Re: Serie A Thread - 2009/10 Season
judging juventus players right not wouldn't be appropriate. there have been a lot of problems in torino this year, and some of em didn't even concern the players (but obviously had an impact on the players) but the management. so, if i had to rate diego and melo, i would repeat exactly the same things i said last summer, when juve bought them.
diego is a fantastic player... but juve didn't need him (of course now that they spent 25 millions over him they'll have to rebuild the team in a way that fits diego).
as for melo, he's not that awful player u guys saw this season...... but he's not even that world class player many fans (and juve management) thought he was 1 year ago. he's a good player (nothing more than that), with an amazing talent in some departments.... but also some huge weaknesses in other departments. if he'll be humble enough to realise he still has to learn some things (about positioning, about tackling, about passing).... things that players usually learn when they're 16/17.... if he will be that humble and realise he has to work a lot on some areas, then he might actually turn to be a top player.... otherwise he'll never really improve.
the biggest problem about melo is that there isn't a role that really suits him, as his weaknesses concern different areas.
he can't be an advanced midfielder coz he just doesn't have the technique and the passing skill required. he can't be a regista, coz he has absolutely no vision, no understanding of the plays at all (and that's not something he can improve on). he can't be a mediano (holding midfielder) coz his positioning is absolutely rubbish and his timing on the tackle is pretty bad too.
the only thing he can do right now is to play as a holding midfielder....
but only when paired up with another holding midfielder who can cover for his lapses and spread the ball around the pitch (coz u definitely don't want melo to try anything creative at midfield).
his runs are usually very well timed, so if there's another holding midfielder covering for him, melo can become a dangerous player when he leaves his spot at midfield........
but he still has to learn a lot about football, so i really wouldn't rate him as a top player... at all!
and i'm not considering his bad season at juve... that's pretty much what i wrote about him last summer (u can check it out if u don't remember). i wrote he was a very promising player, with lots of talent, but who also has still many flaws in his game....
juve obviously payed too much for him (25 millions my arse, that's a top player price tag, and he's not a top player)... juve also didn't need him (as that position was already covered with 2 much better players like marchisio and sissoko and 2 much better backups poulsen and zanetti)... but, as i said about diego, once u spend so much money on a player, u just can't get rid of him after a single bad season (that would be a financial suicide). so juve's next coach challenge (and it will be a hell of a challenge) will be to find a way to have melo delivering like he used to do in fiorentina and diego delivering like he used to do in werder..... in the same time he's gonna have to turn this bunch of players into a team. good luck with that!
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anyway there are also some
great news for juve fans. the club is doing what we all wanted them to do. dismantle the entire management board and rewrite the organization chart from ground zero. the real problem of this club were not the players.... the main issue wasn't diego or melo or any other player. the main issue was the incompetence of the managers. now the agnelli famili is getting rid of all of them.
blanc is no longer the president. john elkann moved him to another department and asked his cousin,
Andrea Agnelli to become the new president. NOW THAT'S A GREAT MOVE. u see the problem with blanc wasn't just his incompetence, but also his lack of authority... afterall, even though he was the president, he wasn't the owner. he was just another employee (just like the players and the staff). andrea agnelli instead is the president and the owner of the club. he's the son of umberto agnelli, the man who (along with his brother Gianni) built the agnelli empire. andrea agnelli, given his position and his role in the agnelli family, will have an authority (over the staff and the players) that blanc never had. and this will be a huge improvement for juventus.
and with his first move as juve president, andrea already proved what a difference he can make. blanc waited for benitez to make up his mind for weeks...even though juve had absolutely no time to waste...... even though benitez was not a good choice..... even though the incoming new team director (marotta) didn't thought benitez was the right man.
well as soon as andrea got in charge he sent a pretty clear message "
screw benitez we can do better than that, we can't wait for him find an agreement with liverpool and i don't even think he's a good call".
this week juve will announce the
new coach (del neri) and the
new team director (marotta).
marotta is definitely a great choice.... he's not just better than juventus former team director Alessio Secco (anyone would be better than that noob)... he's one of the best in the business.
as for del neri, he might be good choice too (given prandelli, spalletti and gasperini were unavailable).... and he's certainly a much better choice than benitez.
a new president, a new coach, and a new team director. that's a very good start. now let's see what they can do.
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rfu said:
Ooh! No way. Palombo is debatable, although we haven't seen too much of him outside of Italy. But De Rossi better than Cristiano?
i'll justify your doubts about palombo with the fact that u didn't see too much of him (coz really it would be crazy to question palombo)..... and as for your doubts about de rossi being a better player than cristiano, well i'll just pretend i didn' t read that and move on.
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as for your best 11 guys, i gotta say i'm really surprised to see u guys debeating about risse or zanetti for the leftback spot... and not even consider balzaretti, criscito and kolarov, who have been much better than both.
i'm also a bit surprised to see lucio in your team rfu... especially since a few das ago u wrote lucchini and gastaldello had too many lapses this season, to be considered top performers...... honestly lucio had many many... many more lapses and bad performances than both lucchini and gastaldello this season.
and i'm even more suprised that none of u mentioned ranocchia, who, along with samuel, bonucci thiago silva and kjaer, has been the best cb in the league this season (imo). nesta has been a god as usual (whenever he was fit), but he's been injured for too much time to be considered among the top performers imo.
those are not criticises anyway... i just didn't expect to see theese names.
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anyhow it's been a great season, with an amazing finale. congrats to inter. fantastic season. the players and mourinho deserve all the praise they're getting right now (and keep in mind i'm not even a mourinho fanboy). congrats to roma too. this second place is almost as important as a scudetto, given how they got so far. one of the most impressive comebacks in serie a's history.
the race for the 4th place was even more exciting. it began as a 6 clubs race, but in the end it was a duel between palermo and samp. a duel samp won fair and square. so congrats to them from a (gutted) palermo fan.
and even though the rosanero didn't make it, i'm absolutely grateful to palermo for this amazing season. i didn't know how it feels like to fight for such important achievements till this season, and i gotta say it was a great feeling. i'm also grateful for watching such a nice football week in week out.
the most appropriate finale to a fantastic season. till 30 minutes to the final whistle palermo was 4th and roma 1st.... and then in a couple of minutes everything changed again... what a rollercoster!
