Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season
yup the 4th spot race is getting very exciting, although last season was even more exciting.
i gotta say i've been slightly disappointed by this season honestly. i'm not saying it was bad (and having a new scudetto winner is definitely great).... but the overall quality of the football played by all the teams in the league wasn't as high as it was last season imo..... and that's weird as each of the last 6\7 seasons has been better than the previous to me. for the first time in years, i just don't feel i can say this season was even better than the previous. and mind u this has nothing to do with palermo's performances and results.
we lost samp (wich was an amazing team to watch last season), fiorentina (it would be tough for everybody to fill prandelli's shoes, nevermind sinisa), and genoa (they're having pretty much the same results and placement they had last season, but last season their football was SO much better!!).
on the other side lazio and udinese came back strong. but while udinese is certainly a joy to watch (most entertaining team i've seen in europe this season, after barcelona.... but i should remark i couldn't follow much of bundesliga action this season), lazio doesn't exactly plays the nicest of football.
and the same could be said for napoli. they've done great, and deserve all the praise for the amazing determination and consistency they showed this season..... but let's be honest, football-wise, they're light years behind the likes of udinese and palermo.
i think we could compare lazio and napoli to man city and spurs. they're great teams and had a great season. results-wise they did brilliantly (well city and spurs probably deserve a little less praise, considering their squad and depth, but anyway)..... but the quality of their football is just horrible. there's no plot whatsoever, no original ideas... u couldn't even tell wich is their "style", because they really don't have one. they all rely on the individual quality of their offensive players to create scoring chances as u can't identify a single recurring offensive scheme in their plays.
last season palermo played on barcelona-esque standards for the entire season (while this year we did it only for half a season), sampdoria was just a thing of beauty, fiorentina was playing so much better, genoa had a unique and extremely exciting style of play.... and then there was napoli (wich was playing just like this season, only a little less consistant).
i dunno, maybe it's just me, but i enjoyed last season more than this one.
some might mention some little clubs like cesena, wich played some sweet football this season.... but even in that department, i feel last season we were better off (cagliari and parma were just as entertaining as cesena last year).
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on other news, the situation for sampdoria is now tragic... they MUST win both games left and that still could not be enough to save them from relegation.
i can't even begin to tell u how much that pisses me off! i'm no samp fan, and i have no preference between genoa and samp. but a serie a without sampdoria is a weaker serie a.
and a serie a without the genova derby is a weaker serie a. the "derby della lanterna" is one of the key moments in the whole european football schedule (as there is just no derby in italy and in europe that can offer what the genova derby gives to the spectator)... missing that is missing a lot!
COME ON SAMP!! dig yourself out of this hole!!
as for yesterday's derby, football wise, it was probably the worst genova derby in recent years.... but then again, it couldn't have been any different... there was just too much at stake for both teams (this was almost a "last chance" for samp..... and for genoa it was an opportunity to kick their rivals in serie b... wich would be like winning the scudetto for the genoani).... there was just too tension to expect good football (although genoa's second goal was a beauty).
but the atmosphere was (as usual) breathetaking.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXpsUWBVv4A
one banner caught my attention in particular (the one u can see at 30 seconds in that video). that's just brilliant. i have onlyone complaint about it. in the derby della lanterna banners MUST be written in genovese dialect. and "
minchia" is sicilian, not genovese

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finally congrats to milan!!!

well deserved scudetto. and if the rossoneri hadn't faced that bad form period in febbruary, their champions league path would have made this season even more impressive.
and huge congratulations to allegri for completely reshaping milan. sure milan did many smart signings this season... but i think we all can agree the most important asset was allegri.
i often say the biggest treasure of this league are midclass teams and their coaches.... well this season allegri proved me right and showed europe what a midclass club italian coach can do, when given the opportunity.
and now my dear milanisti friends, if u don't mind, get out of the way and let palermo conquer the coppa italia final!
