Serie A Thread - 2014/15 Season

Re: Serie A Thread - 2013/14 Season

Mertens will share left wing spot with Insigne, season is long and they will alternate a lot since Napoli is going to play over 45 matches this season.
I also knew Benitez assigned left wing spot to him, but later Insigne played a great EURO U21 and did that nice goal (see my previous post) so he took back his spot.
Can he play on the right wing? If yes, he can be also used as Callejon backup.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2013/14 Season

I am another one who is very disappointed in Roma's transfer dealings this summer. :(

Initially when the American with Italian background took over, I was excited but after a couple years, I can see that original hype was unwarranted.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2013/14 Season

Napoli its team that im looking forward to see this season , and I think I'll watch most of their games if they dont play at same time as Liverpool or there isnt a very very big match going on at same time.

I think Juve and Napoli are favorites for Serie a but Inter look good too this season , Fiorentina are very strong and Milan its Milan , Roma are good too and than are teams like Lazio and Udinese , I except this season to be very very interesting , for Scudetto but also CL spot and Europa League ones , I'm gonna follow serie a match mostly after EPL ones !
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2013/14 Season

Yeah for almost the whole of the next two months, there is at least one potentially great game between very good teams (or maybe "evenly matched-up contest" is a better phrase) per week:

Sat 14/09/13 Inter 17:00 Juventus
Sun 22/09/13 Roma 14:00 Lazio
Sun 22/09/13 Milan 19:45 Napoli
Wed 25/09/13 Sampdoria 19:45 Roma
Thu 26/09/13 Inter 19:45 Fiorentina
Sat 28/09/13 Genoa 17:00 Napoli
Sat 28/09/13 Milan 19:45 Sampdoria
Sat 05/10/13 Inter 19:45 Roma
Sun 06/10/13 Juventus 19:45 Milan
Sun 06/10/13 Lazio 19:45 Fiorentina
Sat 19/10/13 Roma 17:00 Napoli
Sun 20/10/13 Fiorentina 14:00 Juventus

In each of these it's pretty hard to say who the winner will be, espeically when you factor in home/away team and which teams have a CL fixture just before or just after some of those matches.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2013/14 Season

I must admit I find what the management team running Roma behind the scenes puzzling.

I thought they were planning to challenge for the Scudetto and that they would have the financial backing in order to build as a team.

All these decisions lo zio do make sense financially but not in terms of building a side or winning silverware which is what the tifosi ultimately want.

So long as Juventus don't win I don't mind.....:P
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2013/14 Season

ALBICELESTE2010 said:
I must admit I find what the management team running Roma behind the scenes puzzling.

I thought they were planning to challenge for the Scudetto and that they would have the financial backing in order to build as a team.

All these decisions lo zio do make sense financially but not in terms of building a side or winning silverware which is what the tifosi ultimately want.
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yep. the only good news is destro will have better chances to play in his natural position now :))
gerd said:
. I like Serie A but find it hard the watch live matches because of a lack of context. I always watch the English live matches because i can watch Match of the Day, so i know all teams, see them every week and then if a team like Cardiff is shown live against Sunderland because i'm familiar with those teams, their players, recent form and some stories around the match. If at the same moment Fiorentina and Napoli are playing each other i will go for Cardiff-Sunderland because of a lack of context (knowing very well that both Fiorentina and Napoli are much better teams than both English teams i mentioned).
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yeah i perfectly understand your point here. there's almost no point in covering a league if u don't provide some tv shows to supply some context.
sky italia is going nuts this season. they're covering every league u might be interested in (serie a, bundi, epl, liga, ligue 1,the dutch ligue), showing almost every game in those leagues every week... and they also have several shows dedicated to each league: every league has its own weekly highlights show, its own week end matchups preview show and then there is also mondo gol, wich is a weekly talk show wich catches u up with the main talking points about the major european leagues (kinda like the guardian podcast, but with also highlights).
it's the wet dream of any football addict..... but it's also a serious threat to your marriage, hobbies and personal life :P
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2013/14 Season

But European football has been moved to Fox Sports in Italy. I know Sky is part of Fox, but I think there's only one Fox channel.

I kind of agree with gerd, I always watch MOTD, that's why I know the Premier League. But I also watch a lot of Serie A. If there was an Italian equivalent to MOTD, I'd know more, but overall I think I know a lot about Serie A. Same case for La Liga and Ligue 1.

I watch Sportschau too, German equivalent to MOTD. I have a massive dish, which is why I also have British, German and Italian Sky channels, but their highlight shows are always at the wrong time imo. What's good about MOTD is that they don't have commercials. Can't say I'm a big fan of their pundits though, like last week, they had Robbie Savage and Michael Owen. That was really awful.

To catch up with La Liga and Ligue 1, I watch highlights on their Youtube channels, which have a lot of content. Serie A seem to have a good account but their videos are restricted to Italy only.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2013/14 Season

Sometimes Clarence Seedorf is on MOTD, he is their best pundit imo.
I do like Alan hansen, but he will not renew his contract after 2014.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2013/14 Season

I only use SopCast to watch everything , and I'm loving it , great quality and there are most of big teams live , EPL ones goes offline fast so you must start 10-20 minutes before match start , serie a ones are online always , also La Liga ones , Bundesliga they only show big teams (bayern,BVB) or when any other derby match its on , so far I want to keep up with Liverpool (EPL match's in general I really enjoy it) matchs , Napoli , Dortmund , maybe sometimes Athletico Madrid or Real Madrid ones from spain and in general any strong match from any league.

lo zio said:
it's the wet dream of any football addict..... but it's also a serious threat to your marriage, hobbies and personal life :P
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my "friend" came to see me from USA , she had to stay 11 days and had to leave on august 24 her airplane was at 9pm , since Liverpool had to play vs Aston Villa at 6:30pm I took her at airport at 5pm and left her there coz I have to back home see match, she wasn't happy about it but hey I had to do it :LOL: also this sunday me and my friends plane to go somewhere in mountain and do grill but later than I recognize that its big match Liverpool vs United so I had to tell them I'm not coming and other friend United fan told same so we have to cancel it :(
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2013/14 Season

Why didn't you just have the barbecue at your place and watch the match together? :P

And sometimes I use Sopcast too, because the TV hooked up to the dish is downstairs and I obviously can't watch anything I want.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2013/14 Season

Guys, although Roma had a rough summer, I don't think I've seen such a united squad since Spalletti.

Garcia is awesome in interviews - he's the new Petkovic. All the pundits seem to love his sense of humour and his down-to-earth manner.

Don't underestimate the team, as De Rossi looks a little bit reborn and the squad has some very determined players pushing for a WC spot. I watched their last 2 games, and goddamn - when they succeed in the counter, they end up with plenty of 3 v 1s! It's crazy attacking football. I think Fiorentina won't be as great as last year, because Roma will take their spot as the entertaining team of the year.

The way Napoli are playing right now, they look like a 'Euro' team. Perfect structure, hunger, and plenty of goals. I'm a strong believer of 4 at the back and Rafa is doing it. Hamsik is playing like a player going for Ballon d'Or - I think his consistency in the last 4 years is proof that this player is on a different level of most of Serie A. The best thing about it is that he loves the club and ADL is great at holding onto his stars.
 
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Re: Serie A Thread - 2013/14 Season

I've said it before and I'll say it again: If Roma trust Rudi Garcia enough to let him have his way with the team, they'll surely be title contenders.

Like Moyes he doesn't realize the size or the popularity of the team he's managing ATM and made a mistake by allowing Lamela to leave, the difference here is that Garcia knew what he was doing and privileged the team unity over individuals which seems to be working.
I hope he sticks to this this philosophy and stay true to himself and doesn't allow others to influence him like Strama did last year, otherwise what seems to be a promising start could end-up in a disaster situation.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2013/14 Season

gerd said:
Sometimes Clarence Seedorf is on MOTD, he is their best pundit imo.
I do like Alan hansen, but he will not renew his contract after 2014.
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But Seedorf isn't on the Premier League MOTD is he? Only ever seen him a few times during the 2010 World Cup.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2013/14 Season

Damjan said:
Why didn't you just have the barbecue at your place and watch the match together? :P

And sometimes I use Sopcast too, because the TV hooked up to the dish is downstairs and I obviously can't watch anything I want.
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we did watch match together but we did in a pub where LFC fans usually watch matchs. inside the pub there were like 40 LFC supporters inside , out side same around 40 man utd supporters , I was out since three of my friends were united supporters :D
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2013/14 Season

Milanista said:
Guys, although Roma had a rough summer, I don't think I've seen such a united squad since Spalletti.

Garcia is awesome in interviews - he's the new Petkovic. All the pundits seem to love his sense of humour and his down-to-earth manner.
Click to expand...

I'm a big fan of Rudi Garcia.

My issue is with the president and ownership. When the American-Italian took over, he seemed ambitious and claimed he wants Roma to challenge for the title.

Fast forward 2 years and his transfer dealings suggest that was all BS. What is his vision for Roma and the goal now? To battle Udinese for 7th spot?

Roma should be challenging for a CL place at the very least but may well have to settle for a Europa League spot IF that.

I have no issue with accepting a huge offer for a young defender like Marquinhos. Anyone with good business sense would have done the same as it was simply too much money to refuse. BUT you then have to show 'ambition' and send a signal to others by also investing that money into high profile signings. As it is, Roma sold Osvaldo, Lamela AND Marquinhos and brought in Gervinho.

Oh well, all this means is that I have to take over Roma in FIFA 14 when it comes out and shape them into Serie A challengers in Career mode. ;)
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2013/14 Season

LFC Albania said:
we did watch match together but we did in a pub where LFC fans usually watch matchs. inside the pub there were like 40 LFC supporters inside , out side same around 40 man utd supporters , I was out since three of my friends were united supporters :D
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That sounds really cool. :))
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2013/14 Season

Rudy Garcia is once again proving what a fantastic coach he is...Roma's fantastic start is a huge surprise to me.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2013/14 Season

Just read that Zamparini fired Gattuso as Palermo coach after barely 6 matches...can some doctor collocate Zamparini, please ?

He is destroying my favourite Italian club.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2013/14 Season

gerd said:
Rudy Garcia is once again proving what a fantastic coach he is...Roma's fantastic start is a huge surprise to me.
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It's been good but I would get carried away just yet. Apart from Lazio on Sunday their matches so far have not been against the strongest teams in Serie A. With all due respect to Hellas, Parma and Livorno I think most top 6 clubs in Italy (or clubs that harbour ambitions of being in the top 6) would hope they would win against those teams. Even in the Lazio match there were times when Roma struggled to break them down and it took a strike of genius (or luck) for Balzaretti to break the deadlock. It was only when Andre Dias was sent off (for a very marginal call) that Roma were really able to expose Lazio.

I think we'll know more about them, and Rudy Garcia, by mid October when they will have faced Sampdoria (away), Inter and Napoli.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2013/14 Season

Roma won last match away vs Sampdoria with one player down from minute 50 (they were 0-0 at time) .... now after just 30 min they are wining 3-0....
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2013/14 Season

inter will be the first real benchmark this matchday
if roma can keep up the good work vs the ball and keep the overall shape of the team, the distances between the lines..
they'll win again
inter wants/forced to play counters, this year roma is way better to defend counters

totti so far has more overall scorerpoints than matchdays, still running strong
still some of the stats(whoscored) world class, one is even reaching nr.1 like last years
 
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Re: Serie A Thread - 2013/14 Season

Woah, spectacular performance. Amazing counter attacking, great defending, and finally, fantastic Francesco Totti. He just gets better and better.

100% Rudi Garcia.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2013/14 Season

Well this was apparently the first true test for Roma, they passed it with flying colours. Rudi Garcia is one hell of a coach.
 
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