Serie A Thread - 2014/15 Season

[rfU]

Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Yo Ben, Ranocchia in your season 11? Get the fuck outta here!! He has been fucking atrocious, just dreadful, every game i just want to run out there and rugby tackle his ass. Okay, Leo's been taking the piss with Motta in the metodista role, he's been hopeless, I can see what he was doing tho, trying to get Motta to act as a pivot, to hold possession and sort of dictate, but he's been playing like a lazy bum all season long with barely no running and half-arsed challenges... speaking of half-arsed, fucking Maicon (palm's head)... Anyway, back to Ranocchia, he hasn't got any of the protection a CB needs, but lets be honest, he ain't world class, he ain't destined for nothing, and you can quote me on that by the way. His worst games were with Lucio by his side (and that one with Chivu). IMO Dude has bad decision making, and you're not taught those at the academy. Now you need to watch Hummel. If you don't know who he is then you need a punch in the face because seriously this kid just brought the house down with a series of dazzling performances (I'm a dortmund fan by the way )... he, T.Silva and David Luiz are easily the best DFs smoking right now.

Which brings me to my next questions, wha's happened to the days when italian CBs were the worlds best? Now they're just chumps. I mean who would have thought Chellini who started as a LB all those years ago would be first choice (and even he sucks by the way). What is it, something in the water? I mean Brazil have been producing world class attacking-mids for years with the dribbling skills and creativity, to this day they're need deep in no.10's, meanwhile they've managed to churn out world class CBs and even goalkeepers. So why's Italian so behind, on all fronts (except keepers perhaps but none are a Buffon's level at this point). A friend mine says it because youngsters aren't allowed to flourish in Italy, too much pressure to win games, etc. Could be. Could be also the pace of the game has just changed that much. But I'm betting if we partnered Cannavaro and Nesta again they would do a damn side better than Rano and Bonu. Could be also lack of european football at the UEFA/Europa level.

Thoughts on that Ben, and lets be frank here, the likes of De Rossi, Criscito and Balzaretti are darn good, but they ain't world class. You wouldn't list any italian in a world XI bench at this point.

And for those of you who included Inler in your season XI, what's the reason? I've only watched him a handful of times this season, particularly in the begining of the season back when I was adamant that he should join Inter in the Jan transfer window, but nah, he just isn't up to it, not ready to compete at the highest level. Shame because he's a complete mid and complement Cambiasso nicely.

 

[lo zio]

Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Yo Ben, Ranocchia in your season 11? Get the fuck outta here!! He has been fucking atrocious, just dreadful, every game i just want to run out there and rugby tackle his ass.

nice to see u here again buddy. where have u been!
about ranocchia, i got to say i was very surprised to see your comments on him, as every time i watched him at inter this season, he was absolutely fantastic.
at first i thought "then again, i've only watched him about 6 or 7 times this season, while rfu certainly followed him much more closely... could it be that he was great just in those games i watched?"....
but then i read this comment of yours

....Anyway, back to Ranocchia, he hasn't got any of the protection a CB needs, but lets be honest, he ain't world class....

and suddenly your opinion lost every credibility
jesus mate, that's his second season in serie a!! and the first in a top club (a top club wich has been atrocious this season)...... of course he's not world class yet! if those were your expectations, i can understand why u were disappointed in him.... but that's not ranocchia's fault.... that's your fault.

Now you need to watch Hummel. If you don't know who he is then you need a punch in the face because seriously this kid just brought the house down with a series of dazzling performances (I'm a dortmund fan by the way )... he, T.Silva and David Luiz are easily the best DFs smoking right now.

i think u're being way too hasty mate.
hummels had an amazing season (in a team that, unlike inter, has been on a roll this season). let's see how he does next season.... then let's see how he does when he reaches a top club.... and then we might be able to properly rate him.
right now the only thing we can say about the likes of hummels or kjaer or ranocchia or bonucci or david luiz is that they're very promising young defenders, who might become world clas players. that's it.

judging youngsters on a single season is a huge mistake mate. u have to follow their development through the years to be able to distinguish their actual quality from form or other factors (personal problems, adaptation issues and so on).
take evans for example. till 1 year ago he was universally regarded as one of the top prospects in the world in his role..... now lots of naive people would label him as a shit defender.... i'm sure if next season he hits a good form period, those very same people will consider him a young god again.
same goes for kjaer. til last summer he was the hottest cb in europe.... now many people would want to "rugby tackle his ass" like u said.
this is not how u judge a young player.

So why's Italian so behind, on all fronts (except keepers perhaps but none are a Buffon's level at this point).

oh come on mate, u know football better than that. what's with all theese bullshits! what does it mean italy is behind? behind who? we have young talented players in every position, just like every other nation.... some have more, some have less.... but saying we're behind just makes no sense.
sure if u think hummels is world class after 1 and a half season, then i can understand why u think we're behind.... but that's just because yours is quite an erratic way to judge players.

let's put things in perspectives a bit shall we? till the late 80s\early 90s, when man marking was the core of defending, italy had the best cb teachers in the world. that's why our average cbs were so unbelievably better than everyone else.... and that's also why we produced so many world class cbs.
today no one teaches man marking anymore (and that's stupid, because man marking is the essence of defending... even of zonal defending).... those amazing teachers retired or died and their successors aren't as good as them.
of course u couldn't notice the change immediately, because the last generation of proper old style italian defenders (cannavaro and nesta for instance) was educated in the late 80s and played in serie a through all the 90s and 2000s.

now we're noticing the change.... but it's not like we're behind the other nations. we were much better than the others for 30 years, for 2 consecutives generation we produced the best defensive lines on the planet.
now instead, since we lost our "secret weapon", our advantage (those cb teachers who used to work with our youth teams), we're just like everyone else....... not worse than them, on par with them.

why u're saying italy is behind everyone else? do u think germany or england or brazil or argentina or france have a plethora of world class young defender? and where are they? coz honestly i don't see them!
each country has about 6, 7 young top prospects..... not world class players... hot prospects... some of them will become great, some will become good, some won't develop at all.

A friend mine says it because youngsters aren't allowed to flourish in Italy, too much pressure to win games, etc. Could be. Could be also the pace of the game has just changed that much

your friend must be smoking some pretty serious shit, mate. youngsters don't flourish in italy? some of the very best academies on the planet are italians! atalanta, parma, lecce, roma... ever heard of those??? there are only a few spanish and french academies which can compete with those ones.
and what does it mean "in italy there is too much pressure"? u think there's no pressure in the english or spanish or german youth players system? yeah sure.

and what does pace has to do with all this??? first of, the pace of italian football has brutally changed... it's impossible not to notice this.... and btw that's not necessarily a good thing..... at all!
second, how can "pace" improve the ability of a defender???!!!! what does pace has to do with this!! english football is historically the highest paced football in the world, yet i don't recall they have such a great tradition of centerbacks..... i mean no disrespect to england but italy (whose football is notoriously mid-paced) has a much bigger tradition when it comes to central defenders.

Thoughts on that Ben, and lets be frank here, the likes of De Rossi, Criscito and Balzaretti are darn good, but they ain't world class. You wouldn't list any italian in a world XI bench at this point.

u want my thoughts on that? lay off the grass, buddy! that's my thought on that. criscito is, like u say a very good player, a fantastic player, but certainly not world class.... but balzaretti and de rossi???!! for crying out loud!


getting to more seriuous points, rfu, big game this sunday between palermo and inter..... how do u feel about that?

oh and btw stop talking to that friend of yours (the one who suggested italian young players are shit because the pace of the italian game hasn't changed much)..... he's clearely an idiot and has a very bad influence on u

 

[Aboutreika18]

Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Oh, Ben, one thing I forgot to ask you. How come there is no reserve league/B team in Italy?

 

[PLF]

Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Cellino still says he's interested in acquiring West Ham as well.

Wonder how Cagliari fans feel about him.... same as Palermo do about Zampa Ben? Or different..?

 

[rfU]

Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

of course he's not world class yet! if those were your expectations, i can understand why u were disappointed in him.... but that's not ranocchia's fault.... that's your fault.

not me mate, italian media with all this "new nesta" talk. Also we paid quite a bit for him. Excuse us for expecting a bit better.

i think u're being way too hasty mate.

you're right here, and note that i didn't say we should get rid of him, I rate Ranocchia quite highly in fact, I very much expect him to be our starting CB in the years to come BUT he isn't going to be at the level of Nesta or Cannavaro. Blame who you will but the types of mistakes he's been making suggest were just that bad, inexcusable, he's been largely to blame for the goals conceded this half of the season, very preventable goals at that (see match vs Schalke, both legs). His decision making and discipline have been poor, particularly in UCL, don't know whose idea it was to play such a high defensive line, Rano is slow as hell yet he's so high up the pitch. This results in some many massive gaps in the defensive line. Add the idiocy of Chivu and then lethargic nature of Motta and Maicon... oh boy

Um, what else, he's utterly useless when ran at with pace, he gives the ball away too frequently, he doesn't know whether to track the ball or follow the man... these sort of mistakes at this level are unconscionable, i'm just lost for words at this point. All the same I expect he will rise from the ashes but not to Nesta's level. Hell no. What has really impressed me is how well he's handled himself. If he was Santon he would be crying on the pitch after every game. Instead he picks himself up, dusts off, and focuses on improvig (although there hasn't been much of that since he arrived).

hummels had an amazing season (in a team that, unlike inter, has been on a roll this season). let's see how he does next season.... then let's see how he does when he reaches a top club.... and then we might be able to properly rate him.

this guy didn't do good for a young player, he did great for a seasoned vet. If he flops as bad as Rano at any point in his career I'll be the first to admit but I know he won't. I remember you said the same thing wen comparing Cigarini with Sahin a few months back, right now there's just no way in hell you can argue Cigarini is a better player. Could he have been? Maybe. But lets see what's good with Sahin. IMO he made a mistake going to Real but he's buddies with Ozil so...

By the way, what're your thoughts on Kjaers first season in B-Liga? only watched 3/4 games, I mean the whole team is garbage but Kjaer has made several missteps along the way, very glaring mistakes down to bad positioning and miscommunication with Barzagli (who went on to do well with Juventus)

judging youngsters on a single season is a huge mistake mate. u have to follow their development through the years to be able to distinguish their actual quality from form or other factors

Yes but IMO it should be evident quite early on in their careers, players like Cassano and Pirlo, Nesta and Buffon, by 22-23 it was evident they would be world class. I don't know, maybe i have a sixth sense for these things. there are just certain players you watch who are a step above everyone else. For Ranocchia it ain't that hard because there isn't much competition (Astori, Anderolli and Bonucci, Santacroce doesn't even play).

we're just like everyone else....... not worse than them, on par with them.

you're right there, however, for a country with 4 world cups should you really be compared with anyone else? for a country that has been recognized as having the best football league for the latter half of the century... remember this is league that prides itself on the defensive aspect of the game, so it shouldn't be the case that it's youngsters all of a sudden suck seriously though, today's current crop is nowhere near the level expected. and this goes across to all other positions were Italy struggle to put out a competitive starting 11, even going as far as having to enlist oriundi like Motta and Ledesma. There's nothing wrong with oriundi, after all they were integral in two of your world cup wins, but the fact that Motta and Ledesma aren't even that great, but that you needed them should be glaring. There is a dearth of talent at your disposal save for a few areas like right back and attack and this needs to be addressed pronto... or let me put it another way, italy's 2006 starting XI would have no problem stepping and replacing the current XI hell, even the supporting cast (Barzagli, Del Piero, Perotta, materazzi, Toni) The current crop simply sucks, put it down to talent or mental toughness or both, its something that needs to be acknowledged.

why u're saying italy is behind everyone else? do u think germany or england or brazil or argentina or france have a plethora of world class young defender? and where are they? coz honestly i don't see them!

Argentina: Otamendi, Garay
Brazil: Thiago Silva, D. Luiz
France: Mexes, Rami, Sakho, Koscielny
Germany: Hummels, Mertesacker
Spain: Pique
England: Cahill, Ledley King

Not necessarily world class, but better than anything italy has produced since Cannavaro and Nesta.

some of the very best academies on the planet are italians! atalanta, parma, lecce, roma... ever heard of those???

and what have they done for italy lately

and what does it mean "in italy there is too much pressure"? u think there's no pressure in the english or spanish or german youth players system?

yes, but comparatively speaking. you don't see milan, inter or juve giving youngsters a shot, do you? Compare with Barcelona or Man U or Bayern or Lyon.... there's also not as much enjoyment in italian football or risk taking

and what does pace has to do with all this???

well its simply means you don't have as much time to settle in terms of positioning or setting up the backline. you get a lot of one-on-one situations with players often stranded, out of position. or the DMFs are out of position leaving the CBs exposed. It's not the problem entirely but part of the problem. This has been a problem for Inter in UCL where we are often overrun all over the field. This is rarely an issue for us back in the league however, where even slow players like Stanovic and Motta can contain the opposition.

getting to more seriuous points, rfu, big game this sunday between palermo and inter..... how do u feel about that?

game is already won, as far as I'm concerned, might not even bother watching Depends, I recon Palermo are beat after a long season. Would worry about Hernandez maybe. Pastore could be a problem without cambiasso around. Eto'o has been rested for this game in partiular. And we want it bad just so we can take on Milan in the SuperCup. Hope to see Coutinho in the starting 11 although, could be we utilize a 4-2-3-1 formation.

 

[YoungGun_UK]

Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Ledley King a Youngster

I think defenders as a whole are being left behind the forwards this generation. we've got Ronaldo and Messi two forwards who could be potential top 5 of all time. I don't think theirs a defensive duo anywhere near as good.

 

[Milanista]

Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

I think he's talking more about defensive figures that can totally be relied upon. Thiago Silva is 26 and Pique is 25.

 

[YoungGun_UK]

Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

but he can't be relied upon He's NEVER fit. I think Cahill and Smalling look to be Englands CB future but with youngsters anything can happen.

 

[lo zio]

Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

not me mate, italian media with all this "new nesta" talk. Also we paid quite a bit for him. Excuse us for expecting a bit better.

media always come up with this sort of sensationalistic bullshits mate. argentina labeled about 30 players as "the new maradona" in the last 20 years. french media does the same with their "new zidanes" and we do it with our "new baggios" or new baresis". it means nothing. it just shows the urge to come up with a big headline.

having said that, i don't believe ranocchia will turn out to be "the new nesta".... because i find it crazy to compare a newbie with only one season in serie a under his belt to one of the greatests cbs of all times.
what i believe is that this kid has some great qualities and an absolutely unnatural composure and coolness for a talent this young. he might become a great defender, a world class defender.... or just a decent defender.... who knows.
the only thing we can say about him is that he's had a sensational first season in serie a with bari (sensational enough to rate him higher than all those other cbs u mentioned..... i mean, come on.... mexes??? king??? mertsacker??? those are all very good cbs.... but come on, u can't say italy hasn't produced a cb better than mexes or king.... hell bovo is a better cb than mexes and king! and he's just the first name that comes into my mind).

and after that awesome season he handled himself very well in inter too, especially if u consider what inter's defence went through this season (wich he's why i put him in that top 11). u payed about 19 millions for him. and that's a fair price. a 23 years old cb who can play like nesta would probably cost more than twice that sum.

you're right here, and note that i didn't say we should get rid of him, I rate Ranocchia quite highly in fact, I very much expect him to be our starting CB in the years to come BUT he isn't going to be at the level of Nesta or Cannavaro

mate chances are we won't see any cb in the world reaching the level of nesta and cannavaro for a decade at least. u're talking about 2 all time greats... 2 players who could be mentioned alongside the likes of baresi, beckembauer or scirea. so forget about that and just hope he will develop into a top class cb.
feeling disappointed because a young cb "probably won't ever be as good as nesta" is pretty much like feeling disappointed in giovinco coz "he probably won't ever be as good as baggio or messi"..... that's just not fair.

hummels didn't do good for a young player, he did great for a seasoned vet. If he flops as bad as Rano at any point in his career I'll be the first to admit but I know he won't. I remember you said the same thing wen comparing Cigarini with Sahin a few months back, right now there's just no way in hell you can argue Cigarini is a better player. Could he have been? Maybe. But lets see what's good with Sahin. IMO he made a mistake going to Real but he's buddies with Ozil so...

true. humells did great even by a seasoned veteran standards..... but so did ranocchia and bonucci last season. and so did kjaer and evans in the last 2 seasons. u see what i mean when i say u gotta follow their development through the years?
besides ranocchia didn't flop at all this season. at least from what i saw of him.
anf finally, i never compared sahin to cigarini mate. i never would, they don't even play in the same role. i think u're mistaking me with someone else here

By the way, what're your thoughts on Kjaers first season in B-Liga? only watched 3/4 games, I mean the whole team is garbage but Kjaer has made several missteps along the way, very glaring mistakes down to bad positioning and miscommunication with Barzagli (who went on to do well with Juventus)

my thoughts on kjaer are the same i have on ranocchia, hummels, bonucci, david luiz, evans ecc. he's one of the most promising cb in europe. he had a terrible season this year.... but since he's still very young, we can't very well say what sort of cb he will eventually turn out to be. he moved to a different country and league.... maybe he didn't adapt yet... maybe he won't ever find himself at home in germany... or maybe he just hit a bad for period... maybe he broke up with his girlfriend or he's concerned about his parent's health.... who knows? we will be able to properly rate him only in 2, 3 years. and the same goes also for ranocchia, hummels, bonucci, evans and co.

you're right there, however, for a country with 4 world cups should you really be compared with anyone else?

that means nothing mate. having won lots of silverware has no impact on how many world class players your school produces.
the brutal truth is that world class players aren't produced by a national school.
if u wanna judge the quality of a national school, u only have to consider average players.... because there is where u can measure the impact of the national academies.
let me make myself more clear. nesta didn't became nesta because of the italian school. messi didn't became messi because he was taught well. rooney didn't became a top class player because of his academy. their natural talent made them who they are.

michelangelo, beethoven, leonardo, mozart... their natual talent made them immortals, not their education. and talent is absolutely unplannable and unpredictable. nesta might aswell have been born in england.... maradona might aswell have been born in germany. it's fate.

u wanna value how good a school is? then look at the average players. how good are they compared to their counterparts coming from other schools. that'll give u a reliable feedback.
till 20 years ago italians average cb were almost world class compared to their german, english, french or spanish counterparts.... because back then our school was much better than the others. today our school is pretty much on par with them, so u don't notice such a big difference (although i still mantain the average italian cb is slightly better).

but using world class players to measure how good a school is, that's absolutely unappropriate and deceptive.
the truth is that in the past 30 years we got unbelievably lucky. for 2 generations we had world class players in pretty much ever position. in the early 2000s we had so many world class offensive players some of them couldn't even make it to the national team vieri, montella, totti, inzaghi, del piero, zola, mancini, baggio... not even argentina has this much quality to offer today..... hell not even argentina and spain put together can gather so many world class players for the same spot today.

and the same goes for our defensive line. we didn't just have the best defensive line in the world for 2 consecutive generations. we had the best defenders (by position) for 2 consecutive generations (wich is even more unbelievable). the best leftback (first cabrini, them maldini), the best rightback (first tassotti, then zambrotta), the best centrebacks (first baresi and scirea\bergomi, then nesta and cannavaro).

no country has ever been this lucky for 2 consecutives generation. but of course u can't expect such luck to last. today we're just "normal"...... of course by "normal" i mean for a country with such a big tradition. germany has ozil, muller, marin and gomez, while we have balotelli, cassano, pazzini and rossi.
france has mexes sakho, and evra while we have chiellini, ranocchia and balzaretti.
spain has xavi, iniesta and fabregas, while we have de rossi, pirlo and aquilani.
some countries have more quality than us, some others have less quality than us. some countries have more strenght than us, some other don't.

wheter our players will make a great national team will depend by how they will develop, by their chemistry and by prandelli.
i'd say prandelli has done great so far. and i certainly don't think we're behind everyone else.
some national teams are indeed ahead of us.... but they're quite a few (spain, germany and argentina are definitely ahead of us, but that's it). and u also have to consider we have a "new team" with a new coach. we're starting a new project (while other countries like spain and germany already started it 5 years ago). so there's no telling were we might end up in the next 5 years.

 

[lo zio]

Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

sorry for double posting guys. i didn't want theese replies to get lost in that huge post i just wrote.

Oh, Ben, one thing I forgot to ask you. How come there is no reserve league/B team in Italy?

i honestly have no idea. but i seem to remember someone brought this topic up recently... if i remember well it was prandelli. however many italian squads wouldn't have enough players to line up a reserve team.... palermo reserve team for instance would line up only 2\3 backups and the rest would all have to come from your primavera (youth team)... so that would be pretty pointless, i guess.

Cellino still says he's interested in acquiring West Ham as well.

Wonder how Cagliari fans feel about him.... same as Palermo do about Zampa Ben? Or different..?

i dunno how cagliari people judge cellino... but he is indeed quite similar to zamparini. very smart, but at the same time so passionate and "uncontrollable" and flamboyant to appear (at the same time) a very intelligent and a very stupid man.

 

[Milanista]

Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Hmm, not too sure I'm happy with the way we handled the senators last week. Van Bommel, Pippo and Ambrosini, I agree to hold on to them for 1 more year. But Seedorf? He played around 7-8 good games last year out of 30. It's been like this for almost 3 years. We should've let him go to Brazil.

Where's this supposed project to refresh the team? I'm happy we brought Paloschi back, and hope that Montolivo is just a rumor. I like the kid, but he's a huge step below from Pirlo and doesn't seem to have the right mentality to be holding the Milan midfield. I'd be much happier with Aquilani - he has this thing about him that just has class, confidence and flair written all over.

We're linked to some pretty big names, including Fabregas, which would be absolutely amazing. I think this talk for a left-sided midfielder is just to put teams off so that we don't get charged over-the-top prices.... I'm almost certain that our 'big' midfielder will actually be playing right in the center.

I also read that Onyewu is back. GOOCH! Rumors say that he will replace Legrotaglie. Great move, and hope its true. Sokratis has left, so Oguchi can be the big centerback in tough games against teams like Lecce, who we really suffer against. We should take advantage of someone that is 100% physicality and aerial power. I really respect the guy for renouncing his salary last year following that long injury. He's a very down to earth guy that plays clean football.

 

[lo zio]

Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

i understand your point about seedorf stef... but 7\8 good games can still make a difference. in those 7\8 matches this season seedorf has been decisive for your wins. having such a quality backup can help a lot during the season.... i mean a player as good as seedorf but 7 years younger wouldn't accept to be a backup like clarence did.
plus he signed only a 1 year extension so it's not such a big waste of money.

and if u're really going for aquilani, then your problems at midfield will be definitely solved. him and taiwo would guarrantee exactly what i was talking about a few days ago when we were talking about pirlo (holding thr defensive lines deep in their territory.

plus in milan aquilani would finally have the chance to play in his real role (mezz'ala) wich is something we haven't seen ever since he left roma.
that would be a fantastic signing

 

[Milanista]

Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

i understand your point about seedorf stef... but 7\8 good games can still make a difference. in those 7\8 matches this season seedorf has been decisive for your wins. having such a quality backup can help a lot during the season.... i mean a player as good as seedorf but 7 years younger wouldn't accept to be a backup like clarence did.
plus he signed only a 1 year extension so it's not such a big waste of money.

and if u're really going for aquilani, then your problems at midfield will be definitely solved. him and taiwo would guarrantee exactly what i was talking about a few days ago when we were talking about pirlo (holding thr defensive lines deep in their territory.

plus in milan aquilani would finally have the chance to play in his real role (mezz'ala) wich is something we haven't seen ever since he left roma.
that would be a fantastic signing

I know what you mean about decisive moments Ben, but when we started winning with Boateng playing in Seedorf's role, Seedorf complained for being on the bench. Last week he said he will only stay if we guarantee his importance in the squad. I love Clarence, but I really don't want the team to rely on him on our European and Italian crusade.

 

[lo zio]

Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

oh, i didn't know about that. i thought by accepting a lower wage he was also accepting a backup role.
well if that's not the case, then i certainly agree with u. with boateng and aquilani, there would certainly be no place for seedorf in the starting 11.

 

[Milanista]

Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Not sure if anyone read Cerci's interview with Gazzetta this week, it's quite sad.

He basically said he feels hurt from the insults he received and the way he was perceived in Florence. He said that he will never celebrate under the Viola curva again. Sad because he was really one of their saviours towards the end of the campaign.

L'esterno della Fiorentina, Alessio Cerci, ha rilasciato una piccata intervista a Sport Week, settimanale uscito questa mattina con 'La Gazzetta dello Sport', nella quale accusa i tifosi viola di averlo insultato in maniera troppo pesante: "Negli ultimi mesi sono arrivati i gol e le belle giocate. E anche i titoli sui giornali e i cori dei tifosi, gli stessi che m’insultavano con la mia ragazza quando m'incontravano per strada. Non mi considero uno scemo, so cosa posso dare nel calcio, e per questo non dimentico quello che mi è stato detto. Non arrivavano i risultati, la squadra andava male, ma io sembravo l'unico colpevole. Ero il capro espiatorio forse perché giovane, forse perché sono di Roma e qui i romani non li possono vedere…. Mi hanno accusato pure perché mi piacciono le belle auto. Ho una Maserati Gran Turismo, mi davano dell'arrogante di merda. So che i complimenti contano poco, e per questo tengo a distanza queste persone che per mesi mi hanno detto di tutto. Se ho pensato di andare via? Un sacco di volte. Hanno prevalso la forza di volontà e il desiderio di rivincita… Adesso mi pendo i complimenti ma ci credo poco. Vediamo come queste persone si comporteranno in futuro se le cose dovessero di nuovo girare male. Il mio rapporto non è un rapporto diretto, e non mi vedranno mai correre sotto la curva. Nemmeno per un gol. Perchè sono stato ferito, ferito dentro".

 

[vasilios]

Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

So Miccoli announced the final will be his last match with Palermo? Maybe he'll close his career out at his boyhood team Lecce?

 

[lo zio]

Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

So Miccoli announced the final will be his last match with Palermo? Maybe he'll close his career out at his boyhood team Lecce?

yeah, miccoli is probably going to leave this summer. there was an "episode"..... let's just say zamparini gave him a good reason to tell him go fu** himself.
but fabrizio stayed classy for the rest of the season waited this moment to say goodbye.
shame, coz he could still be good for palermo. besides he's our captain, the dressing room leader... the only over 30 player in our team. plus he and his family loved staying here in palermo..... enough to turn down a 12 millions euros offer from birmingham (word on the street is his wife is desperately trying to change his mind about the transfer.... but i don't know how much truth there is in this rumour).
last week was the last home game of the season... and after the game miccoli became emotional and made a tour of the stadium, crying and applauding the fans.... that's when people in palermo realised he was about to go.
i'm very angry at zamparini right now of course, and i certainly wouldn't wanna lose miccoli, but if he has to go, it would be great to see him in lecce!

i'm afraid this is going to be the last match of this team, as i can see many people leaving this summer. delio rossi is obviously going to leave as soon as his contract expires (tomorrow). sirigu is pretty pissed off at zamparini for his stupid comments and personal attacks, and might be considering a move. and there are a few clubs following hernandez (roma), balzaretti (roma again) and nocerino (napoli).

concerning tonite, i don't feel cheerful at all. bacinovic is out, and so is bovo. so our central midfielder will be acquah, that 18 years old kid who joined the first squad just a few months ago. the kid is a promising talent, but he has less than a handful of matches as starter under his belt.
he played in the semifinal against milan, and felt so under pressure and confused (he was all over the place) rossi had to sub him after 20 minutes....... and now he will be up against inter.... great!

not to mention the fact that the leader of our defensive line (bovo) will be replaced by goian .... and that migliaccio and balzaretti apparently aren't fit.

i gotta say, i was feeling much more confident 2 weeks ago

on a brighter note, apparently more than 35 thousands palermitani are going to rome right now! roma's gonna be pink tonite

 

[Milanista]

Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Man Migliaccio being unfit will be a huge loss. This guy is equal to two defenders.

Edit - did you see the video Zeem posted from Le Iene?

http://www.video.mediaset.it/video/iene/puntata/228267/duro-nuccio-vip.html

And from last night, Messi showing his rossonero blood:

YouTube - Invasore mette la sciarpa del Milan a Messi!

 

[lo zio]

Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Man Migliaccio being unfit will be a huge loss. This guy is equal to two defenders.

Edit - did you see the video Zeem posted from Le Iene?

http://www.video.mediaset.it/video/iene/puntata/228267/duro-nuccio-vip.html

WTF!! LOL!!! who's that nutcase?
yeah migliaccio is a key player indeed. and not just for his defensive duties. he developed into a very good midfielder under rossi's guidance.
-------------------------------------------------------------
about cerci stef, although i don't like it when fans mock or tease or even insult their players for their performances, i can't completely blame them (as long as they don't cross the line and get clearely unpolite or even worse, violent, of course).

say you're a blue collar, a small factory worker, an employee, a craftsman working in a small workshop. u work your ass off 5 days a week for 8 hours... and that for about 2000 euro per month. u dedicate your only restday to your favourite team, spend from 15 to 50 euros for a ticket and then watch a lazy uncommitted performance from a 23 years old boy.....the same 23 years old boy u see every week, reaching the clubhouse with his 150 thousands euro car.
honestly i find it sickening.

sure u can't blame only the player, its the system,the agents, blah blah blah..... but u sure can't even blame the fans for mocking him when he doesn't deliver on the pitch

 

[Aboutreika18]

Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

i honestly have no idea. but i seem to remember someone brought this topic up recently... if i remember well it was prandelli. however many italian squads wouldn't have enough players to line up a reserve team.... palermo reserve team for instance would line up only 2\3 backups and the rest would all have to come from your primavera (youth team)... so that would be pretty pointless, i guess.

I see. So what do teams do to give a first team player who has just recovered from a serious injury some match practice?

Does he play with the youth team? Or do they organise a behind-closed-doors friendly?

 

[gerd]

Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Good luck in Roma Ben...i hope Palermo play a good match despite all the key players they are missing...what a shame really.

 

[Milanista]

Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

FORZA PALERMO!!!! 50,000 Palermo fans apparently!

 

[drekkard]

Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

How on earth is Palermo losing this match by now? They deserved the lead too many times and they're loosing! I'm quite annoyed, I was supporting Palermo in this one, a team in a pink shirt MUST win!

(Plus, I went to Palermo some time ago and had a good time. And then they wear a PINK shirt. Did I said that?).

 

[rfU]

Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Yo Ben you watching Ranocchia out there today? Jesus christ. And Chivu is just.... Inter has a whole are pretty dreadful, surprised Palermo aren't taking advantage of their slowness. surprised Rossi isn't sacked yet. Maybe zamparini is waiting for half time.

Boas is in the crowd, hmmm what's up with that?

 

[Zeem]

Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Really? Villas Boas in Roma? Seems Roma have some nice coaches to choose from this summer. Deschamps,Enrique,Ancelotti,Delio Rossi,...

Anyway, Inter scored from their only chance in the first half and Palermo are missing some dangerous ones. Cassani got burned by Eto'o.

edit - It seems Boas is at the stadium by an invitation from Inter.

 

[Milanista]

Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Yep, they also announced that they have no interest in signing him, they are just friends with him since Mou days. But don't be surprised if they're grooming him for post-Leonardo.

Palermo are ALL OVER Inter and are so unlucky to get nothing out of this.

 

[Milanista]

Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Also did anyone see the stunt by Greenpeace?

 

[rfU]

Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Yo Ben you watching Ranocchia out there today? Jesus christ. And Chivu is just.... Inter has a whole are pretty dreadful, surprised Palermo aren't taking advantage of their slowness. surprised Rossi isn't sacked yet. Maybe zamparini is waiting for half time.

Boas is in the crowd, hmmm what's up with that?

CAMPIONI CAMPIONI OLE OLE OLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wooow!! this was not a game for anyone with a heart condition. Wouldn't want to be a palermo fan tonight. credit to them, were awesome but as that is football, you take your chances, you win So Rossi's out of a job

Our third title by the way this season. that's right, THIRD, eat that milanistas and 15th in 5 years !!

Even playing this bad we still kicking the shit out of anything that moves, FORZA INTER!!

 

[Valon]

Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

shame Palermo lose this final

hey beat Milan and i was hoping they'll do same with Inter but what to do .....

 

[lo zio]

Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

that was just heartbreaking.
losing a final against a top club like inter is something a palermo fan could easily bear. but not like this. not after outplaying your opponent for the entire match.
jesus, at times it almost felt as if palermo were playing against a serie b team.... in a home fixture. even the inter-schalke game was much more balanced and less one sided than this one ffs.

palermo has always been quite a wasteful team, but that's never been a problem, as we produce so many scoring chances that even if we score only 1 out of 5, that's still enough to guarrantee us at least 1\2 goals.
...but yesterday was just ridiculous. and the most hilarious thing is that the only goal we scored was also invalid. oh well, i guess it was just not meant to be
it kinda reminded me last year's match between inter and barca in milan, when, during the last 15 minutes, barca crushed inter in his own midfield.....
with the small difference that palermo crushed inter for 80 minutes.

not that this is something unusual for palermo. i mean over the last 3 years we have repeatedly kicked the shit out of every italian top team (milan, juve, roma) both in palermo and in their own turf (funnily the only team we didn't manage to beat on back to back occasions is inter)
....but what makes it unbelievable is the team we lined up.

acquah was a disaster (as expected). the kid panicked every time he got the ball (or made a tackle). he litterally hasn't done anything right. it was pretty much like playing with one man less.... in the most important position of the field (central midfield). and the more mistakes he made, the more worried he got, wich lead to even bigger mistakes.
honestly i don't know what sort of problems liverani had, but seriously even on a wheelchair liverani could have been more useful than acquah.

and then there was the defense. not having bovo was already serious enough... but when even goian got injured i honestly thought that someone up there just didn't want us to win. when carrozzieri had to take goian's place i thought we were screwed. not that i don't trust carrozzieri (he's was a damn good cb... at least till his ban 2 years ago).... but what sort of performance could i expect from a defender who was playing his first official match in 2 years?? (his cocaine ban just expired)
all in all i gotta say he was quite heroic, but obviously he doesn't know this team now. he doesn't know cassani's movements, neither munoz's movements (and that helped eto'o a lot).

and then there were ilicic and cassani, who had one of their worst performances ever, and balzaretti, who had to play despite the fever (gotta say though he handled himself pretty well).

when u think of all the problems we had yesterday, u just can't figure out how we managed to outplay inter like that. i mean it was ridiculous... and also quite embarassing for inter. they are the top club, they are the ones who were supposed to dictate the plot of the game..... yet for the entire match we played the top club role, while inter played like a relegation contender club, sitting back, and trying to hit the opponent with only counters.

and they weren't even good at that! i mean palermo is the easiest team in the world to hit with counters, given our shaky defense, our attacking sidebacks and our offensive mentality..... we usually concede at least 6 or 7 counters per game (wich explains why he conceded so many goals this season). inter just made 4 counters.... and yet they scored 3 goals.

however that doesn't really matter. u're right rfu, this is football. it doesn't matter how many scoring chances u create, it doesn't matter if u get more possession than your opponent, if u crush them into their own midfield, if u pass the ball around with much more quality and fluidity, if u get more possession...... u gotta take your chances. inter did, we didn't. wich is why i strongly disagree with that douchebag of zamparini, who said inter stole the match and that we deserved the win. by saying that zamparini is only embarassing himself (just as much as palermo players embarassed inter on the pitch).

but u gotta admit rfu, it can't be all about the result. yesterday a midclass club like palermo showed a top club like inter how a final should be played.
inter is a team full of veterans, world class players who played countless finals... and yet yesterday they played like a small time club facing a top class team in its first final ever.

palermo on the other side was actually playing its first final ever (at least in this generation). yesterday one of the most unexperienced teams in the world (2nd youngest team in europe after rennes), whose average age is 24 (arsenal is an ageing team compared to us), faced inter in his very first final ever..... and with a formation wich is even far from its starting 11. and yet we showed no fear at all. we went out there and tried to play our football, despite the missing players or the unfit starters.
it sure was far from our best performance, but still it was enough to humiliate inter.

in a few months no one will remember how inter managed to win this game. people will only remember inter beated palermo ina final and that's ok.
but not me or any other palermo fan. we will always remember how we played this final. the heart and the personality our kids showed.
sure it's not as sweet as watching your team lifting a cup (especially for a guy who has never seen his team lifting a cup). but it's more than i ever expected as a palermo fan (at least till a few years ago)

one last note about the crowd. what a fantastic atmoshpere that was. i've never seen the media praising a fanbase like they're doing today with palermo fans. newspapers, tv.... even before talking about the match, they talk about those 45 thousands palermitani, the chants, the colours, that cheerful, supportive and classy attitude they showed... even after the game (applauding rossi and the players, despite the loss). apparently today we're being labeled "the classiests, most civilised and nicests fans in italy". even inter players praised us. i heard 3 post match interviews... zanetti, eto'o and julio cesar.... and each of them began their interview by saying "before u start with the questions, let me congratulate with palermo fans for the amazing atmosphere and class they're showing tonite"...... and from serie a players, used to play in front of great crowds like genoa, samp and napoli, that is quite a compliment.

congrats for the result rfu. it was a deserved win (football apart of course )

How on earth is Palermo losing this match by now? They deserved the lead too many times and they're loosing! I'm quite annoyed, I was supporting Palermo in this one, a team in a pink shirt MUST win!

(Plus, I went to Palermo some time ago and had a good time. And then they wear a PINK shirt. Did I said that?).

great to see u here in the serie a thread buddy! and thanks for the support

I see. So what do teams do to give a first team player who has just recovered from a serious injury some match practice?

Does he play with the youth team? Or do they organise a behind-closed-doors friendly?

they play with the youth team. carrozzieri for instance didn't play a palermo official game for 2 years (he was ound positive to cocaine and banned). he had only 2 games with the youth team in his legs, before yesterday's game.

Yo Ben you watching Ranocchia out there today? Jesus christ.

yes, i did watch ranocchia. so what about it? u think that was a poor performance??? LOL! that's odd. if u thought that was bad, then i can see why u think he had poor this season.
look, i could tell u i don't think he was bad, i could remind u he also had fever... but i won't. what i will tell u is that mario sconcerti (corriere della sera), compagnoni (sky), andrea elefante (gazzettta dello sport), fulvio collovati (rai) and luigi ferrajolo (corriere dello sport).... they all gave ranocchia a 6 for his performance (6 equals to decent; not particularly good, nor particularly bad). that should tell u something.
i think u should consider the possibility that your opinion on ranocchia is not based on his actual skills, nor on his performances, but just on your (very) personal taste. u simply don't like the guy. nothing wrong with that. but u should admit that and realise that something is obviously clouding your judgement on him