Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season
rfu said:
Any team outside of the top 4, still competing in the Uefa cup, will take it seriously.
i'd really like to see that... but i don't think we will. udinese this season was an exception.. as u pointed out, they had no goals to achieve anymore in serie a, so they focused on the uefa cup....
however i think we should really change our mentality concerning the uefa cup. if we will keep snubbing it, then germany is gonna take our place in the uefa rankings.
but i don't think our mid class clubs care about this.
Lo Zio, I have another question for you, do you know what formaiton Lazio play? Beginning of the season I was convinced it was 4-3-3 but with Foggia player further back than both Pandev and Zarate, it's looking more like a 4-4-2. What's your opinion?
yep it was a 4-4-2 indeed. foggia and mauri are the "midfielders" (kinda hard to describe foggia as a midfielder though) who also have offensive duties (mauri has a better tactical sense, while foggia has an fantastic touch and dribbling).
however it's pretty much impossible to tell wich was lazio's shape this season, as rossi changed it on a regular basis. and i'm not talking about the formation here, i mean the whole tactical display: even the same formation (a 4-4-2, for instance) can express a completely different tactical shape, according to the instructions the coach gives to each player.
Anyway... Hooray for Inter today, champions for the 4th straight year, and I'm prediciting another win next season seeing as Juventus and Milan have to rebuild from scratch, and Roma, well, no one can save them from their self-destructing ways.
i'd say milan and juve are even more self-distructing than roma
anyhow congrats to inter for another deserved scudetto. i don't really like their football, their coach, their chairman... but they're the best team in italy today and we gotta give them the credit they deserve.
in a few weeks all the others top clubs (namely milan, juve and roma) might have a new manager.
that tells me inter is gonna win another scudetto next season.
juventus decision to fire ranieri was nothing but ridiculous, and it just goes to show the real juventus issue is the board and not the coach.
even if a top class coach would sign, that would be a step backwards. because a new coach means a new project.
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during my late university years (it was about 3 years ago) i studied the common law system and the main differences between the continental law experience and the british one.
by that comparison, i came to a conclusion (and i remember my prof. agreed with me):
the british way to any goal is: let's move foward, but let's try not to dismantle everything we created so far. aim foward and respect the tradition. and i believe it's not a coincidence if england is the only country in the world which moved from an autocratic form of government to a democratic one, without going through a revolution.
we italians, on the other side are pretty much the opposite. if a project is not going as well as we expected, we don't even try to see if there was something good in that project, if there was something wich should be preserved.
we just destroy the whole thing and start everything again... from the very beginning.
they say we're passionate... i say passion my arse... this is just plain stupid and shortsighted.
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this logic perfectly applies to juventus imo. they're facing an embarassing downfall in this season ending. so what? they're gonna destroy everything they built this season and start again... a new project with a new coach.... oh dear.
the truth is ranieri was too good. juventus went way above the expectations from september to febbrary. ranieri gave the illusion (to the board, the media, the fans) juventus was almost as good as inter.... that juve could challenge inter for the title.
so when juve faced a bad form period (it's not just a form issue though) all those people got a slap in the face... truth hurts sometimes.
but they're not realising this group wasn't able to keep up with inter (that it wasn't even supposed to challenge inter yet). they're not considering this team wasn't "complete" yet.
no, they're considering this season as a failure and blaming the coach for this failure.
the funniest thing of them all is that according to the board itself (cobolli gigli, blanc, secco) their goal for this season was to reach the a champions league spot (not to win the title).
and yet, even though ranieri actually matched those expectation and achieved that result.... they're firing him.
i've been praising juve all season long for what they achieved, and i really liked that project (except for the poulsen\xabi alonso option). we'll see what they're gonna do next season... sure this is not the best way to begin a new season.
oh and btw everything i said about juve could be said about milan aswell.
actually milan's situation is even more grotesque.
coz at least juventus board can say "hey we're doing this to improve the team... ranieri was a good coach, we're gonna get a top class coach" (even though i can't see that happening, as spalletti might stay in roma or join milan... prandelli is not gonna leave firenze aswell as gasperini isn't gonna leave genova).
but what about milan? who's gonna take ancelotti's place? van basten?? rijkaard?? oh for the love of God! that's like selling a ferrari to buy a mondeo!!
the only good options i can see are spalletti or tassotti.... but why? why changing coach, given that every time carletto was able to display the formation he wanted in the first place he won?
last season we lost baldini (who went to serie b), mancini (who was not top class.... but still a better coach than mourinho)..... now we're gonna loose ancelotti
i tell u THIS is what makes a league poorer! not the big players leaving.... the good coaches departures.
aboutreika said:
I really don't understand the thinking behind bringing back Cannavaro. He is 35 now and has had a poor season at Real as well. Are they buying him as a starter or a squad player or just for leadership in the dressing room? I would have gone for someone younger like Gamberini or Bocchetti. And won't Criscito be back next season after his loan at Genoa finishes anyway?
well he came on a free transfer (while gamberini and bocchetti would have been very expensive), so i can't say it's a bad move for juve.
i don't know it that's a good move for cannavaro. he hopes to convince lippi to bring him in south africa... but napoli would have guarranteed him more playtime than juventus will.
so if he got an offer from napoli and refused it, sure he made a mistake (but i don't think he ever received that offer), otherwise...
sure he's not the same cannavaro of 2 years ago... but i would wait to see what he'll do next season, before labelling him as an "finished player".
first of, because his poor performances at madrid were hugely effected by his teammates. infact we can definitely say he was by far the best element of real madrid's defensive line this season.
i mean, did u see him against barcelona? he kept and kept giving pepe and ramos the call to move the defensive line (to activate the offside)... but they were so damn slow they never did it properly (being an italian defender in a spanish team must be the most frustrating experience in football
).
besides it's always dangerous and deceptive to judge a cb from his performances at real madrid...
do u remember samuel? when he left roma for madrid, he was one of the 5 best cbs in europe. after just one season in madrid, everybody considered him as a finished player.... but as soon as he moved back to italy (and to a proper defensive line) he got back to his top class standards.
as for criscito, i believe genoa is gonna buy him
there would be many other things to talk about... but it took 15 minutes to write this post and i'm already late
Edit:
Sina, why are u sad about diego joining inter?
sure his bond with genoa and genova is touching... but honestly i'm happy for him. he's been probably the most underrated foward in europe in the last 5 years... i'm glad he'll finally get the scenario he deserves.
there are so many top players in serie a, who will never get a chance to play in champions league... it's refreshing to see one of them will eventually hear the champions league jingle.
and concerning genoa, floccari was a great signing. sure he's not world class as "el principe"... but i'm confident he's gonna fill diego's shoes
and also don't like the news that Milito will most likely be and Inter player next year. :/
.
and they're only a point away from Fiorentina. Juve will be starting afresh anyway next season, with the likes of Del Piero and Nedved set to take a back-seat role in things, and I expect 4/5 new signings to come in during the transfer window. It has been argued that Gigli, Blanc and Secco are more to blame than Ranieri, but it so happens Ranieri would be easier to replace. Such is life.
). Myself, I prefer Mancini over Mourinho, however Mourinho is the better manager, more of a disciplinarian and more astute tactially (in terms of organizing the defence). This is his first season in Italy and he has faired very well. I like how he handled Santon and especially Balotelli who at one point was set to leave. His insistence on the 4-3-3 formation flopped badly but atleast he admitted as much, then going back to Mancini's 4-3-1-2. And recently he has reverted back to 4-3-3 with mixed results (I don't understand why he's trying to turn Ibra into a lone striker when he clearly prefers to play a second striker). He's helping put serie A on the map with his yapping and gloating, but I like to think he employs these mindgames to distract the opposition or take attention away from his own players (who can forget his 7 minute zeru tituli rant 
). But my absolute favorite thing about Mourinho, what he has over Mancini, is his willingness to drop players. Even Ancelotti won't drop Seedorf, but with Mourinho no one's safe 
. Inter still need a defender, I imagine we could bring in Ivanovic from Chelsea and stick him in at RB a few games, or play him in the Coppas, until he becomes accustomed to Italian football. Most importantly, we need a creative midfielder 
With HArry Redknap reverting back to a 4-3-3 so to accomadate Defoe and Keane, I don't think there'll be much room Modric, so we could draft him in, and perhaps they could take Muntari in return.
