Serie A Superthread 2016/17

Lucifer MorningStar

I see no thread for the new season so I said i'd start one. The new season kicks off in a few minutes with Roma away to Verona and later on tonight Lazio are at home to Bologna. Any thoughts on the season ahead ?

Ulysses Gaze

Can't see beyond Juventus for the Scudetto. It may be closer than last season but Roma apart I cannot see anyone else mounting a serious challenge to Juve.

Lucifer MorningStar

Ulysses Gaze wrote: »

Can't see beyond Juventus for the Scudetto. It may be closer than last season but Roma apart I cannot see anyone else mounting a serious challenge to Juve.

Juve have lost 3 big players in Pirlo, Vidal and Tevez. I don't think they'll run away it this season.

Alfred Borden

Think Juventus have changed too much (mainly not through choice) and expecting a tighter season this year. Both Milans should also be improved but really like Romas business so far this year.

klose

A full back or two in (i see cole has been frozen out) and roma could win it, as of now i think they will certainly challenge. Juve have recruited well despite their big losses, im interested to see how they shape up this year. Lots of goos teams this year, should be a good season.

Jan Laco

I don't think Juventus will win it at all. It's between Roma and Inter and Fiorentina could be up there too. I think Napoli will fall off the pace early. AC and Lazio to battle for 4th.
There has been some serious transfers coming into the league. i hope that it become more attacking.

Alfred Borden

Roma look average so far.

Alfred Borden

Goal for Verona who are well worth their lead.

Alfred Borden

Great goal from Florenzi. Keeper should be doing better though! Hopefully Roma can find a winner now.

Lucifer MorningStar

1-1

Great goal from Florenzi

Trippie

Heading to Sicily in the morning and the AirBnb host asked if i want to go to Palermo Genoa game tomorrow night. arranged us 2 tickets for 20 euro.

Juve looked good in the super cup. Milan have recruited well too

Alfred Borden

Roma were unlucky not to win that. Much better once they got their goal.

MD1990

Roma need a LB. Do not understand why Holebas was sold for 1.8m.

Lucifer MorningStar

They desperately need 2 fullbacks, the midfield and attack are strong, it's just the defence that needs to be addressed.

Roma play Juventus next week and if they play like they did today I can see Juve giving them a proper hiding.

Lucifer MorningStar

Lazio off to a good start. 2-0 up against Bologna and only mid way through the first half.

Pinturicchio

Milan and Roma have both made some great signings in attack. If I wasn't a Juve fan I'd be really excited about seeing Dzeko and Salah combine. Both defences could be leaky though.

I can see Juve having a bad start to the season with Chiellini, Marchisio, Khedira, Asamoah and Morata injured. Mandzukic is doubtful for tomorrow too. Alex Sandro is an exciting signing though and Cuadrado seems to be as good as signed, probably on loan. It'll be interesting to see where he plays though as Juve don't use wingers. Probably behind the strikers in 4-3-1-2.

I think the top three will be Juve, Milan and Roma, not necessarily in that order. Lazio look decent, but I don't think there's much strength in depth there. I'm not sure what to make of Napoli yet. I haven't been following their transfer really and they have a fairly unknown new coach. Allan from Udinese is a very good signing though. It could be asking too much for Juve to defend the title yet again with so many changes to the team. In Max we trust though.

I think and hope that Inter will flounder hilariously yet again. Kondogbia and Jovetic are very good players, but it's Inter.

ERG89

Lucifer MorningStar wrote: »

Lazio off to a good start. 2-0 up against Bologna and only mid way through the first half.

Kishna has been really impressive for Lazio & Keita Balde. Biglia is a loss though going off injured.
Looking forward to watching Fiorentina vs Milan tomorrow night. Still don't know what to make of Milan's signings. A lot of money spent

MythicalMadMan

Any reason why the bulk of Italian games are now on at 7:45 instead of 2?

Tomagotchye

Think Serie A is a league to watch this year. My mate is a Napoli fan and is downbeat about their chances. I lean towards Roma but really have no team so can keep an open head.

We'll see how it goes. Juve to win it. Milans to under perform again despite all the money spent

Headshot

lol Milan

Somthings never change

ERG89

Headshot wrote: »

lol Milan

Somethings never change

Battered in the first half. Great free kick.
Should have taken off Adriano who has been anonymous ditto Bertolacci (why have I a feeling that will be a trend).
At least with 10 men we can't play 4-diamond-2
-_-

jimjimjimmy

Alfred Borden wrote: »

Think Juventus have changed too much (mainly not through choice) and expecting a tighter season this year. Both Milans should also be improved but really like Romas business so far this year.

I've been watching Serie A for 20 years now and only ever heard of 1 Milan. You do know the other team in that city is called Internazionale or Inter for short.

Some surprising results, delighted to see Juve lose their 1st home game, they will struggle without Tevez and Vidal, at least until the new players settle in. Milan were pretty poor against the Viola and deserved to lose. Roma were average against Verona. All three teams would've expected to do better, I'm sure Roma and Juve were both expecting wins.

Delighted Inter won, but I think we'll struggle to break down teams this, especially when teams have 2 banks of 4 in front of us. We dominated possession but struggled really to make any clear cut chances. Slight concern over Icardi, hopefully not out too long. Some very poor mistakes from midfield but I suppose it's only early in the season.

The team that impressed me the most were Lazio, have very exciting players going forward, I thought Kishna was superb on his debut. Anybody have any news on Biglia's injury? Lazio went a bit flat when he went off.

Pinturicchio

Juve were so ****e yesterday. The subs Allegri made were bizarre too. I couldn't believe he finished the match with 5 defenders still on the pitch, one of which was fecking Isla. I was surprised Coman started too. He's never impressed me.

Once Marchisio and Morata are back things should improve and it'll hopefully be the end of 3-5-2.

Buffon
Lichtsteiner Bonucci Chiellini Sandro
Sturaro Marchisio Pogba
Dybala
Morata Mandzukic

ERG89

Pinturicchio wrote: »

Juve were so ****e yesterday. The subs Allegri made were bizarre too. I couldn't believe he finished the match with 5 defenders still on the pitch, one of which was fecking Isla. I was surprised Coman started too. He's never impressed me.

Once Marchisio and Morata are back things should improve and it'll hopefully be the end of 3-5-2.

Buffon
Lichtsteiner Bonucci Chiellini Sandro
Sturaro Marchisio Pogba
Dybala
Morata Mandzukic

Have Juve left themselves a bit bare in midfield?
Pirlo and Vidal left but only Khedira joined who is very injury prone. I like Sturaro but he is no replacement.

Pinturicchio

ERG89 wrote: »

Have Juve left themselves a bit bare in midfield?
Pirlo and Vidal left but only Khedira joined who is very injury prone. I like Sturaro but he is no replacement.

Yeah probably a bit short. There's still talk of another midfielder coming in. It wouldn't be so bad if Marchisio and Khedira weren't out at the same time. Pogba was playing like all of the pressure was on him to do something special. I like Pereyra but he was useless yesterday. You know what you're getting from Padoin.

GreNoLi

Damn, Milan are still shyte, at least Juve lost though, anyone but Inter to win it if Milan don't.

Lucifer MorningStar

Ever wondered why there is Irish flags in the curva sud ? Here's the story behind it for those of you who are interested.

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/english-soccer/as-roma-s-irish-clan-at-the-heart-of-the-curva-sud-1.2325912

Corholio

Samp top

Lucifer MorningStar

Roma - Juve on now

Lucifer MorningStar

1-0 Roma Pjanic with a great free kick

callaway92

Best free kick taker in the world at the mo.

That was some goal.

Lucifer MorningStar

2-0 Dzeko

Alfred Borden

2-0!!! juventus have changed too much. Should make for a more interesting league this year though!

klose

Roma could have been 3 up had falque not been greedy and now juve a goal and its 2-1, cagey last few minutes on the cards.

ERG89

Pereyra needs to play more. Padoin is the epitomy of average.
Where is Kwadwo Asamoah?
He was a midfielder too before leaving Udinese

klose

ERG89 wrote: »

Pereyra needs to play more. Padoin is the epitomy of average.
Where is Kwadwo Asamoah?
He was a midfielder too before leaving Udinese

Missed pretty much all of last season with injury so I assume he is still recovering.

ERG89

klose wrote: »

Missed pretty much all of last season with injury so I assume he is still recovering.

Yeah even though he was played at left back they need him in the mf. Alex Sandro in at lb too.
Mandzukic was poor too.

I think we will be top after this week Baselli to score two again

The Golden Miller

So nearly time for the Derby di Milano. A woefully bad Milan take on a not much better Inter. Will the San Siro even sell out tonight? 65,000 was the last I heard. Both teams spent a bit over the summer, and Inter look slightly the better of the two, but that isn't saying much. Probably end in a dire 1-1 draw. Milan extremely poor last time they met in the Serie A, with Inter doing all the pressing which ended 0-0

ERG89

The Golden Miller wrote: »

So nearly time for the Derby di Milano. A woefully bad Milan take on a not much better Inter. Will the San Siro even sell out tonight? 65,000 was the last I heard. Both teams spent a bit over the summer, and Inter look slightly the better of the two, but that isn't saying much. Probably end in a dire 1-1 draw. Milan extremely poor last time they met in the Serie A, with Inter doing all the pressing which ended 0-0

Tbf it's like United vs Liverpool a big game on paper but not in 2015 reality despite the summer spending.
It's a sellout btw

Very Bored

The Golden Miller wrote: »

So nearly time for the Derby di Milano. A woefully bad Milan take on a not much better Inter. Will the San Siro even sell out tonight? 65,000 was the last I heard. Both teams spent a bit over the summer, and Inter look slightly the better of the two, but that isn't saying much. Probably end in a dire 1-1 draw. Milan extremely poor last time they met in the Serie A, with Inter doing all the pressing which ended 0-0

I didn't realise this thread was actually here. I am Interista and regularly go to matches. I think tonight's match will surprise a lot of people, I think both teams will be a lot better this season. Both have spent a lot over the summer, both have very good coaches installed and I think the poor performances of the first couple of weeks were the result of players bedding in. The match was virtually sold out by early last week with the only "affordable" seats left available to those who signed up for season tickets.

I predict, at least here, a draw tonight. I think our midfield will dominate but I think their forward line is more dangerous and I can see Balotelli scoring simply because he's of the type that will just to rub us up. But then I am too scaramantico to say what I truly think will happen .

Very Bored

I'll just go for a quick read of La Gazzetta dello Sport before settling down for the match (settling being a joke in itself, salta la tensione!!!)

The Golden Miller wrote: »

So nearly time for the Derby di Milano. A woefully bad Milan take on a not much better Inter. Will the San Siro even sell out tonight? 65,000 was the last I heard. Both teams spent a bit over the summer, and Inter look slightly the better of the two, but that isn't saying much. Probably end in a dire 1-1 draw. Milan extremely poor last time they met in the Serie A, with Inter doing all the pressing which ended 0-0

Full stadium, record takings, new stars and old (we'd probably say usual) ambitions, Milan (city of) has refound its nobility.

Subheading from La Gazzetta which I thought might be of interest.

The Golden Miller

Very Bored wrote: »

I'll just go for a quick read of La Gazzetta dello Sport before settling down for the match (settling being a joke in itself, salta la tensione!!!)





Full stadium, record takings, new stars and old (we'd probably say usual) ambitions, Milan (city of) has refound its nobility.

Subheading from La Gazzetta which I thought might be of interest.

Hopefully Milan has refound it's nobility. The Champions League just isn't the same without a competitive Milan, and the entertainment of watching Inter get thumped around the place by the likes Villareal or Schalke or a whole host of other mediocre teams ha. Don't rate Mancini as a top manager, don't see why the Inter faithful like him so much. Had success by default in his first stint with Inter, and was poor at City and failed to win the Turkish league where it was a straight shoot out with Fenerbahce. Can't see Balotelli making an impact at Milan at all. He just isn't up to it bar a few glimpses of good play here and there. He'll be out by the end of the season

The Golden Miller

ERG89 wrote: »

Tbf it's like United vs Liverpool a big game on paper but not in 2015 reality despite the summer spending.
It's a sellout btw

True. Hopefully they both go for it though. Could be an entertaining match if they do, as their defenses are just awful. Certainly not what you expect from Milan in particular

Very Bored

The Golden Miller wrote: »

Hopefully Milan has refound it's nobility. The Champions League just isn't the same without a competitive Milan, and the entertainment of watching Inter get thumped around the place by the likes Villareal or Schalke or a whole host of other mediocre teams ha. Don't rate Mancini as a top manager, don't see why the Inter faithful like him so much. Had success by default in his first stint with Inter, and was poor at City and failed to win the Turkish league where it was a straight shoot out with Fenerbahce. Can't see Balotelli making an impact at Milan at all. He just isn't up to it bar a few glimpses of good play here and there. He'll be out by the end of the season

Nah, it was much more fun watching Milan in Serie B and becoming the only team in Italy to never have played there and also to have won the treble (the last Italian team to win the Champions League which you so fondly remember us getting beaten in too). Mancini won when matches became a level playing field, until then everything was controlled by the sim cards of Moggi, something which Milan were embroilled in as well. He was also capable of bringing Manchester City from mediocre to league title winners. No mean feat. Finally, its hard to know how a team that has a city rival legend on its bench as coach, particularly when that same guy thought it was good manners to join in with an anti-Inter chant during the week will find its nobility (though it was the city and not the team La Gazzetta was referring to). To see him put in his place will be worth more than the victory itself should we prevail tonight. In terms of Balotelli, this is his last chance, I'd say, he'll either make a run of it at Milan or he's finished, certainly at this level.

Very Bored

The Golden Miller wrote: »

True. Hopefully they both go for it though. Could be an entertaining match if they do, as their defenses are just awful. Certainly not what you expect from Milan in particular

To be honest, I think you're basing your comments on last season. Inter, especially, focussed on putting the defence right before doing anything else over the summer. I think we'll be a lot more solid there this season especially as Mancini seems to have no faith in Ranocchia.

The Golden Miller

Very Bored wrote: »

Nah, it was much more fun watching Milan in Serie B and becoming the only team in Italy to never have played there and also to have won the treble (the last Italian team to win the Champions League which you so fondly remember us getting beaten in too). Mancini won when matches became a level playing field, until then everything was controlled by the sim cards of Moggi, something which Milan were embroilled in as well. He was also capable of bringing Manchester City from mediocre to league title winners. No mean feat. Finally, its hard to know how a team that has a city rival legend on its bench as coach, particularly when that same guy thought it was good manners to join in with an anti-Inter chant during the week will find its nobility (though it was the city and not the team La Gazzetta was referring to). To see him put in his place will be worth more than the victory itself should we prevail tonight. In terms of Balotelli, this is his last chance, I'd say, he'll either make a run of it at Milan or he's finished, certainly at this level.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a Milan fan but I despise Inter for some reason. Just never liked them. Although in saying that, I'd love to see Inter back in the Champions League, and Milan also. Good for Italian football and the Champions League. Losing two stellar top tier teams is never good for any competition.

As for Mancini, Inter were extremely average under Mancini before the scandal as we saw with their European performances. I remember in 2005 in particular, Villareal tore Inter to shreds and Liverpool beat them out the gate a few years later. Was Mancini over them when Arsenal beat them 5-1? He proved nothing over this time period, and only won a few league's after the scandal with no competition. Their closest rival was Roma, who were fairly poor themselves compared to the other top teams in Europe. I could have managed Inter to the title back then. As for City, some billionaires had come in a few seasons previous. He was managing a top team and they still struggled under him, and were worse in Europe. He's proved very little as a manager imo. Mihajlovic still has alot to prove too.

Ye most of what I said was based on last season as you say. I've yet to see either play this season so will be watching with interest. Hopefully the teams have improved and are more solid. Just hope it's a good game. I think Inter will shade it.

Very Bored

The Golden Miller wrote: »

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a Milan fan but I despise Inter for some reason. Just never liked them. Although in saying that, I'd love to see Inter back in the Champions League, and Milan also. Good for Italian football and the Champions League. Losing two stellar top tier teams is never good for any competition.

As for Mancini, Inter were extremely average under Mancini before the scandal as we saw with their European performances. I remember in 2005 in particular, Villareal tore Inter to shreds and Liverpool beat them out the gate a few years later. Was Mancini over them when Arsenal beat them 5-1? He proved nothing over this time period, and only won a few league's after the scandal with no competition. Their closest rival was Roma, who were fairly poor themselves compared to the other top teams in Europe. I could have managed Inter to the title back then. As for City, some billionaires had come in a few seasons previous. He was managing a top team and they still struggled under him, and were worse in Europe. He's proved very little as a manager imo. Mihajlovic still has alot to prove too.

Ye most of what I said was based on last season as you say. I've yet to see either play this season so will be watching with interest. Hopefully the teams have improved and are more solid. Just hope it's a good game. I think Inter will shade it.

No, if I remember right it was Zaccheroni who was our coach when we got hammered by Arsenal. Don't get me wrong, Mancini isn't capable of leading a team in Europe, but he is capable of leading a team back to the top of domestic football. He's a very good coach, not a great one, and when we get back he'll need to be moved out for someone who can complete the job, a la Mourinho.

I mean absolutely no offence saying this though, but I think there is a lot of naivety in judging Italian football outside of Italy or those who know Italy intimately. The level of corruption is incomprehensible for fans of UK football (even of Irish football to be honest). Its a naive comment to say Inter were mediocre before and after calciopoli, because the corruption was and is endemic. Its as much a part of Italian football as the FA Cup is of English. And it typically starts with Juventus and Milan. Did you see Juventus drew last night? And the strange results which followed it so far today... as you might say in Italian... Maybe there's nothing in it, but I doubt there isn't.

Anyway, I'm signing off from the forum for now. I am not the nicest of people during matches like this and I don't want to offend anyone.

kksaints

One thing I always love before the Milan Derby is the choregraph displays of both teams. Always spectacular.

Johner

Milan really should be ahead.

Johner

How many chances does Luiz Adriano want.