Serie A Thread - 2014/15 Season

Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Marco is back!! :D

Honestly, after having been average in recent years, I didn't see this coming! I had lost hope on him. As I had on Diego Tristan and many other 'once-brilliant footballers' who are now shadows of their former past, But the man is once again showing what some of us had forgotten he's capable of doing! Di Vaiooooo!

Ben, yah Biondini is a very useful player but he's not good enough for national team yet and I think it's fair that he hasn't had a cap yet. I was just saying that who knows... maybe one day he will. But even that is not TOO likely.... Italy like you said has a lot of other talent in midfield that are not only established but some on the way up, so I wouldn't be surprised if his career finished without him earning a cap. But then again who knows... no one can predict the future and like we said, he is decent enough and young enough to still be in with a shot... so who knows maybe a move to a bigger club and some good displays there will get him even more recognition and might get Davide a few caps before his career is over and give us the opportunity to witness a ginger player in action wearing the Azzuri jersey! :D
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Well it has been a great season for some senior players like Di Vaoi, Nedved, Doni, and recently Beckham :D and many others. I was excpecting more from Sheva and Vieri, but then Floccari shined.

Sheva is not even getting 10 min of playtime. In the game against Atalanta he got the play the last 10 min and he was tackling Milan players to get the ball in his feet. He is eager to do something and Ancelotti IMO needs to give him one chance. He is even in a worse situation than at Chelsea since with 4 injured strikers at Milan he doesn't get a time to play...
 
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Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

i thought sheva'd slot right back in too, i guess his time in chelsea really effected him.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

I think Sheva's lack of playing time has to do with Ancelotti's anger. He probably still feels betrayed. Sheva was a Berlusconi signing anyway.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

He is mad at Ronaldinho also. He may be mad at Berlusconi :D
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

much better if you were the masta of pasta :PP

sad to see nedved go out of the game so early v chelsea especially as that'll be his last game in the champions league. it'll be an interesting game tomorrow with roma, classic good home team v good away team.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Yesterday i discovered Giovinco in the match against Chelsea, what a delightfull litle player.
I heard he was voted best young player of the serie A last year, did he already played for Juve ???
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

gerd said:
Yesterday i discovered Giovinco in the match against Chelsea, what a delightfull litle player.
I heard he was voted best young player of the serie A last year, did he already played for Juve ???
Click to expand...

u mean u never watched empoli last season? too bad mate, u missed something very beautiful :).

u see Abou, that's what i meant to say in that pm i sent u. u can't be suprised by the poor opinion people outside italy has of serie a.
how can they get a fair idea of serie a, if the only italian football display they get to see is inter being spanked by man utd (wich is arguably the best team in europe today).

the obvious conclusion is "if that's the best serie a can offer... if this is the team wich dominated serie a in the last 3 years, well it must be a pretty poor league"
i mean that's what i would think.

our friend Gerd here, he's not one of those blinded, chauvinist british fans who pretend epl is the best league in the world.... but still how is he supposed to appreciate the beautiness of this league, if he doesn't get a chance to watch the likes of empoli?

he's curious and open minded, but it will be impossible for him (as for anybody else) to get a correct "image" of serie a, if the only italian matches european media broadcast are champions league matches or inter-milan derbys......

as a matter of fact the beauty of this league doesn't lie anymore on the top teams (wich are definitely weaker than 10 years ago).

till 10 years ago serie a was pretty much like epl is today. our top teams were amazing.... we had a top 7 btw, not just a top 4. ;)
those 7 teams (we used to call them "the 7 sisters") had amazing rosters, built by spending crazy money.....
but the remaining 13 teams were utterly poor.

today the situation is much different. the top teams faced a huge downfall (wich was the obvious consequence of that crazy management)... but the other teams had an amazing and constant growth.

just take a look at cagliari or siena..... those are 2 of the poorest clubs in serie a.... their annual incomes are less than some championship clubs incomes!....
but still, look at the amazing quality of their football.....

and, speaking of giovinco, gerd, last season there was a little team, empoli, who displayed a formation with the likes of marchisio, giovinco, adani, raggi, tosto, buscè, abate, antonini, vannucchi, giacomazzi, moro.... all in the same team!!!!
it was such a nice team, guided by an amazing coach like cagni. that team displayed a delightful football for the whole season... and the fact that this wasn't enough to avoid the relegation just goes to show the quality of the league.....

the best of serie a today can't be found in top teams. yes, roma plays amazing football when they're on the right mood.... but then again the same could be said about arsenal or barca.
yes, inter is a terrific team with lots of depth and streght.... but the same could be said about chelsea.....
yes, milan and juve are in the middle of a re-building process wich might bring them back to be considered among the best clubs in the world.... but today they're still one step behind the likes of chelsea or liverpool (not to mention man utd or barca).

if u wanna see the best serie a has to offer today, if u wanna know what this league can offer that other leagues can't, u have to watch the likes of cagliari, siena, udinese, atalanta, napoli, palermo, genoa, fiorentina..... this is what makes this league special.

but since european media don't show their matches.... no wonder people outside italy don't rate serie a..... actually (as i told u in that pm, abou) i'm amazed to see that someone was able to realise the beauty of this league (like jumbo, abhi, sabac, dominic, sina and u abou).
 
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Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Good post Ben (as always)...the older i get, the more i'm crazy about Italian football...when i was a kid, i absolutely hated Italian football (i.e. Herrera's Inter and later Juventus with Platini and Scirea).
I must admit that i liked Rivera, but to my dismay, this great player wasn't even a regular in the squadra azzuri...it was either Mazzola or Rivera who played...of course that reïnforced my negative opinion.

Then it all changed with the 1988 Euro's. I think Italy had a great team then: Vialli, Mancini upfront and in the same team my current avatar and all-time favourite player Giuseppe Giannini...the most elegant football player i ever watched.

From then on i was interested in Italian football...but how do i know Italian football ??? From matches of Milan, Juventus, Roma or Inter...from computer games (Football Manager!!!), from books...i consider myself a "fan" of Atalanta and Palermo but i never saw those playing...not even on television...except on the receiving end of goals from Milan and Inter...but then only the goals that those bog clubs scored...

You talk about last year's Empoli team: Giovinco is the only player i know and that since tuesday evening...

Every sunday afternoon i watch MOTD and i like it...i like because i like teams like Spurs, Wigan, Everton and Aston Villa...but if could watch Serie A every week instead of Match of the Day i would not hesitate a single second...i wanna see clubs like Atalanta and Palermo, but also the likes of Genoa, Udinese (two other teams that attract me), Siena, and god forbid even Catania...i want to see players like Ezequiel Lavezzi who is seen as a big prospect, i want to see Aquilani every week,...but i simply can't find Italian matches on television...damn...

Oh and about Man Utd -Inter. This morning i heard an interview (in Dutch) on the radio with Edwin Van Der Sar. Van Der Sar wasn't very happy with Man Utd's performance. According to him, Man Utd played a bad match...what would 've happened if Man Utd played well...

On the other hand i think besides the fact that Inter got a lesson in efficiency, i think they were rather unlucky...two early goals in each half (two very good goals and very clumsy defending of Viera) and they had a couple of very good chances (Van Der Sar even said that Inter were the better team and had the bettter chances...i tend to disagree with him, but who am i). Once again Ibrahimovic more or less let Inter down and Inter did not play as a team...they should start all over again with young hungry players like Balotelli and that very good left back...but Moratti is too desperate to win the CL.

Sorry for the long post...
 
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Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Gerd, or anyone else, if you're interested, I can provide links to my recordings of 90 Minuto, which is similar to MOTD but for Serie A. I legally record it each week.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

I would appreciate that enormously Stef, thank you very much...
Oh and i promise that i won't be too negative about Milan...i think you are aware of the fact that i love underdogs and therefore am not a particular big fan of AC Milan (please read this sentence once again and you will understand that that as a matter of fact i'm praising Milan).
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

On the subject of Giovinco, I think Ranieri needs to give him more game time and use Nedved sparingly, in a similar way that Ferguson uses Giggs for the important matches and keeps him fresh and fully-fit by resting him when necessary. But since Nedved is retiring at the end of the season, I expect Giovinco will be given a lot more game time next season.

Milanista said:
Gerd, or anyone else, if you're interested, I can provide links to my recordings of 90 Minuto, which is similar to MOTD but for Serie A. I legally record it each week.
Click to expand...
Sock it to me. :D
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Yep Same here, Gazzetta Football on Saturday mornings was epic. remember setting my alarm just for it :DD
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Thats cool, I usually have it on sunday afternoons after all the games, it also covers the saturday night games, but not the sunday night ones obviously. It will be in Italian, but thats besides the point.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

That would be great if you could give us the links Stef.

Maybe you could record yourself translating and dub it over for us too :D
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Stefano.... master of pasta.... and serie a pusher
u really are the man, bro! :D

abou, about giovinco, the kid is arguably the purest under 23 talent in europe after messi (who is much more than a talent today.... but who also had the chance to get much more experience than sebastian)...... however i still can't see him playing in nedved's position... he's just to lightweight imo to handle that role....
the only role i see for him is his natural role: sp... a la zola.
i remember we had a conversation about his role with dominic last season....

i also remember i thought it wasn't the best idea for him and for juve to keep him in torino. i said that giovinco and marchisio should have been sent somewhere else to get more playtime, while dominic had a different opinion.
in restrospect, i guess we could say i was right about giovinco and dominic was right about marchisio. but then again, marchisio was given so much playtime just coz poulsen got injured in first place.
funny thing is now that poulsen is getting fit again, i guess he will remain marchisio's backup :)

Gerd said:
Sorry for the long post...
Click to expand...
are u kidding me?!:LOL:
:WASTED:
 
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Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

id love to be able to see that program milanista, i used to watch all the serie a games i could get my hands on at my old house but since i moved and dont get the channel anymore i havent been able to get my fix.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Well...with all this Serie A talk, and teaching people about teams is really getting me going. I wish I had watched more Serie A last season I would have loved to watch Empoli play. I am really routeing for them to get promoted.

I totally agree with the depth of the serie A, and I basically love to watch every team play...with the exception of Siena, Reggina, Bologna & Sampdoria(before they added Pazzini). Just for people not to familiar with Fiorentina...I want to give them a little knowledge.

Sebastian Frey is a world class keeper that I'm not sure if people are aware because he doesn't play for the French NT(problems with the coach), and he doesn't play for one of the "Big 4". He should really be in discussions for best Serie A keeper behind Buffon & Cesar. The weakest part of the team of late IMO is their Central defense. They do have Gamberini who made the Euro 2008 squad, and their captain Dainelli. IMO Gamberini is still a "prospect" and has to grow to be more consistent, and more of a presence in the back. When he is paired with Dainelli they are decent, but Dainelli is often injured, and he is pretty slow. Koldrup gets a lot of play in Dainelli's absence, and this is the biggest weakness of the team. It's not like Inter where you have Samuel, Matterazzi, Cordoba, Burdisso, Rivas....

At SB, they have 2 LB & 2 RB that could play & possibly start for most teams in Europe. Vargas was a big pick-up at LB, and IMO has definitely not lived up to his performance at Catania. So once Pasqual returned from a long injury he seems to have re-gained his starting spot by default. He is a great set-piece taker, and a solid LB. At RB you have former Torino captain Comotto, who is a very hard worker down that side, and is a little more competent defensivley than in the, as he was a former CB. They attacking LB options are either Zauri or Jorgenson. Jorg was their starter last season, and due to injuries has become out of favor in general. And zauri is a quality RB with some great nice soft crosses.

I'll jump ahead to the obvious...Mutu & Gilardino. If you haven't seen these player on the club level recently you are missing out. Both are in top form. It's not the same Mutu from Chelsea or Gilardino from Milan. They other forward spot is the interesting one. The right-sided WF spot was possessed by Santana who was finally developing into a really good player, and showing great quality. The he got seriously injured recently...and Fiorentina hasn't played as well since.

Lastly, and IMO the KEY to Fiorentina's future success, is the development of their Midfield. They got rid of Liverani last season who was the experience and composure in the Midfield playmaker role. In that spot they filled it with Felipe Melo, the Brazilian International. He has developed his play through out the season, and is more of a gritty hardworker than a playmaker. So that pressure is on the shoulders of Italian International Montolivo. He needs to step up his game more consistently if they are going to ever be consistently a European threat. He is a great talent, and currently a really good player. But he can be more than that. On the other side the continued development of Kuzmanovic is a bonus. He often out plays Montolivo, and is a really good young player. And having Donadel coming off the bench who can fill any of the MF's position is a great asset. IMO there are very few in the Serie A Midfield that can read the game as well as Donadel. The only problem is his physical limitations. He lacks the speed & strength of Felipe Melo, and the techinally ability of Kuz & Montolivo. But he carries the work ethic and heart, as well as his ability to read the game.

I hope this wasn't a painful read. But I felt if we were educating a little bit of Serie A clubs...I thought I'd share my favorite with you guys :D
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

I loved it..i think it would be good if others made a similar analysis of other less obvious teams.

Thank you.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

jmg721 said:
Well...with all this Serie A talk, and teaching people about teams is really getting me going. I wish I had watched more Serie A last season I would have loved to watch Empoli play. I am really routeing for them to get promoted.

I totally agree with the depth of the serie A, and I basically love to watch every team play...with the exception of Siena, Reggina, Bologna & Sampdoria(before they added Pazzini). Just for people not to familiar with Fiorentina...I want to give them a little knowledge.

Sebastian Frey is a world class keeper that I'm not sure if people are aware because he doesn't play for the French NT(problems with the coach), and he doesn't play for one of the "Big 4". He should really be in discussions for best Serie A keeper behind Buffon & Cesar. The weakest part of the team of late IMO is their Central defense. They do have Gamberini who made the Euro 2008 squad, and their captain Dainelli. IMO Gamberini is still a "prospect" and has to grow to be more consistent, and more of a presence in the back. When he is paired with Dainelli they are decent, but Dainelli is often injured, and he is pretty slow. Koldrup gets a lot of play in Dainelli's absence, and this is the biggest weakness of the team. It's not like Inter where you have Samuel, Matterazzi, Cordoba, Burdisso, Rivas....

At SB, they have 2 LB & 2 RB that could play & possibly start for most teams in Europe. Vargas was a big pick-up at LB, and IMO has definitely not lived up to his performance at Catania. So once Pasqual returned from a long injury he seems to have re-gained his starting spot by default. He is a great set-piece taker, and a solid LB. At RB you have former Torino captain Comotto, who is a very hard worker down that side, and is a little more competent defensivley than in the, as he was a former CB. They attacking LB options are either Zauri or Jorgenson. Jorg was their starter last season, and due to injuries has become out of favor in general. And zauri is a quality RB with some great nice soft crosses.

I'll jump ahead to the obvious...Mutu & Gilardino. If you haven't seen these player on the club level recently you are missing out. Both are in top form. It's not the same Mutu from Chelsea or Gilardino from Milan. They other forward spot is the interesting one. The right-sided WF spot was possessed by Santana who was finally developing into a really good player, and showing great quality. The he got seriously injured recently...and Fiorentina hasn't played as well since.

Lastly, and IMO the KEY to Fiorentina's future success, is the development of their Midfield. They got rid of Liverani last season who was the experience and composure in the Midfield playmaker role. In that spot they filled it with Felipe Melo, the Brazilian International. He has developed his play through out the season, and is more of a gritty hardworker than a playmaker. So that pressure is on the shoulders of Italian International Montolivo. He needs to step up his game more consistently if they are going to ever be consistently a European threat. He is a great talent, and currently a really good player. But he can be more than that. On the other side the continued development of Kuzmanovic is a bonus. He often out plays Montolivo, and is a really good young player. And having Donadel coming off the bench who can fill any of the MF's position is a great asset. IMO there are very few in the Serie A Midfield that can read the game as well as Donadel. The only problem is his physical limitations. He lacks the speed & strength of Felipe Melo, and the techinally ability of Kuz & Montolivo. But he carries the work ethic and heart, as well as his ability to read the game.

I hope this wasn't a painful read. But I felt if we were educating a little bit of Serie A clubs...I thought I'd share my favorite with you guys :D
Click to expand...

Great analysis mate, Fiorentina are definitely one of my favorite teams in Serie A.

You've pretty much put everything that needs to be said, but I'll say something about the most important part of that team, and that is Cesare Prandelli.

First of all, I'll say, the men is very, very class, and a great human being. A genuine footballing a man, and very humble, very much like Scolari.

A truly world class coach, his first work in Serie A was getting Hellas Verona upto Serie A, and then finishing 9th. He was then appointed manager of Parma, where he really made his name in Italy, constantly fighting for CL places, and getting Parma to the UEFA Cup places.

Following his continuous progression, he was appointed coach of AS Roma, but due to illness of his wife, he left Roma to be with her. This was an extraordinary decision, but a simple one for a man like for him to make, and one of the reasons why I respect him so much. He then came to Fiorentina, who were in shambles, lifted them up, and within a few seasons has got them into CL, without spending great amount of money. He's won Italian Coach of the Year two years running. A terrific man manager, a great tactician, a great footballing man, who's team plays great football, and most importantly IMO, a very humble man. Unfortunately, his wife passed away recently, but the man has not been shaken. He can easily get a much bigger job, but he's got a project at Florence, and he wants to continue that, and it's continuously progressing.

Talking about Fiorentina, they do have one of the best midfields in Serie A. Melo's been one of the buys of the season, and very much reminds me of Ruben Baraja. Montolivo is another one look out for, in the Italian national team, so is Gilardino.

Enough for now, if we want to continue this, we can talk about the team with one of the best attacks in Italy, that is Lazio, one of my favorite teams.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

He is the one that basically made Gilardino the player that he is - now he's scoring left right and center again.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Nice analysis guys, Fiorentina have always been one of my favourite clubs since the days of Rui Costa and Batigol. As for Prandelli, the guy's a genius. I remember how bad Fiorentina were before he took over and transformed them.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Juventus's performance yesterday was excellent, it was great to see us score more after a while, Giovinco played a excellent game and I hope Ranieri shows more faith towards him after this game, Del Piero looked alright despite scoring 2 goals he wasn't the best. And Iaquinta looked like he was doing everything he could to score and I like to see that from a striker.

Overall a fantastic performance, we need to wait for Fiorentina to beat Inter this evening! Also I would like to add how delighted I am at how Claudio Marchisio has been this season! A very hard working midfielder.
 
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Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

yep matt, yesterday, maybe for the first time this season, giovinco really played on his empoli standards.

as for marchisio..... he is much much more than a hard working midfielder to me...... the kid is amazing.:))


2 very nice posts jason and abhi :))

jason your analysis was quite accurate indeed... nice read mate

i do agree about vargas... he didn't really perform on the same highest standards he showed in catania... he actually had an horrible season start... and then slightly improved his game...
funny how 2 of the most interesting leftbacks in europe last season (vargas and dossena) had some serious troubles in adapting in their new clubs....

as for fiorentina's defence being the weakest part... well maybe their defence it's not as stunning as their midfield and their attack... but still....
comotto-dainelli-gamberini-vargas (or pasqual)...
that is one hell of a defensive line to me...
i honestly wouldn't consider gamberini as a prospect.....i mean he's not world class... and even though he has the potential to become a top class cb... he might even never reach that level..... but still he's an excellent central back.
the understanding with dainelli (another excellent cb) is great.... and yes, kroldrup is not even close to them.
as for the "offensive leftbacks point"... i'd say vargas and pasqual are very offensive... zauri is more of an all around sideback... in terms of experience and versatility he was a good add to the team.... as for jorgensen, i still find it hard to consider him a proper sideback... he's always been a (very good) advanced midfielder.. and started playing as a sb just last season...
2 years ago, before his injury, pasqual was one of the most interesting offensive lefbacks prospects in europe.... now he seems to be back on track.... but, from what i saw, he's still quite far from being back that amazing attacking leftback he used to be..... however there's hope.

as for the rest i completely agree with everything u wrote.


abhi, nice post about about prandelli... u're spot on as usual...
a few weeks ago i wrote about top class managers, defining them as those managers who have "the complete package".... well cesare definitely is one of em.

as for his wife story, it was very sad and touching... and i have an enourmous respect for the way he handled this tragic situation....
i still remember when he said goodbye to roma... roma just appointed him as their new coach.... the season wasn't even begun when he took the decision to leave the job, in order to stay closer to his wife...
he said "my wife and my sons need me now. i hope roma management and fans will understand and respect my priorities"

for his whole carreer he waited for that moment... and finally, after proving himself as a world class manager wherever he worked, he finally had his chance to coach a top class team.....
and yet, he had no hesitation in realising what he had to do :WORSHIP:
even though he wasn't able to coach roma... not even for a single match, roma fans today love him and respect him, as if he were "one of them".

the dignity, the composure, the class he showed when he knew about his wife's cancer was really touching.
unfortunately, last season his wife died... once again he showed his discretion, his composure and his dignity...
even though he is a very discrete, secretive and shy person, the whole city of firenze broke that "wall" he built to preserve his privacy and to hide his sorrow and metaphorically "hugged" him close, so that he and his sons could feel the whole city was close to their pain and sorrow....
i remember fiorentina's ultras showed a banner the week after at the stadium saying "stand up cesare, your family is still beside u... we are your family".... very nice :))

as u said he's more than a world class coach and a very humble person.. he's a great human being :))

ap_11708297_45020.jpg

here are them. did u know she was the only woman in his entire life? they knew each others when they were students... and from that moment on they always stick together.

Abhi said:
Enough for now, if we want to continue this, we can talk about the team with one of the best attacks in Italy, that is Lazio, one of my favorite teams.
Click to expand...

sounds very good to me... looking foward to read your thoughts about lazio guys :))
i won't be able to contribute to the conversation until next week however... as the upcoming week will be very hectic for me...
i'll try to catch up as soon as i'll get some free time. :))
 
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Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Hi everyone, long time. How are you guys doing?

Anybody catch Giovinco's performance last night? Hopefully it was his 'breakthrough'.

About his role, Ben. It's difficult to place, I dont think he's a forward as he needs space to attack and players infront of him but he isn't a midfielder either. He still struggles a bit though in a typical trequartista role as there is usually little space in the centre. Most importantly though is that he should keep playing. He played a lot of matches in recent weeks and yesterday we could really see what an effect some continuity and confidence can create.

Like you said, Marchisio got his chance due to injuries, but he didn't dissapoint and he really won his place. The guy plays like a veteran! He's above Poulsen and Tiago in the pecking order right now and Zanetti and Sissoko are out for the rest of the season making him the nr1 central midfielder.


On to the Champions league. In terms of sheer quality, the English are unmatchable at the moment. I kind of expected a cold shower for the Serie A teams, but they put a good fight. Man u is at the moment head and shoulders above the rest of Europe, while Juve pushed Chelsea till the end and were even unlucky in the second game. Roma maybe should've advanced though, they could've beaten this Arsenal side. I think this trend will continue for a couple of more seasons, but a trend always fluctuates so things will turn around... waiting for the premiership to implode in a couple of seasons.

Serie A will probably end, standingwise, like it is right now. Inter may continue to stutter, but so will the rest. Roma may yet push through for the fourth spot. I reckon Fiorentina's league position is a little flattering, they have dissapointed me somewhat this season. But so have many.. Inter, Juve, Roma, Milan, Fiorentina none of them have really improved from last season really.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Dominic mate! finally!! it's been a while!!! :BEER:
nice to read u again my friend.

concerning the england-italy matchup, i guess we all weren't surprised by the results...
the english top 4 are one step above the italian top 4 today... i wouldn't use the word "unmatchable" however..... the only english team which is really unmatchable for any italian top side is man utd imo.... as for the others... chelsea is a better team than roma, liverpool is a better team than juve and arsenal (perhaps) is a better team than milan.....
but the gap isn't that big however.

i expected man utd to destroy inter... while i thought the chelsea-juve and the arsenal-roma matchup to be much more balanced... and i guess i was right......

i actually expected roma to go through, as i honestly consider roma a better team than arsenal....
but honestly, with all those injury troubles, it was just impossible for roma to play their game.....cicinho, panucci, mexes, juan, their whole starting defensive line was out.... and when u take into account that also pizarro, totti and aquilani (aquilani admitted he wasn't able to join a single training session in the last month) had some serious fitness troubles... well we really couldn't expect much more than this from the giallorossi.


Inter, Juve, Roma, Milan, Fiorentina none of them have really improved from last season really.
Click to expand...
i have to disagree on this concern.
roma had a tough season coz of their horrible start, but spalletti changed the formation and the result was very good... brighi, motta and menez were very good additions to the team.

juve is still working on their rebuilding process, and i honestly think they did a great job so far....
they have a stunning mix of great veterans and promising kids, and i can already see them being back again a world class team in 2 seasons....
i mean, till 24 months ago they were facing serie b clubs, they lost half of their starting formation.... and yet, one week ago they faced one of the strongest teams in europe (chelsea) and came out with a very dignified performance.

and concerning fiorentina, we should consider that this was a very important year for their growth process.... for the first time this young team had to face not only the league but also the champions league..... it's an important exam for a wannabe top club....
and usually wannabe top clubs fail this exam... just think about what sevilla and lazio did last season.... the champions league efforts had a huge effect on their domestic performance....
if u compare what fiorentina did this season to what sevilla and lazio did last season, well the perspective changes...
i actually think they did very very well.
yes, maybe they weren't a great as last season.... but honestly i didn't expect that.... i expected them to do much worse (like sevilla and lazio last season) actually, as they were supposed to face a new terrific challenge this year (the champions league).... moreover last season genoa, napoli, udinese, lazio, atalanta, hell even palermo, weren't as good as they are right now... so also the competitors growth must be taken into account, talking about fiorentina's performances.

milan has still a long way to go, in order to rebuild their team... but with their recent moves on the market, they proved they finally took the right path... pato, bringing back borriello and antonini, abate (who is on loan to torino), flamini... and i'm not going to mention thiago silva, as i honestly can't say how good is this kid...
sure it's not going to be a fast process... but i think they're on the right track.

the thing is it's hard to spot the top club progresses in serie a, because unlike most of the leagues in europe, here every club (from the poorests to the "wannabe top class clubs) grow each and every year....

i mean there's not a single club (from siena to genoa) wich isn't stronger than last season.
so all in all i'd say all the top clubs (except inter) improved from last season... but also genoa, catania, atalanta, palermo, cagliari, udinese, napoli, lazio and siena had huge improvements... so that it becomes hard to spot the top club's growth...

that's just my opinion however :))

Like you said, Marchisio got his chance due to injuries, but he didn't dissapoint
Click to expand...
that is quite an understatement mate... he has been fucking awesome!!!... and that's coming from a neutral point of view :))
 
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