Serie A Thread - 2014/15 Season

[PLF]

Haha yeah this is turning out to be one hell of a reunion! lol

Funny thing is it sounds like we've all kinda experienced the same thing over the past couple years which is get busy with work/life and lose interest somewhat in football and these forums.

But yeah I still log in every once in awhile and like Zeem said its pretty crazy that some of us have been around for a decade and not lost track. Imagine when it's been like 20 years!? lol

Merry Christmas and happy new year in advance! I wish you guys all a wonderful 2015!

 

[abhishek104]

It is a reunion! Hello guys, I totally forgot my earlier login details, and just happened to check the site today, and turns out, I created a new ID earlier this year.

Happy Christmas and New Years to all of you! Amazing how busy life has become for all of us, but we still check in. Almost 9 years for me!

Hope you guys have an amazing 2015!

 

[matherto]

How are Vidal and Strootman doing since they came back?

I've heard Vidal has been pretty awful this season and I know Strootman has only played a few since returning.

 

[Damjan]

Vidal hasn't been up to his usual standard but he's starting to get back to it, he scored a beauty against Cagliari.

Nainggolan has been doing very well for Roma, so they don't need to rush Strootman back into the side, that's why he hasn't been playing that much.

 

[gerd]

Totti.
That second goal!
In a Rome derby with 4 great goals, that was by far the best. What a player. Still.

 

[lo zio]

Martin! Stefano! Sina! Abhi!! this really is turning out to be a reunion!! so nice to see u all in here guys.
it's a bit late to wish u all a merry christmas, so i won't bother, but i do wish u all the best life can offer.

Ben! It has been years! Everything's fine. Had a roller coaster of a year, but i'm well. Like I said, my football interest took a hit, so did this forum.

How are you?

i'm great man. it's been a fantastic year, (except for one really awful moment). i can't even remember the last time we did some catching up, but, in case u didn't know, i got married (incredible, i know). also i quit the job at the university, coz the firm eventually absorbed pretty much all my time and energy (and i don't regret that decision one bit, as the quality of the italian education system is dropping as fast as the quality of serie a!).

speaking of the state of serie a, there couldn't be a more unchallengeable indictment than palermo's position in the table. i knew serie a sank pretty low, but i certainly didn't expect to find such a poor team as palermo in a confortable mid-table position, halfway through the season (not that i'm complaining, obviously! )
the weird (yet nice) thing is that every single club seems to have gotten worse almost simultaneously... so, even though the football is terrible, the league still remains quite balanced and competitive (for those few who still bother following it, that is).

In a Rome derby with 4 great goals, that was by far the best. What a player. Still.

yep. that was pure totti amarcord magic.

 

[Damjan]

Dybala has been amazing for you this season. As you know, Zamparini talks a lot of nonsense but he is right about Dybala.

 

[gerd]

And Palermo have a coach who is there for a year, twelve months ! Is he that good ?

 

[gomito#10]

good to see you all still in here, not sure if I caught up with ben on my trip to tuscany, amazing! The brunello!

 

[Aboutreika18]

Hey Ben, mind shedding some light on what kind of player Dybala is?

 

[Damjan]

I'm not Ben but I could try.

He's been compared to Agüero and I think that's a good comparisement to the kind of player he is. Very explosive, pacey and has a decent shot. He's probably best suited to a system with another striker, but he can play up top alone too.

 

[lo zio]

And Palermo have a coach who is there for a year, twelve months ! Is he that good ?

not really. iachini is really nothing special at all (as is our squad), but as long as the team gets it done, zamnparini can't fire him. honestly, with our players, it's a miracle palermo is so far away from the relegation battle... iachini might well be (and he probably is) a mediocre (if not crappy) coach, but given our performances this season, zamparini should build him a statue. having said that, we're still talking about zamparini.... so obviously all it takes is 2 losses in a row and he's gone

Dybala has been amazing for you this season. As you know, Zamparini talks a lot of nonsense but he is right about Dybala.

indeed. him and vasquez have been amazing so far (to my surprise). and yes, it appears zampa was right about dybala. To be honest i didn't think dybala had it in him. he struck me as the usual extremely talented southamerican player, without the resilience and the determination needed to actually develop from talented youngster to great player. Obviously he still has a long way to go, but if this season is really a sign of things to come, he might be on the right track.
also in his first 2 seasons here in italy he looked way to lightweight to handle any sort of heat from the defenders (and when i say light, i mean even for a teenager, of course), but apparently he's much stronger now.

Hey Ben, mind shedding some light on what kind of player Dybala is?

I'm not Ben but I could try.

i'd trust your opinion much more than mine, Damjan
Abou, to be honest, i can't quite say i've figured dybala out yet, because i haven't watched enough palermo games to really express an informed opinion on him. this is kinda awkward, but i must have watched just about 5 or 6 palermo matches this season (i'm a lousy fan, i know), and you know how long it usually takes me to really figure out a player. so take what i'm about to say with a pinch of salt.

i think damjan's absolutely right about dybala. the only thing i'm not sure about is the aguero comparison. U see Damjan, u said that, even though dybala might eventually develop into the kind of player who can handle a defensive line on his own, he still is (and probably will always be) best suited to a 2 men offensive line up. and i completely agree with u on this (as i consider him a supporting striker with above average finishing skills), but that's also where the aguero comparison falls short imo. aguero is a universal player, the offensive setup he's lined up in is absolutely indifferent to him; whether is a 2 men setup a trident or a lone striker line up, it doesn't make much of a difference. dybala instead seems to play at his best in a 2 men setup.

if i were to compare him to another player (although i don't much like this exercise) it would be Enrico Chiesa. I realise that most of u guys are 5 to 10 years younger than me, so many of u might not be familiar with him, but what can i say... i'm growing old guys, the fact that the only comparison i can come up with is a long retired player is a natural consequence
anyway, enrico chiesa (much like dybala) was a supporting striker who combined the skillset of a typical SS (vision and passing, technique dribbling and ball control), with the finishing, the positioning and the timing of a proper striker. that does sound like aguero indeed. but whereas aguero can handle an entire defensive line on his own, chiesa (and perhaps dybala?) always gave its best when paired with a classic cf. i think dybala might develop into this kind of player. obviously this still remains nothing but a silly comparison... chiesa was a world class player who left a mark on football history and who often stole the spotlight from the likes of batistuta, crespo, mancini and mijatovic (and u guys would probably be more familiar with him, had his carreer not been pagued by injuries), whereas dybala still falls under the "promising youngster" category. But, if he'll be motivated enough to work hard on his talent, if he'll be lucky enough and if he won't lose himself on the way, he might develop into that kind of player.

right now he's scoring for fun, but we're still only halfway through the season and his current, spectacular scoring record might well be ascribed to a great form period. anyway he does seem to find himself extremely at ease inside the box.... especially for a supporting striker.

however abou, like i already said, keep in mind i don't really follow serie a as closely as i used to and what i wrote here is a hunch, a guess, rather than an informed opinion based on regular observation. truth is, damjan (aswell as many other serie a followers) probably knows dybala much better than i do.

 

[Damjan]

The comparison to Agüero does fall short in that regard, eventhough Agüero could work in a two man striker set-up too. His sheer quality just makes it possible for him to lead the line on his own. Dybala could develop this too, I can see it in him. When Tevez leaves Juve he would be the perfect replacement. Tevez is also best suited to a two-man striker set-up, like he has now with Llorente. Llorente creates a lot of space for Tevez to thrive in.

I also disagree about Palermo's team. I personally quite like it. Muñoz and Sanchez make a very strong CB partnership. The midfield is good too with Lazaar, Baretto and Vazquez. Apart from Dybala, Belotti is an other good young striker as you know. I do wonder why Makienok doesn't play very often. He seems like the perfect type of striker to pair with Dybala because of his length and strenght.

 

[PLF]

Great example Ben! He reminds me of Chiesa as well.

Chiesa was one of my favorite players growing up! He actually often didn't get quite the credit that he deserves, at least not outside of Italy.

I still remember that brief partnership of his and Casiraghi up front for the national team.

 

[lo zio]

good to see you all still in here, not sure if I caught up with ben on my trip to tuscany, amazing! The brunello!

yep, u did. i'm glad i could be of assistance. btw did u manage to visit also Lucca and San Gimignano? i can't remember if u mentioned it in your pm.

I also disagree about Palermo's team. I personally quite like it. Muñoz and Sanchez make a very strong CB partnership. The midfield is good too with Lazaar, Baretto and Vazquez. Apart from Dybala, Belotti is an other good young striker as you know. I do wonder why Makienok doesn't play very often. He seems like the perfect type of striker to pair with Dybala because of his length and strenght.

i dunno mate. i find munoz quite mediocre, tbh. our sidebacks are unbelievably poor and don't get me started on our midfield..... how barreto is even considered good enough to play professional football baffles me. apart from sorrentino, vasquez, dybala and belotti, to me that's a serie b team.
luckily we've been overachieving so far, but many teams which occupy a worse position than ours on the table have a much better squad and much better players (such as parma, udinese, torino and sassuolo).

Great example Ben! He reminds me of Chiesa as well.

that's because u're getting old aswell! btw happy birthday buddy....i know i'm terribly late for this, but better late than ever (it was the 1st Jannuary, was it?).

as for Chiesa, i also loved him as a kid.... he was such an elegant player to watch.

 

[PLF]

He was, shame about all the injuries.....

Yeah birthday was Jan 1st, thanks You were the same or close to that no? Happy Birthday to you as well in that case.

 

[lo zio]

He was, shame about all the injuries.....

Yeah birthday was Jan 1st, thanks You were the same or close to that no? Happy Birthday to you as well in that case.

yep, thanks mate, my birthday is indeed a few days after yours (i see i'm not the only one with a good memory here )

i saw the highlights of juve's game.... man, that pogba kid is just something else.

 

[Dominic]

Haha yeah this is turning out to be one hell of a reunion! lol

Funny thing is it sounds like we've all kinda experienced the same thing over the past couple years which is get busy with work/life and lose interest somewhat in football and these forums.

But yeah I still log in every once in awhile and like Zeem said its pretty crazy that some of us have been around for a decade and not lost track. Imagine when it's been like 20 years!? lol

Merry Christmas and happy new year in advance! I wish you guys all a wonderful 2015!

Yeah, we've been in this place for more than ten years. We grew up with eve

Martin! Stefano! Sina! Abhi!! this really is turning out to be a reunion!! so nice to see u all in here guys.
it's a bit late to wish u all a merry christmas, so i won't bother, but i do wish u all the best life can offer.

i'm great man. it's been a fantastic year, (except for one really awful moment). i can't even remember the last time we did some catching up, but, in case u didn't know, i got married (incredible, i know). also i quit the job at the university, coz the firm eventually absorbed pretty much all my time and energy (and i don't regret that decision one bit, as the quality of the italian education system is dropping as fast as the quality of serie a!).

speaking of the state of serie a, there couldn't be a more unchallengeable indictment than palermo's position in the table. i knew serie a sank pretty low, but i certainly didn't expect to find such a poor team as palermo in a confortable mid-table position, halfway through the season (not that i'm complaining, obviously! )
the weird (yet nice) thing is that every single club seems to have gotten worse almost simultaneously... so, even though the football is terrible, the league still remains quite balanced and competitive (for those few who still bother following it, that is).

yep. that was pure totti amarcord magic.

You got married? O dear, Ben. What's next? Kids? Congratulations of course. Full-time lawyer now with no distractions?

I always defended the quality of serie A, but I can't judge about the state of serie A anymore, to be honest. I watch too little.

yep, u did. i'm glad i could be of assistance. btw did u manage to visit also Lucca and San Gimignano? i can't remember if u mentioned it in your pm.

Coincidentally I visited both in the summer. I did a tour of Tuscany. Some of the best views I have ever seen.

 

[lo zio]

You got married? O dear, Ben. What's next? Kids? Congratulations of course. Full-time lawyer now with no distractions?

oh, i still got plenty of distractions...... it's the time that i lack.

Coincidentally I visited both in the summer. I did a tour of Tuscany. Some of the best views I have ever seen.

u lucky bastard!

I always defended the quality of serie A, but I can't judge about the state of serie A anymore, to be honest. I watch too little.

to be honest, from the little i get to see, there's not much left to defend...... spanish-like tempo and english-like quality, not exactly an appealing combination. actually that might even be inaccurate, as premier league football quality seems to be improving each and every year.... it would be probably fair to say serie a is even below premier league on that regard.

anyway, big game tonight (that'b be napoli-palermo, obviously)... i've been trash talking through text messages with my relatives in napoli all week long, and i even got a serious bet with them going on.

 

[lo zio]

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2015/02/19/feyenoord-fans-rampage-in-rome-damage-famed-fountain_bb5912ab-37de-43b7-9e79-7f589bf4c7de.html

moments like theese almost make me feel sorry we don't have death penalty in italy....
if only there were a way to eradicate theese men from our society (or, at the very least, to sterilize them, so that they couldn't propagate their dna and raise more barbarians like them), without compromising the most basic principles of a civilized society, i'd be all for it.

anyway, what really surprises me is that we haven't heard about any incident between roman ultras and theese scumbags!!! How did that happen?? so often, the day after a european fixture in roma, we hear about some poor foreigner stabbed or beated by a group of crazy rage-filled roman ultras..... so my question is: were are your crazy violent roman ultras when u need them??
not that i approve such violence, of course (infact i've been very vocal against italian violent ultras on many occasions)... but i have to be honest, i believe right now i would feel a little less angry if i'd hear on tv that one of the hooligans who damaged bernini's fountain died.
it doesn't have to be an ultras incident either..... i'll take anything... a cardiac arrest, a car accident, ebola, a voodoo curse, a bolt of lightning struck by Zeus.... just let me hear one of theese scumbags is no longer breathing!!

i know this must be a horrible thing to read, and i apologise to those who might feel disturbed by my thoughts here, but what can i say, if i somehow could chose between the lives of all the animals who caused such destruction in roma this week, and having bernini's fountain whole again.... i would gladly watch them die (and i wouldn't lose any sleep over it!).
i guess it's a good thing i'm not a god! (and i'm definitely not a good christian either! )

 

[bebo]

Roma is a very very old city. My son major is History and minor in pre-law ( sophomore)He and a few class mate are planning a trip to Rome in the near future among other place Greece is the other place. I can't imagine the disappointment the Ppl are feeling to see a senseless act to a almost damageing part of History. That wasn't an act from war ,weather and so on. As for the Christian part the bible states No one is good, only God! I take it by nature we are naturally evil, so our battle is to aim to be good. Love your neighbours as you love yourself etc. I think your re- actions are normal to a abnormal situation.


At least this is getting coverage and the mayor's involvement can make positive actions. Ppl will unify to end senseless vandalism . We can only hope!

 

[lo zio]

At least this is getting coverage and the mayor's involvement can make positive actions. Ppl will unify to end senseless vandalism . We can only hope!

yep. sadly though nothing can undo the damage caused to the barcaccia. that fountain was hardly the most impressive sculpture by bernini, but anything carved by bernini is absolutely priceless.
the fountain had just been restored by master sculptors and it took 10 months of crazy work to bring it back to its original beauty.
i would gladly chop the co*k off those bastards who had the audacity to piss on it.... and i'd come up with much more sophisticated forms of torture for those who damaged it.

to give u an idea of why this is such a big deal, i would strongly encourage u guys to watch this fantastic documentary BBC made years ago on the life and the work of GianLorenzo Bernini. The man is for sculpture what maradona is for football. a crazy badass who also happened to be the greatest talent in the history of sculpture.

http://www.disclose.tv/action/viewvideo/155411/Power_of_Art_2_Bernini/

it doesn't matter if u're not into art... unless u're an emotionless robot, u can't watch bernini's work without feeling something shaking inside your gut. besides, he also had quite the adventurous life.
bernini's life is a story of drama, passion, astonishing successes and terrible failures. there's violence, love, intrigue, adultery and finally, redemption. it's almost as if his life came right out of the pen of a master novelist.... and of course, as in any proper story, there's a rival, a nemesis as brilliant as the hero himself (although one might argue bernini was the bad guy, rather than the hero).
anyway, just watch that documentary. Hollywood (surprisingly) hasn't made a movie on his life (yet), so that'll have to do.

 

[gerd]

Scum, Ben, scum.

 

[bebo]

What a gol, beauty!! Pirlo

 

[PIPA23]

seems like Parma are in big troubles now :/

maybe they won´t even finish this season

 

[ss4_goku]

I like Parma...really good in the 90s, too bad there were lots of debts that just killed off Parmalat and then crazy debts now. How did it get so worst? Don't think anyone can come save them now...Its actually a very sad state for Italian football with all the bankruptcies and corruption. Really ruined it from the 90s when everyone was looking towards Italy as the best league in the world.

 

[gerd]

He's one of the countless players that never got a decent chance from Mourinho. Cuadrado will be the next in that long line.

 

[lo zio]

in mourinho's defense though, top club coaches usually have less room for experimentation. but yeah, the kid is having quite an impact in firenze.

I like Parma...really good in the 90s, too bad there were lots of debts that just killed off Parmalat and then crazy debts now. How did it get so worst? Don't think anyone can come save them now.

yeah, the future looks bleak for parma. it's a shame, really. such a great club, and yet they have been quite unlucky with their owners; first tanzi in the '90s (that bastard who almost bankrupted the club and parmalat) and now ghirardi.... i gotta say i didn't see it coming. Ghirardi seemed a legit businessman.
i can't believe i'm saying this, but this almost makes me reconsider my feelings towards zamparini: he's a nutcase, an arrogant, ignorant buffon with an ego so big, it makes mourinho look like a character from a dickens novel... but at least i'm sure he'll never compromise the club's financial health.

 

[lo zio]

Berardi, what a man! Did it again and beat Milan on his own with a hattrick.

30 goals in 59 Serie A matches, dunno how much he will wait for Juve to take him back.

yep, really impressive stuff. is he on loan or is it a co-ownership deal?
also when is the deal going to expire? this summer?

 

[Godotelli]

Here is today’s question. Why is it that whatever is good for the two Milan clubs also happens to be what is best for football, according to UEFA? Ever wondered that? Whatever the Milan clubs want, they get. When they wanted FFP, in it came; now they want more financial freedom, they get that, too.

Don’t be mistaken. The relaxation of UEFA’s wrecking ball regulation is a mighty positive for football, particularly if it ensures that, from here, owner investment must be a gift. UEFA should also consider simultaneously closing loopholes such as Roman Abramovich’s £1billion loan to Fordstam, the company through which he owns Chelsea. This would prevent another Portsmouth from occurring.

Yet there are plenty of clubs and recent developments that could be cited as highlighting the need for change in FFP rules. Bayern Munich’s stockpiling of the best domestic talent in Germany; the summer plundering of Southampton; nine consecutive title wins for BATE Borisov in Belarus; the failure to find a buyer for Everton; the fine of roughly £50m for Manchester City, despite their wonderful regeneration project in east Manchester.

Yet the name that is said to have provoked this rethink at UEFA is that of AC Milan. Silvio Berlusconi wants to sell his club, but can’t, because a new owner would need to spend heavily to move Milan from midtable torpor, and UEFA rules do not allow that. So now it’s all change.

When Platini introduced FFP, he cited the wishes of the club bosses as high on his list of considerations. ‘It is mainly the owners who asked us to do something,’ he said before the Champions League draw in 2009. ‘Abramovich, Berlusconi and Massimo Moratti at Inter. They do not want to fork out any more.’

Not much of a philosophy, then, was it? I don’t want to spend my money, so you can’t either. I’ve got what I want, so let’s just pull up this drawbridge.

Abramovich, we know, was a turncoat. Having bought his way into the elite, he crossed the floor because he didn’t want other new owners matching his spending power and challenging Chelsea’s supremacy. These are the principles that Jose Mourinho now espouses as if they are (a) noble and (b) his own.

For Berlusconi and Moratti, however, it was different. Their clubs were part of the establishment, but maintaining that status with men like Abramovich around was becoming a huge financial drain. Tie spending power to revenue and that was the problem solved, they thought. The new owners from the east would be shackled and the status quo maintained.

What they had not anticipated was the parlous financial state of Italian football. Poor matchday revenues, underdeveloped commercial opportunities with many clubs not owning their stadiums and a TV deal which paled into insignificance beside the sums on offer in England and Spain. Suddenly committed to spending what they earned, the influence of the Milanese clubs collapsed.

In 2012, AC Milan sold their two best players, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva, and the current squad is a pale imitation of the glory days. Inter were largely jettisoned by Moratti in 2013 — he retained a stake of 28.1 per cent — but new owner Erick Thohir has been unable to move forward, saddled with the demands of FFP and huge debt.

So now the protectionist, exclusionist plan A has failed to work, the Milan clubs have advanced plan B: back to the future. The principles they demanded threatened to ruin the pair of them. But, don’t worry, they’ve got some new ones over here.

That is likely to be the stance of the English elite, too. They will need to find a fresh position on the moral high ground, because the old sermons won’t convince any more.

Financial Fair Play, we were so often told, came from a desire to prevent another implosion such as the one at Portsmouth or Leeds United. That is why Manchester City should be banned from Europe, or, as Mourinho suggested, docked points.

Yet if UEFA rules now prevent owners or third parties from loaning clubs huge sums of money — and then just as airily demanding arbitrary repayment — these financial catastrophes will no longer be possible.

So what will be the case for FFP then? The elite will be forced into the open to admit it is not Portsmouth who are being protected, but the financial and political supremacy of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool or Arsenal. David Gill, former chief executive of United, was among those who helped frame FFP. Amazingly, what was best for the European game appeared to correspond precisely with what was best for his old club. It was the same for Karl-Heinz Rummenigge at Bayern Munich, too.

But not for the rest of Europe. As Arsene Wenger pointed out yesterday, the Premier League’s new television deal is the other vehicle for change, terrifying the continent with its enormity. If English clubs have so much additional revenue then they can spend accordingly and blow their rivals away. This was always a complication.

In FFP terms, one size could never fit all. How can clubs be tethered to turnover if Barcelona and Real Madrid’s television deal is constructed in an entirely different way from that of the rest of Europe?

How can clubs all work under the same financial regulation when each country has different laws on, for instance, taxation — meaning at one stage it would have cost Paris Saint-Germain roughly 30 per cent more to pay Wayne Rooney the same salary he earns at Manchester United.

How can there be one rule for a league that routinely receives forms of state aid, when others do not? The only way FFP could ever have been fair was if UEFA took into account the variables in different domestic competitions, and addressed issues of wealth distribution in the Champions League.

Once the size of the Premier League’s television deal became apparent, however, it was plain that parts of continental Europe were simply going to become uncompetitive. Milan, for example. Now those clubs are back in the game, and so are a lot of others — which is just as it should be.

So Platini got the right result, eventually, but perhaps for the wrong reasons. Next time, he shouldn’t try so hard to please the entitled elite. ‘It’s not easy,’ said Wenger of FFP yesterday. ‘There are very intelligent people at UEFA who have worked for a few years now on that problem.’ Really? They should have worked harder then.

Any negative that can be seen from eight years out by a bloke with an E grade maths O level sitting in his front room, really shouldn’t have been too much for Europe’s brains trust to compute. Fair play didn’t have to be rocket science; it just had to be fair.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...g-football-finally-seen-it.html#ixzz3bKJ5gpHq