Serie A Thread - 2014/15 Season

Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

I think some of the referee decisions in favour of Inter are a joke. Its also fact that Inter haven't had a penalty conceded for almost exactly 1 year. It seems that every victory or match of theirs has controversy. Man Utd scared them shitless and brought them back down to earth.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Man Utd scared them shitless and brought them back down to earth.

Still 0-0 is a good result for Inter and it may sound ridiculous but i think they can qualify...the longer Man Utd take to score, the bigger Inter's chances...and i also think that the first leg will be a boost for Julio Cesar's confidence. He was outstanding.
And Man Utd aren't exactly a scoring machine this season...(knowing Murphy's law and having said that, Man Utd will have a win like they had against As Roma).

It will sound preposterous to you and most Italians, but i hope Inter can win the CL.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Fuck me, how amazing were Roma. When they get going, their passing is out of this world. No team can compare with that.

Inter got away AGAIN. Guess that's why you have Hernan Crespo.

Oh, and has anybody heard, Nedved will retire at the end of the season :(

Fuck, I might cry when he does.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

I got bad news to. Maldini will also do :( I always thought Nedved would stay for another season, but well it's his wish. We have also Maldini retiring. Inzaghi next year, probably Del Piero and Raul will play the WC and retire. But on the other hand there are some great new talents, especially in Italy.

Roma are really an amazing team. They don't have a lot of world class players but still every year compete at the highest level. Too bad they don't play like this in the late stages of the CL.

Inter really suck. Two unfair games in the last 2 weeks. Balotelli is really getting on my nerves. I wish he and Gatusso get on the pitch someday so Gatusso can kick his ass :D

As for Gourcuff, I am hopeful Milan will sort it out with him with some kind of agreement. Plus, Milan will definitely get a big man upfront. I am rooting for Mario Gomez as Galliani mentioned his name last summer.
 
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Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Well he played a couple of games as a starter then picked up an injury that is likely to keep him out for the rest of the season...
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Very interesting read:

http://www.corriere.it/sport/09_mar...io_5eff7302-08da-11de-af33-00144f02aabc.shtml

Research supports the fact that without referee help, Inter wouldn't be top of the league with a 7 point lead. In truth, they wouldn't even be in the top 3, but 4th. They'd be 11 points less, with Milan in first place, Fiorentina second and Juventus 3rd.

Inter have received the most help from referee errors, with Chievo coming second. Milan are the most penalized tied with Fiorentina

1ª: Milan 53 (+5) 2ª: Fiorentina 51 (+5) 3ª: Juventus 50 (-3) 4ª: Inter 49 (-11) 5ª: Genoa 46 (+1) 6ª: Roma 45 (+1) 7ª: Cagliari 40 (+2) 8ª: Udinese 40 (+6) 9ª: Palermo 39 (+3) 10ª: Napoli 39 (+4) 11ª: Lazio 39 (+1) 12ª: Sampdoria 36 (+4) 13ª: Atalanta 35 (-1) 14ª: Catania 33 (=) 15ª: Siena 31 (+3) 16ª: Torino 24 (=) 17ª: Bologna 23 (=) 18ª: Reggina 23 (+5) 19ª: Lecce 18 (-4) 20ª: Chievo 17 (-6)

The research was done from 260 of the most recent Serie A matches. 163 referee errors were found.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

ah if only i spoke italian lol

maybe if someone showed that to jose he's get his head out of his arse and button his mouth.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Yikes, Milan fans have every right to feel screwed. Might just be my Juve blinders, but I can't remember when decisions have gone our way to the detriment of the other team. In fact this season, for some reason, I feel like my team has been the one that's getting screwed. Maybe my brain is screwing with my perception, or I have both my contact lenses in one eye. Whatever, as a Juve fan, I take this even if we drop a place in the standings. Only three points behind the league leaders would be awesome.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Cassano's currently tearing through teams, Inter last night, Milan the other week. What do you lot think of him? We all know he's a nutcase but apparantly after that infamous incident last season he's been keeping quite and been playing class, does he have it in him at 26 to get a chance at a big club and perform on the big stage?
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

I think Cassano wil never make it in a big club and in a way that is good for football...it is not good if all the class players only play for big clubs. If i would be a a very good football player (if...) i would never play for clubs like Real Madrid, Man Utd, Milan...where is the challenge ???

Milanista, i'm sorry but things like that are bullshit. It is a perfect example of the way refs are scrutinized in Italy. I had a "conversation" about that in this thread with lo zio...i'm convinced at the end of the season it all evens out. Unless there is a system, but when there was a system it wasn't set up by Inter apparently.

And for the Juve fans who feel let down by the refs...well maybe that is perfectly logical and human. After the Moggi years refs maybe want to prove that they are certainly not biased in favour of Juve ????? Who is to blame ??? The refs or Juve (or Moggi???).

I don't understand why people have difficulties with Inter winning silverware. If it would be Roma 7 points clear nobody would complain. I think Inter has proven to be the best team in Italy over the last years (oh and i'm not an Inter fan...).
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

I'm not justifying the article in any way, I think it's just interesting that so many people, even a big news agency write about this stuff, especially since Mourinho is being questioned in Italy for his abilities.
 
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Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

I wouldn't say Inter are the best team in Italy, as they usually suffer against the big teams, but they are the most consistent. They are league material which is not surprising due to the many options they have in many positions.

The article is interesting but I doubt they took in mind the handful of penalties Milan got at the beginning of the season. :D

As for Cassano, well his attitude has cost him a lot of NT call ups especially under Lippi who doesn't favor his attitude. He is having a great time with Pazzini and it is definitely better for Serie A if he stayed put.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

I think Cassano wil never make it in a big club and in a way that is good for football...it is not good if all the class players only play for big clubs. If i would be a a very good football player (if...) i would never play for clubs like Real Madrid, Man Utd, Milan...where is the challenge ???

I don't think thats completely true. He played for arguably (imo) one of the strongest Roma sides in the last 10 years under Capello. They were head to head with Milan for 2-3 years in a row, playing incredible football, with Totti at the peak of his career. I'd say his experience there was a success.

I hope he stays at Samp and becomes a 'bandiera'... like a flag bearer or an icon. He can really do incredible things when he's the star man, like the Bari days.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Cassano and Pazzini are going to be like Mancio and Vialli at Samp, you watch. They bring out the best in each other. Also, since they're an all-Italian strike partnership, Lippi might want to consider trying them out in a qualifier or friendly. Lippi can't overlook Cassano anymore, not while every journalist and fan recognizes he is in tremendous form. Lippi needs to put aside whatever grudge or hatred he has and call him and Pazzini up now. If Lippi is worried about Cassano's behavior, well he shouldn't. Save for that tantrum he went on against Torino over a year ago, he's been well behaved and has never caused any problems for the national team.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

I don't think thats completely true. He played for arguably (imo) one of the strongest Roma sides in the last 10 years under Capello. They were head to head with Milan for 2-3 years in a row, playing incredible football, with Totti at the peak of his career. I'd say his experience there was a success.

I hope he stays at Samp and becomes a 'bandiera'... like a flag bearer or an icon. He can really do incredible things when he's the star man, like the Bari days.

I also hope he stays at Samp...

About Roma, i don't know ifit's true but i read somewhere that the players were fed up with Capelli and that he had discipline problems. And that of course Cassano was one of the most difficult players.
I also have the image of Roma as a brilliant team with disciplinary problems on and off the field: Totti, Cassano, Zebina, De Rossi, Mexes....they all had problems when they were (or are) playing for AS Roma.
So i'm not sure if you gave a good example and besides that as much as i like Roma they are not in the same league as the rezlly bigclubs in Europe: Man Utd, Barcelona, Milan, Real Madrid, Bayern Munchen, ...(i think even clubs like Inter, Liverpool and Chelsea are not in the same league).

To me Roma is a club like Lyon, Porto, Werder Bremen, PSV, the Ajax of the 90's, Sevilla, Valencia and Deprtivo a couple of years ago ...they are capable to win the CL (cfr Porto) bit it will always be "once in a lifetime". Cassano can be a briliant player for that sort of clubs.

As for Sampdoria, my god even Standard humiliated them...
 
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Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

I also hope he stays at Samp...

About Roma, i don't know ifit's true but i read somewhere that the players were fed up with Capelli and that he had discipline problems. And that of course Cassano was one of the most difficult players.
I also have the image of Roma as a brilliant team with disciplinary problems on and off the field: Totti, Cassano, Zebina, De Rossi, Mexes....they all had problems when they were (or are) playing for AS Roma.
So i'm not sure if you gave a good example and besides that as much as i like Roma they are not in the same league as the rezlly bigclubs in Europe: Man Utd, Barcelona, Milan, Real Madrid, Bayern Munchen, ...(i think even clubs like Inter, Liverpool and Chelsea are not in the same league).

To me Roma is a club like Lyon, Porto, Werder Bremen, PSV, the Ajax of the 90's, Sevilla, Valencia and Deprtivo a couple of years ago ...they are capable to win the CL (cfr Porto) bit it will always be "once in a lifetime". Cassano can be a briliant player for that sort of clubs.

As for Sampdoria, my god even Standard humiliated them...

standard were pretty close to humiliating liverpool as well..almost went through on away goals i think if it werent for kuyt scoring in the 119th minute.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Standard could have qualified against Liverpool, but that would not have been a humiliation. That was a very close game where Standard (perhaps) should have deserved to go through.
Against Sampdoria they could have scored 7 or 8 goals, they absolutely ridiculized them. That was an absolute one way match...
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Anyone in the UK know how I can get highlights or live coverage of Serie A?

Not legally and only online if you catch my drift.

Hopefully, AC Beckham will force BBC to get some more coverage.

Unfortunately, Italian football has got a horrible lazy stereotype in this country at the moment so if you ask the average fan if he wants it on Tv he'll say no.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Standard could have qualified against Liverpool, but that would not have been a humiliation. That was a very close game where Standard (perhaps) should have deserved to go through.
Against Sampdoria they could have scored 7 or 8 goals, they absolutely ridiculized them. That was an absolute one way match...
humiliated in the sense that liverpool are a much bigger club and it would have been a shock if they went out at that stage.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

ok, i'll be very brief (for my standards, i mean) as i just have a couple of minutes...

PLF said:
You're right about Cagliari and how it may be hard to judge certain individual players' merits but Biondini first caught my eye (and not just because of his appearance ) a couple years back in Reggina I believe. Yah his stamina seems impressive as are his commitment, teamwork and work-rate. And the good thing is, on top of that, he has good enough other attributes to make him a very useful midfield player.

I believe he was part of U21 set-up for Italy at one point but never did quite enough to make the full step-up to senior squad. At least not yet. But hey... who knows what the future holds... he's still not old. Probably around 25 so maybe he will one day represent Italy. I wouldn't mind seeing that day! A ginger Italian!
LOL, a ginger italian :D

by the way i completely agree with u about biondini. stamina, work rate, commitment and pretty decent technical qualities. u summed him up perfectly... i'd also add a pretty good "tactical sense".
and u're right about his previous brilliant reggina experience (damn mate u got a keen eye and a hell of a memory!). infact in a few weeks he became one of the most important assets in that reggina team.... he was a bit underrated though... at least until this season. his qualities got better and better since he joined cagliari and today he's finally getting that appreciation and consideration he deserves.

i definitely share your opinion about him. an extremely useful midfielder... but good enough for our national side? honestly i don't know...
our starting midfield duo is pretty much unquestionable... pirlo and de rossi... it's hard to find anything better in europe (actually it's probably impossible) the playmaker spot is obviously out of reach for davide, as he's not a playmaker (besides d'agostino and cigarini are on their way to get that spot, once pirlo will get old) so it has to be de rossi's spot.... but right behind de rossi, fighting for that spot there are quite a lot of players already (gattuso, palombo, ambrosini, brighi, nocerino).... will davide ever be good enough to get into that list... i don't know honestly, maybe one day...

PLF said:
Does Gourcuff have happy memories of his time in Milan, well probably not too many but I don't know Ben... if a new coach was brought in... someone who believed in Yoann and re-assured him of his faith in him and made certain promises, I don't know too many players who would turn down AC Milan even if not off to the best first stint/start with them. But of course this is all lots of IFS and Buts and chances are, no one can assure Yoann that he'll play an important part should he come back to Milan, so yah he probably won't be keen to.
yep, that's actually a very good point... with a new coach, the situation might be very different. :)

Younggun said:
Cassano's currently tearing through teams, Inter last night, Milan the other week. What do you lot think of him? We all know he's a nutcase but apparantly after that infamous incident last season he's been keeping quite and been playing class, does he have it in him at 26 to get a chance at a big club and perform on the big stage?

that's a good question mate... honestly i think he is. he eventually grew up (at least that's what it seems) and i have to say his attitude has been pretty good since he joined samp (last season he made some little silly things, but then again nothing serious).
mind u he's still an idiot cunt... but this doesn't seem to effect his performances anymore... and in the end that's the only things that matters...some of the greatests players in the world were idiot cunts, but no one really cared about it, as this didn't effect their performances (did anyone say maradona?)

cassano is a very special player.... there are a few players in europe with his technique, his dribbling, his passing game, his vision... and most of all his effectiveness.
i can see him leaving sampdoria in 1 or 2 seasons tops... and that's a shame to me. coz honestly, one of the most beautiful things about this league is that even mid-class and low-class teams have their share of high quality players, and it would be a shame if cassano would leave genova.

Gerd said:
I also hope he stays at Samp...

About Roma, i don't know ifit's true but i read somewhere that the players were fed up with Capelli and that he had discipline problems. And that of course Cassano was one of the most difficult players.
lol! discipline problems? trust me gerd u have no idea... i'll tell u just one little story about cassano.
he said "screw u" to franco sensi, the old president, a nice old man, who used to love roma as much as his own daughter (who is the current president)... and when the general director of roma (it was pradè if i remember well) told him to apologise, he replied "i might consider to do it just if u will get on your knees and beg me to do it"
and that's just one of many stories i could tell u (and mind u, not the worse).

I also have the image of Roma as a brilliant team with disciplinary problems on and off the field: Totti, Cassano, Zebina, De Rossi, Mexes....they all had problems when they were (or are) playing for AS Roma.
that was true... since spalletti came in. the season before spalletti came in charge was a mess, roma changed 4 coaches in 1 season... no one was able to control the dressing room.
in 1 month spalletti completely changed this situation.
today roma is one of the most tight-knit teams in italy.
anyhow zebina, cassano and panucci were the biggests pain in the ass... totti, de rossi and mexes never created any problems...
de rossi and mexes especially.. they have a very unfair and undeserved image, as they're really nice guys.

like Roma they are not in the same league as the rezlly bigclubs in Europe
of course they're not. roma's annual incomes are 1/4 of barcelona's annual incomes.
with man utd midfielders global wages u could pay the whole starting formation wages at roma.
today roma's global annual wages are just 10 millions more than genoa.... 40 millions less than inter and milan!! and i'm not even mentioning the likes of chelsea or man utd... even arsenal spends way more money than roma in terms of wages and transfer fees.
what roma achieved in the last 5 years is just amazing. with an extremely penny wise strategy, they were able to compete with some of the richests clubs in the world... and often they did even better than them.
roma represent the whole idea of "sustainable football" today. they proved u can build a top class team, compete with some of the greatest clubs in europe, and play the most attractive football in europe, without spending crazy money.
it's all down to a great management and a top class coach.


As for Sampdoria, my god even Standard humiliated them...
samp is a hell of a team gerd. they're just having a bad season, it can happen.
and by the way do not consider the Standard match. first of, it was just a single match, and as Phat correctly pointed out (talking about the game between liverpool and standard earlier this season), everything can happen in a single match.
plus, it was a uefa cup match... and italian clubs never give a damn about uefa cup.
sampdoria especially didn't care about uefa cup those days, as they had to focus on the league (since they had an awful start).
and, most important, 3 days after that match against standard, samp was meant to play the most important game of the season: the derby with genoa. ;)
as u said it was a one sided match... but that was because just one of the "sides" did care about that match... the only thing samp players were concerned about was trying to avoid injuries, and trying not to get tired.
i can tell u samp is on the same level of palermo... actually some might even say they're a little better than us..... and they would probably be right.

ok, i wasn't really "brief" afterall :D

edit:
just to give u an idea of how important the genova derby is for genova people.... if u would hask to 100 genovesi (genova citizens) "what would u prefere... italy to win another world cup, or samp (or genoa) to win the next derby?
i can guarrantee, they would ALL pick the derby.:)
 
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Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Well, i was at that match and i know they did not field their best team because of the derby...but happily Genoa won that one...because i prefer Genoa...
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

And another goal for Miccoli :) Has he renewed his contract with Palermo, already? Im still hoping for Rui Costa to give him a call... If that's not possible, he can buy Lavezzi. How much would he cost?
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Yes, and I know they really want to keep their best players. 10M € would be an acceptable amount, considering his age and talent. Benfica could reach that.. Maybe it would be hard to bring him, if he enjoys Napoli but..
I don't think Benfica will try to sign David Suazo, he's not performing as well as we were hoping..and he's injuried now, when there are only 10 games left.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Anyone know why Inter had an away kit that was a year out of date in the match away to Genoa ? Is it some sort of thing to do with the Genoese Cross... ?
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

MILANO - A conclusione delle celebrazioni del centesimo anno di fondazione di FC Internazionale, in occasione di Genoa-Inter e Inter-Fiorentina, la squadra indosserà la maglia biancocrociata. Una maglia che è già leggenda. La mitica divisa del Centenario interista è oltretutto tornata disponibile su store.inter.it, il negozio ufficiale on line nerazzurro.
Unica, splendida, imperdibile: la maglia crociata è ormai un simbolo dei gloriosi 100 anni di storia della Beneamata. Se ancora non la possiedi, acquistala subito. Potrai anche personalizzarla con nome e numero del tuo campione nerazzurro preferito e riceverla velocemente a casa tua.
Non perdere l'occasione di acquistare un pezzo di storia!

Basically its to celebrate 100 years of Inter, since Genoa is a historical rival. Inter-Fiorentina will also use that kit.
 
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