Serie A Thread - 2014/15 Season

Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

the battle for the 4th spot is gonna be insane.. i took a look at both fiorentina's and genoa's schedule, and it's absolutely impossible to tell wich team will grab the last champions league spot, as both teams have huge challenges to face in the upcoming weeks.
1 thing is for sure: the real victim of this battle is roma. the lack of champions league-tied incomes will have a huge impact on the club... i can see a painful summer coming on for all the romanisti out there.

anyhow it's quite refreshing to see how genoa is following exactly the same path of fiorentina. another club wich is building an amazing team with a sustainable financial strategy.

talking about napoli, they might collect a few points more, but they won't have a big boost. their downfall was expected and quite predictable and the situation won't change until the end of the season (as the factors wich lead to their collapse are still there).

concerning diego, he is a sublime player i would defeinitely like to see in italy.... but on the other side, i would be gutted if he would leave bremen. the whole bundesliga is in the middle of a fantastic growth process and it would be a great "message" if a top star like diego would stay there (even though i can't see that happening).

besides diego is not what juve needs right now. i said it last summer, and i'm gonna repeat it again: juve needs a ball distributor at midfield. a deep-lying playmaker, or at least a "metodista", a player who could give some "neatness", some logic to their plays.
they already have a great metodista in zanetti, but as we all agreed last summer, he's too injury prone to be a reliable asset.
 
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Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

I agree, we really lack a player like Pirlo in my opinion. I have a lot of faith in Marchisio and he has proven to be a very good tackler and also a good technique. I hope we continue to let him start next season and help develop his long balls.

However, I think Juve should sign Diego to add more flair to the team. We need a player like Zidane (Not comparing) who could beat a man IN the midfielder and give the ball to Alex and the other striker be it Amauri or Iaquinta.

I also would like to see Molinaro benched and De Ceglie start (after he recovers after his collapsed lung of course.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

matt1288 said:
I agree, we really lack a player like Pirlo in my opinion.
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well when i said they need a playmaker, i didn't necessarily mean the best playmaker in the world :DD
i think a ledesma would do the job.
marchisio had an amazing season last year at empoli, and proved himself this season on the big stage... but he's not a ball distributor.

as for diego, i have no doubts that he would be a great buy.
but diego would have an impact on the finalization (does this word really exist? :P ) of the plays.... while juve's issues concern mainly the start, the beginning of the plays (hence a deep-lying playmaker or a metodista would be much more needed).

ranieri should have realized it last summer (this is actually the only thing i blame him for).... i just hope he won't repeat the same mistake this summer.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Yes it's a word :) and what you're saying about Diego making a big impact on the 'final' movements/passes before a chance is created or goal is scored is very true.

And thank you guys very much both for the answers. Gigi and Ben.

Genoa is doing great but somehow I doubt they'll be up there fighting or 4th place again next year. I hope I'm wrong though!

p.s. One of my Italian friends here tells me Pirlo is incredibly rich (his family) and would've been even if he hadn't turned into such a famous world-class player. Something with his dad owning big oil company or something? can anyone confirm. Now I'm a bit curious...
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

You can always fit a player like Diego in your team. Especially a player of his standards who needs to prove himself with a top team. He would be a great addition to the Serie A but I said the something about Q77 last year. But there is no way to compare the two. :)

As for the forth place, I am kinda confused. Genoa will get to build a better competitive team if they go but I don't want to see another Italian team going out from the first leg or maybe qualifying round. I had high hopes for La Viola this year, and they started well against Lyon but then down they went.

Final thing, I want to get your opinion on Galliani saying that he will get back Paloschi, Abate, and Di Gennaro. Will be very tough for them to have any playing time. I mean Antonini with all those injuries is rarely playing. And Galliani still never mentions Gourcuff :D.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

diego would be a great buy for any team but wouldnt that limit giovincos playing time? they play a similar position, right? id like to see ranieri give the kid some more time in the first team, it'd be a shame to see him warming the bench for another season.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

For the fourth place: i really hope Genoa gets it, but yes those teams usually disappoint in Europe (but to be fair, all the Italian teams disappointed in Europe this year, except maybe Udinese).

Lo zio, what do you think about Wolfsburg as possible champions in germany, if i'm not mistaken they have a couple of former Palermo players...
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Would be great for Barzagli and Zaccardo. I thought it would be a step down moving from Palermo to Wolfsburg but good to see them challenging for the title in Germany.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

According to La Gazzetta Barzagli starts, but Zaccardo is on the bench. I read a recent interview where he (Barzagli) said he doesn't regret the move at all and finds it to be a very fun experience.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

bundesliga is quite underrated i feel
but just look at the uefa cup
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

yep, Bundi is definitely underrated, even from the germans themselves sometimes.
as a matter of fact each of the last 5 bundesliga seasons has been better than the previous. no other league in europe is growing as much as bundi is doing... no other league in europe is growing from every angle as bundi is doing.

wolfsburg are definitely part of that growth process i mentioned early Gerd. Potsch spent a huge load of money during last summer transfer window. But unlike many clubs (wich decide to grow up from 1 day to another) they didn't go looking for big names. the right players for the right spot; this is how u build a football team. and it's not just about barzagli and zaccardo either. misimovic, dzeko, josue, grafite, gentner, dejagah....
i'm not surprised they had such a great season. i did expect that... but i didn't expect them to become a title contender to be honest. i thought they would have gone through some problems after the winter pause... afterall it's a "new team" we're talking about... there shouldn't be enough experience and chemistry in the dressing room to keep up with the big guns in the long run... but hey, looks like i was wrong! :P

Gerd said:
For the fourth place: i really hope Genoa gets it, but yes those teams usually disappoint in Europe (but to be fair, all the Italian teams disappointed in Europe this year, except maybe Udinese).
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i wouldn't say so, gerd. :))
first about all the italian teams disappointing in europe this year. to really measure how disappointing a result was, u have to consider wich were the expectations.

talking about roma, i can't see their result as "disappointing". i think that a disappointing result would have been getting out at the group stage.... a quarter final would have been a good result... they ended up between those 2 moments, so i'd say their result was decent.
besides there are 2 factors to keep in mind.
1 - roma had a very very tough season, performance-wise. i mean, they won't even get a 5th spot in serie a... that's much more disappointing than their european displays.
2 - they were very unlucky against arsenal. to be honest roma is a better team than arsenal (i've been watching both teams almost week in week out in the last 3 years and i definitely don't need a meaningless champions league match up to tell wich is the better team)... not much better, but still better. but in the end theese champions league match ups are usually decided by details such "form".
a few months ago i wrote about this italy - england matchup somewhere in this forum. i said that man utd would have walked over inter; that chelsea-juve would have been a damn close and unpredictable match, and that roma was the favourite against arsenal.
this, assuming all theese teams would have reached febbruary in the same form conditions.... wich is pretty much impossible of course.
roma played against arsenal with a brand new defense... none of the members of that defensive line was a starter... 3 of them never played together before.. 2 of them were new signings (motta and diamoutene were bought by roma just a few days before)... totti played despite his injury, pizarro played despite the injury, aquilani played despite his injury (after the match he said he wasn't able to face a single training session in the last month!!)... i mean tonetto played at midfield!!! just becuase there weren't any players available left... and this means that their only option for the left back position was... riise!! :PP
it would have been impossible to play their football in theese conditions... even arsenal (wich had his good share of injury problems) looks like a fit team compared to that roma.

concerning inter, well they were beaten by the best team in the world... there's no shame in that... sure they were unlucky to face man utd... with another opponent they could have gone through the next stage..... but honestly i can't see a loss against man utd as a disappointing result, as inter wasn't really supposed to beat man utd.

talking about juve, well 18 months ago they were playing against the likes of mantova, pisa and avellino in serie b...
in just 18 months, a brand new management was able to rebuild the team, bring it back in serie a, get a champion's league qualification. and their european campaign has been simply stunning. we're all raving about liverpool's 4-1 win against madrid in liverpool...... but none seem to remember that juve spanked the merengues 2-0... at the santiago bernabeu!!!
juventus faced one of the 3\4 best teams in the world... last season's cl finalist and they kept up with them., as a matter of fact (and i guess we can all agree on this) that matchup could have ended in any way... juve could have won.... and it wouldn'thave been an undeserved win either.
and let's not forget that this was the first champions league experience for many juve players (giovinco, marchisio, molinaro, chiellini, de ceglie... amauri himself never played in champions league before this season).

and finally fiorentina. they weren't disappointing either... this was this team first champions league experience... they weren't meant to go through the group stage.
and not because they're not good enough (hell they're even better than villareal, which reached the quarters final!), but precisely because this was their first experience.
u see the champions league "drains" a lot of energies, and not just "phisycal energies" but also mental energies.. when u're facing your first champions league experience, the stress for the upcoming european match follows u like a shadow for weeks... and this usually has a bad impact on the both the league games and the champions league performances.
i never saw a champions league newbie having a good season. and it's not just a matter of stress. having to deal with 3 matches in a week completely changes your schedule; u can't go too heavy on the work out training sessions, u have less time to dedicate to the tactical sessions, the aerobic\anaerobic training sessions rotation becomes vital to preserve your energies....
theese are all things u got to get used to.
villareal (i'm just making an example here... i actually love the yellow submarine) isn't a better team than fiorentina or genoa... but they're already used to face both the domestic league and the champions league.... and this is an enourmous advantage.
as i said a few weeks ago, to put into perspective fiorentina's results this season, we should compare them to sevilla's and lazio's results last season... by that comparison, u'll realise fiorentina had a fantastic season.
and let's not forget that this season prandelli completely changed fiorentina's gameplan. they lost liverani and this forced prandelli to make huge changes (as there's an enourmous difference between playing with or without a deep-lying playmaker).

i'm not even analizing udinese's or sampdoria's european performances, as the uefa cup means nothing in italy.
----------------------------------------------------------------

moving on
PLF said:
And thank you guys very much both for the answers. Gigi and Ben.

Genoa is doing great but somehow I doubt they'll be up there fighting or 4th place again next year. I hope I'm wrong though!
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you're welcome mate ;)
as for genoa, well there are a lot of ifs of course.
if they will actually reach a champions league spot, then they'll hardly be a 4th place contender next season (and i already explained why, talking about fiorentina, a few lines above). in this case, if they would repeat fiorentina's performances (namely getting out of champions league at the group stage and yet fighting for the 4th spot), that would already be a great achievement.
but if they won't reach the champions league qualification spot, then i guarrantee, they'll have another great season next year.

infact genoa is not really coming "out of the blue". there's a solid project behind their performances, a project wich was aimed to bring them exactly where they are right now. as i said earlier, they're following fiorentina's footsteps, and just like fiorentina, they're not where they are by a coincidence :))

phat j22 said:
diego would be a great buy for any team but wouldnt that limit giovincos playing time? they play a similar position, right? id like to see ranieri give the kid some more time in the first team, it'd be a shame to see him warming the bench for another season.
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i definitely agree with u on this point :))

zeem said:
Final thing, I want to get your opinion on Galliani saying that he will get back Paloschi, Abate, and Di Gennaro. Will be very tough for them to have any playing time. I mean Antonini with all those injuries is rarely playing. And Galliani still never mentions Gourcuff .
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it's way too early for paloschi and di gennaro to come back at milan, and i hope galliani won't make this mistake.
as for abate, i think he more than ready for a top club. :))

as usual, sorry for the loong post :P
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Lo zio, i think you did not understand me. Well, i should have expressed myself better.

What i wanted to say is: "Can Genoa disappoint more than the Italian clubs you mentioned ?"

Considering what you wrote in your long post (which i loved reading, like always), Genoa can only disappoint if they do not reach the CL or loose most of their matches in the group stage.

I agree with your reasoning that those Italian teams did not disappoint for themselves and if you consider their opponents (Inter) or injuries (Roma)...but they disappointed for Italian football IMHO.

It all comes down to the fact that English football is too dominant because they are artificially the richest teams due to "benefactors" like Abramovich and Glazier...i totally agree with Platini on that subject.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

I think a lot will come down to whether Genoa can hold on to some of their experienced stars like Milito and Thiago Motta. Gasperini said in an interview that to build their squad this year, they signed around 16 new players. If they can maintain this project and build, like Fiorentina in the last 2 years, then I can see them becoming a regular top 6/7 team.... but the problem is that we're getting a boom of 'top 6' teams. Lazio, Sampdoria, Udinese, Fiorentina, Atalanta, Palermo and to some extent Roma are all in that zone fighting... we can't forget Napoli too, who have strong financial backing and now Donadoni.

I think Genoa will, assuming they have CL next year, play like Udinese and Fiorentina have in their first CL seasons.... get eliminated in the group stages. But for them its usually a dream come true to be there, and is a good taster for their future and what they need to improve.

I think English teams are going through a very strong period where their mentality is superior to other European clubs. If you watch them play... theyre always running, moving and are aggressive. I don't think its too much down to money at the moment, but down to confidence and mentality.
 
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Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

gerd said:
It all comes down to the fact that English football is too dominant because they are artificially the richest teams due to "benefactors" like Abramovich and Glazier...i totally agree with Platini on that subject.
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c'mon gerd your still flying this flag...

when spanish and italian teams were doing the same was it okay then?

and glazer is hardly a benefactor, he doesnt put his own money into the club, the club funds itself...

our debt is no more than a mortgage...
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Exactly, Glaziers didnt benefit us one bit financially rather have put us in huge debt.

I agree with Stef, Barcelona are up their with the english sides, Im sure Real will come good in 2/3 years once they sign players like Benzema, Ronaldo or Kaka. I think the coaches of the top 4 from England are probably the best coaches around at the moment as well and with the financial backing they build great squads.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Vannizzlefashizzal said:
when spanish and italian teams were doing the same was it okay then?
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No Vann it wasn't okay.
I can turn that upside down too, is it okay now ???
No.

Besides you don,'t have to compare with Spanish and Italian football but with Dutch, Scottish, Portugese, Danish, Belgian, Swedish...clubs.

In 10 years you English guys will complain about Russian clubs. And then it will not be okay.

And your Glazer argument is proving my point: English clubs are artificially rich but in reality they are in debts.

Football is in need of open accounting and clubs who have huge debts should not be permitted to play the CL...the Ronaldo's, Berbatovs and Rooneys would go to other clubs...and that would be the moment to make a fair competition. The Ronaldo's, Berbatovs and Rooneys shouyld go to different clubs in different competitions.

I've said that hunders times, look at NBA and other US sports competitions. The fact that 3 out 4 semi-finalists are from the same competition is a bad thing (and it doesn't matter to if they are English, Spanish or Italian...i would say the same thing if they were Belgian).
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Milanista said:
I don't think its too much down to money at the moment, but down to confidence and mentality.
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well, i'd rather say it's a bit of all. u build up your confidence by achieving good results, u achieve good results by building a good team.... and u defeinitely can't build a good team withou money.

btw to be honest i really don't see what's the problem with this british dominance. it's a phase. and it's true the british clubs are applying the same policies that italian clubs used to. so we can't really blame them.

sure we could say that the british club don't really offer a good model in terms of management (on this concern young gun, the epl top 4 coaches aren't the best out there.... they are among the best.... but there are also other coaches outside england who are on par or even better than them).....

..... but as a matter of fact, their poor management, that ridiculously pumped up market they created in england, by paying every player (the good and the mediocre ones) 3 times his value.... is nothing but a consequence of their wealth.

let's just consider fiorentina, napoli, roma and lazio. theese clubs are today considered (along with sevilla and a couple of french clubs) "the optimum" in terms of management. clever boards, great team directors and top class managers were able to build great teams with very little funds.

but 10, 15 years ago, theese clubs (roma, lazio and fiorentina) used to apply the same policies british clubs apply today.

Sensi (former roma chairman) wasted a fortune trying to keep up with milan, inter and juve, we all remember that crazy cassano deal don't we? a kid bought for 60 billions liras (the equivalent of 30 millions euros) after just 1 season in serie a. and what about emerson, montella, batistuta, samuel....

Lazio is today a benchmark in terms of management... any british team director (even the top ones) should go there and really learn how to raise a football team, how to build a serious scouts network without wasting ridiculous ammounts of money....
but then again, Lotito, the current chairman of lazio, is the one who saved lazio from bankrupt, isn't he? because lotito's predecessor (cragnotti) feeded lazio's pride with debts... yes he built an amazing team (veron, signori, nesta, crespo, boksic, nedved, mihajlovic, mancini, vieri, salas, stankovic....)..... but to be honest everybody could build an amazing team with unlimited funds.... he let lazio's debts grow each and every year, and then, one day, lazio's fans woke up and realised that great team they had the day before was very close to die.

and shall we talk about fiorentina? Platini keeps praising the Della Valle family for their outstanding job... and he's right.... but Della Valle bought the club right after the bankrupt.... Cecchi Gori (della valle's predecessor) applied the same policies of the Sensi family at roma, the same policies Cragnotti applied at lazio...

so what i'm trying to say here is... it's not like we suddenly became "good managers".... we became good managers because we had no other chances... that's the reason of our penny-wise policies today... it was either that or seeing our clubs facing bankrupt, one after another.

good thing is, once we realised how close to destroying our league we were, we issued some rules. and agencies or bodies like the covisoc, are here today to prevent us to kill ourselves again.
coz u can be sure, if there wasn't the covisoc, checking our clubs balance sheets, then we would easily repeat the same mistakes, once we would be riches again.

and that's the only real issue of british football today. they should learn from our experience, and regulate the incomes\debts ratio before it's too late, they should create a body like the covisoc, before it's too late.
that's even more important for them than it was for us. because when we faced our problems it was too late, but we were able to survive coz we could count on top class coaches (not just 4 top class coaches, an entire generation of great coaches) and great team directors. england today has none of theese, their dominance is supported just by their financial power.... so if they would loose this power they would go down.... with no parachutes.
that's it.

but having said that, having sugar daddys who build great teams is not the end of the world (as long as theese sugar daddies really spend their own money, and not creating debts wich go right on the club's shoulders).
sure they look pretty incompetent, especially compared to some of their italian counterparts.... but then again, if every coach in europe were as good as prandelli or spalletti, they wouldn't be special anymore.
if most of the clubs in europe could count on top class team directors such monchi, corvino, leonardi, marino.... then they wouldn't be special anymore.

i would love to see all the clubs in europe directed by coaches like prandelli and team directors like corvino.... but the thing is there aren't many prandellis and corvinos out there... espacially in england.

so if u would put financial limitations for all the clubs in europe, then the competitiveness ratio would go up, but the overall quality of the football would brutally go down, because chelsea, man utd, liverpool, arsenal, barca, real madrid, all theese clubs could never do what prandelli and corvino did at fiorentina, what pradè and spalletti did at roma, what rossi and sabatini did at lazio, what marino and leonardi did at udinese.

so, from a selfish point of view, i have to say i'm ok with the way things are right now. there's no problem for me if british clubs burn every year loads of millions (those money wouldn't go in charity anyway, wouldn't they?).... as long as i can watch such a great team as chelsea and man utd playing....

i just wish epl will realise they should keep the club's management under control, to avoid disasters.

however Gerd, i certainly understand and respect your points here:
Football is in need of open accounting and clubs who have huge debts should not be permitted to play the CL...the Ronaldo's, Berbatovs and Rooneys would go to other clubs...and that would be the moment to make a fair competition. The Ronaldo's, Berbatovs and Rooneys shouyld go to different clubs in different competitions.

I've said that hunders times, look at NBA and other US sports competitions. The fact that 3 out 4 semi-finalists are from the same competition is a bad thing (and it doesn't matter to if they are English, Spanish or Italian...i would say the same thing if they were Belgian).
Click to expand...

the thing is i don't think this will ever happen. the european football world is very different from nba and other american sports. sponsors and tv deals are even more important here than they are in the us.... and they keep feeding football's market precisely coz this market knows no restrictions.

if we would put those restrictions many those sponsors would go away with their money.... and that's why i can't really see that happening

i do believe that football clubs shouldn't be considered as normal companies (also because this is what the law says). i do believe that football clubs shouldn't be allowed to have any debts at all.....
but with such restrictions the glazers, the abramovichs, they wouldn't be interested in football.... and there are too many people interested in their money out there, to let them go....

so there's no point in talking about the impossible.
but establishing a limitation to the salaries and a limitation to the incomes\debts ratio... that probably wouldn't be impossible :))

Edit:
PLF said:
p.s. One of my Italian friends here tells me Pirlo is incredibly rich (his family) and would've been even if he hadn't turned into such a famous world-class player. Something with his dad owning big oil company or something? can anyone confirm. Now I'm a bit curious...
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i forgot to answer to your question Sina :P
actually i never heard about pirlo's family... however i'm gonna gather some intelligences and report ;)
 
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Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

I totally agree with your post lo zio.
What i want is utopian...but one can always dream...
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Great posts Ben!! :D

Some important matches today....can the Viola been Udinese and take 4th place? Can Torino get points off of Milan, and prevent them from moving into 2nd?

And there are some fantastic other middle of the table matches that don't have great implications...but will be REALLY fun to watch. I really hope I'll be able to download a lot of them.

I saw that for the EPL there was some award for PFA player of the year or some crap like that...and 5 out of 6 players were Man U.

I was curious...not that if there is a similar Serie A award...but your thoughts for YOUR PERSONAL "Serie A Awards". Just based on this campaign. I'm thinking a top 5 "Top player", top 5 "Rookie (or 1st year in top flight), top 5 "Keeper"(never did get too much of a response there :P), top 5 "CB". These would be ONLY based on this campaign...and not who is the best(because I'm sure Nesta or Trezeguet would still be on that list). The fact that even Buffon missed time will make it unlikely he would make the Top 5 keepers for this campaign.

I don't want to be too obvious...because people can look at scoring talley's and make their arguement for Top Forwards. And the media won't look past Inter, Milan & Juve for any of these. So I'd like some one who actually knows the games opninion. I'd likely give mine as well...but likely not as interesting to most readers as your opinions.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Hmm, top CBs seems quite tough to do right now, I'd wait until the end of the season.

In terms of my top forwards, in no particular order:

Pazzini (After joining Samp)
He's become incredibly quick and reactive, reminds me a little of Inzaghi mixed with Vieri (back in the day). He seems to always be in the right place, scoring goals. He's got something like 10 goals in 13 games. Working with Cassano has really made him a good striker again.

Pato
He keeps getting better and better, and is clearly our best attacking force. With Borriello back he will have more freedom and support. The kid is 19 and has 14 goals to his name. He constantly gets better and I think in a few years time he will be among the best in the world. He needs to beef up a bit, but he has time for that, and is already effective at an early age.

Pepe
Really showed his abilities this year. I really enjoy watching him play. He has pace and technique, and seems to have become an important figure in the team. Good potential.

Miccoli
Keep him fit and he is one of Italy's most talented forwards. He's got pace, creativity, strength and confidence. This year he seems to score many decisive goals and set up Cavani to score 14 goals... I don't really rate Cavani, but for him to score that many goals I think is also down to Miccoli's great service (Simplicio's too).

Matri
He's grown a lot as a striker and I think he will do great as Acquafresca's replacement next season. He hasn't been in the spotlight as much as Cagliari's other strikers but I think this guy has been playing well for his role and has scored important goals.

Other mentions (there are loads!):
Palladino (Never really rated him but he's improved so much)
Floccari
Di Vaio
Mascara
Jeda
Maccarone/Ghezzal
Pellissier
 
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Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

I must admit I am shocked to see Matri on that list, and a bit surprised to see Pellissier up there....as of a month ago most guys might not have even known he was a Serie A player. Pazzini is having a great half season...but it's hard for me to put him on the list with only that.

Pato is a must & Miccoli is a great choice. I really don't know how you left off both Gilardino & Mutu...but I'd have to add at least one of them. No Milito or Ibra either? Del Piero, Zarate, Lavezzi or Amauri. I didn't suggest this category, because for me it would have been hard to know go chalk...with the top goal scorers.

But my top 5 would have to be:

Pato - Agree with everything you said

Miccoli - I definitely feel he has shown this season that he is a world class player, and should be considered for a NT call-up(I mean come on at least over Pepe). Also agree with everything you said.

Di Vaio - Showed his class on a really lousy team(as lousy as it gets in the Serie A). He really had no help, and had to produce a lot of the opportunities himself. He thrived in that sort of situation, as Pellissier really struggled to be able to do that untill he actually got some help from some good passing. This season put Di Vaio back on that map, and should be one of the top 5 CF of this campaign.

Gilardino - As a Viola fan, I know how much he has meant to this squad. Last season, with Pazzini as the main target, they really lacked a "finisher"..but Gilardino has provided that and more for the Viola.

Ibrahimovic - I don't know how I can leave off Ibra on a list like this. He is the most physically gifted(a freak in fact), and he has the technical skills and a quality nose for goal as well. Not having he best season...but definitely should be on the list of Top 5 Forwards...possibly considered by FIFA. But he doesn't play for Man U or Barca....so never mind
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

I left off players like Zlatan and Gilardino because they are players who have great players around them and are expected to perform. I was thinking of putting Zarate, but he has been inconsistent and had a period of poor performances, same for Lavezzi. We already know how good Del Piero is, Amauri too.

Matri and Pellissier are the lesser known names, but are effective players.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

i agree with gerd,Milito must be in the top 5 CF list for me....
about zarate,it's true he had a period in wich he didn't play as well as at the beginning of the season,but probably he was the biggest surprise this year,scored some magnificent goals and gave some good assists to his teammates....for me his season-considering that he's 22 and was he first year in Italy-is better than Pazzini's one (i wanna see what "il Pazzo" will do next year,i think he's a good player but not so good as we've seen in the last 2 months)

my list could be ,not in order of quality

milito: my favourite cf in whole serie A...a classic player who knows how to play football at 360°:good header,good shot,good passing skills shown against every opponent,and a constant leadership in his team.

zarate:sometimes he forget that football is a collective game,but watching his dribbles is always a pleasure....he's still very young and can improve his skills (expecially his teamwork)in the next years:noone known him in Italy,but now we have discovered that he's a guy who can win a match all alone with his fantastic goals

ibrahimovic :this season has been his best one in italy since he arrived from Holland....20 -often really important-goal scored and a never showed before leadership. unfortunately for Inter supporters he still have lot of "mind problems" in champions league's matches,his dick become a pussy on thursday and wednesday

di vaio :the numbers talk for him...a great come back for a great forward.this year we've seen again the Di Vaio of Salerno and Parma.the only man who can save a shite team like bologna form relegation


cassano :my favourite player in Serie A .i think that evereyone can score like pazzini is doing if you have "el pibe de Bari" on your side. A stupid man probably,but a football genius. i just hope Lippi changes his ideas about Cassano,because Italy really needs a player with that fantasy,dribbling,passing skills to play a better football
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

I personally felt that was going to be close to chalk for Serie A Top CF this campaign(except Pato instead of Zarate)...that was why I was kind of more interested in opinions for the other awards :)

For Milito...I definitely would put him as a Top 5 CF "Talent", but I'm not sure he had a better season than Gila, Miccoli or Pato. Just my opinion...but he is awesome.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

so i'll give you the top 5 for goal keeper :)

julio cesar :important for inter like ibra or maicon,actually the best GK in Italy (maybe in the world)

frey :a fantastic keeper,that's all

bizzarri: superb season for him in Catania,i don't know how Maradona can prefer Carrizo for Argentina NT....probably next year he'll sign for Lazio (according to italian newspapers) and i really wanna see how he'll play in an "hottest" place like Rome.

marchetti:one of the biggest surprises this year,a really solid young keeper.he has been one of the protagonist of Cagliari 's great season

handanovic: his best season til now,it seems he's ready to go to a bigger club now
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

gigimarulla said:
so i'll give you the top 5 for goal keeper :)

julio cesar :important for inter like ibra or maicon,actually the best GK in Italy (maybe in the world)

frey :a fantastic keeper,that's all

bizzarri: superb season for him in Catania,i don't know how Maradona can prefer Carrizo for Argentina NT....probably next year he'll sign for Lazio (according to italian newspapers) and i really wanna see how he'll play in an "hottest" place like Rome.

marchetti:one of the biggest surprises this year,a really solid young keeper.he has been one of the protagonist of Cagliari 's great season

handanovic: his best season til now,it seems he's ready to go to a bigger club now
Click to expand...

Julio Cesar is the best in the World now.

Maybe at 2nd place I put Casillas or Van Der Sar.

Buffon 3rd place.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

I made a massive post about keepers, and then the site failed and I lost it :(

In Summary:
1. Cesar
2. Abiatti
3. Frey
4. Bizzari
5. I had a 4 way tie.

And this is based on just this campaign.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

gerd said:
No Vann it wasn't okay.
I can turn that upside down too, is it okay now ???
No.

Besides you don,'t have to compare with Spanish and Italian football but with Dutch, Scottish, Portugese, Danish, Belgian, Swedish...clubs.

In 10 years you English guys will complain about Russian clubs. And then it will not be okay.

And your Glazer argument is proving my point: English clubs are artificially rich but in reality they are in debts.

Football is in need of open accounting and clubs who have huge debts should not be permitted to play the CL...the Ronaldo's, Berbatovs and Rooneys would go to other clubs...and that would be the moment to make a fair competition. The Ronaldo's, Berbatovs and Rooneys shouyld go to different clubs in different competitions.

I've said that hunders times, look at NBA and other US sports competitions. The fact that 3 out 4 semi-finalists are from the same competition is a bad thing (and it doesn't matter to if they are English, Spanish or Italian...i would say the same thing if they were Belgian).
Click to expand...

gerd your points are flawed...

like you said you want some sort if utopia..

well my old pal my feet are planted firmly in reality.

And the constant comparing of football, a sport played around the world to any of the major US sports is laughable.

They dont have upper and lower divisions, relegation, so the fact they are the ONLY teams that are ever gonna contest the trophies dictates they have to have a much more level playing field...

and how has glazer buying Utd made us artificially rich, what were we then, before he took over?
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

jmg721 said:
I made a massive post about keepers, and then the site failed and I lost it :(

In Summary:
1. Cesar
2. Abiatti
3. Frey
4. Bizzari
5. I had a 4 way tie.

And this is based on just this campaign.
Click to expand...

I in "Serie A" I choose these:

1 - Julio Cesar: I'm an Inter-Fan and saw the games, he has in personal istinct, with shots of kidney conditions. He has saved many results

2 - Manninger \ Buffon: Manninger to replace Buffon has behaved really well and Buffon has always been the number 1.

3 - Frey: In Florence he did in the boom and many silos parade, I could also say that it exceeds J. Cesar or Buffon


I am the best goalkeepers in the world: Van Der Sar and Casillas at 3rd and 2nd place.

Casillas last year has saved so many negative figure at Real Madrid.
 
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