Serie A Thread - 2014/15 Season

[lo zio]

Re: Serie A Thread

well, about the milito-barzagli comparison, they're both great players, so i guess it's mostly about personal likes. Moreover, being a palermo supporter, i guess i'm not so objective and neutral :mrgreen:
but still barzagli already knows our football so if i were alessio secco (juve manager) i would prefere to pick him.

i totally agree with u about serie a's managers (zamparini too , bovo's situation and corini. as u correctly said, he just asked for a "thank you" :applause:
here in palermo there was almost a revolution when the club decided to get rid of him.

I can't however see why you are complaining about the fact that none of the bigger clubs than Palermo has yet picked up Barzagli or Zaccardo though.

Surely, you at least, should be happy about it for now.

you're right mate, and actually i would be very happy if they would stay here.... but i also feel for them, coz they truly deserve the most important scenario europe can offer (champions league), and i don't think palermo will be able to bring them them there

now i really have to go..... if i won't be in mondello in 5 minutes my girlfriend will kill me :lol:

 

[Dominic]

Re: Serie A Thread

The thing you said about so many of Italy's finest younger generation defenders being stuck at Non-top clubs is so true. Yet they're not being chased or given enough chances and their clubs are buying foreigners like Andrade and Boumsong.

.

What about Chiellini and Criscito? Both are quite likely to feature a lot, if not most of the time in Juve's defence the upcoming season. Ranieri doesn't rate Barzagli that highly(that's what I read anyway, Secco would've gone for Barzagli, but Ranieri isn't a fan of his), and the club is putting their faith in a more talented and much younger defender.

 

[lo zio]

Re: Serie A Thread

What about Chiellini and Criscito?

you're right about chiellini (about criscito, we still have to see if juve will keep him rather than loan him... ), but this is also due to juventus peculiar situation. i mean, if there wouldn't have been the moggigate (such a funny word :lol, with thuram, cannavaro and zambrotta in their roster, do u think chiellini and criscito would be juve players by now?

Secco would've gone for Barzagli, but Ranieri isn't a fan of his

like i said many times before, i love Ranieri... and being a palermo supporter, after reading this, i love him even more :mrgreen:

 

[PLF]

Re: Serie A Thread

lol

What about Chiellini and Criscito? Both are quite likely to feature a lot, if not most of the time in Juve's defence the upcoming season. Ranieri doesn't rate Barzagli that highly(that's what I read anyway, Secco would've gone for Barzagli, but Ranieri isn't a fan of his), and the club is putting their faith in a more talented and much younger defender.

That's why I said, many and not ALL, in my previous post when talking about younger generation of promising Italian defenders, Don.

 

[Dominic]

Re: Serie A Thread

you're right about chiellini (about criscito, we still have to see if juve will keep him rather than loan him... ), but this is also due to juventus peculiar situation. i mean, if there wouldn't have been the moggigate (such a funny word :lol, with thuram, cannavaro and zambrotta in their roster, do u think chiellini and criscito would be juve players by now?

Juve roster 05/06:
Zambrotta Cannavaro Birindelli Pessotto Chiellini Thuram Kovac


.. Point taken though, I have to concede you're right. Having said that, Capello, of all people, let Criscito(who was still a youth player back then) train with the big boys back then.

like i said many times before, i love Ranieri... and being a palermo supporter, after reading this, i love him even more :mrgreen:

You know where you can stick your Barzagli :mrgreen:.

That's why I said, many and not ALL, in my previous post when talking about younger generation of promising Italian defenders, Don.

Bah, that's what you get for dissing Boumsong!

 

[PLF]

Re: Serie A Thread

:mrgreen:

 

[lo zio]

Re: Serie A Thread

Juve roster 05/06:
Zambrotta Cannavaro Birindelli Pessotto Chiellini Thuram Kovac

touchè, mon amì, you're right

You know where you can stick your Barzagli .

of course i know..... i'd stick him between zaccardo and dellafiore :mrgreen:
:lol:

 

[PLF]

Re: Serie A Thread

touchè, mon amì, you're right

Seeing you say that, just brought up something I wanted to ask about the general Italian population (not just footballers) that I had forgotten before.

I read that Fabio Grosso can speak French quite good upon signing for Lyon. (Inter show their stupidity again by gifting Lyon with such a great natural left-footed player)

This impressed me as I wasn't expecting it.

What percentage of Italians can speak French at least to a 'decent' degree, would you estimate? I didn't think there would be much but maybe I was under the wrong assumption... :-s

Just to clarify, by "Decent", I don't mean be able to read any sorta French novel or write poems. :mrgreen:

But just enough to live there and get by without feeling really uncomfortable.

 

[lo zio]

Re: Serie A Thread

Seeing you say that, just brought up something I wanted to ask about the general Italian population (not just footballers) that I had forgotten before.

I read that Fabio Grosso can speak French quite good upon signing for Lyon. (Inter show their stupidity again by gifting Lyon with such a great natural left-footed player)

This impressed me as I wasn't expecting it.

What percentage of Italians can speak French at least to a 'decent' degree, would you estimate? I didn't think there would be much but maybe I was under the wrong assumption... :-s

Just to clarify, by "Decent", I don't mean be able to read any sorta French novel or write poems. :mrgreen:

But just enough to live there and get by without feeling really uncomfortable.

well mate, talking about italians speaking a foreign language (no matter wich, english spanish or french), there's a huge gap between over 40 years old people and under 40.

since 20 years ago italian kids didn't studied any foreign language at school (apart from ancient greek and ancient latin, wich are "dead" launguages, btw :mrgreen.
in the last 20 years english, spanish and french, "officially" became became school subjects.
but i'd say the most important factors are the internet, cable tv (wich gives u che chance to "listen" to english, french or spanish channels) and university programs like the erasmus (wich gives u the chance to spend from 6 to 9 months in anywhere in europe).

i have to say most of my friends speak a good english and spanish. it's a little harder to find people who speaks a good french, i know a lot of guys and girls who speak french, but honestly their french is horrible :mrgreen:.
btw it also depends on the social level; richest people usually speaks at least 3 languages, but the situation is pretty different if u'd consider the whole italian community (but i guess that's quite normal).

to reply to your question, i don't know wich is the exact percentage, but we could say that the 70% of under 40 years old italians speak a decent english or spanish (or both), while a 30% (but that's just a presumption) speaks a decent french. if u consider the over 40 years old population, instead, the percentage is definitely lower.

anyway the best way to learn a foreign language is travelling. I speak a decent french coz i've got a lot of friends in France, my father often goes in Paris for work and i lived there for a couple of months (many) years ago.

we europeans have a great fortune. So many different cultures all bounded each others by a thousands years relationships. if we wanna really know each others it's our onus (duty) to travel, to "discover" each others... and btw travelling is one of the greatest experiences in our lives.

i didn't know Fabio speak french, btw

edit:

Inter show their stupidity again by gifting Lyon with such a great natural left-footed player

so true, mate. it's really unbeliavable. but anyway, i'm happy for Lyon; i hope fabio won't have any adapting problems during his french experience and i'm pretty sure Lyon will "use" him more (and better) than Inter did.

 

[PLF]

Re: Serie A Thread

Yeh it's a fantastic buy. He's one of the world's best in my book and will help improve the squad or maybe I should say, keep it at a very high level despite departures of the likes of Abidal.

I don't think he'll have much trouble adapting to OL and Ligue 1. He seems like a very professional individual to me and Mr. Aulas and OL directors who are very goal-oriented and have big plans, love players like that. He's also experienced, versatile (can fill in at LB or LM) and already speaks French, so that won't be a big problem either.

I think he'll really like the club and the club and league will quite like him back as well.
So I predict a smooth fairly easy transition and a successful season or two where he proves he was a 'good signing'. We shall wait and see how it turns out in real life though of course..... I just hope injuries don't hold him back and ruin his confidence at the start of this stage of his career or his fitting in a new environment. Because if no big injuries happen, I'm quite confident, he can be a success.

-------------------------------

As for all the useful info you gave me about the general Italian population and their skill in foreign languages, I appreciate it. It was something I was curious about and now I have more info on.

One thing I'm still not fully clear on however is the following:

Question: So do Italians who go to normal public schools (not private ones for mostly rich kids and families) learn French as part of the curriculum and as one of the subjects like Math and Science? I think the answer is no and if anything, English probably is one of the mandatory (not elective) subjects, but I figured it's best to ask to make sure.

 

[lo zio]

Re: Serie A Thread

well, nowadays almost in every pubblic school (i'm saying "almost" coz i can't be sure that it works like that in every school) you study 2 "foreing language subjects". one of them must be english (wich, as u said, is a mandatory subject); talking about the other language subject, u can choose what to study (usually between french, spanish and german).

so everybody who went at school should speak english and an high percentage should speak french. But honestly school studies just aren't enough to learn a foreign language. if u don't travel and really test your english, french or spanish, u can't really say u speak a decent english\french\spanish.
we could say that school studies are a first step to learn a new language.... and moreover at school u learn about other countries litteratures (english, spanish and french), wich is great.

Ancient latin and ancient greek are mandatory subjects too, but, as i said before, they're dead languages

i agree with you about Fabio Grosso


p.s. i also have to say that learning french is a joke for an italian as french is very, very similar to italian; all the european languages have "italian" (better saying latin) roots, but french and spanish are the closests ones to italian, so it's pretty easy for us to learn french.


p.p.s. btw mate french is pretty important in europe, almost as much as english. the most important international organizations (nato, eu....) officially speak french, and the most important masters in EU law (like le collège d'europe, in Bruges) require a perfect knowledge of french language.

 

[Mana Cerace]

Re: Serie A Thread

Honestly, I don't think the majority of public schools has two foreing languages mandatory classes. I had one, english, and I don't think right now the situation has changed...but I may be wrong. There's definetely a percentage of schools with two foreing languages, however.

I for sure need to learn french somehow in the near future...it's good for my studies

 

[lo zio]

Re: Serie A Thread

Honestly, I don't think the majority of public schools has two foreing languages mandatory classe

as i said before, i can't be sure.... but all my 3 little cousins are studying 2 languages at school (pubblic) and so does my girlfriend's little brother.

when i was at the high school i was in an experimental class. we studied 2 languages (english and spanish). i guess that nowadays studying 2 languages is the normality (at least that's what my cousins tell me).

I for sure need to learn french somehow in the near future...it's good for my studies

get an erasmus for france, mate. it fun and it's the fastest and most effective way to learn a foreign language

 

[PLF]

Re: Serie A Thread

Plus that way, you get to first-hand, learn about French girls as well and not just the language. :mrgreen:

Thanks for all the info guys.

 

[hayabusa85]

Re: Serie A Thread

My High School taught French, German and Spanish and even had a few Russian and Italian classes, though to begin with most pupils were either placed in French or German classes.

In Scotland over the past couple of years they've begun introducing Gaelic and Urdu into High Schools as well which i think is great for the social environment of Scottish schools.

As far as learning languages goes i get a lot of enjoyment out of it, my cousin's partner is Swiss and including English he speaks German, French and can "get along" in Italian and Spanish so i enjoy speaking to him when i see him.

***Actually something i've always wondered about footballers playing in a foreign countries is how well they can speak the language.***

 

[lo zio]

Re: Serie A Thread

My High School taught French, German and Spanish and even had a few Russian and Italian classes, though to begin with most pupils were either placed in French or German classes.

In Scotland over the past couple of years they've begun introducing Gaelic and Urdu into High Schools as well which i think is great for the social environment of Scottish schools.

As far as learning languages goes i get a lot of enjoyment out of it, my cousin's partner is Swiss and including English he speaks German, French and can "get along" in Italian and Spanish so i enjoy speaking him when i see him.

yeah that's really great mate. also in ireland irish guys study the ancient irish language... met a lot of girls who were able to speak in ancient irish language

but there's one thing i'll never understand; why people study italian. also in scandinavia in many schools they teach italian. i'm quite proud of it of course, but i can't understand the purpose. italian is a "cultured" language, it is the matrix of any language in europe and it might be important for historians, opera or litterature or architecture or art lovers, but it has no pragmatic applications nowadays.
Moreover it isn't even spoken by many people... i mean we didn't colonise any country in the last 1500 years :mrgreen. (except from libia, somalia, etiopia and eritrea, but those weren't real colonosations).

nontheless i noticed that many guys outside italy study italian.

Plus that way, you get to first-hand, learn about French girls as well and not just the language.

that's the "fun" i was talking about, PLF :mrgreen:

 

[hayabusa85]

Re: Serie A Thread

that's the "fun" i was talking about, PLF :mrgreen:

Actually one of my favourite memories from School is when i went on a class trip to France, which as a 15 year old boy was pretty fun.

 

[Dominic]

Re: Serie A Thread

 

[PLF]

Re: Serie A Thread

but there's one thing i'll never understand; why people study italian. also in scandinavia in many schools they teach italian. i'm quite proud of it of course, but i can't understand the purpose. italian is a "cultured" language, it is the matrix of any language in europe and it might be important for historians, opera or litterature or architecture or art lovers, but it has no pragmatic applications nowadays.
Moreover it isn't even spoken by many people... i mean we didn't colonise any country in the last 1500 years :mrgreen. (except from libia, somalia, etiopia and eritrea, but those weren't real colonosations).

nontheless i noticed that many guys outside italy study italian.

Maybe this answers your question....

Spoiler

:8):

All of what you said is true but maybe now you understand why so many guys think about learning Italian and some go through with it. I've thought about it myself but haven't done so yet.

Now I know what you're gonna say. Ms. Belluci can also speak French and English and maybe even more languages. BUT that's just one example. Italian women are some of the most beautiful and attractive women god ever created and many of them do speak only Italian.

Actually one of my favourite memories from School is when i went on a class trip to France, which as a 15 year old boy was pretty fun.

I can imagine.

 

[lo zio]

Re: Serie A Thread

yep, actually that's a good reason.... afterall women are always the reason

Don, i guess that picture is a sophisticated way to say "what the hell are u talking about, get back in topic!"

:mrgreen:
sorry for our little divagation :mrgreen:

 

[hayabusa85]

Re: Serie A Thread

Milan close in on Pato

It would be a real coup for Milan if they were to pull this off, however if they do sign him i hope they do the sensible thing and loan him out to Internacional.

 

[vasilios]

Re: Serie A Thread

(Inter show their stupidity again by gifting Lyon with such a great natural left-footed player)

He never impressed when he did manage to get on the pitch. Granted, he was injured, but Maicon showed much more, and even Maxwell did well when he got the opportunity. Inter bought him from Palermo before his big World Cup and then sold him for more than they bought him for less than 12 months later. Really not bad business. Besides now they have Chivu who can play on the left as well as in the middle. Better Inter sell Grosso now, then let him sit on the bench for another year and lose value.

 

[PLF]

Re: Serie A Thread

Business-wise and in terms of making a profit of a few millions, yes, maybe Inter did well in that regard, but making a few millions on a player has never been a big deal to Inter or else they wouldn't have paid over the odds for many other players in the past few years or made 'losses' on certain other sales.

Inter, Mr. Moratti and others in charge are clearly very wealthy and money isn't and hasn't been that big of an issue (especially a profit of a few millions) or else they wouldn't continuously every season buy players they don't actually need or pay big wages to players who get very little games.

Grosso didn't really get enough chances at Inter to be fairly judged. He had some injury problems and there was also competition and in some of the matches I saw from Inter last year and he was playing, I'd say he did well.

Maxwell is fairly injury prone (definitely more than Grosso) and isn't as good overall. Of course he's a few years younger though so he can become as good one day.

Maicon is a right-back and one of the world's most effective at that as well.

That leaves Chivu who although can play as a LB, would really be playing out of natural position there. At the left-back position, Grosso >>>> Chivu

So, I don't agree that Inter should've let him go. He was their best left-back and given enough chances, he would've proven that. But sometimes at big clubs, players don't get enough chances.

Chelsea also got rid of Del Horno and Boulahrouz after only one season which they didn't do bad in either AND had injury problems so their chances to impress were limited. But that's the way some of these clubs work. Not enough faith... and Grosso is better than Khalid or Asier and was playing in his own country at Inter unlike the other two, so I'm sure he could prove to be a good buy if given more time and not judged so quickly.

But oh well... it doesn't matter now.
Inter's loss is Lyon's gain in this case.

 

[lo zio]

Re: Serie A Thread

Inter, Mr. Moratti and others in charge are clearly very wealthy and money isn't and hasn't been that big of an issue (especially a profit of a few millions) or else they wouldn't continuously every season buy players they don't actually need or pay big wages to players who get very little games.

so true, so true.

i don't think Grosso didn't impress last year, Vasilios. especially if u consider that he never had the chance to play for more than 2 consecutives matches. u can't expect a player to play on his usual level, if u just give a couple of "opportunities".

talking about quality, Maxwell had a great season last year, but honestly i agree with PLF, he's not as good as Grosso.

but anyway, it doesn't matter who is better; Left footed good players are very rare nowadays.... inter has been looking for a good pure left footed side defender since roberto carlos days..... now they had 2 very good left footed side defenders..... and they sold the best.... honestly i can't see any logic in this (looking for a logic in moratti's moves.... such a silly intellectual exercise :lol.


chivu is a great player... but he's a cb. As PLF said, he can play as a "terzino" ("terzino" means "side back") , but that's not his proper role, and anyway mate, u could use a cb as a terzino if u don't have a decent terzino. it's ridicuolous to sell for a little more than 10 millions one of the best terzini in the world, just to buy (for 15 millions, wich is even more than what they did earn from grosso selling) a cb to use as a side defender.

chivu could take materazzi's place, coz that's his role.... and it wouldn't be a bad move, coz chivu is clearely better than marco (even if marco improved himself a lot in the last 2 years).
moreover materazzi is almost 34 so it would have been a wise move to take advantage of chivu's contractual situation finding a replacement (a great replacement) for materazzi. but that's not what happened; inter didn't sell materazzi, they sold grosso, and i can't see chivu playing a lot of matches with the nerazzurri shirt as a cb, coz cordoba and materazzi are "icons" for inter supporters.

Better Inter sell Grosso now, then let him sit on the bench for another year and lose value.

that's for sure mate . and it's better for Grosso too (wich is much more important to me

anyway Vasilios...
ό μύθος δηλοί οτι (:mrgreen is never a wise decision to sell a good left footed side back... especially to a direct rival for the champions league.

Palermo were one of my favourite Italian sides to watch last year, and they came so close to getting into the Champions League, one can only hope Barzagli and Bresciano stay put as they try and improve on last seasons position.

we need all the support we can get, mate
Hayabusa, i'm replying here coz i would have been off topic in the "whose spent the best" thread.

 

[Mana Cerace]

Re: Serie A Thread

All this talk about wasted good sidebacks makes me sick, since my team (Milan) could really use a great left back

 

[Vlad19]

Re: Serie A Thread

All this talk about wasted good sidebacks makes me sick, since my team (Milan) could really use a great left back

Man please, grosso is 30 in november. We have Jankulovski who works so hard. In january a young argentine left back was signed and seems to be training with the team at present. Marek doesn't need to be replaced just coz someone might have a better reputation.

 

[vasilios]

Re: Serie A Thread

I see what you both are saying, but I just don't rate Grosso nearly as high. You may say Grosso is better, but Maxwell was injured last year as well, and still put together better overall performances in my opinion, and in the opinion of Mancini. Like Vlad said, Grosso turns 30 this season, surely his best days are not ahead of him, and how long can Inter wait for him to find his best form there?

I agree that Inter would be foolish to sell one of the top left backs in the world, I just don't agree that Grosso is one.

 

[PLF]

Re: Serie A Thread

Fair enough. Not all of us have to nor ever will rate the players exactly alike. But in all honesty, Grosso has never got the proper credit he deserves mainly because of 2 reasons:

1) Not playing in a truly big club until move to Inter which came very late in his career even though you could see he's a good player even before Palermo days which were probably his best and where he made 'officially' made a name for himself more or less. I, was impressed with him at times when playing for Perugia, for example I seem to remember.

Overall, he peaked fairly late. As did Luca Toni and a number of other great players.

2) Not being a traditional left-back with his 190cm frame.

When you consider everything you want in a left back (defending, speed, dribbling, tackling, technique, attacking, crossing, willingness to get forward but also to be a good header so he can clear the ball when dangerous crosses are sent in, "The whole package"), Grosso is without a doubt one of the most complete just like Maicon is the same and has no real weaknesses but on the right-side.

Grosso isn't much flashy either (Again like Maicon) so he'll never get that much attention or the full credit he deserves but when I try to think of better left-backs, I can only think of a few and guys like Maxwell I don't consider better since they have 'weaknesses' that Fabio doesn't. The fact that I can only think of a few that I can actually confidently classify as 'better' makes him one of the world's best (in my opinion at least) even if I admit myself, he's NOT really great or anything 'special' at all. But the world isn't exactly full of 'great' left-backs at the moment either. There's maybe a handful of guys (probably even less) who are truly better than him. So he's one of the world's best anyhow and I'm curious to hear how many people you rate higher since you don't think he's one of the best (And of course who they are? )

The fact that he turns 30 isn't that big of a deal, I think. So he's not one for future.. so what? He's not supposed to be. He's good for 'now' though and I have to disagree that he was somehow 'bad' last year at Inter and not good enough. He was decent. Not great but decent and this year would've done better in my opinion in his 2nd year at Inter and more at ease in a club with so much pressure. Marco Materazzi and many other players didn't exactly set the world alight in their FIRST season at a big club like Inter either.

Nowadays, so many people seem obsessed with 'young' talent and I'm not saying you do too, my Greek friend. I'm just generalizing.
No, Fabio, isn't the young talent who will be a future star at LB, years from now, that Arsene Wenger would probably get horny about.. :mrgreen: :lol: , but players who are only turning 30 and have a good attitude (professional and hardworking) like Grosso and are already at this high-level, will be able to perform for at least a couple more years and looking at the many great clubs around the world, you can see there is some players 30 and over who are still great servants to the club and good enough.

Look at the legend that is Javier Zanetti. Now I'm not saying, I rate Grosso anywhere near as highly as I think Javier is one of the best RB's in the HISTORY of the game and is probably my all-time fav player, but if people wanted to pick on 'age', they could pick on him as well as many other players. I'm just saying turning 30 shouldn't be as big of a 'negative' deal or problem as some people seem to think it is. Especially when we're not talking about a forward but rather defenders who very often peak near 30's. Not every player is supposed to be young or bought as a investment for future after all.

Grosso may be 30 soon but I think, he still has a couple more years of very good service left in him, good enough for big clubs like Inter and Lyon and now it just so happens that OL will be benefiting from this rather than Inter. But anyway, that's enough talk now. I understand your points and I was too harsh by calling Inter, "Stupid" for this move as at least they got good $$$ for him! But I stick to my points about Grosso and let's wait until the seasons start now and look to the future and see what happens this season and whether at any stage of the seaosn, we get the feeling, Grosso could've been helpful if he was there (perhaps when Maxwell is injured again and Chivu, Maicon and Zanetti would each be playing out of position and not up to their best in an important CL match against someone like Valencia , or in a league match against old rivals Juve ... ) and of course let's also wait and see how Fabio does in France as well. Who knows... maybe he'll turn out to be a flop and not be able to adapt to the new life there.. we'll see..

 

[nt89]

Re: Serie A Thread

i hope for grosso to make a great season in lyon...
moratti: lots of money in the shit in 10 years, they have debiti for 182mln of euros, it's not normal and they continue to buy, today or tomorrow something will go wrong with them...it's not a Team, like real madrid, it's the same.
If inter or real go in serie b, NO ONE OF THE PLAYERS WILL ACCEPT to follow the team...there's no love for this, the players who play in real and inter, they just play for money and when money meets the passion for a team, for the colours, the hearth always wins

sorry for my english, i know it isn't clear

 

[lo zio]

Re: Serie A Thread

PLF, once again a very good post.... it's funny how we see football (almost) the same way.... our convergence of views is almost getting boring (:lol

i absolutely agree with u about grosso not having the credit he truly deserves, and reading u mentioning his perugia days makes me realize u know serie a more than many italians

I also agree with u when u say he's not a "traditional" side back. and not only for his tallness. actually Fabio has something wich is really hard to find in a side back: discipline. He has a "sense of position", a positioning that is hard to see in a side back. he always plays "head up" (he doesn't look at the ball when he pushes on the left side, he always looks at his teamates position.) and this ability (that we could call "vision") allowed him to play also as a side midfielder and as a central midfielder (he often played as a central midfielder in perugia).

i also agree with u about this brand new obsession for new talents. it's pretty reasonable for mid class clubs (like my palermo) to look for potential good players. Coz, here in palermo, just to make an example, a "potential" great talent, may find more space to play, to make experience, to let the world recognize his talent. Also the club takes advantage from this situation, because we buy a potential great player for "5", we let him grow (professionally) and then, after a couple of years, we sell him for "10".

but what's good for a mid class club isn't necessarily good for a top club. Top clubs, like inter or milan, have more pressure, they can't wait a young talent to become a great player. they can't take theese risks, coz people (fans, media) always expect theese club to "win".
there are some exceptions, of course (like kakà for milan or cristiano ronaldo for man utd), but as i said, they're nothing more than "exceptions".

it's an almost scientific truth that a football player reaches his peak at 27\30 years.... it's a complex equation, that involves phisical development, maturity, experience, vision of the game, etc...

So, while clubs like palermo have to plan their strategies with a specific attention to the "future", top clubs have always to think at the "present" (they have to win now, not in the next 2,4,5 years), they don't have to care about their financial balance so much, coz it's not so important for them to realize big capital gains; they need players that could win a scudetto this season, now.

to make it simple, a 30 years old player might be an old player for a club like palermo, but he isn't old at all for a club like inter.

i also agree with u when u say fabio isn't such a great phenomenal player, but i'd say he is "special". As i said before natural left footed players are quite "rare", wich means there's not so much competition for their roles; and i can think just at just 4, maybe 6 or 8 players better than him in his role...... and that's what makes him "special".

I agree that Inter would be foolish to sell one of the top left backs in the world, I just don't agree that Grosso is one.

i see mate, afterall it's also a matter of personal likes .... but i have to say me too i'm quite curious to know who are your favourites left backs

Man please, grosso is 30 in november. We have Jankulovski who works so hard. In january a young argentine left back was signed and seems to be training with the team at present. Marek doesn't need to be replaced just coz someone might have a better reputation.

Vlad, i like very much Marek. he didn't have a great season this year, but i'm pretty sure next season he'll be back on his level .....but still......
i do think milan badly needs a decent backup for marek coz he's quite injury-prone, and milan's defensive line average age is really going too far.
about the argentinian player (i guess u're talking about Grimi) he's joining Livorno (loan), if i do rememmber well.

talking about "defenders calciomercato", Colantuono (palermo's coach) said yesterday he won't sell Rinaudo...\\:o/..... great decision!!!

p.s. tonight we'll know serie a '07\'08 schedule...i hope palermo will have a "soft start"