuesday!! the game will be on sunday! do u expect me to do nothing but resting for the next 4 days?!?" 
and the fan "
of course not! u have to train and rest for the next 4 days". 
carlo said that guy was so sincerely worried about his phisycal shape for the upcoming derby, that he almost felt guilty for taking his wife to a restaurant.... 4 days before the match!
that's just to give u an idea of the ammount of pressure the players have to deal with in some italian cities (not all of them though. in cities like milano or udine or palermo, there's not such pressure on the players).
) an, albeit injury-hit, Man Utd side 3-0 at the San Siro and went on to beat another English side, Liverpool, in the final. 
