Serie A Superthread 2009/10

therecklessone

Serie A General Discussion Thread Aug 1st 2009

This thread is for team talk, rumours, and general debate pertaining to Serie A. This thread is open for all users to post in. There are no preferences for fans of any team, if you want a club-specific Superthread then have a look at the hot threads sticky or start a new one.

Please note the following Rules:

1. NO MATCH DISCUSSIONS
- Match threads will be created for matches/match weeks where required.
- Match discussion will be deleted.

2. Major stories:
- When a major story occurs, please post in the specific thread
- We will merge/split discussion on requests
- We may delete discussion that continues here while a tangent thread is in progress.

3. If you wish to post in this thread please show some respect for the league and fans of clubs who play in the league. You can be critical without being insulting.

4. Users who repeatedly ignore these guidelines will receive warnings/bans.

eZe^

Predictions;

- Juventus to win Serie A comfortably if they don't sustain any big injuries.
- Lazio to establish themselves as one of the best Italian clubs again.
- Inter to fall from grace, and Eto'o to flop if no good midfielder is bought.

I'll be supporting Inter though, I'd love Eto'o to rip Italy apart..

Eire-Dearg

Any word on if one of the channels have some Serie A this season? Would love to get into it...

Mr. Presentable

Looking forward to seeing how Inter do now that Juventus have mostly recovered from their penalties. I expect Inter will revert to type and start to throw titles away again for a few years.

Quaresma is looking better in pre season than at any time last year.

Mr. Presentable

Eire-Dearg wrote: »

Any word on if one of the channels have some Serie A this season? Would love to get into it...

Bet365.com (free account required) have several games every week. The international TV rights have not been opened on yet.

dor83

nipplenuts wrote: »

Looking forward to seeing how Inter do now that Juventus have mostly recovered from their penalties. I expect Inter will revert to type and start to throw titles away again for a few years.

Yeah Juve have signed some good players, Diego and Melo most notably, but I'm most looking forward to seeing how teams like Genoa, Palermo and Napoli do this year. They have all bought well over the summer and could push for a CL spot, it should be a very good, competitive season.

nipplenuts wrote: »

Quaresma is looking better in pre season than at any time last year.

It's not very hard to look better than he did last season though is it? seriously though, I actually think he will have a decent season this year because he will fit into the new system better imo.

Redzer7

Looking forward to seeing how AC cope without Kaka.
Backing Inter to win it again this year.

Mr. Presentable

dor83 wrote: »

Yeah Juve have signed some good players, Diego and Melo most notably, but I'm most looking forward to seeing how teams like Genoa, Palermo and Napoli do this year. They have all bought well over the summer and could push for a CL spot, it should be a very good, competitive season.

It's not very hard to look better than he did last season though is it? seriously though, I actually think he will have a decent season this year because he will fit into the new system better imo.

Agreed. I liked the look and ambition of both Genoa and Palermo last season. But Genoa have lost a couple of key players. Parma will be interesting.

dor83

nipplenuts wrote: »

Agreed. I liked the look and ambition of both Genoa and Palermo last season. But Genoa have lost a couple of key players. Parma will be interesting.

Yeah but they have got in some good players too like Crespo, Palacio, Zapater, Kharja and Bolzoni. The player I am most looking forward to seeing this season is Pastore, he has huge potential and I was glad to see he chose Palermo because he should get more games there than at some of the bigger clubs that were also looking at him.

dor83

Inter are apparently after Van der Vaart

As Inter scour the market to find a midfielder capable of satisfying coach Mourinho’s tactical demands, it seems Real Madrid's Rafael Van Der Vaart has found himself in pole position for a move to the San Siro.
According to Calciomercato.it, the Nerazzurri are considering the option to bring in the former Ajax man on a loan deal, with the option to buy next summer.

Given Real Madrid’s desire to raise €100m, however, it is still unclear whether Florentino Perez would be happy with a deal that would only see some cash arrive in twelve months time.

With the proposed switch due for further developments during the week, it is believed Inter will look to complete their squad as soon as possible, following the failure to convince Aliaksandr Hleb to join them as part of the swap deal between Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Samuel Eto'o.

Given the Dutchman is available at a cut price of €5m, an eventual swoop shouldn’t prove too difficult for president Massimo Moratti, should Inter opt to make the move permanent.

I've been a fan of his since I first saw him when he was 17 and think he would do well for us and if the €5m price tag is correct then he would be a bargain imo, I would have thought he'd have cost €15-20m.

Also, Galliani has confirmed Milan have turned Chelsae's offer for Pirlo

Milan chief Adriano Galliani confirms Chelsea have made an offer for Andrea Pirlo, but it is “not satisfactory.”
The newspaper stories that the Stamford Bridge side proposed cash plus Claudio Pizarro were confirmed this afternoon by the Vice-President.

“The offer of £7m plus Pizarro is not satisfactory and with these conditions Pirlo is not for sale,” Galliani told Sky Sport Italia.

This statement is important for several reasons, as it confirms Chelsea have made a bid for the midfielder and also that Milan are willing to listen for the right price.

It is believed the Rossoneri have valued 2006 World Cup winner Pirlo at around £18m, relying on how much Carlo Ancelotti wants to be reunited with the player.

Meanwhile, Galliani also dropped hints on the search for Real Madrid striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar.

“I will meet with my friend [Real President] Florentino Perez very soon.”

ThE_IVIAcIVIAIV

Real want to recoup the 16m for van der vaart i read.

Juve will win Serie A and do better than last season in the champions league.
Diego to get player of the year! he scored an absolute cracker on his debut and Juve just beat Real Madrid in the peace cup semi final!

Morzadec

Used to follow Sampdoria back in the day when Channel 4 showed Football Italia. Hard to keep up with the League now and I've kinda lost interest. Would like to follow it again though.

For anyone in the know, how are we* (Sampdoria) shaping up for the new season?

*Really not enough of a Sampdoria fan to justify the use of 'we' but ah well!

Bubs101

Morzadec wrote: »

Used to follow Sampdoria back in the day when Channel 4 showed Football Italia. Hard to keep up with the League now and I've kinda lost interest. Would like to follow it again though.

For anyone in the know, how are we* (Sampdoria) shaping up for the new season?

*Really not enough of a Sampdoria fan to justify the use of 'we' but ah well!

Pretty much all depends on how Cassano plays but a strikeforce of Cassano and Pazzini is one of the better ones in the league (in Champo it'd be the best in the world)

Reckon Fiorentina might take it this year though. In Mutu and Gila they have the best attack in the league, can't buy a bond like that, have a solid team and have set themselves up really well for a run at the title with two top 4 finishes in a row

dor83

Reports that Inter are getting Sneijder

Real Madrid have agreed a deal to transfer Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder to Italian side Inter, according to reports from Italy.

La Gazzetta dello Sport reports that an initial loan deal has been agreed between the two clubs, with the Spanish side receiving €4m, with the Serie A champions having an option to make the transfer permanent for a fee of €18m.

Sneijder’s future at the Bernabeu has been in doubt since the return of Florentino Perez and his array of new signings, and the player himself has expressed his displeasure at his clubs exuberant spending, forcing him further down the pecking order.

A number of European sides are thought to have been interested in the 25-year old, but it is thought that Jose Mourinho has swooped to land the former Ajax man.

Sneijder joined Real Madrid in 2007 for a fee of €27m, and helped Los Blancos retain their La Liga crown, but toiled last season as his side were overshadowed by Barcelona’s imperious treble-winning campaign.

It is believed that the player must now agree terms with Inter in order to conclude the deal, and the transfer could be concluded in the next few days.

We need to bring in an attacking midfielder so it would be a good deal for us, €4m for a seasons loan is not bad.

Mr Maroon

Roma have had a very dissappointing mercato so far, especially considering they didn't excatly set the world on fire last season either. I predict they will finish behind Napoli, Fiorentina, Genoa and Palermo.

Bubs101

And if I translated the Gazzetta correctly they have to sell either one of Baptista, Menez or Aquilani before the season starts. Be sad to see them drop out of the top 4 for good, have always loved the club despite being a Juve fan

Mr Maroon

Bubs101 wrote: »

And if I translated the Gazzetta correctly they have to sell either one of Baptista, Menez or Aquilani before the season starts. Be sad to see them drop out of the top 4 for good, have always loved the club despite being a Juve fan

Well Baptista is linked with AC Milan but it looks like Aquilani is going to Liverpool.

I'm a Juve fan too.

Bubs101

Mr Maroon wrote: »

Well Baptista is linked with AC Milan but it looks like Aquilani is going to Liverpool.

That report was from Marca which said that aquilani had signed with Liverpool should have read we love Real and we need Alonso to come in so lets unsettle him and Aquilani so Liverpool have a quick and easy replacement so they will sell up quicker

flahavaj

Bubs or anyone else who watches Serie A regularly, how good is Acquilani? I've been fairly impressed any time I've seen him play but any other info would be appreciated. Is he a like for like swap for Alonso? I was of the impression he was more inclined to make forward runs than Xabi and probably would contribute more goals/assist in a season?

Bubs101

flahavaj wrote: »

Bubs or anyone else who watches Serie A regularly, how good is Acquilani? I've been fairly impressed any time I've seen him play but any other info would be appreciated. Is he a like for like swap for Alonso? I was of the impression he was more inclined to make forward runs than Xabi and probably would contribute more goals/assist in a season?

He's a threat from set pieces but other than that he's going to get you no more goals than Xabi. He is very very good though but like Veron and Pirlo, he might not suit the english game, be too used to the space of Serie A and playing without De Rossi and Totti might take a bit of getting used to considering the special treatment those three are used to in Rome

Mr Maroon

I don't thnk he ever lived up to the potential he was showing a couple of years ago.

flahavaj

Thanks men.

*Rushes off to steal quotes as his own and appear more knowledgeable than Liverpool fans in work.*

Warper

Ya I like the look of Juve this year. They have signed 3 quality players - Melo, Diego and Cannavaro. Plus their main rivals - Inter have lost their talisman and Serie A top-scorer. Eto'o will prob. need time to settle in and he simply wont be getting the supply he was getting at Barca. Plus Italian defences and games are much tighter than in Spain.

Diego is definitely the one to watch and this was a great move for him ahead of the World Cup next year as well. I got them @ 7-2 to win the League.

dor83

Warper wrote: »

Ya I like the look of Juve this year. They have signed 3 quality players - Melo, Diego and Cannavaro. Plus their main rivals - Inter have lost their talisman and Serie A top-scorer. Eto'o will prob. need time to settle in and he simply wont be getting the supply he was getting at Barca. Plus Italian defences and games are much tighter than in Spain.

Diego is definitely the one to watch and this was a great move for him ahead of the World Cup next year as well. I got them @ 7-2 to win the League.

We have also signed Milito who only scored 1 goal less than Ibra last season and should we get a good playmaker in we will have the best team imo. I think we currently have the best keeper, defence and strikeforce in the league and a solid midfield, and if we bring in the right player it will complete the team imo.

Bubs101

On paper Inter still have by far the best team in the league but they were so reliant on Ibra for that spark that without him i can't see where it's going to come from. Eto'o is a better finisher but he's not going to create you goals from nothing. Inter need a playmaker or else they are in trouble although personally, I think Stankovic could step up to the plate though if they don't bring in anyone although they could help Mutu out with his fine and they'd be flying

Mr. Presentable

Whispers are that Huntelaar will have his medical tomorrow. For Milan.

Eire-Dearg

Yes - ESPN have the rights to Serie A games this season - brilliant!

ESPN has secured an exclusive TV rights deal to broadcast live Italian Serie A matches in the UK.

Under the deal agreed with Media Partners and Silva, ESPN will broadcast up to three live Serie A games per week for the 2009/10 season. Coverage will begin on August 22 when AC Milan take on Siena, followed by Serie A champions Inter Milan versus Bari on August 23.

All matches will be shown on the new ESPN channel, which was launched on Monday in standard and high definition on Sky and Virgin Media. The SD channel is also now available on Top Up TV and BT Vision.

ESPN EMEA vice president Jeroen Oerlemans said: "We're very pleased to be able to broadcast the Italian Serie A. As one of the best leagues in the world, the live coverage will sit nicely with our Barclays Premier League, Clydesdale Bank Premier League and Bundesliga matches, making the channel the number one stop for football fans around the UK in SD and HD."

Media Partners and Silva chief executive Carlo Pozzali added: "We are delighted to increase our relationship with ESPN, a broadcast partner which ensures best coverage for Italian Serie A in the United Kingdom."

Seaneh

Can you get ESPN on NTL and if so, how much?

Eire-Dearg

Seaneh wrote: »

Can you get ESPN on NTL and if so, how much?

Not sure - but I'd say the will have it, yeah.

therecklessone

Seaneh wrote: »

Can you get ESPN on NTL and if so, how much?

Not at the moment, they've yet to reach an agreement.

Seaneh

Nice bit of news.

We now have Inzaghi, Boriello and Huntelaar as our target men with Ronaldinho and Pato to play behind them.

From http://www.football-italia.net/
Galliani: 'Milan have Huntelaar!'

"Milan have agreed a deal for Klaas Jan Huntelaar and he’ll sign tonight, confirmed Vice-President Adriano Galliani.
“We already have an agreement with Real Madrid on everything,” he told Sky Sport Italia television.

“It is not true that we are still waiting for a fax from Madrid, as the deal has been completed.

“When he arrives here this evening he will undergo a medical and then sign the contract.

“It is a permanent transfer and there are no players included in the deal.”

Although he did not name figures, it’s widely believed that Huntelaar will cost the Rossoneri around £13m.

There had already been hints yesterday during Andrea Pirlo’s Press conference that the club had its hands on a new striker.

Now the confirmation has come and Huntelaar will fly in to Milan later today.

This rules out the chances of seeing Brazil hitman Luis Fabiano in the Rossoneri jersey, but Leonardo does have the forward he had requested.

Milan had originally tried to sign Huntelaar on loan earlier in the summer, but Real Madrid will only release him for a cash sum."

dor83

That's a good signing for Milan and I think he'll do well but I still think they need to buy a couple of players if they are going to put in a strong challenge for the scudetto.

Warper

Ya Huntelaar for 13m is a great signing. I still think that the title is between Juve and Inter though. Surely Arjen Robben would be another great signing for any club now with Ronaldo at Madrid.

Quint

dor83 wrote: »

That's a good signing for Milan and I think he'll do well but I still think they need to buy a couple of players if they are going to put in a strong challenge for the scudetto.

I think milan will do well to get a Champions League place, let alone challenge for the scudetto

dor83

It's hard to call atm, they definitely look stronger than Roma and imo Fiorentina too but there are teams like Genoa, Palermo and Napoli who could all make a strong challenge for a CL spot. I think theres going to be a lot of competition to get into the top four this season but if Milan make a couple more signings they should be able to stay fairly close to Inter and Juve imo.

Quint

Losing their best player, their captain and manager is a massive change. A completely unproven manager too.

dor83

Quint wrote: »

Losing their best player, their captain and manager is a massive change. A completely unproven manager too.

Yes they lost their best player but they still have a good team, I expect Ronaldinho to be much better this season and to get back to his best so I don't think losing Kaka will hurt them as much as people are expecting. They still have plenty of top quality players there like Nesta, Zambrotta, Gattuso, Pirlo, Pato etc. so I think it would be foolish to rule them out tbh.

I also don't think losing Ancelotti will be that big of a loss to them, afterall he did only win one scudetto with them(I know he also won other things but we are talking about them challenging for the Serie A). As for Leonardo being unproven, it wouldn't be the first time an unproven manager did well, just look at how well Guardiola did last season(I'm not saying Milan are going to win everything this year, I'm just using it as an example of how you can't automatically write off a manager because he is inexpierienced).

Bubs101

Leonardo is no more unproven than Ferrera so if your taking Juve as challengers you can't knock Leonardo for the same reason. I just think that Milan's team is getting too old now and they're going to be relying on a midfield and defense that started declining 2 years ago. If Gattuso, Pirlo, Seedorf, Ambrosini, Zambrotta and Ronaldhino can find their form they had 2 years ago (more in Zambrotta's case) they'd challenge but there's no reason to suggest they will while just like Inter without Ibra, Milan without Kaka will struggle creatively but Inter signed some really strong players while Milan haven't. Also, Nesta's getting older and they have to keep him fit.

Think they'll struggle this season unless a new Baresi or Maldini emerges from the Primavera side and at this stage they'd certainly settle for a Costsacurta

Mr. Presentable

Palermo continue to make shrewd moves in the market. They are expected to announce the signing of Dorin Goian the Romanian international defender today or tomorrow.

dor83

I just think that Milan could be strong contenders for the title if they get one or two top quality players in. I also don't think they will miss Kaka as much as people say because, like most of Milans team, he hasn't played his best football for a couple of seasons and I also feel it could be good for them in that they won't have him to save them and the rest of the team might try a bit harder. I just think it's foolish to rule them out before the season even starts.

eirebhoy

Quint wrote: »

Losing their best player, their captain and manager is a massive change. A completely unproven manager too.

Beats having a manager that has failed to win the league with great players for the last 5 years. He's won 1 league and 1 Coppa Italia in Italy in his 10 years with Juve and Milan. Really underachieved in the league in the last few years considering the players they had.

He thinks too much of the opposition. No way should Kaka and the rest have been taken to extra time over 2 legs by Celtic (in which Celtic should have had 2 peno's) but it was Ancelotti's defensive attitude.

Quint

eirebhoy wrote: »

Beats having a proven failure of a manager domestically in fairness. He's won 1 league and 1 Coppa Italia in Italy. Really underachieved in the league in the last few years considering the players they had.

Good point. Never realised how bad Milan were domesticly under Anchelotti

Local-womanizer

Eire-Dearg wrote: »

Any word on if one of the channels have some Serie A this season? Would love to get into it...

ESPN have picked it up.Starting with the Super cup this Saturday,best news in a long time!

Never mind!Dont know how i missed it already!

I dont know what to make of the coming season tbh,Milan need a few more signings to competeA good start though with Klass-Jan.

Seaneh

Bubs101 wrote: »

Think they'll struggle this season unless a new Baresi or Maldini emerges from the Primavera side and at this stage they'd certainly settle for a Costsacurta

Forgetting about This fella?



I reckon we will be challenging if we sign one or two more players.

Holding onto Pirlo was probably the bets bit of business we did this summer so far and signing Klass-Jan was a nice bit of work too.

If we get Di Silvestri from Lazio as have been mentioned by Italian media sources that would be a very signing and mean that Zambro would be competing with Janku for the left back spot.

We need to get rid of Kalac and Dida from the Squad and bring in another keeper to push Christian for the #1 spot.

Stoari is a much better back up than either of the other two and on much smaller wages.

Flavalli HAS TO GO, just let him leave for free, he'd be picked up by a newly promoted team fairly quickly but hes not even good enough to keep around as a squad player for Milan.

With Thaigo Silva, Kaladze, Bonera, Nesta and Onyewu we have enough competition for the CB slot.

With Oddo back and the posibility of Di Silvestri comming in and Zambro we have rb covered, Bonera can play there if needed too.

At left full we have Janku, Antionni, Zambro and Kaladze can both do a very good job there to so LB is covered.

I think we still need another midfeilder or two.

we have probably the best selections of DM's in the world at the minute.

Ambrosini, Gattauso and Flamini are as good as any in their positions in the world and even at that we have a very promising Cardacio in the reserves ready to step up if needed. We need to start looking for a replacement for Seedorf, fair play to him, he has been great for the last 8 years and always works his socks off but it's time to start weening off him and bringing someone else through.

I think players like Di Gennaro, Abate and Viudez will all get a chance this year and I have high hopes for the latter two.

Di Gennaro played 22 times for Reggina in Serie B last year and was pretty impressive but at 21 it's time for him to step up and show that the potential he displayed 2 years ago isnt going to waste (same for all the younger players really).

I also think we need to move away from Carlettos system and stop being so dependant on Pirlo (TBH, the way Milan play, losing Pirlo would have been a MUCH bigger loss than Kaka, when Pirlo is injured Milan imploded last season, when Kaka was injured we struggled but still won some big games).

Atleast with Abate we now have the option of playing much wider (him on the right, Ronaldinho on the left with two up top will be a great way to play against the more compact, one dimensional midfeilds).

I wouldn't mind if we went back to Real and had a cheeky bid for Sneijder or Drenthe, two very different players but would offer us much more options than we currently have, the latter meaning Ronaldinho could stay central if we needed to play with wingers while also being competition for Janku at left full.

Another player I think would suit Milan as Lazio's Ledesma, but I think Lazio have priced him at €15million and I don't know if I'd be happy paying that much for him when another €5million would get Hamsik from Napoli.

Fiorentina's Kuzmanovic would be a good signing too, or Inhler from udinese.

Bubs101

Nobody's ever seen Thiago Silva though and it's not like he's a Primavera player and while you've alot of competition for the CB slot with the exception of Nesta it's a race for a wooden spoon. As for your DM selection of the top of my head Real and Chelsea certainly have better strength in depth while many many clubs have better starters. Even Flamini isn't the player he was in 2007 and he's not even old. Your attacking midfielders and strikers are still very strong though

I did read a report though that someone was coming in and taking Dida off your hands

Local-womanizer

We need to get wide players in.Let seedorf sit on the bench,last season he was shocking,usless.

Sneijder or Robben would be great so they would.Flamini is still a great player,he never got a chance under Carletto though.

What we lacked last season was strenght in depth.We need cover all over the pitch tbh.

Genoa are thinking about taking :eek:ida off our hands,that would be transfer of the season!

Seaneh

Dida was left out of the Squad going to Madrid tomorrow.

Oh, please, let him go, PLEASE!

That would free up 50k in wages to spend elsewhere too.

Hunter to make his debut against Real? That would be fun =D

Seaneh

I like the image below... The master and the apprentice =D
I have really high hopes for this partnership this season.

Seaneh

Milan linked with Bale again today, his agent talking about it.

Along with Di Silvestri would be a very good signing, but not at the price mentioned below.

Maybe €7/8million but €15million? No thanks.


From goal.com but has quotes.


http://goal.com/en/news/10/italy/2009/08/07/1427949/tottenham-hotspur-full-back-gareth-bale-would-love-milan

"After completing the signing of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, the Rossoneri are turning their attentions to their full-backs. While much press speculation has been focused on their right-back, where Lorenzo De Silvestri is thought to be the first choice to rival Gianluca Zambrotta, Milan are also looking at a replacement for Marek Jankulovski.

Attention has now turned once again to Tottenham Hotspur's Gareth Bale, and the player's representative has admitted that the Welshman would love to move to Milan.

"It's true, the player likes Milan but for the moment no official offer has arrived for him," Peppino Tirri told calciomercato.it.

"Many coaches are a fan of Bale, [Tottenham manager Harry] Redknapp included. Unsellable? In today's market there is no such thing as an unsellable player.

"However, no offer has come in, we have not talked about it [a transfer] with Tottenham, nor of his price. That said, I think that the figures circulating [in the press amounting to €12-15m] are correct."

Bale is still only 20-years-old but has endured a difficult time due to injuries and low confidence at White Hart Lane, having signed for Spurs in 2007."

Seaneh

Lazio beating inter 2-1 in the super cup atm.

Eire-Dearg

Seaneh wrote: »

Lazio beating inter 2-1 in the super cup atm.

The last half hour or so was great. Finished 2-1 to Lazio.

Amazing goal by Rocchi, chipped the 'keeper, and Eto'o scored for Inter.