Serie A Thread - 2014/15 Season

[lo zio]

Re: Serie A Thread

Just reading the posts and was thinking of paraphrasing Twain.

The only three certainties in life are death, taxes and refereeing mistakes!

:lol::lol: Yep, that’s an absolute truth. It’s imposible to have a perfect refereeing, for many reasons.

First of all because refereeing involves also a personal interpretation of the rules (which is usually different for each referee and for each refereeing school, the english one, the italian, the german, the spanish, the french, etc…). so for each match there are usually many “border line cases”. For those cases debating is almost useless as we could not consider them as fault, while the ref did it (and also another ref could have given a different interpretation of that case).

The second reason instead is highly debatable. Many people say that football nowadays is a lot faster than 20, 30, 40 years ago, wich makes the ref’s duty even harder. The ref has always to follow the action. While a player can have some moments of rest during the game (especially cbs and fowards) the ref runs for the whole match. Moreover he has to coordinate his position on the pitch to the players position, to avoid influencing the game. And finally he has always to be cool; no matter how much he runs, he can’t be tired coz when something happens on the pitch he must have the coolness to take the most appropriate decision (he must have a huge stamina, coz when u pant, when u run out of oxygen, u can’t take a fast and clear-headed decision).
That’s absolutely true.
But saying that 20, 30, 40 years ago refs used to make less mistakes is wrong, imo. The only big difference is that now each mistakes is captured by many cameras.
I heard a nice interview to Altafini time ago. He said “u guys have no idea of what used to happen on a football pitch 40 years ago; puches, kicks, everything happened on the field. And often the refs couldn’t notice them, as it happens today. Actually the situation was even worse than nowadays, as now our refs face a better athletic training, that allows them to be more aware. But the real difference is that 40 years ago, neither the people could notice those faults as there were no cameras on the pitch. Then the number of the cameras increased in the last 20 years and now each match is usually captured from 20\25 different point of views.”

Having watched Rob Styles give a ludicrous penalty to Chelsea against Liverpool a few weeks back I can assure you guys that refereeing mistakes are not the preserve of the Italian league...the EPL is positively pickled in them.

At least we can all say Graham Poll has retired...unless seria a want him?

Here u’r making a very interesting point, mate. I’ve always thought that it could be a nice idea if we could have a continental referees association, with the same interpretation rules. This could allow us to exchange our referees. We could see an english ref refereeing in serie a or an italian ref refereeing in bundesliga. This could bring several advantages for each of us, imo. The fairness of the refs would be even more guarranteed and we all could share the same refereeing interpretation criteria.
Football today is highly globalised (as everything, btw); each year our clubs face each others in european competitions and we often see our teams complaining about the refs in champions league and uefa cup matches.
English refs are usually quite permissive, while italian ones usually use a lot their whistles.
This difference, of course, has a big influence on the game, when 2 clubs from different leagues face each others.
Premiership players usually try hard tackles as those tackles aren’t fouls in their national league, while spanish an italian players are usually more careful (a little too careful) as it’s easier to commit a foul in their own leagues.
Sharing our refs could put an end to theese difference and this would be a step foward, imo

What do u guys think about it?


P.s. i'm glad to see u posting here again, Vanzandt

 

[Milanista]

Re: Serie A Thread

A few years ago UEFA made a proposal to have worldwide refs. The idea was to have refs from different countries in different leagues. i.e. a ref from Greece could referee Arsenal-Chelsea.

 

[Dominic]

Re: Serie A Thread

ohwhy don't u guys make a little report about the match u followed today? i'm not talking about "they were great!" or "that player was amazing"... i'm talking about deep analisys of the match.

coz honestly it looks like i'm the only one who'd like to talk about football in this thread

Well i'm not really in the mood for a deep analysis, but i'll give you some quick player ratings of cagliari-juventus ( obviously the one match I watched ).

It must've been one of the craziest matches i've ever seen. We really stunk, but it was one hell of a match. The press is going to have a field day with the referee.

Buffon 7.5
Kept us alive.

Zebina 4.5
Where is his head? Too fiery. Long-time ban for that slap of his?
He was actually good in the first half, but he let his temparement get the better of him.

Andrade 5.5
Not as bad as the rest of the defence, but that isn't saying much.

Criscito 5
Really looked like a schoolboy out there today. He's got a long way to go.

(Legrottaglie 5)
His replacement wasn't any better.

Chiellini 5.5
Mixed the very good(his outburst

and his goal), with the very bad. In the two previous matches he was the epitomy of solid, today he was continuesly skinned.

Salihamidzic 5.5
Decent, but did not bring enough. Has to rely too much on energy instead of skill, he is better suited at fullback, instead of midfielder.

(Camoranesi 7.5)
Created all the goals, three assist. Enough said. Thank god for Camo :applause:

Almiron 5
What happened to the pre-season Almiron? Just didn't show up. Took half an hour to finally complete a succesful pass. A really poor outing.

Zanetti 6.5
Only player capable of defence and also had to take Almiron's role upon himself.

Nedved 4
Where was his head? Did nothing right, looked like age had finally caught up with him. Look slow, undecisive and unnceassarily aggressive.

Del Piero 5
Made a crucial goal, but other than that, did nothing right.

Trezeguet 6
One of the few, who was himself.

Ranieri 5
It certainly was a football show as he promised beforehand, but not the one he would have imagined I presume.

 

[Stringer Bell]

Re: Serie A Thread

I honestly don't get why channel 5 put that Italian women on their coverage of Serie A football.

She doesn't know fuckall about football! I cringe every time the main presenter ask her what she thought about a team lol!

 

[vanzandt]

Re: Serie A Thread

Here u’r making a very interesting point, mate. I’ve always thought that it could be a nice idea if we could have a continental referees association, with the same interpretation rules. This could allow us to exchange our referees. We could see an english ref refereeing in serie a or an italian ref refereeing in bundesliga. This could bring several advantages for each of us, imo. The fairness of the refs would be even more guarranteed and we all could share the same refereeing interpretation criteria.
Football today is highly globalised (as everything, btw); each year our clubs face each others in european competitions and we often see our teams complaining about the refs in champions league and uefa cup matches.
English refs are usually quite permissive, while italian ones usually use a lot their whistles.
This difference, of course, has a big influence on the game, when 2 clubs from different leagues face each others.
Premiership players usually try hard tackles as those tackles aren’t fouls in their national league, while spanish an italian players are usually more careful (a little too careful) as it’s easier to commit a foul in their own leagues.
Sharing our refs could put an end to theese difference and this would be a step foward, imo

What do u guys think about it?

I agree, I think it would be a very good idea.

It was all very well in the past having entirely differing refereeing interpretations when the nature of the game was focused around each countries domestic league and when international player movement was much more limited. As it is I think the hierarchical importance of the Champions League and to a lesser extent the UEFA cup and the fluidity of international transfers has meant that this is much more of an issue. I think all the players and fans across Europe would benefit from some form of move by the relevant footballing authorities to come together and try and set in place a single set of refereeing guidelines. I am not sure what the status quo is at present in terms of whether each national association has their own guidelines for interpretation or whether each association is supposed to be interpreting the game in the same way via guidelines (if so it is not happening). Either way I think something needs to change, be it common guidelines if such do not already exist or conferences and referee exchanges if they do in order to get it right and correctly implement a common interpretation of the game .

To me it seems a little like the European Union and the need for common laws and policies between member states. If EU regulations and directives were not enacted in each member state then financial and labour markets as well as travel etc…general interactions between member states would be more problematic.

Where am I going with this?

Just that I think that you need common interpretations of rules whether you are traveling from Germany to Italy, are a Spaniard applying for work in the UK , are doing business out of Ireland with a Polish company or playing football for Milan against Manchester United in the UK or vice versa etc…

For things to work in the most cohesive manner then interpretations must be common.

P.s. i'm glad to see u posting here again, Vanzandt

After reading that load of bureaucratic rhetoric you might not be….thanks anyway though.

Out of interest what ever happened to Pessoto?

There was news in the UK press of him falling out of a window at Juve headquarters last year and badly hurting himself; but there was no follow up story and I cannot find anything on the net.

I honestly don't get why channel 5 put that Italian women on their coverage of Serie A football.

She doesn't know fuckall about football! I cringe every time the main presenter ask her what she thought about a team lol!

I want to agree with you because I know that you are right. But my penis wont let me agree, it rules the head unfortunately. Once the football is over and she is not stood in the way of what is going on, even if I want analysis I can't help likeing what I see instead :lmao::lmao:

bello

 

[lo zio]

Re: Serie A Thread

I totally agree with u Vanzandt, and the comparison with EU directives is absolutely appropriate.

I am not sure what the status quo is at present in terms of whether each national association has their own guidelines for interpretation or whether each association is supposed to be interpreting the game in the same way via guidelines

Well, i’d like to continue with your comparison to reply to u.
Right now some fifa and uefa commissions (can’t remember the name) each year give some guidelines to each national federation, concerning the interpretation criteria of some specific game situations.
But it’s not about rules, it’s just about the interpretation of rules. So it’s hard for fifa and uefa to check if their guidelines are applied for real.
EU usually doesn’t care about our judges interpretation criteria, coz they don’t need to. They can simply establish a rule, issue a directive, and then each EU member HAS to conform his legislation to the new discipline. And if they don’t, they have to bear a sanction.

But when it’s about interpretation criteria, the borderline is more “faded”, so it’s hard to say if uefa and fifa guidelines were really enacted.
Moreover no sanctions are provided for disrespecting fifa and uefa guidelines, so….

That’s why i wish a european referees association, wich could absolve all the duties that are now absolved by our national referee associations.

It was all very well in the past having entirely differing refereeing interpretations when the nature of the game was focused around each countries domestic league and when international player movement was much more limited

I do also agree on this. Having different interpretation criteria was nice, coz our refereeing styles are part of the game and they contribute to keeping our football schools different (wich is something i really love). But as u correctly remarked......

....I think the hierarchical importance of the Champions League and to a lesser extent the UEFA cup and the fluidity of international transfers has meant that this is much more of an issue....

After reading that load of bureaucratic rhetoric you might not be….thanks anyway though.

There was no rhetoric in my post Vanzandt, i’m really happy my childish and arrogant aggresion didn’t persuade u to avoid this thread. I guess i was in a bad mood that day.
Besides, no matter if i might disagree with your views sometimes, u usually explain very deeply your views and u argue them, wich makes the conversation pretty interesting.
And moreover, each of your posts is like an intensive english course for me! :mrgreen::mrgreen:

Out of interest what ever happened to Pessoto?

There was news in the UK press of him falling out of a window at Juve headquarters last year and badly hurting himself; but there was no follow up story and I cannot find anything on the net.

Well, actually he didn’t just “fall”, he tried to kill himself. But now he’s great again (i saw him in tv a couple of months ago and he looked like anything happened) . Now he’s working again for juventus as a manager.

I honestly don't get why channel 5 put that Italian women on their coverage of Serie A football.

She doesn't know fuckall about football! I cringe every time the main presenter ask her what she thought about a team lol!

That’s really a bad news. It’s very hard to appreciate a foreign football school without a qualified commentator.
Here in italy, sky calcio show, the show that introduces all the week end matches, is hosted by a fucking hot lady, Ilaria D’amico. But she’s much more than a beautiful chick, she’s a very talented journalist and she knows football better than me

Well i'm not really in the mood for a deep analysis, but i'll give you some quick player ratings of cagliari-juventus ( obviously the one match I watched ).

I see….. but to play a football match it takes to be in 22…… so where are the remaining (cagliari) players ratings??? :roll:
U lazy moderator!!!! :mrgreen::lmao:

Anyway i thought it could be a good idea if any of us would write each week a report about the match we watched. It could raise the quality standards of our conversations and it could help us in realizing how each of us sees football.
i know it takes time, but afterall, we all spend so much time writing bollocks on this forum..:lol:

 

[Dominic]

Re: Serie A Thread

Cagliari ratings:

Foggia 10

Happy? :mrgreen:

 

[juveboy]

Re: Serie A Thread

Well i'm not really in the mood for a deep analysis, but i'll give you some quick player ratings of cagliari-juventus ( obviously the one match I watched ).

It must've been one of the craziest matches i've ever seen. We really stunk, but it was one hell of a match. The press is going to have a field day with the referee.

Buffon 7.5
Kept us alive.

Zebina 4.5
Where is his head? Too fiery. Long-time ban for that slap of his?
He was actually good in the first half, but he let his temparement get the better of him.

Andrade 5.5
Not as bad as the rest of the defence, but that isn't saying much.

Criscito 5
Really looked like a schoolboy out there today. He's got a long way to go.

(Legrottaglie 5)
His replacement wasn't any better.

Chiellini 5.5
Mixed the very good(his outburst

and his goal), with the very bad. In the two previous matches he was the epitomy of solid, today he was continuesly skinned.

Salihamidzic 5.5
Decent, but did not bring enough. Has to rely too much on energy instead of skill, he is better suited at fullback, instead of midfielder.

(Camoranesi 7.5)
Created all the goals, three assist. Enough said. Thank god for Camo :applause:

Almiron 5
What happened to the pre-season Almiron? Just didn't show up. Took half an hour to finally complete a succesful pass. A really poor outing.

Zanetti 6.5
Only player capable of defence and also had to take Almiron's role upon himself.

Nedved 4
Where was his head? Did nothing right, looked like age had finally caught up with him. Look slow, undecisive and unnceassarily aggressive.

Del Piero 5
Made a crucial goal, but other than that, did nothing right.

Trezeguet 6
One of the few, who was himself.

Ranieri 5
It certainly was a football show as he promised beforehand, but not the one he would have imagined I presume.

Guess you beat me to it Dom,just wanted to give my 2 euros on sunday afternoons game with Cagliari.

To say we looked lathargic & lacklustre would be and overstatement but if we continue to play like that then we are in for a long season indeed but if that was our worst performance of the season, i'm glad we got that out of the way.

I'm not going to make any excuses for my team but the antics of Jonathan Zebina did not surprise me at all, the guy is a complete moron & now faces a lengthy ban and a hefty fine from the club after slapping a cameraman at the Stadio Sant’Elia.

If nobody saw the incident,on his way off the field,he got himself into an argument with a member of the television crew on the sidelines,the row then turned physical and Zebina was caught on camera slapping the man on the face before he was pulled away down the players’ tunnel:confused:

It did look like the heat took it's toll but we managed to pull it out of the bag, Gigi & Camo saved the day for us & had it not been for them & a select few Dom has already mentioned, we would have lost but the next game will be the real test.

Sempre Juve

 

[Milanista]

Re: Serie A Thread

Well, that pain in the ass Mutu scored the equalizer. Our defence was a mess in the 2nd half, but we were very solid in the first half, as were Fiorentina. Prandelli's team is going to be tough to crack.

Thought we were too tired in the second half as the tempo was quite quick in the first 45 minutes. Our team was creating nice plays and Jankulovski is proving to be a vital player for our play. Gilardino also made some good moves today with his 'torre' for Kaka and Seedorf. Seedorf also seemed to be very good on expanding our play, which worked in the first half.

We lost our heads in the second half and committed more fouls than Fiorentina, which is something that doesnt happen often with Milan, we are usually quite clean.

Emerson was also quite slow and seemed 'heavy'... but i think he'll be back to his best soon.

I still think our weakness is attacking and defending Free Kicks and Corner Kicks. We never score them!


About Fiorentina - They have very nice one touch play and are very determined. I'm not sure why Frey isnt starting for France yet either.... hes seriously a great keeper. La Viola were good at spreading our defence and going right through the middle but were poor at finishing, except for that bastardo Mutu.... (ive never been a fan of his but hes a good player). Ujfalusi was solid and stopped Kaka a few times, but I've always rated him quite highly. The new guy they played - I think his name was Kuzmanovic - was mediocre. He made many mistakes but hes new and probably needs time to settle. Santana also remains to be one of my favourite wingers - his movement can be so dangerous, but today we managed to keep him out.

Overall I thought it was a fair game and the result was quite fair.... they hit the post, we missed some easy goals and Frey was just being great again.

Forza Italia!

ps - bobo Vieri is past it for the top level I think. His movement is much too slow. Hes good at holding the ball but his decisions are too slow! Nice girlfriend though.

 

[Dominic]

Re: Serie A Thread

Well, that pain in the ass Mutu scored the equalizer. Our defence was a mess in the 2nd half, but we were very solid in the first half, as were Fiorentina. Prandelli's team is going to be tough to crack.

Thought we were too tired in the second half as the tempo was quite quick in the first 45 minutes. Our team was creating nice plays and Jankulovski is proving to be a vital player for our play. Gilardino also made some good moves today with his 'torre' for Kaka and Seedorf. Seedorf also seemed to be very good on expanding our play, which worked in the first half.
.

:shock: You must've watched a different game. The tempo was so low, milan played like they were out on a stroll in the park and fiorentina seemed to be somewhat intimidated in the first half and didn't do much at all. I agree that Milan looked tired in the second half, but it was more from the sevilla game if anything, definitely no tiredness from the first half.

The real milan wasn't on show to be honest, the side that easily beat genoa and sevilla did not show up today.

 

[lo zio]

Re: Serie A Thread

Well, that pain in the ass Mutu scored the equalizer. Our defence was a mess in the 2nd half, but we ..........

:applause::applause::applause::applause::applause:
u kept your promise, Milanista. Nice post, a pleasure to read. sure it was more entertaining than the game we saw tonight (i recorded on mysky and just finished watching it), wich was honestly quite boring.

of course we couldn't have high expectations on Milan as they played vs Sevilla just a couple of days ago. our season just started and our teams still can't face 3 matches per week.

Prandelli wanted to stop milan's side play. pasqual didn't push, wich is quite unusual for him. i think it was a prandelli directive. he probably noticed how easily milan played on the sidelines against sevilla, with all those great openings from pirlo to oddo and kakà (on the right) and marek and ambrosini (on the left).
and actually he was right as his move stopped milan plays.

talking about fiorentina, i'm still waiting the real fiorentina to show herself. they can do much better than this.... and they will, in a few weeks.

I'm not sure why Frey isnt starting for France yet either.... hes seriously a great keeper.

the answer is pretty simple, mate: Raymond Domenech. :roll:
The real question should be why france still didn't fire this incompetent, unskilled, hopeless, stupid coach?

To say we looked lathargic & lacklustre would be and overstatement but if we continue to play like that then we are in for a long season indeed but if that was our worst performance of the season, i'm glad we got that out of the way.

as Ranieri said, a team who can win even when his players aren't in good shape is a team with balls!
i didn't see the whole juventus match, Juveboy. but i saw cagliari playing against napoli last week, and i'd say u have to be happy about the result, coz the cagliari i saw last week was really a good team.... it looks like finally giampaolo's work is giving some results.

Cagliari ratings:

Foggia 10

Happy?

still better than nothing :mrgreen:
anyway this guy has a great future.i won't ever understand why lazio sold him.

 

[juveboy]

Re: Serie A Thread

Emerson of Milan should be renamed Sloth,not Puma ;-)

 

[Milanista]

Re: Serie A Thread

ALEXANDRE PATO!!! Nice debut. Nice goal too. He already looks talented.

I'm in Milano now and Might have 3 tickets for Italy-France!!!!! I really missed sky italia too... and Telelombardia()

 

[vanzandt]

Re: Serie A Thread

Wow...very suprised by the Udinese result.

Good finish from Di Natale, but it still makes a mockery of the offside law to me.

I thought Juve would have responded with a lot more but they seemed limited somehow and it looked like the only way they would get back into it would be if Del Piero could do something with a set-piece....just never materialised....

Out of interest how poor is Floro Flores? no way does he seem seria a standard to me....still he didn't have to be any good. They defended well enough after the goal and the lack of appetite from Juve and poor final ball never looked like it would unlock that deep defence.

Be interesting to see how Juve respond to this.

 

[dutty_nose111]

Re: Serie A Thread

Totally agree, was a nice header from Di Natale.

Juve clearly lacked any form of urgency fortunately I am also very, very pleased with the Roma game, especially as I am supporting them for this season. They aren't playing at their best - like at the Palermo match - yet scoring frequently.

AC Milan just aren't playing well enough. It is a real shame because when they are on form - like in the first half of the Genoa match- they are amazing to watch. Gilardino needs to sort himself out - somehow. It is getting ridiculous to watch a player who could do so, so well play so, so awfully. I think he managed to have one shot in the entire match against Siena. Granted, Milan have had bad injury problems, and I think Ancelotti did have to rest the Internationals, but with AC there is a clear gap between the 1st Team and the 2nd Team in certain positions.

Inter. Well they are just winning aren't they? Mancini seems to have done the trick after the opening result against - yes them - Udinese. They are just basically grinding out results - similarly to Roma, except they just don't play half as good football - and this is getting worrying. I am very impressed by Roma so far, but as last year proved Inter can win - and they can win a lot. Fortunately, this Roma team seems able to keep up the pace - and in style.

This Serie A is looking very exciting, and I think that it can finally shut up the annoying English Media about how they are the best league in the world - and by some distance. Forza Roma!

 

[lo zio]

Re: Serie A Thread

Wow...very suprised by the Udinese result.

Good finish from Di Natale, but it still makes a mockery of the offside law to me.

I thought Juve would have responded with a lot more but they seemed limited somehow and it looked like the only way they would get back into it would be if Del Piero could do something with a set-piece....just never materialised....

Out of interest how poor is Floro Flores? no way does he seem seria a standard to me....still he didn't have to be any good. They defended well enough after the goal and the lack of appetite from Juve and poor final ball never looked like it would unlock that deep defence.

Be interesting to see how Juve respond to this.

Floro flores is still something misterious to me... many "experts" here in italy consider him a "young potential talent".... but they're repeating it since 2003, and, if i have to be honest, he doesn't look anything special to me....

anyway rating properly udinese is really hard. they changed so many players... they sold natali, muntari and iaquinta.... 3 great players, 3 different roles. they also bought some very good players, like quaglia and mesto, but i don't think they'll do as well as in the past few years.... but that's just a pure speculation, as i didn't manage to see an udinese entire match yet.
the worst aspect is the tactical one, i guess. udinese's new coach, Marino, is not on the same level of the past udinese coaches.

vanzandt, i guess i saw udinese today... how did mesto play?

talking about juve match, CBG, did u saw the match today? the ref denied a penalty for a foul on nocerino.... as i told u, times are changed



where roma fans are???? the most beautiful football i saw in the last 10 years :shock: even more beautiful than milan (2003) and lyon (2005).
what a team :applause:

 

[lo zio]

Re: Serie A Thread

Totally agree, was a nice header from Di Natale.

Juve clearly lacked any form of urgency fortunately I am also very, very pleased with the Roma game, especially as I am supporting them for this season. They aren't playing at their best - like at the Palermo match - yet scoring frequently.

AC Milan just aren't playing well enough. It is a real shame because when they are on form - like in the first half of the Genoa match- they are amazing to watch. Gilardino needs to sort himself out - somehow. It is getting ridiculous to watch a player who could do so, so well play so, so awfully. I think he managed to have one shot in the entire match against Siena. Granted, Milan have had bad injury problems, and I think Ancelotti did have to rest the Internationals, but with AC there is a clear gap between the 1st Team and the 2nd Team in certain positions.

Inter. Well they are just winning aren't they? Mancini seems to have done the trick after the opening result against - yes them - Udinese. They are just basically grinding out results - similarly to Roma, except they just don't play half as good football - and this is getting worrying. I am very impressed by Roma so far, but as last year proved Inter can win - and they can win a lot. Fortunately, this Roma team seems able to keep up the pace - and in style.

This Serie A is looking very exciting, and I think that it can finally shut up the annoying English Media about how they are the best league in the world - and by some distance. Forza Roma!

nice post mate. they're all agreable and good points
as u correctly said inter doesn't care about "style", they just care about the result. but they're strong enough to get the result (almost) always. just consider they're missing vieira, materazzi and chivu!

 

[dutty_nose111]

Re: Serie A Thread

Inter play a 4-3-1-2 don't they? I wonder how they are going to fit Figo, Cambiasso, Vieira, Stankovic, J. Zanetti and Maicon into one team, as they are all so vital to the Inter cause. Dropping Figo, would mean that Inter would lose so much creativity, and Stankovic doesn't have nearly as much as Figo, so the question of how and when to rotate Inter's squad will be interesting.

In the same way, Roma have a terrific squad in terms of quality and depth. However, there formation allows them to play every player more often, unlike Inter Milan. This I think is just another example of Spalletti's managerial experience. Another would be buying Giuly and Mauro Esposito. Seriously., everybody must know how talented Esposito is, as many of you are avid Serie A followers. I think Esposito is a terrific back-up and should an injury occur to Giuly he could be brilliant I think he would have made an IMPACT at the World Cup - but as is Esposito's wont - he got injured. That is this guy's major problem

P.S. Can everybody follow this link and give comments on my Esposito PES Stats - I would be very, very grateful Thanks in advance.

http://img510.imageshack.us/my.php?image=espositobv3.png

 

[lo zio]

Re: Serie A Thread

Inter play a 4-3-1-2 don't they? I wonder how they are going to fit Figo, Cambiasso, Vieira, Stankovic, J. Zanetti and Maicon into one team, as they are all so vital to the Inter cause. Dropping Figo, would mean that Inter would lose so much creativity, and Stankovic doesn't have nearly as much as Figo, so the question of how and when to rotate Inter's squad will be interesting.

well, that's a good question. last year mancini find a good balance by lining up a "rhombus" formation, with figo or stankovic playing upfront and cambiasso or dacourt or zanetti playing behind the midfield line, to protect the defense and do the play by play.
one of inter big advantages is that they have many versatile players; stankovic can play (with great results) anywhere in the midfield, figo can be placed as an advanced midfielder(in the rhombus midfield) or on the sides. mancini also placed vieira on the right last year, with very good results.

talking about figo, as u said, he's a key player. he's not that fast awesome player he used to be years ago, but he still is great in setting pieces. stankovic is a great player too, but he's different, he hasn't figo's creativity. and in fact, last year, each time inter played without figo, they lacked of unpredictability. But figo is not a kid anymore, he can't play many consecutives matches, so mancini wisely rotated him with stankovic (who gives a different meaning to tha advanced midfielder role).
i guess the same will happen this year

In the same way, Roma have a terrific squad in terms of quality and depth. However, there formation allows them to play every player more often, unlike Inter Milan. This I think is just another example of Spalletti's managerial experience. Another would be buying Giuly and Mauro Esposito. Seriously., everybody must know how talented Esposito is, as many of you are avid Serie A followers. I think Esposito is a terrific back-up and should an injury occur to Giuly he could be brilliant I think he would have made an IMPACT at the World Cup - but as is Esposito's wont - he got injured. That is this guy's major problem

totally agree with u mate . Spalletti and roma directors did an awesome job this summer. last year they hadn't backups, now they have 2 great players for each role. with cicinho, giuly, esposito, brighi, barusso and a fit aquilani (who will become a star this year) roma won't loose so many "easy" points playing against weaker sides (like they did last year).

i read an interesting article on "il corriere dello sport" a couple of days ago.... it underlined how roma played against reggina 1 year ago. on roma bench there were 4 youth team players.... just take a look to roma bench today. that's the real difference between last year roma and this year roma. just give the new players the time to get inside the "spalletti mentality"

talking about esposito, when he's fit, he's a great player, but as u pointed out, in the last few seasons he had some injury problems.
but there's even more. last season esposito went through a bad year. Cagliari coach (giampaolo) plays a pure 4-4-2 (english style)... players like langella and esposito weren't good for this game system (they're wings, while Giampaolo needed a pure side midfielder). So they didn't play a lot.... and when they played, they were off role. both of them had some sort of a crisis wich affected their performances.

now esposito is looking for a "rebirth". but when one player needs a "rebirth", he needs to play often, and i guess he's just a backup for spalletti (mancini and taddei are roma's wings in the starting formation).
so esposito situation reminds me tavano situation. tavano too came to roma looking for a rebirth (after his bad experience in valencia), but he couldn't find enough space to truly "reborn".
i just hope esposito won't follow tavano's path.

about esposito's stats, they look pretty good to me..... but i'm awful in making stats, so i guess my opinion is not much reliable :lol:

 

[CBG]

Re: Serie A Thread

I saw the Napoli game today, this really is a special team! I think they can go far, it great for football and great for Italy to at last have a southern team doing well. (Roma is half southern half northern)

For those that don't know southern Italy is the best, it has all the passion and charm - in football and in life in general!

 

[dutty_nose111]

Re: Serie A Thread

well, that's a good question. last year mancini find a good balance by lining up a "rhombus" formation, with figo or stankovic playing upfront and cambiasso or dacourt or zanetti playing behind the midfield line, to protect the defense and do the play by play.
one of inter big advantages is that they have many versatile players; stankovic can play (with great results) anywhere in the midfield, figo can be placed as an advanced midfielder(in the rhombus midfield) or on the sides. mancini also placed vieira on the right last year, with very good results.

talking about figo, as u said, he's a key player. he's not that fast awesome player he used to be years ago, but he still is great in setting pieces. stankovic is a great player too, but he's different, he hasn't figo's creativity. and in fact, last year, each time inter played without figo, they lacked of unpredictability. But figo is not a kid anymore, he can't play many consecutives matches, so mancini wisely rotated him with stankovic (who gives a different meaning to tha advanced midfielder role).
i guess the same will happen this year




totally agree with u mate . Spalletti and roma directors did an awesome job this summer. last year they hadn't backups, now they have 2 great players for each role. with cicinho, giuly, esposito, brighi, barusso and a fit aquilani (who will become a star this year) roma won't loose so many "easy" points playing against weaker sides (like they did last year).

i read an interesting article on "il corriere dello sport" a couple of days ago.... it underlined how roma played against reggina 1 year ago. on roma bench there were 4 youth team players.... just take a look to roma bench today. that's the real difference between last year roma and this year roma. just give the new players the time to get inside the "spalletti mentality"

talking about esposito, when he's fit, he's a great player, but as u pointed out, in the last few seasons he had some injury problems.
but there's even more. last season esposito went through a bad year. Cagliari coach (giampaolo) plays a pure 4-4-2 (english style)... players like langella and esposito weren't good for this game system (they're wings, while Giampaolo needed a pure side midfielder). So they didn't play a lot.... and when they played, they were off role. both of them had some sort of a crisis wich affected their performances.

now esposito is looking for a "rebirth". but when one player needs a "rebirth", he needs to play often, and i guess he's just a backup for spalletti (mancini and taddei are roma's wings in the starting formation).
so esposito situation reminds me tavano situation. tavano too came to roma looking for a rebirth (after his bad experience in valencia), but he couldn't find enough space to truly "reborn".
i just hope esposito won't follow tavano's path.

about esposito's stats, they look pretty good to me..... but i'm awful in making stats, so i guess my opinion is not much reliable :lol:

Thanks for the reply on the stats mate I hope Esposito doesn't suffer a fate like Tavano. The guy is just way too talented to deserve that in my opinion. By the way do you think Taddei and Mancini play as SM's or AM's mate?

As an non-ignorant football fan in England, I can appreciate the advantages in Serie A, such as the incredible technical ability, and the frequency of some wonderful football played by teams. Teams such as Roma, Fiorentina and Palermo are just sublime to watch when tehy are at their respective best's, as are their seasons to analyse. Roma (more specifically) and Fiorentina are two terrific teams to watch and they have interesting sub-plots (I hope you understand what I mean). Roma and Fiorentina are sleeping giants and are so close to winning a Serie A in the future. I think Roma will win it within the next 1-3 seasons, I really believe and hope they will. Fiorentina, on the other hand, are presently trying to break into the title-winning teams frame (which Roma have done recently)and when they do they will have a team that will probably win it fairly soon. They are presently focusing on youth, Europe, and a top four/five finish. When their vast amount of youth players begin to show fulfillment of their potential then the whole of Serie A should be scared

As for Palermo, they are similar to Fiorentina. Great to watch, highly counter-attacking and trying to get into the title-contending frame, although right now i think they are trying to get Champions League. Any team with Amauri will do well

I saw the Napoli game today, this really is a special team! I think they can go far, it great for football and great for Italy to at last have a southern team doing well. (Roma is half southern half northern)

For those that don't know southern Italy is the best, it has all the passion and charm - in football and in life in general!

Napoli have a player - Lavezzi. This guy is terrific - did he play well today mate? I reckon Napoli will always have passion since the Maradona days and that is only good for the league. Napoli however have to win a couple more games in concession for me to be totally convinced, although doing that is well within their capabilities

 

[lo zio]

Re: Serie A Thread

For those that don't know southern Italy is the best, it has all the passion and charm - in football and in life in general!

fuck yeah! :thumbup:

anyway talking about "football geography" roma and lazio are usually considered southern teams (don't ask me why, but that's it).


anyway............

great for Italy to at last have a southern team doing well.

i'd say u're forgetting about at least one other southern team wich did great in the past few years 8-)

moreover many southern teams did pretty well in the past few years. messina was pretty good 2 years ago, catania was really impressive last season, till the catania-palermo match tragedy.
and we should also mention reggina. they had an awesome season last year.

i'm very happy to see napoli starting well. i didn't expect it, honestly, and it's a nice surprise to me.
i just hope the napoletani won't put too much pressure on their team. the season just started, and napoletani's love for their club could even destroy the team balance.
that's the weak side of being passional... when fans expectations grow too much, the team can't stay focused.

 

[lo zio]

Re: Serie A Thread

By the way do you think Taddei and Mancini play as SM's or AM's mate?

well, last year roma played this way..


----------------------totti------------------
-----mancini--------perrotta-----------taddei

i guess they'll keeep playing this way. spalletti used mancini and taddei as wings, placing perrotta as advanced midfielder. that was a great spalletti's intuition, as perrotta always played as a defensive midfielder till 2 years ago. Last year perrotta proved he can be deadly, when he's placed behind totti, with his passes and his cuts inside.
watching roma playing last year, it was really hard to truly understand their real formation, as perrotta, taddei, totti and mancini continuosly switched their positions
esposito, giuly and barusso are absolutely perfect buys as they can can play exactly the same football perrotta, mancini and taddei play.

Teams such as Roma, Fiorentina and Palermo are just sublime to watch when tehy are at their respective best's, as are their seasons to analyse. Roma (more specifically) and Fiorentina are two terrific teams to watch and they have interesting sub-plots (I hope you understand what I mean). Roma and Fiorentina are sleeping giants and are so close to winning a Serie A in the future. I think Roma will win it within the next 1-3 seasons, I really believe and hope they will. Fiorentina, on the other hand, are presently trying to break into the title-winning teams frame (which Roma have done recently)and when they do they will have a team that will probably win it fairly soon. They are presently focusing on youth, Europe, and a top four/five finish. When their vast amount of youth players begin to show fulfillment of their potential then the whole of Serie A should be scared

:shock:
that's a perfect analisys, mate. spot on :applause::applause::applause:

i absolutely share your views about fiorentina (. talking about roma, i'd say they're already good enough to win the title (this season it will be a close race between inter, milan and roma).

talking about palermo, well, we could say we're one step behind fiorentina. palermo's competitors are udinese sampdoria and lazio .
fiorentina instead will fight for the title (with milan, inter, juve and roma) in 2\3 years.

Napoli have a player - Lavezzi. This guy is terrific - did he play well today mate?

well, i didn't see the whole match, just the highlights (i watched palermo and roma matches today), so i can't truly say if he did well.
totally agree with u about napoli, mate. they're doing well, but it's a long road to the end of the season. but there's something we can already say; napoli new buys already understood reja's game system and schemes. especially lavezzi and gargano! it looks like they already adapted to serie a... really impressive
i just hope reja will give some space to Calaiò too, as he's a great player and he really deserves serie a

 

[dutty_nose111]

Re: Serie A Thread

Thanks for the reply mate. How good a passer do you think Perotta is? Would you say he is good/better than Mauri of Roma's eternal rivals? Who's passing skills would you compare his to? I have him pegged as as good as a passer of the ball as between Donadel and Montolivo. I.E. In Pes i have his Short Pass Stats at 82/83 and his Long Pass Stats at 79/75. Also do you think he is more of a killer-ball player or playmaker? Perrotta's playing style is difficult to grasp, which is why he is so talented . But i think I have his pass stats right. Sorry for going slightly off topic, but i am trying to create a perfect Roma, Palermo and Fiorentina on my game

EDIT: Can't wait until Roma-Juve next week!!

 

[Abhishek]

Re: Serie A Thread

Have just started watching Seria A (never had proper coverage before), and I must say, this league is brilliant :applause:

I watched some Roma matches, and when in form, it looks like they can beat any team in the world.

I don't know how people can say that EPL is the best league in the world. Surely they haven't watched Bundesliga, Serie A etc properly. They are right up there with EPL.

 

[dutty_nose111]

Re: Serie A Thread

Totally agree, although I personally haven't seen the Bundesliga

EDIT: Now off to see another great team/league - SEVILLA. Enjoyed talking to you guys though

 

[Abhishek]

Re: Serie A Thread

Totally agree, although I personally haven't seen the Bundesliga

Well you better start then

 

[lo zio]

Re: Serie A Thread

Thanks for the reply mate. How good a passer do you think Perotta is? Would you say he is good/better than Mauri of Roma's eternal rivals? Who's passing skills would you compare his to? I have him pegged as as good as a passer of the ball as between Donadel and Montolivo. I.E. In Pes i have his Short Pass Stats at 82/83 and his Long Pass Stats at 79/75. Also do you think he is more of a killer-ball player or playmaker? Perrotta's playing style is difficult to grasp, which is why he is so talented . But i think I have his pass stats right. Sorry for going slightly off topic, but i am trying to create a perfect Roma, Palermo and Fiorentina on my game

u're not off topic at all mate! that's serie a talking
the mauri\perrotta comparison is spot on! they're abilities are really similar; both of them have a nice first touch pass and like to cut inside.
but while mauri usually starts his action from the sidelines, perrotta plays on the centre. but that's talking about where they start from.... as both of them move a lot along the pitch. if i would have to pick one of them, i'd pick perrotta, as playing on the centre is always harder then starting from the sideline...... but it would be a tough decision, as they're both great players and they're very similar.

donadel is a very good passer too, but he's a different player. he usually plays 20 meters behind perrotta's position on the pitch, as a defensive midfielder. but his passing ability allows him to do a very good play by play. we could say he's some kind of a playmaker..... but not an usual playmaker. he's not as pirlo or pizarro or corini or liverani, to make an example. he more an "emerson-like" playmaker. he hasn't creativity, but he gives geometry to the team. he also has a terrific long shot and he's phenomenal in breaking the opponent's plays.

finally montolivo.... he's really something special. is really hard to establish his role. sure he started as an advanced midfielder, but he's not an usual advanced midfielder. he plays a little behind the advanced midfielder usual position on the field. he hasn't pace but his vision, his passing ability, his shot and his dribbling ability are awesome. when he was younger he used to play as a pure advanced midfielder. then, in the past few years he moved back. now he's almost a central midfielder.
he's slowly becoming a pure playmaker, wich is his real role, imo.
usually i don't like comparisons, i don't like to say "that guy is the new......" but i have to admit he's very very similar to pirlo, and it looks like his coach and montolivo himself are finally realizing it

to put it simply, i'd say perrotta and mauri should have an high short pass rating, while montolivo should have high ratings in both, long and short passes, but that's just a perfunctory advice

I don't know how people can say that EPL is the best league in the world. Surely they haven't watched Bundesliga, Serie A etc properly. They are right up there with EPL.

well, i guess it's all about your personal taste. it's hard to compare different leagues, as they can be compared by many point of views (how many teams can fight for the title, the quality of the football, the tactical knowledge, the average quality level of the players, the average quality level of the coaches...etc...) there are also some external aspects that can influence your preferences (like the stadia or the fans). then there is the main aspect: the football school; each country has his own football school, they're all different and it's impossible to compare them as they all have their good and weak points. u can just appreciate them all. and the same goes for our leagues; u can just appreciate them all, in their different good and bad aspects.

as for me, i follow ligue un, bundesliga, liga, premiership and serie a.... and i love them all (for different reasons). honestly i couldn't do a true, absolute "ranking", as my personal ranking changes every year...
last year my favourites leagues were la liga and die bundesliga....
as for this year "ranking", we'll see, it's still too early

 

[juveboy]

Re: Serie A Thread

While I thought we were unlucky today as Del Piero hit the post 3 times, I still don't think the team did enough to break Udinese down. Camoranesi was a big miss for me when he went off. Nocerino didn't have a good game and regularly put bad balls into the box. I also felt there was a lack of movement off the ball at times. I remember one move towards the end when Del Piero found Nedved, but Nedved had no one making a good enough run to roll it across to and the keeper got the ball in the end.

I thought the defence was better overall than against Cagliari, though, but they went to sleep on the goal, which was a poor one to concede even if it was nicely executed by Udinese.

The game did show though that we won't be celebrating and Scudetto next May. I've seen all 3 league games and the team doesn't have enough about it. Injuries haven't helped but even then more is needed, a CL place is good enough for me.


Forza Juve

 

[Abhishek]

Re: Serie A Thread

well, i guess it's all about your personal taste. it's hard to compare different leagues, as they can be compared by many point of views (how many teams can fight for the title, the quality of the football, the tactical knowledge, the average quality level of the players, the average quality level of the coaches...etc...) there are also some external aspects that can influence your preferences (like the stadia or the fans). then there is the main aspect: the football school; each country has his own football school, they're all different and it's impossible to compare them as they all have their good and weak points. u can just appreciate them all. and the same goes for our leagues; u can just appreciate them all, in their different good and bad aspects.

as for me, i follow ligue un, bundesliga, liga, premiership and serie a.... and i love them all (for different reasons). honestly i couldn't do a true, absolute "ranking", as my personal ranking changes every year...
last year my favourites leagues were la liga and die bundesliga....
as for this year "ranking", we'll see, it's still too early

It's not about ranking different leagues. It's not about the tactical aspects, quality of players etc. It's about the entertainment each league provides, and for me Bundesliga, Serie A, La Liga, EPL and Ligue 1 all are equally entertaining