Serie A Thread - 2014/15 Season

Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Ben, in regards to Diego, I agree with you that he's not a furioclasse as you like to say and not one of the best players of his generation.

Nonetheless, I think he is one of the world's best at the moment in his position and what he does and having now gone through a not so great initial year in Italy and with Juve, had he stayed, he would in my opinion and prediction turn out to be a real star performer in the league and push Juventus up and be a massive help! Of course this is speculation on my part and an opinion, we couldn't predict the future but that's how I feel it would've gone and that's why I think Wolsburg's gain is Juve's loss!

And yes he has hit out at Marotta but he has his points. There are two sides to every story after all. He's probably much to be blamed himself and now just acting all innocent and like a victim but nonetheless, he makes some good points.

"Diego added: "(Juve coach Luigi) Del Neri was very clear with me, he said he wanted me to stay.

"On the other hand, Marotta was not clear. I always said that I wanted to stay and the coach always told me that he would have played me.

"If Marotta wanted to sell me he could have done it two months ago (instead of three days before the final day of the transfer window) as it would have been simpler and he would have found a better solution.

Now I dont expect every word of this to be true. After all, if Del Neri REALLY wants him, why is the team director doing something that the coach wouldnt approve of! Doesnt make sense. But still... it didnt seem to me like Del Neri didnt want Diego either.

Didn't Forlan say to Moratti that he was only a fone call away? Was like last week when he said that. Aguero's agent said he wouldn't go to Inter this summer that was on the day the mercato closed so we could make a bid as soon as January and he would come... He's been linked with us the day he went to Atletico in fact.

Yup. Aguero will leave. Eventually. And I can see him move to Moratti's Inter as he's a big fan of him apparently. Hell... I think Inter were interested in him even during his breakthrough at Independiente before he signed for Atletico.

Nonetheless, what I said remains. He LOVES Atletico Madrid. He'll leave one day, but it'll have to be a special offer and the club would have to want to sell him for that ptice (which they will when price is right).

As for Forlan, I didn't hear that at all. I did hear him say in EVERY single interview since before, during and even after World Cup and getting the golden ball, that he is completely happy where he is. Loves being at Atletico and doesn't wanna go anywhere else.

He did mention at times that he would like another crack at EPL but even then it was lukewarm... it doesn't match his love for Atletico.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Now I dont expect every word of this to be true. After all, if Del Neri REALLY wants him, why is the team director doing something that the coach wouldnt approve of! Doesnt make sense.

Check this interview out. Kinda covers everything.
http://juventus.theoffside.com/team-news/diego-hits-out-at-marotta.html

Even Giovinco hit out at the way they treated him.

Diego: “Delneri said we’ll play 4-4-Diego-Striker, you are the man of quality in my system. Only if you played 10 bad games in a row would your position come into dispute.”

Marotta: "As for Diego, he is a great champion, but doesn't fit into our 4-4-2."

Maybe it was a money issue. Marotta wanted to buy Krasic which he thought maybe be more useful and he sold to Wolfsburg. The team that has his number 1 target for next season but Diego and Giovinco both added a lot of creativity to Juventus.

Anyone saw Pirlo against Estonia? What an awesome performance. Should be applauded as much as Cassano.
 
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Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

PLF said:
Ben, in regards to Diego, I agree with you that he's not a furioclasse as you like to say and not one of the best players of his generation.

Nonetheless, I think he is one of the world's best at the moment in his position and what he does and having now gone through a not so great initial year in Italy and with Juve, had he stayed, he would in my opinion and prediction turn out to be a real star performer in the league and push Juventus up and be a massive help!
yeah, i agree with u, diego still remains a fantastic player (who just had a bad season) and could have become a great asset for juve if he would have been given another season.......
..... but not with del neri in charge. if prandelli would have become juve's coach, i'm sure diego would have stayed and he would have had a great season (or at least a much better season than the previous one).
but del neri has his own trademark 4-4-2, and there's no room for diego in his 4-4-2.
now normally i don't like coaches who stick to one single system. a good coach has to be versatile, a good coach must be able to come to terms with his tactical beliefs and adapt the system to the players he has, and not vice versa.

but del neri is an exception. even though he has a trademark system he likes to display wherever he goes..... i got to say that 4-4-2 is the most beautiful, the most entertaining, the most effective 4-4-2 in europe. it was a major innovation when del neri showed the world his intepretation of 4-4-2 for the first time (with chievo), and that formation has been a success ever since..... so i kinda understand why he's so attached to it.

besides it must be said, del neri is not stubborn. he already came to terms with his tactical beliefs before. in atalanta he deployed a completely different formation. it was amazing, some sort of "organized chaos" with ferreira pinto, padoin and doni moveing behind a lone striker.... that was beautiful.

but this time is different. atalanta didn't ask del neri to start a revolution... they just asked him to have those players playing good football together.
juventus instead wanted a complete team restyling. juventus doesn't want del neri to adapt himself. they want him to rebuild this team. and that's what he did.
although diego is a fantastic player, from a tactical point of view he just doesn't suit this new juve, so they decided to let him go, rather than changing the entire line up because of him (wich, like i said earlier, woud have been a stupid decision).
and obviously diego's performances made it even easier for juve to say goodbye to him.
PLF said:
Now I dont expect every word of this to be true. After all, if Del Neri REALLY wants him, why is the team director doing something that the coach wouldnt approve of! Doesnt make sense. But still... it didnt seem to me like Del Neri didnt want Diego either.
yeah, indeed that makes no sense. Marotta is not responsible for building this team, del neri is.... afterall just look at the players del neri had marotta buying.... u can clearely see what juve is building here... it's some sort of top class version of del neri's 4-4-2.
besides marotta would never take such an important decision on his own..... i mean, it was marotta the one who wanted del neri in torino, so he certainly won't dismiss him now.

so yeah, what diego said is definitely false. absolutely no doubt about it. but i also think diego didn't really lie. lies are always "intentional", "deliberate". i think diego really believes things went like he said.
it's pretty normal afterall... whenever we have a quarrell with someone, we tend to "manipulate the truth". it's not exactly a lie because we don't do this on purpose.... we subconciously tend to change some minor details of the story, to presuade ourselves (and the others) that we were right. we all do that sometimes.... that's why there are always 2 "interpretations of the truth" (2 sides of the story).
but i believe that i can understand how the whole situation really played out, by those details.
del neri never said diego he was the core of its project (his "quality-man", like diego reported).... that's just not del neri. del neri never has a key player in his teams. he values the system as more important than the individuals. there are no "main actors" in his system... he demands quality from everyone, even the cb has to become a "playmaker"... that's del neri's signature.
so del neri certainly didn't tell diego what diego said in that interview..... but i'm sure he also didn't tell diego he wasn't part of his project.

that's how i think the whole thing went.
end of the season. there's a revolution in juventus. new management, new president, new coach. diego knows his job is on the line, coz he was very poor last season, and now the people who signed diego aren't in charge anymore, so his position isn't safe at all. morevoer the new coach likes to display a very particular 4-4-2, that doesn't require any fantasista at all.
so what does he do? he goes straight to del neri and tries to figure out what's on his mind (just like diego said).

now, del neri, doesn't tell diego he's about to leave (and i'll explain why later). he's elusive, vague... he tells him not to worry, that he's a great player and that he's probably gonna stay.
diego doesn't feel really reassured by del neri's words (diego is not stupid), so he tries again, this time with marotta.
but marotta's answers are even more vague than del neri's ones.
at this point diego realises he's probably on his way out.... but there's nothing he can do, as no one clearely told him he was about to leave. it must have been quite frustrating for diego, and i think that's the reason why he's so angry at juve right now.

now the question is, why didn't del neri and marotta tell him they wanted to sell him?
because that would have been a mistake! u see when u tell a player he's been labelled as expenadble, the player's first response will be to call his agent and tell him "ok, now get on the phone and find me a new club. they don't want me anymore? ok. but i wanna decide where to go, i'm not gonna let juve take this decision"
but this would have been dangerous for juve. coz that's what usually happens in theese cases: follow me for a minute.
the player finds an agreement with another club. this club agrees to pay the player a higher wage, as long as the player helps the club in getting rid of their contenders.
the clubs tells the player "ok, now u gotta refuse each and every offer that comes to u... u gotta leave juventus with no options other than negotiating with us. that's gonna give us leverage and allow us to establish the terms of the deal. that will allow us to get u on the cheap. and in exchange for that u'll get an additional bonus".

long story short the club and diego find a solution of mutual interest... and juventus gets screwed.
but marotta is just too smart to fall for it. he's played this game for far too long to get fooled this way.
so, when him and del neri decided diego was expendable, marotta told del neri "ok, now it's extremely important that we keep diego in the dark. he's most certainly gonna come to u to ask u if he's still a juve player..... now, i don't care what u say, just don't tell him he's expendable, no matter what!! coz the moment he knows we're about to sell him, we will lose our leverage with every possible buyer".
and that's why del neri and marotta never told diego he was about to leave.

but selling diego isn't exactly an easy task. we're talking about a top class player, who lost much of his value because of a bad season..... he almost has no market at all. so how to handle this situation?
marotta saw an opening, a great opportunity. the only european market where diego still has some value is bundesliga. germans club are the ones who are most likely to sign diego for decent money, coz they know he's much better than he showed last season. and there's a club in germany that might be perfect for juve's interests: wolfsburg. coz wolfsburg has the perfect striker for del neri's football (dzeko).

so marotta books a flight to germany to have a chat with dietmar hoeness (worlfsburg general manager). that's how it went imo.
marotta - "listen Dittie-boy, u have something we're interested in and we have something u might be interested in..... how about a swap+money deal? say, diego + 15 millions for dzeko. how does that sound to u?"

dietmar probably replied "that sounds interesting indeed.... but we're not gonna sell dzeko for less than 40 millions. we value diego around 15 millions, so that would make this a 30 millions deal.... and that's not enough for me".

marotta - "don't be ridiculous, no one is ever gonna give u 40 millions for dzeko and u know that. but i have a proposal for u. a 15 millions valutation for diego sounds about right, but we bought him for 25 millions just 1 year ago, and we wouldn't want to write a 10 millions capital loss in our balance-sheet.....
... so listen, we give a "fake-official valutation" of diego for 25 millions, even though we secretly agree for 15.
this way we're gonna avoid a capital loss in our balance sheet and u're gonna write down in your balance sheet an "official valutation" of 40 millions for dzeko.

now this is a great proposal. this way juve can avoid the capital loss, wolfsburg makes a huge (although fake, but that's irrilevant from a financial point of view) capital gain for dzeko.
plus juve gets rid of diego and gets dzeko, while wolfsburg gets a great player like diego + 15 millions cash for dzeko.
that is just perfect....... but hoeness refuses the offer.
why? i think coz dietmar has already other plans for dzeko.... let's not forget dietmar hoeness has a very powerful brother in munich, who probably already promised him a very interesting deal for next summer (a swap+money deal with mario gomez in it? or maybe a 25/30 millions cash deal?).

anyway marotta didn't expect hoeness to refuse his offer. that fucks up his plans.
but honess is still interested in diego, as he could cover misimovic's departure, so he makes marotta a counter offer. diego for 15.5 millions, cash only.
this is not a very good deal for juve, because no players-swap means juve will have to face the capital loss.
but now the transfer window is almost over and juventus has no options left, so accepts the offer.

mind u this is all 100% speculation. i have no source or info to back up what i wrote... it's just a mere guess. but it would explain everything.
it would explain why it took so much to juve to sell diego. why they never negotiated with any other club, why diego is so pissed off at juventus now.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Hmmm.... well this is interesting. But yah I mean this is 100% speculation now! We really don't know how close to reality this is other than the fact that Juve were and probably still are interested in Dzeko. I actually like your theories tho. I think it very well could've gone something like this..... nonetheless we won't know I suppose... not fully and not yet anyway.

But in any case, that whole thing about not telling the player he's expendable, all that is obvious and usually the case and makes sense but the fact is, when you leave it until 2-3 last days of window, you've already essentially killed your own leverage anyway as you are now one who needs to get rid of something with very limited potential buyers as most clubs have done their shopping by then and are only in the market for any possible last minute 'bargains'.

So I'm not sure how Marotta and Del Neri wanted to keep Diego in dark to have several options (Clubs interested) and get best value from Diego when on the other hand, they are doing the #1 thing that can kill all that leverage, by waiting and delaying and waiting until the # of potential buyers is 1 or max 2 anyway.

And I don't quite agree that because of 1 mediocre season and the very first one at a new league (there's always an adaptation phase let alone in a mess of situation that Juve was in last year) , Diego had no market value. He did lose some of it last year, but he still has a lot of market value and not just inside Bundesliga either and I think there would've been a lot of other clubs interested as well. It's just that, they left it really late.... and at that time, Only Wolfsburg was probably left among clubs that were not only interested but could afford him so they snapped him up.

I think their gain is Juve and Serie A's loss because I have a feeling, this year, they would get to see the real Diego had he stayed. Even in Del Neri's 4-4-2 (Perhaps tweaked a little) Even off the bench sometimes! I think he would've had a good season even with Del Neri in charge.

EDIT:
p.s. In any case as a side-topic, I for one, would NOT get rid of BOTH Giovinco AND Diego. I would keep one of those short tricky flair players at least. That's another thing that disappoined me. You wanna get rid of Diego? Bad decision but Fine... then keep Giovinco at least! These guys offer something different... something no one else can...
 
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Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

PLF said:
But in any case, that whole thing about not telling the player he's expendable, all that is obvious and usually the case and makes sense but the fact is, when you leave it until 2-3 last days of window, you've already essentially killed your own leverage anyway as you are now one who needs to get rid of something with very limited potential buyers as most clubs have done their shopping by then and are only in the market for any possible last minute 'bargains'.
indeed that's right... but u see, marotta thought he could have closed the deal pretty soon. he started the negotiation 2 months ago (according the the media)... he just didn't expect hoeness to refuse such a good proposal (imo).... and the stalemate that followed wolfsburg refusal made things much more complicated for juve.
PLF said:
And I don't quite agree that because of 1 mediocre season and the very first one at a new league (there's always an adaptation phase let alone in a mess of situation that Juve was in last year) , Diego had no market value. He did lose some of it last year, but he still has a lot of market value and not just inside Bundesliga either and I think there would've been a lot of other clubs interested as well
yeah, but when i said he had no market anymore, i didn't mean to say there is no club interested in signing diego..... i meant to say there's no club interested in signing diego for the same ammount of cash juve spent to get him last season.
that was juventus wish. to limit the damage, the financial loss. and that's why i think bundes was the only market for diego.
PLF said:
I think their gain is Juve and Serie A's loss because I have a feeling, this year, they would get to see the real Diego had he stayed. Even in Del Neri's 4-4-2 (Perhaps tweaked a little) Even off the bench sometimes! I think he would've had a good season even with Del Neri in charge.
yeah i agree with u. i mean, i understand why juve did what they did..... but i wouldn't have done it. by getting rid of diego, del neri is taking a gamble... and now if this team doesn't deliver, it's gonna be his responsibility, as the club did everything he wanted.
PLF said:
And in any case as a side-topic, I for one, would NOT get rid of BOTH Giovinco AND Diego. I would keep one of those short tricky flair players at least. That's another thing that disappoined me. You wanna get rid of Diego? Fine... then keep Giovinco at least. These guys offer something different... something no one else can...
yeah i also agree on that. but i think the giovinco situation is different. while selling diego was 100% juve's decision... sending giovinco to parma was a forced decision. giovinco was never really given a chance to showcase his huge talent in torino. now he's sick of it, so he wanted to go somewhere else to be a starter.... and when a player takes such a decision there's not much the club can do.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Thanks for the reply Ben, I'll get back to you later.\

Anyways, you seem to talk about Del Neri's 4-4-2. Be really interested if you could elaborate on what exactly it is, and how Juve's transfers are gonna fit into it, as I've never seen a Del Neri side.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Very interesting. From what I saw, Palermo seem to have the best structure and some players are refusing moves with triple or even more wages which shows great management keeping the players happy.

Milan are actually in a better position than a few years ago and next year will be much better as some very high wage takers will end their contracts. Old bad mistakes. That is why if Dinho doesn't take a pay cut he should leave. I don't want him being a 34 year old player covering for his replacement taking 8 mill a year. I remember Mourinho saying that he doesn't want to sign 29 year olds as they take to much and can never be sold. Still huge mistakes, Flamini? :SHOCK: This does include youth teams right? Milan did invest a lot in the youth team this summer.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

flamini has such a high wage coz milan got him for free (flamini let his contract with arsenal expire, remember?). that's how it usually works; when u sign a player with no contract ties, u save money on the transfer, but u're gonna have to give the player a very high wage... it's absolutely normal.
anyway thanks for the link, stef. really appreciate it. i knew the gazzetta would have pubblished this season's wages today, but i forgot to buy it :))
Abhishek said:
Anyways, you seem to talk about Del Neri's 4-4-2. Be really interested if you could elaborate on what exactly it is, and how Juve's transfers are gonna fit into it, as I've never seen a Del Neri side.
Jumbo said:
I was gonna ask the same
wow! u guys really never saw del neri's teams?! boy that's a real shame. seriously i can't understand why foreign broadcasters insist on showing the italian top 4 matches... how are people gonna like this league if they miss the very best serie a has to offer!

anyway, del neri's 4-4-2 has gone through an evolution throughout the years. his first version, the chievo-version was the most "extreme" but also the most fun to watch. they used to call it "il chievo dei miracoli" (miracle chievo) because during del neri's era (from 2000 to 2004) that chievo was the most entertaining team in europe along with arsenal and milan.... and it was amazing how del neri turned a group of (nothing more than) very good players into such an amazing goal machine.

del neri is obsessed by sacchis "fastest zone". he always loved it. that chievo was a perfect replica of sacchi's zone (and probably that's the main reason why that team was so much fun to watch)..... but through the years he calmed down a bit.
mind u, his zone setup is still one of the fastest in europe, but now he's slightly more cautious (as cautious as a “sacchiano” like del neri can be, obviously).
anyway, even though del neri's zone is a bit less "radical" nowadays, u're still gonna see many sacchi's schemes in his football.

now, i don't know how familiar u guys are with sacchi's football, so i'm gonna make an example, mentioning one of the sacchi's most basic movements, one del neri tends to use pretty often: "l'elastico difensivo" (the defensive spring).
the elastico difensivo is a defensive line basic movement... the whole defensive line adjusts his position according to the ball position and rushes ahead as soon as the ball moves forward.
that's a visual example of what i'm talking about
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDemUP1wwwU
u see how the whole defensive line rushes ahead as soon as the goalkeeper throws the ball? u see how "high" the defensive line tends to stay? well, that's a very "toned down" version of the elastico difensivo. it's called "elastico" ("spring") because the defensive line must act like a spring, continuously moving back and forth, accordingly to the ball's position.
that's a very risky expedient to keep the offside line as high as possible and to prevent the opponents from stretching the pitch (as the forwards can't go further than your defensive line coz they would get caught in offside).
when the defensive line is well syncronized, this movement becomes a real pain in the ass for the opponent team, coz it forces the opposite forwards to drop back and moves the possession line in the opponent's midfield. it makes impossible for the opponent to try any fullbacks overlap, it also makes impossible for them to use the pitch in all its length, and since the opponent's forwards have to drop back to the 3\4 pitch, long passes cease to be an option for them.
but in order to work, this movement requires a perfect sync and absolute concentration by the entire defensive line. that's why del neri's team players are usually labelled as "soldatini" (the little soldiers).... coz del neri demands continuous concentration, perfect application of his directives and flawless execution of his schemes.
that's just one example of his defensive movements.. i'not gonna mention any others as that would take way too much time.

anyway del neri's football can be summed up like this:
DEFENSE
the defensive line has to push the possession line as far from the box as possible, the sidebacks are the real engine of the team, as they have to constantly push and overlap with the wingers (who are also very important in his game). in every del neri's team (samp, atalanta, chievo) the sidebacks are a key element, as del neri's football flows mainly along the sidelines. motta and de ceglie are absolutely PERFECT FOR THE JOB!

MIDFIELD
he usually works with 2 specific kind of central midfielders.
one has to be a regista. he's the ones who drops back to get the ball from the centerbacks and then goes for a through ball for the sidebacks (as soon as the regista drops back to get the ball, BOTH the sidebacks litterally fling themselves ahead to let the play begin. the regista is as important as the sidebacks in del neri's game. without a great passer at midfield, del neri's football ceases to exist. that's why he always had high quality players for the job (corini, cigarini, palombo).
i'm afraid that's gonna be a problem at juve, coz i don't see aquilani as a regista.... and anyway the regista is supposed to be an untouchable starter in his football, and given aquilani's injury record......

the other midfielder isn't a real defensive midfielder... he's more of a box to box midfielder. he must have great stamina very good technique and, most important, an amazing ability in running through the channels (perrotta was that man in chievo, poli covered that role in sampdoria).
juve has 2 players that suit pretty well in melo and marchisio. actually running into channels is the only thing melo is really good at.
that means that with del neri, melo will finally do only what he's good at. and that also means that if melo fails this season too, then there's no hope for him!.
when the regista drops back to receive the ball from the cbs, the other midfielder (perrotta at chievo, poli at samp, and now melo or marchisio) has to move ahead, in order to become the third available target for the regista (after the 2 sidebacks).
but usually the regista doesn't pass the ball to the other central midfielder. he passes it to one of the sidebacks, who will push along the sideline and then make a "passaggio a rimorhio" (hook pass) to the central midfielder, once he's on the edge of the box.

so that's how the whole thing usually plays out.
- the regista drops back and gets the ball from the cbs
- both the sidebacks start running along the flanks, towards the midfield line, while the other central midfielder stays at the center of the midfield.
- the regista passes the ball to one of the sidebacks with a very powerful ground pass. it's a very fast through ball, almost a shot (hence the need of a terrific passer with great accuracy).
- as soon as the sideback receives the ball (on the sideline pretty much at the midfield line), the other sideback drops back in coverage, while the box to box midfielder starts running towards the edge of the box.
- the winger (del neri's side midfielders are basically wingers) cuts on the inside to allow the sideback (who is carriyng the ball) to perform an easy overlap.
- the cf stays deep inside the box, trying to attract on himself the cbs (and leaving some space to the upcoming box to box midfielder.

at this point, the sideback (who is now close to the goal line) has 3 available targets: the supporting striker, the winger (who made the inside cut) or the box to box midfielder (who remains on the edge of the box).

that's just a very basic idea of a typical del neri's play. as u can see, it's nothing fancy. infact, del neri's football is pretty simple (simple, but not "flat")... but then again, del neri's football has to be simple, because (and that's the most particular aspect of del neri), he demands his players to perfectly execute his schemes. his tactical training sessions are exhausting. he has his players repeating the same movements again and again and again, until it becomes "second nature" for them to execute those schemes. there's no room for improvisation in del neri's football. the players must always be where they're supposed to be.
watching del neri's teams is like watching a machine. now this is, at the same time, del neri's strenght and weakness.

it's a strenght because, since his players have to learn his schemes to the perfection, they execute them with unbelievable accuracy. it's extremely hard to stop del neri's teams plays.... once his players get the ball, chances are u won't get that ball back... most of the times the play unfolds itself until the very end. prandelli once said "the problem with del neri's teams is that once the regista begins the play, u know that the next player of yours team who's gonna touch the ball is gonna be your goalkeeper... so even if the ball is still at midfield, u find yourself thinking to yourself... let's hope the goalkeeper will get the ball! because u know it's gonna be hard to interrupt his plays, once they begin"
so event though is football is pretty simple, it's extremely nice to watch, coz it's fluid.... there are very rare interruptions and the plays flow naturally from the beginning to the end (the shot on goal).
mario sconcerti (an italian journalist) compared del neri's schemes to a "wave"... u don't fight a wave, coz there's no way to stop it... so u just close your eyes, hold your breath and hope it won't crush u.

but this perfect execution of the schemes is also a weakness of del neri. because it makes him predictable.

u won't survive in serie a, unless u change your football every 2, 3 seasons tops. because every coach in this league spends most of his time watching his opponents and studying them. and it doesn't matter how great your football is. sooner or later a coach will find the right countermeasures... and then u will be screwed, as every other coach will study those countermeasures to and use em against u. ancelotti's milan, spalletti's roma, prandelli's fiorentina, all those teams had to go through a "tactical restyling" every 2 seasons, even though their football was absolutely awesome to watch.

that's what del neri has been doing in the last few years. at the beginning (the chievo era) he was a great innovator, he had some crazy tactical ideas.... and all those idea turned out to be great ones.....but such an "extreme" coach can work only in a small team, not in a top class team... so, throughout his carreer he reivented himself many times.
when he signed for atalanta i thought he would have failed.... how is he gonna display his football with a team which has so many trequarstisti and advanced midfielders?... yet he proved me wrong. that atalanta team was absolutely wonderful to watch and, from a tactical point of view, very "non-del neriesque".

then he signed for sampdoria and once again i thought he would have been a disaster..... mainly because of cassano.... infact not only cassano is a fantasista like diego (hence not really suited for his football), but he also had some very serious issues with cassano in roma. and yet, once again he proved me wrong.

now, in theory, i should have many doubts on this del neri's experience in torino.
first of because of the lack of a proper regista
then because of the fact that he will have to build a new team with so many new players and dealing at the same time with juventus' fans (huge) pressure.
and finally because, although he is beyond any doubt a great coach and a tactical genius, i'm not sure he's cut for a top class team. working in a top class teams means dealing with different kind of players... small and midclass teams' players might be willing to accept del neri's football and the idea of becoming his "soldatini"... the "small soldiers" who execute his schemes.... but top class teams are usually filled with primadonnas.... and a primadonna is pretty much the opposite of an "obedient soldatino".
those are all pretty valid reasons to believe he's going to fail in torino.....
.... but i'm not gonna bet against del neri again! :P
 
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Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

What you just described about Del Neris 442, is exactly how i play my teams in Football Manager. The side game (wings are vital), the midfield duo, the defensive line, god even the 442. xD
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Why is Prandelli such an awesome manager? Did anyone read his latest interview about the latest game? I'll translate an excerpt:

"We wanted to bring joy and enthusiasm back to Italians, we're working towards that. It doesn't take much. It was strange seeing the world champions travelling to Italian stadiums without receiving any applauds or cheers. There was something wrong with the relationship with fans. When fans come to ask for an autograph or a photo, they do it so that they keep it, it just takes a bit of dedication.... we don't need to be afraid of the fans."
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

I think its inevitable that Balotelli will join Milan in the future. I saw the clip of him singing Milan songs out the window and saying he was happy about Galliani's comments. Man City was the opportunity to open up future negotiations with Milan. Raiola is Zlatan's agent as well as Balo, and good relations can help.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

That cunt Raiola also declared that it is possible that Mario would already leave City in January to sign for Milan.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

It seems a Serie A strike is also on the way... For fucks sake!!!
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

You could argue that he's giving his clients what they want. If I was a footballer that wanted to get what I wanted, I'm sure he's up there.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

I don't know if you could always say that. It's their job, so of course they are looking for their profits, I mean, who doesn't look for their profits when you're any kind of agent or any kind of job? Also, your job is to deliver what your client wants, which is usually a good salary or to go to a club they want to. He does both of these things, and all his players are happy with him.

I think he's a jerk, but also a good agent for what he does. I know I'd want him as my footballing agent if he could get me what I wanted.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Yeah, is their job and I know it but they don't act like professionals with the clubs and sometimes with the players. Many many times a deal doesn't happen because the agent asks to much for himself, regardless the agreement of the player's salary, that's why Armand Traore didn't come to Benfica. Another point: this guys have no respect for the clubs. I remember Miguel's exit from Benfica to Valencia. He was about to renew his contract but suddenly his agent came out with an offer from the Spanish side and forced his client to not train.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

I don't know the guy at all, but if i was Balotelli's manager i would avise him to saty with Man City for at least two seasons.
What he needs know is not only stability but also perceived as being stable by other clubs. A move to Milan in january would be a bad thing for his reputation. Of course if he would succeed immediately at Milan that would be no problem...but with Balotelli there are always big doubts about the way he will "behave" (not the best word, sounds more paternalistic than i wanted it to).
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season

Balotelli will stay until Mancini leaves I think.

Inter will fight back by signing Kaka? All the presidents commented on this rumour which was created from the head of someone while he was maybe having a bath. Media is power and might have gave Moratti an idea. :D Can Kaka do it though?
 
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