So, the Serie A kicks off this weekend. I'm gonna try to pay a bit more attention to it than the last few years, hoping Inter improve a bit. Looks like Juve will take some beating at the top of the table. Been some interesting transfer movement though.
Anyone else here planning on following it? Enzo, NZpower, Doloras?
Both Inter and AC seem to be getting their shark together a little bit. A lot of turnover at both clubs though. One interesting point is that a good Champions League campaign could well see Italy boost their coeffecient above Germany.
I'm a Milan fan. It was a woeful time last for the Rossoneri but I like the improvements to the squad. Mihalovic (?) needs to make top 3 this year. I think Juve will come back to the pack with the losses in their squad. I'm picking Roma and Juve to scrap it out for the top 2 spots with Milan to squeak third.
Also, I would love Carpi to avoid relegation.
I liked it when Premier League Pass used to have the highlights show for Serie A. Miss that.
I'm a Milan fan. It was a woeful time last for the Rossoneri but I like the improvements to the squad. Mihalovic (?) needs to make top 3 this year. I think Juve will come back to the pack with the losses in their squad. I'm picking Roma and Juve to scrap it out for the top 2 spots with Milan to squeak third.
Also, I would love Carpi to avoid relegation.
I'm an Inter fan(ish) and I'm not too happy that we sold Kovacic to Real Madrid. He was criticised for not being consistent enough but he's a deep-lying playmaker - who is consistent at that when they're 21? He has a lot of potential, hopefully if Real don't want to play him yet they loan him out so his career doesn't stall.
I am stoked that we hung onto Icardi though. I'm genuinely surprised that he hasn't been picked up by a team playing Champions League football. There's been a lot of talk about the lack of top quality strikers available in the English press for instance, and he's not there yet either but a goal every 27 goals and 9 assists in 47 games across the Serie A, Europa League, and Coppa Italia last year is pretty impressive. He's only 22 too.
that full matches and shows website that Big Pete has recommended on other threads looks like they have on demand coverage and highlights of Serie A games: http://www.fullmatchesandshows.com/
Wins for Inter, Fio, and Lazio. Roma drew with Verona. Losses for Juve, Napoli and Milan. Sampdoria beat Carpi 5-2 but you probably can't read much into that.
It's funny how the press always have wild gnashing of teeth when big teams lose at the start of the season. Real Madrid is doomed already 'giving up two points to Barcelona already', Chelsea is finished. That sort of thing. Same has been uttered about the old lady.
I haven't caught the highlights yet but looking forward to seeing the action from the weekend.
It seems Milan might need a little time to bed in the new signings. Not sure how I feel about Balotelli being added to the mix. I have a soft soft for the crazy bugger so hope he smashes it but think it could also be unnecessary drama. It's going to be interesting to see how Milan line up with Bacca, Luiz Adriano and Balotelli all in the mix. You'd have to think Bacca is favourite with the 30M price tag.
Yeah I will follow the Serie A, as always. Interesting opening to the league, with all the big teams drawing or losing.
I think Juve are still the team to beat, although they lost Vidal, Tevez and Pirlo, and they have a rather mediocre coach.
It could be Roma's year, because we recruited incredibly well (Dzeko, Mohammed Salah, Luca Digne from PSG, Iago Falque who scored 13 goals for Genoa last year). Sadly we didn't recruit very well at the back (Digne only just signed today) and we are light on CB cover and don't have a reliable RB. Besides, our style of play has been rather ineffectual since last season, and we reap few rewards for our troubles, we play possession football but struggle when we play teams that defend hard and play counter attack.
Inter and AC Milan have also recruited well, but I am not sure they would do that well. I think Inter have the better edge at this stage.
It's going to be another long season. After our initial draw with Verona, some supporters are already asking for the coach's head - and the active supporters area in Rome will be on strike on Sunday as a result of new security measures which are going to be implemented inside our stadium. I hate how toxic the football environment is over there.
It's funny how the press always have wild gnashing of teeth when big teams lose at the start of the season. Real Madrid is doomed already 'giving up two points to Barcelona already', Chelsea is finished. That sort of thing. Same has been uttered about the old lady.
I haven't caught the highlights yet but looking forward to seeing the action from the weekend.
It seems Milan might need a little time to bed in the new signings. Not sure how I feel about Balotelli being added to the mix. I have a soft soft for the crazy bugger so hope he smashes it but think it could also be unnecessary drama. It's going to be interesting to see how Milan line up with Bacca, Luiz Adriano and Balotelli all in the mix. You'd have to think Bacca is favourite with the 30M price tag.
It's crazy when you look at the betting odds. You can get good odds on all teams with a bad start winning their respective titles now.
Interesting opening to the league, with all the big teams drawing or losing.
Lazio a big club? Please tell me you're having a laugh! Fiorentina could be a wild card, but they have changed their coach and let Mario Gomez go. Giuseppe Rossi is on his way back, but with his history who knows how long he will be around for?
Apparently Milan signed Balotelli - big mistake in my view. They have recruited well up front (Bacca and Luiz Adriano above all) and have just added the biggest dick in Italian football, who hasn't achieved anything in years...that could have devastating effects on their team spirit.
Lazio a big club? Please tell me you're having a laugh! Fiorentina could be a wild card, but they have changed their coach and let Mario Gomez go. Giuseppe Rossi is on his way back, but with his history who knows how long he will be around for?
Apparently Milan signed Balotelli - big mistake in my view. They have recruited well up front (Bacca and Luiz Adriano above all) and have just added the biggest dick in Italian football, who hasn't achieved anything in years...that could have devastating effects on their team spirit.
Apparently the Serie A has only been by a team which lost its first game 4 times - twice by Juve and twice by Torino. Not that that means anything, but that's an interesting stat.
Balotelli scored a lot last time he was in Serie A. He has gone backwards at Liverpool but Milan seems his best chance to rediscover form.
Bacca and Luiz Adriano will play ahead of Ballotelli.
Two quick things,
Lazio's season last year was nothing short of stellar. They really played amazing football and were the fittest team in the league. For us, despite meeting our minimum objective (2nd place), it was a terrible season. We were -1 from Juve at the half way mark and then we fell apart. Our fitness was shark, we had something like 20+ muscular injuries (fitness coach sacked!) and lost Strootman soon after he returned following a knee reconstruction. We struggled to maintain the previous year's form where we went head to head with Juve until the last 4-5 games. Our recruitment was also terrible, bringing in Doumbia from CSKA for 15 million Euros and giving Destro to Milan on loan for free!!!
So in short, there is no way Lazio is going to be in the same league as Juve, Roma, Napoli, possibly one between the Milan team and Fiorentina as an outsider. Have you seen them getting trashed 3-0 by Leverkusen this morning? :-)
Re: Balotelli - do not be fooled my good friends, I have followed him closely throughout his career. I really believed he would achieve a lot for himself and for Italian football. Sadly he has serious attitude problems from which he is very unlikely to recover. It's almost clinical. I give him 6 weeks max before he fudges up.
As far as I'm concerned, I would have rather signed Gilardino on a free transfer than Balotelli. Time will prove me right. :))
Re: Balotelli - do not be fooled my good friends, I have followed him closely throughout his career. I really believed he would achieve a lot for himself and for Italian football. Sadly he has serious attitude problems from which he is very unlikely to recover. It's almost clinical. I give him 6 weeks max before he fudges up.
As far as I'm concerned, I would have rather signed Gilardino on a free transfer than Balotelli. Time will prove me right. :))
You are probably right. I've seen reports he has a good behaviour type clause in his loan deal so the worst thing that happens is that we cancel the deal and send him back to Liverpool to rot. Also sounds like Mihajlovic wasn't pushing the deal and it came from management. I don't think any shark will be tolerated. Well, I hope not.
I read that he has something like 10, 11 specific clauses of things he isn't allowed to do, including:
- playing practical jokes on team mates
- keeping his Mohawk (and have it dyed)
- saying anything on social media which may reflect negatively on Milan
Sadly the last thing that works for these hot-heads is giving them lots of rules. They need a fostering environment where they are allowed to express themselves, whilst being managed not to overstep boundaries.
Sadly for Mario, I don't even think this approach will work for him.
And Mihajlovic is an uncompromising, strong willed coach - it's his way or the highway. Not good for Mario.
So what month are you picking for him to be booted out of Milan back to Liverpool?
I'll go with November, so Liverpool have time to try and off-load him for January...
I would be surprised if he is still there at Christmas time.
There is an Italian saying - usually for coaches - "He won't eat his panettone" (Christmas Cake), meaning that he will sacked before the mid way point of the season. I think this saying suits Balotelli quite well.
Big game tonight, 4am NZ time. Still undecided if I should get up, watch it live and go straight to work or ignore my phone/stay away from FB/sports news etc and watch the replay after I get back from work tomorrow night...
Big result for Roma there. Looks like Juve might struggle a bit without Pirlo and Tevez. Still got plenty of quality players though, so maybe they'll just take a while to adjust.
Just looked at the highlights of Roma v Juve - what a game!
Roma doing it in a canter until the 85 minute.
Fantastic save by Sir Chez in the dying minutes.
Jovetic double for Inter won the game against Carpi. He's scored all 3 of our goals so far. Icardi was out with a knock but there's rumours he might be off to Arsenal. They must have read my post on the previous page ;)
Ended up watching the game from work yesterday as I couldn't stomach another 4am wake up call (I have an 8 month old baby so I haven't been sleeping much).
I think that was the best game Roma played in the two and a bit years since Garcia was placed in charge.
Pressing high up the field, 100% intensity, great passing and lots of movement off the ball to create goal scoring opportunities. We outclassed Juve and played a fantastic game. Really pissed off that, 2-0 up and with the extra man, we butchered a 4 v 3 counter attack to kill the game.
And then Keita, who is a great midfielder, coughed up the ball and we let them back in the game like that. The last 5' or so we were just panicking and thanks to Sczezny pulling off a top drawer save we didn't waste two very important competition points.
Very impressed with Digne on his debut (he had played under Garcia at Lille), Florenzi was his usual self, De Rossi in the unusual CB role acquitted himself well, Nainggolan won so much ball it's not funnly, Iago Falque - who arrived early in the summer amidst little fanfare, was very efficient...
...and then you've got the two Bosnians. Pjanic who is seen by many as an unfulfilled prodigy - and sadly that assessment isn't off target. He can pull off some amazing performances, but he lacks consistency and often wanders aimlessly around the pitch. Yesterday he looked two steps above everyone else, and that free kick was class.
Dzeko was the CF we have been missing ever since Batistuta left almost 15 years ago. I love how he uses his body to maintain possession (and score goals!) and how he puts a lot of pressure on defenders. On the 2-0 yesterday he chased a player and took him down from behind inside our half. That's the attitude we need if we are to win anything this year.
Inter did well as mentioned above. However they have won both their games, against lowly opposition, in the dying stages thanks to a bit of magic from Jovetic.
I am so gutted about the two week break now. To hell with national team games, I want more Serie A action.
Roma and Fio won. Juve drew with Chievo for their first point of the season.
Milan derby on at the moment.. forza Inter!
Another win for Inter - 3/3 now. I didn't watch the game but I was following text updates. Sounds like Balotelli was looking dangerous once they brought him on. Obviously not dangerous enough though
Congrats to Totti on his 300th goal for Roma, what servant of the club.
Also, another (lucky) win for Inter, and Juve picked up their first win too.
I can only imagine how awesome it was for the Frosinone supporters getting a point away at Juve.
They were going mental in the stands.
Just found this thread. Gli gialloblù are 15th and the goddamn flying donkeys are 4th. I'm going back to sleep.
5/5 for Inter, all by one goal margins. Top of the table clash with Fio tomorrow though.
Now THIS is a forum thread!! :-)
In a nutshell...
I'm not happy with Roma's start to the season. It all looked very promising with good results against Juve and Barcelona but as usual we are struggling against the so-called lesser sides. I think it's time for Rudi Garcia to go. Honestly, I thought he should have gone back in Feb but now is really the time. I'm not usually in favour of sacking managers but this guy seems to have zero ideas. He keeps repeating the same bullshark excuses each bad result after the other, and plays the same players and tactics that aren't working time and time again (what dirt has Iturbe got on him???) with no signs that he has anything else in his toolbox.
Carlo Ancelotti is a Rome born and bred former Roma player, a winner, and he's between clubs at the moment. I say pay him whatever he asks for and get him in.
The rest of the league is still settling down but it's great to see Fiorentina on top for the time being. The scudetto race is looking like it could be anyone's. Juve will come good, Inter are strong despite their poor result this last week and Milan are looking good too despite mixed results. I'm a big fan of Balotelli and I hope he does well but not too well as I hate Berlusconi FC...
I haven't seen the Bate Borosov game but I wasn't surprised that Roma leaked 3 goals. From the 2 games I've seen of Roma this season the defence and defensive midfield seem to be the issues.
Roma have been really unlucky with injuries though...
I haven't seen the Bate Borosov game but I wasn't surprised that Roma leaked 3 goals. From the 2 games I've seen of Roma this season the defence and defensive midfield seem to be the issues.
Roma have been really unlucky with injuries though...
I haven't seen it yet either and I'm tempted to keep it that way for reasons of sanity... I have seen the goals though and two out of the three we conceded can be put down to pretty sloppy work by Szczęsny.
The back four is certainly a bit makeshift with both De Rossi and Florenzi out of position. I'd like to see a different formation tried with a player or two extra in the midfield but if we wait for Garcia to do that we'll be waiting a long time...
Inter looked awful against Fio. I'm not 100% convinced the first goal should have been a penalty but that's not an excuse for the rest of the performance. Still, it might be a good wake up call, and hopefully our squad stays fresher than most of our rivals because we don't have European games midweek. Sampdoria away up next will probably be a tough game though so hopefully we get our shark together again quickly.
I saw the Bate game and we were unlucky not to score at least a couple in the first 10' or so. We had them under control and were playing really well. Then they scored their first with a well executed counter attack. Soon after Szcezny had a brain fart and gave them their 2nd goal and things went pear shaped from there.
Good to see us fight to pull the game back in the 2nd half, and almost getting a point out of it, had Florenzi's effort not hit the bar.
I think the biggest two problems for us this season are lack of adequate subs and the Garcia's inability to adapt formation to suit the matches. Had he realized we needed a more balanced formation against Bate as he did against Palermo, we would have won that game easily.
The fact that De Rossi has to play CB goes a long way to show how short sighted we have been in recruiting at the back in the off-season. We did well up front though with Salah, Dzeko and Falque.
If we can find some consistency, this could really be our year.
Pretty happy with the nil all draw with Juve this morning, all things considered. Really struggling with creativity in the midfield though - I wish we hadn't sold Kovacic :(
We beat Fiorentina on the weekend to take first spot. Pretty ugly game on our part, especially in the first half we were the lesser team but a gem from Salah - who was being booed every time he went near the ball - and a counter attack by Gervinho gave us a nice 2-goal cushion going into half time.
Despite the fact that I enjoy the way we play, 70% possession rate and all, I really think our team is possibly even better suited to play 4-2-3-1, which basically means defending with 11 (with Dzeko being your first line of defense, not bad!) and then counterattacking with possibly the two quickest wingers in the league, Salah and Gervinho!
And Garcia seems to have finally understood that you need to adjust your formation based on who you're playing - at last!
A bit worried about injuries though, with Strootman having had a new ACL replacement just recently, Keita and Totti out for a few more weeks, and now De Rossi who seems to have picked up a little injury... on De Rossi, I don't know if you noticed that, as he realized he was injured and would likely miss the next game or two, he purposely kicked the ball away after we had scored (it was Fiorentina's kick off) because he was only one yellow card away from suspension - that's gold!
Quite worried about Lazio being in second place, really hope they start stumbling a bit more consistently.
It's starting to look like your early optimism was well placed! :-)
We are still inconsistent but fortunately the other teams in the race at the moment hardly inspire much confidence either. I rate our ability to stay ahead of Napoli/Lazio/Fiorentina. It's what happens when one of Juve/Inter/Milan wake up from their slumber and make a chase of it. And can we get ourselves out of the hole we've dug for ourselves in the UCL? Defense is still a big problem. Pity about that late goal at the Artemio Franchi - but Fiorentina did deserve it.
I agree though, Garcia is starting to look a lot better.
I'm a hopeless optimist unfortunately!
I think Napoli are actually shaping up to be the team to really watch out for. They play very good football, I rate their coach (Sarri, who has done a terrific job in the lower leagues and more recently with Empoli) and have a very good squad which includes on-fire Iguain, Mertens, Inisgne just to name a few.
Inter could pose another serious threat, but I guess we'll see what happens on Sunday morning, because if we beat them then that could knock their confidence a fair bit.
I continue to believe that Milan are going to be the most disappointing team in the league as they've got no defence, and didn't recruit all that well other than Bacca, and Sinisa is not a good coach. I won't comment on Lazio as we all know how crap they are.
I hope Juve get relegated.
