Serie A Thread - 2014/15 Season

Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

cfdh_edmundo said:
You're right, I'm unfamiliar with someone supporting 4 teams (or call it 3 and a half). It's an alien concept, so do go ahead and provide the education.
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why u think it's so weird to support several clubs edmundo? coz honestly i don't see what's wrong with it. supporting a club means feeling a special attachment to that club, right? being happy for the team when they win, hoping they do well.... rooting for them.
to all intents and purposes supporting a club means feeling something for that club... would u agree with that?

feelings are irrational by definition, they don't respond to any logic at all. u don't decide to care about a club, exactly as u don't decide to care about those people who will become your friends.... u just happen to care about them.
sometimes it's because that's the first club u watched as a kid, sometimes it's because that's the club from your hometown, sometimes it's because your favourite players used to play for that club........... and sometimes u don't even know the reason. a friend of mine supports palermo and sampdoria. he supports palermo because he was born in palermo, as for sampdoria, he himself has no idea why he cares about samp. if u ask him why he roots for samp he'll tell you he doesn't know why.... he just knows he does care about samp and that's the only thing that really matters.

i also care about 2 clubs. my father (and his family) is sicilian, my mother (and her family) is from napoli... i spent my childhood in palermo AND in napoli. the first game i watched in a stadium was a napoli game. i actually got more close to napoli than i will ever be to palermo, as my uncle was napoli's team director, so as a child i had access to napoli's clubhouse and also used to spend some time with the players (whereas i never got that sort of "access" to palermo football club).

as a matter of fact i support both clubs. simply because i feel the same kind of attachment to both clubs. i want them both to do well and i rejoice when they do.
and when napoli and palermo play each others i just don't root for any of them. sometimes i hope the club which needs the 3 points the most will get em (last season palermo had nothing more to fight for in serie a, while napoli was in the race for the 4th spot, so i hoped napoli could win...... the year before it was the exact opposite)....
in any case, i'm never really happy, no matter which teams wins the game.... napoli-palermo is infact a horrible game for me......

but afterall, what can i do about it? can i decide not to care about napoli anymore? of course not. u just can't drive your feelings, as they are the ones in charge.
it's not so weird afterall, don't u think? :))
edmundo said:
that was the semi, round before it was Barca v Juventus, think it went to extra time Davids was sent off but Zalayeta scored
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i remember that game. i watched that game in a pub in belfast. me and my 2 friends were the only ones rooting for juve in that pub.... boy it feels like yesterday :))
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

lo zio said:
why u think it's so weird to support several clubs edmundo? coz honestly i don't see what's wrong with it. supporting a club means feeling a special attachment to that club, right? being happy for the team when they win, hoping they do well.... rooting for them.:))
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There are some circumstances where I can see why people would "follow" more than one team:

For instance if you were say Russian, and a big supporter of the national team, you might be a fan of Zenit, but you would probably follow the results of Spurs, Arsenal, Everton. You would probably keep an eye out for their results and especially to see if those players had scored goals or got injured or something. Or someone from Slovakia might keep an eye on Napoli since he is from Slovakia and Hamsik (who is a key player for Slovakia) playes for Napoli. Irish fans might follow the Galaxy now their captain plays there.

Maybe fans of Livorno followed Shakhtar when Lucarelli played there. Since he was idolised by the fans, and was really seen as one of the fans - from what I remember he used to go to Livorno away games as a fan when he wasnt playing. Perhaps Celtic fans would keep an eye out for Spartak Moscow's results since McGeady plays there, but then again probably not since McGeady wasn't perhaps the Celtic icon that say Jock Stein or Paul McStay is/was.

But in both of these cases do the fans really support the team or do they just follow it? For instance do they go to games (maybe a bad example due to geographic issues) ? Or using the example above, would the Livorno fans have tried to watch Shakhtar v Chernomorets on some stream or would they have maybe looked at the score the next day. Ditto the hypothetical Irish national team fan above, would they stay up to say 2am watching a Galaxy game on ESPN or would they just read the reports on it. To me if it's the latter (and this isnt an indictment of fans who follow rather than support teams) then it's only really following a team - there will probably be a team these fans travel miles to watch (e.g. the Livorno fans will obviously spend hours watching Livorno instead of Shakhtar) who they support. The Russian fan I mentioned above probably goes to watch Zenit at the Petrovsky or away in Krasnodar, or would have got up early in the morning in 2008 to watch them play Lurch Energia (Valdivostok), he supports them. He maybe only watches an Arsenal game if it's on standard tv, so imo he follows them.

As with yourself, if someone has split their upbringing between two cities or spent some years living in another city then you can see the logic behind supporting a team and following an additional one. Especially in the case, as with you, where one parent supported team a and the other parent supported another team, then you can understand why a supporter would even perhaps support two teams.

As an aside if say Palermo and Napoli were level on points to be relegated and they had a play-off (I dont know if they still do this in Serie A but I remember it happend quite often in the 1990s but more to do with getting into Europe) - (if not change the scenario to Coppa Italia final), both would need the points, both would need to survive - Serie B could be financially/interms of squad catastrophic for both - would you not favour one of the teams ? Obviously it's a dilemma and you wouldnt want either team relegated in an ideal world, but if it happens, would you not slightly favour one or the other ?

Even then I would argue most of the above are rare circumstances. And I still cant really see how people can support say 4, 5, 6 clubs. I can understand a general interest the game, and casually following a few clubs for the resons above. But waking up at late hours, fidgeting with sloppy internet streams to watch several teams each day, or being devastated when several teams lose or potentinally get relegated, I dont really understand that. Sure it can be a pain if a team you casually follow loses, like say missing a bus/train on the way to work, but it's not like when a team you support loses or gets relegated, which is a lot worse than missing a bus on your commute, it's almost like losing your job.

Maybe it's semantics around following and supporting.

i remember that game. i watched that game in a pub in belfast. me and my 2 friends were the only ones rooting for juve in that pub.... boy it feels like yesterday
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It does indeed, I remember someone at work saying a few weeks ago, "20 years ago today Batistuta signed for Fiorentina", all these events seem recent, I guess time files.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

I cared for all my past girlfriends to a small extend, but I couldn`t carry a torch for them . Memories do store some affection I will agree on that. As a father my sons like Arsenal but they both found Liverpool on their own. They too only support (1) club Liverpool while my daughter God bless her every step is a gooner! :APPLAUD:

Every-time!!! Liverpool loses I get a chuckle in just to see them gutted. This won`t get me Dad of the year prize I know :COAT: . Arsenal loses they`ll yell out "NO - one disturbs the old man he`s going to bed early" :RANT: Don`t even want to mention the cup final w/ brummies.

One thing I do know is we don`t support the same team but we all dislike the same team. Without naming them not to face the repercussions. I asked them will they ever change team , their response was identical to mines...."it`s too late "

So ,like father like sons but only my daughter chosen wisely !!!

I agree with cfdh_edmundo, and I have nothing but respect for gerd. Neo pissed me off last year I guess it wasn`t personal I was gutted and felt crushed and was in a wrong state at the time . Bridge over the water I suppose :SMUG:

btw I`m really liking Napoli and always had a soft spot for Real Betis. If they face my beloved Arsenal I will want Arsenal to destroy them and the next day I will feel for them. :SMUG:
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Funnily, i also was thinking about the analogy with women...
You are supposed to only love one woman...but since love is very irrational.

About two years ago i fell in love head over heels with a young colleague at work. She is almost twenty years younger than i am. I've never felt as unhappy as in that period...because i also love my wife and i don't want to hurt her. So what did i have to do...i am not the type of person who can have a wife and a mistress...my wife would know i have a mistress before i even realize it myself. In the end i decided to sabotage myself...i "confided" in a friend who i was almost sure had a soft spot for the same colleague...it worked wonderfully for me...They are a couple now and have a baby together and i'm happy with my wife...what i did was very unorthodox, but i turned out fine...

I am not supposed to love two different women, but don't come and tell me i can't love different football clubs...


PS: oh my god, what a post...i am ashamed...i just described my midlife crisis...they really exist you know.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Well it makes sense how you fought w/ the notion of loving 2 . All you did is wat your doing w your clubs keeping a close eye on both . That where i find it hard to do emotionally getting invovle my soul camt be arse to do really. So, your post has enlighten me more than you could imagine. I fully understand how you could care for more than 1 club.

I couldnt even entertain the notion..... in my mind i wud do her in then say Cheers but it would never workout btw us. She then wud think im a proper nob and stay clear away from me. But! The memories will be there until the next bird on the wire :P gerd ur a gentlemen your mid-life led you to do missionary work lol i might br guilty of missionary style i pray i dont
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

cfdh_edmundo said:
I don't really see what personal insults like this achieve. There is a general conversation about supporting more than one team, some people seem to think it's normal (e.g. gerd), others (e.g. me, bebo, possibly domenic don't), if you don't want to participate in the discussion fine, but why post such words when it really adds nothing ?
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My apologies, in hindsight, it was unneccesary. I can't personally attest to supporting several different clubs but I have family and friends who do, so I'm used to being around people who have split loyalties and it's never been a major issue for me.

When you look at it, even supporting a single football team is probably irrational. The euphoria after a win never equals the opposite feeling after a loss. We spend most of our time moaning about our club, and everything that is wrong with it.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Btw, where did this Maxi Moralez guy come from? He makes Giovinco look like a giant!
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

That's him of course and yeah like Giovinco, he's a midget. A very talented midget that is. ;)
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

gerd said:
Funnily, i also was thinking about the analogy with women...
You are supposed to only love one woman...but since love is very irrational.

About two years ago i fell in love head over heels with a young colleague at work. She is almost twenty years younger than i am. I've never felt as unhappy as in that period...because i also love my wife and i don't want to hurt her. So what did i have to do...i am not the type of person who can have a wife and a mistress...my wife would know i have a mistress before i even realize it myself. In the end i decided to sabotage myself...i "confided" in a friend who i was almost sure had a soft spot for the same colleague...it worked wonderfully for me...They are a couple now and have a baby together and i'm happy with my wife...what i did was very unorthodox, but i turned out fine...

I am not supposed to love two different women, but don't come and tell me i can't love different football clubs...


PS: oh my god, what a post...i am ashamed...i just described my midlife crisis...they really exist you know.
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Woah gerd! Credit to you for telling us this very personal story!
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

lo zio said:
..... and even in his short time at inter he has tried different solutions (he's also tried a 4 men defensive line, didn't he?).
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not talking only about the formation but playing a high defensive line for example, we're just not suited to it. We ought to, but we aren't. That being the case Gasp should've cut that shit out from day one once official games started. And to me it didn't look like Gasp was like "fuck it, i'm out anyway", i think he was sincere in his efforts.

lo zio said:
but gasperini didn't need to see that. he already knew that. he's a professional coach, and, working everyday with inter players, he had a very clear perspective of the situation.
so since he knew the team would have disappointed with any defensive setup, he probably thought "what the hell, if i gotta go down, i'm gonna go down playing MY football (or at least trying to)" can u blame him for that? i can't.
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yeah you can. you got to show you can be flexible and adapt to changing needs. Raineri has shown that otherwise its unlikely he would got to coach big sides like Juve and Roma (did I just say Roma :CONFUSE:). And what's happening now is different. We've been very unlucky last 3 games, that penalty vs Catania for example. But we're definitely more stable under Rainieri than with Gasp.

lo zio said:
of course he's gonna get another job. gasperini is a fantastic coach and this inter debacle is moratti's responsability... is branca's responsability.... any club owner in italy can see that, so there's no doubt the general consensus around gasperini hasn't changed at all. and like i said a few lines above, he's not stubborn, nor he has a rigid approach. stats don't lie here and u won't find a coach in serie a who has displayed more different formations than him.
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I'll say it again, no bg club president is going to hire Gasperini. Why would they? Presidents want a bit of yes man unless of course the manager is highly proven. Gasp has done some wonderous things but in just the space of a few months he's undone it all by insisting on a brand of football Inter is not suited to at all. What President is going to take that risk?

lo zio said:
i'm afraid mate that's just not true. coaches never just eat what's on their plate. they always ask for the ingredients they think they need.... and when the owners don't provide them those ingredients, they tend to complain... a lot (just to stick to ex-inter coaches, think of benitez, last season.... or mourinho's late months at chelsea).
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a coach requesting certain players is not an issue, but what Gasp was trying was just too much to take all at once... Too many of the old guard are still around, players like Cambiasso, Zanetti and Samuel don't press and chase, they sit back and absorb. Gasp would have to replace 8 out of 11 players to get the football he wants and thats just not happening. What Gasp should've done, especially after our abysmal showings in preseason, is just use what we had, after all we're a cash-strapped club, and after gaining the trust of the players, top brass and fans, he could then attempt to make the changes he needs to institute his football philosophy. He's not Mou or Benitez with a champions league medal behind him. You're right, presidents know next to nothing about football but thats the reality we live in. You either conform or get the hell out. Unfortunately Gasp chose the latter. No president is going to hire him based on his stint at Inter but its his own fault.

lo zio said:
benitez won some pretty prestigious trophies in his carreer, and yet he was given nothing by moratti last season. absolutely nothing.
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i think its pretty evident now that Moratti is a clueless idiot so no use trying to figure this one out.

lo zio said:
then in jannuary leonardo steps in. unlike benitez, leonardo has never won anything in his carreer... and yet he was given every player he asked for, no matter how expensive it was to sign them.
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see above :P By the way not sure if Pazzini and Rano were players Leo requested.

lo zio said:
the truth is, as a coach, u don't have to earn your president's trust.... it was that very same president who chose u... he was the one who picked u, so now it's his obligation to put u in the best conditions to do your job.
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that's how it should be but it isn't. Unless you're stupid rich like Real or Barcelona. And this is especially true in Italy last 2/3 seasons.


lo zio said:
of course u might say "yeah but moratti wasn't really excited by gasperini... it was more of a branca's decision".... and that's probably true.... but it doesn't change the fact that moratti is the club owner and the president... it's his signature on the contracts... this is moratti's club, not branca's club. so he's responsible for signing gasperini. moratti knew gasperini's signature is a high tempo football, he knew gasperini needs dynamic players with enough quality to keep the ball on the ground and at least 2 wingers. moratti also knew inter had none of those... and yet he decided not to commit himself (financially) to gasperini's project.
well this was the obvious result of moratti's mistakes. and that's exactly what he deserves.
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Don't get me wrong, ultimate blame lies with Moratti. But Gasp deserves some blame to. Soon as the transfer window closed it should've been back to business. No one had faith in the back 3. We don't have wingers. So why 3-4-3?? No one is going to hire this guy.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

what was wrong with Serie A today? five of six matches finished goalless (congrats to Bologna - the only team managed to score :P) and that's really rare to me.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Yeah what a week for Milan! :LOL: It's like the rest of the league stalled a round.

Waiting for some Serie A defensive league talks after the very low goals this round. Not on this forum though.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

come backs always seem to hurt more ! Lazio is that the famous Eagle from the Roman Empire or is that Hollywood history :LOL: commentators saying they haven`t won vs Roma over 2,000 years . Jesus was 12 at the time I think :SMUG:
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

What do you guys think? Dive by Brocchi? There was contact and Kjaer seemed to know he was going to get sent off, but I think Brocchi looked a little weird by the way he fell.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

14 goals in 10 matches... wow, that's strange - revival of good old catenaccio or what happened?

btw: i like the way klose is having success at lazio. glad to see that he is still an a-class striker !! :)
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Milanista said:
What do you guys think? Dive by Brocchi? There was contact and Kjaer seemed to know he was going to get sent off, but I think Brocchi looked a little weird by the way he fell.
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Brocchi sure dramatized the fall but Kjaer did grab his arm, so its a penalty.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

rfu said:
Don't get me wrong, ultimate blame lies with Moratti. But Gasp deserves some blame to. Soon as the transfer window closed it should've been back to business. No one had faith in the back 3. We don't have wingers. So why 3-4-3?? No one is going to hire this guy.
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like i said before the fact that a coach has no problems finding a job tells nothing about his skills. amateurs like redknapp or leonardo would certainly find a job much easier than real professionals like rossi, zaccheroni and del neri (just to mention a few currently unemployed italian coaches).
anyway mate, look, u asked my opinion... well that is my opinion.
there's no "back to business" for this inter team.... there will be no business at all for inter until moratti will hire a new team director and start investing on the club again.

this current situation has nothing to do with coaches or formations. blaming gasperini for getting back to the 3 men defensive line would only make sense if ranieri's back 4 would have done any better than gasperini's defensive line. but, as ranieri's results undenyably proved, that was not the case.
so blaming the defensive tactical setup for gasperini's inter poor performances is just not reasonable, because FACTS proved that with inter's good old defensive setup, your performances have been just as poor......... this is what i wrote 10 days ago...
bottom line, in 3 matches ranieri's 4 men defensive line conceded 6 goals... that's an average of 2 goals conceded per match.
so at this point we can definitely say gasperini was right! it was not a tactical problem. the real issue was not the defensive setup and the 3 men line, as the 4 men defensive setup is not doing any better.
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... well let me update that stat. now it's 4 games.... and 8 goals conceded. your 2 goals conceded per game ratio hasn't changed at all..... and now it's 1 month since ranieri was hired (and since inter got back to its "reliable" 4 men defensive line).
theese numbers just speak for themselves. if u think the gasperini's 3-4-3 was the problem, the only thing i have to do to prove my point is to refresh that "goals conceded" stat.

and please mate, don't talk about bad luck or questionable referee calls. that's just cheap. yeah, sure inter did have some bad luck against napoli.... but an undeserved penalty and a harsh red card might justify a 2-1 loss in napoli.... NOT A 0-3 LOSS IN SAN SIRO!!!!
u can actually try and blame it on the ref when u lose a tight game against opponents which are on your same level...... but u didn't face any top team.... u didn't face milan, manchester utd or juve. u faced napoli, cska and catania... and u managed to concede 7 goals against those 3 opponents! u just can't hide yourself behind bad luck.... i mean, what are we talking about?... 4 consecutive unlucky games?..... 8 consecutive unlucky goals?? do u think anyone could buy such a lame excuse?

i saw inter against catania this week. inter were absolutely horrible. u were on an away fixture, u were leading by a goal and yet u managed to concede 2 goals on the counter..... against catania, wich is famous for its deadly counters!
have u seen the UNBELIEVABLE mistakes samuel and lucio have committed lately. i know serie c defenders who can defend better than that! and that was inter's mighty back four playing against catania.... and u can't even blame it on ranocchia (as u usually do :P ) as he wasn't even playing.

after watching such unacceptable performances from that 4-4-2, any conversation about gasperini's stubborness and his "unappropriate" 3 men defensive line makes just no sense.
i'm telling u rfu, u could have a 5 men defensive line, u could actually field 14 players on the pitch.... it still wouldn't make a difference. this inter team is finished!!!

and mind u, i'm not saying the players are finished. this inter team has some world class players, who are still on the prime (and some others over their prime but not finished yet)...... but they can't play together anymore. it just doesn't work anymore. there's no drive, no enthusiasm, no commitment, and without that, there's no formation that can save u from failing, no tactical setup that can give u balance.
one of the things that impressed me the most about the catania game is that the players don't talk to each others aymore... and that's crazy, especially when u consider how many vocal leaders this inter team has (cambiasso, zanetti, lucio, julio cesar)... they don't call markings, don't call any line shift... nothing. and that really speaks volumes.

what inter needs is not a coach who plays a 4 men defensive line. inter needs a team director who knows when to sell his players and where to find his replacements.

if u think about it, it's not like this came out of nowhere. last season should have taught moratti what this team needed.
infact this situation was so predictable that even 2 outsiders with no football knowledge (like u and me) were able to see it coming.
u remember that conversation we had back in july?
me 2 days after gasperini was hired said:
gasperini is not a good short term coach. he needs time to deploy his football. his football is very high paced, it's bold, it's based on possession and quick passing game...... and this really doesn't sound like inter. that's why i said a lot will depend on moratti's approach. if moratti will suppport gasperini and get him the players he asks, then i can see gaspa having on inter the same impact allegri had on milan..... otherwise it will be impossible for gasperini to do his magic without more quality and pace at midfield and along the flanks (gaspa's football relies a lot on the wingbacks).
............ let's just hope moratti will sign him the players he needs. if that happens i can see this becoming the beginning of a new cycle for inter. otherwise this will turn out to be a wasted chance, coz, like u said, this current inter squad really isn't suited for gasperini's football.
having a football teacher like gaspa and not letting him do his magic would be a real shame.
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u agreed with me on this back in june.... so why are u surprised by what happened? why should u change your mind on gasperini? what happened is exactly what we said it would have happened had moratti not given gasperini the players he needed.

let me just add one last argument to my point. u don't buy a ferrari and then complain because it sucks too much gas or because it's not confy enough or green enough. u want a green car? get a prius. u want a confy ride? get a range rover.
if u buy a ferrari and then express your disappointment because "u wanted a confy economic car".... then i'm sorry u are just an apocalyptic idiot (i'm not referring to u here, of course. moratti is the idiot i'm talking about;) ). the same goes, if u hire gasperini and then complain because he plays a 3-4-3.

all coaches are different. as a club owner, u choose them according to what u want for your team. if u're looking for balance, for a solid team wich rarely "wins in style" but also rarely loses, then capello is your man. or ranieri, or giampaolo, or mazzarri.
but if u hire any of those coaches and then pretend them to play a different kind of football, a football wich is not their trademark... if u ask capello to display some high tempo football, a fancy passing game and to design beautiful schemes, then u're just nuts. capello is a world class coach, but that's just not his game.
the same way if u hire gasperini and then pretend him to play capello's football, you're completely out of your mind.

u don't buy a range rover if u wanna have a fan day at the track and u don't buy a ferrari to drive your children to school. and most importantly, if u do such a mistake, u shouldn't blame the car for not meeting your needs. u should blame yourself for buying the wrong car. plain and simple.
 
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Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

kanoutè said:
what was wrong with Serie A today? five of six matches finished goalless (congrats to Bologna - the only team managed to score ) and that's really rare to me.
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indeed this really was a crazy week! i can't tell for sure, but i believe many records were beated this week.
has there ever been a week with 5 draws in serie a?
has there ever been a week with 5 0-0?
has there ever been a week with less goals than 14?
if i had to guess, i'd say that not even in the "dark age of catenaccio" (70s and 80s) we saw such results. i'm actually quite curious about it.
bebo said:
come backs always seem to hurt more ! Lazio is that the famous Eagle from the Roman Empire or is that Hollywood history commentators saying they haven`t won vs Roma over 2,000 years . Jesus was 12 at the time I think
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:LOL: btw , that's a nice trivia for u guys. do u know who was the last lazio coach to guide the biancocelesti to a win in the roman derby?? (i mean until sunday)
little help? take a look at my avatar and make an educated guess :SMOKIN:

sorry for the double post, but the first one was already long enough as it was and i didn't wanna mix different topics of conversation :))
 
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Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Yup last one was Delio Rossi and I'm curious about those stats too. I doubt all those things together have happened before.

p.s. I hadn't realized, Inter bought Andrea Poli this summer!

And it's amazing that Palombo is playing in Serie B, isn't it?
 
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