The Italian Football Thread

Strootman should be decent hopefully, as should Benatia - but we've had good signings in the last couple of years (Marquinhos, Lamela, Pjanic, Osvaldo when he can be assed) and still had two grim seasons. Garcia's got a big job on his hands.

Hernandez.

Admittedly it's a bit generous to call Hernandez a better player, but I'd argue to the moon and back that what Hernandez offers is greater in total than what Higuain does even if he's a little limited.

Constant walked off during the Sassuolo game after apparently hearing racist chants from the crowd. I don't think anyone else heard anything though as Milan just brought on a sub and Galliani's told him he can't just leave the field whenever he wants, it's up to the ref to make the call.

So what are your season predictions?

Mine:

Winners: Juventus
Second: Fiorentina
Third: Napoli
Fourth: Milan
Fifth: Roma

Overachievers: Parma
Underachievers: Sampdoria

Relegated: Sassuolo, Livorno, Chievo.
Promoted: Palermo, Brescia, Pescara.

Coppa Italia: Napoli

Capocannoniere: Mario Balotelli

I'm really not sold on either of the Milanese clubs, Inter have a couple of interesting youngsters but most of their squad are old and well past their best and even if the Indonesian investment actually happens I really doubt they'd bring in any players in their prime years capable of bridging the gap, having a new coach who plays an unfamiliar system isn't going to help them either. Milan are much in the same situation as Inter but I think the sheer raw talent of Balotelli and El Shaarawy will be enough to qualify them for Europe at least, much like last season.

If Gomez and Rossi both find form at Fiorentina I think Montella's team are the primary contender behind Juventus for the Scudetto, there's a tonne of attacking potential in that team, both creatively as well as goalscoring.

I really don't like Rafa Benitez as a manager, I'm not sure Higuain will be able to fully fill the void left by Cavani and I think the team will take a hit from the loss of Mazzarri and his tactics. It really is Hamsik's time to shine. I still think that player-for-player, they are better than the clubs from Milan and Rome so I still see them finishing in the CL spots, despite my question marks.

I think Roma will turn the trend and have a good season this year, Rudi Garcia has a strong track record from France behind him and I like the signings of Benatia and Strootman, I really think they'll qualify for Europe though they don't quite have the squad to mount a title challenge.

I have Parma as over-achievers mostly because of Cassano, I feel he really thrives in the big fish-small pond type scenario, especially when he feels he's been wronged and has something to prove. They also have a few interesting youngsters and a solid core of veterans. I expect them to be this year's Catania.

Sampdoria are my underachievers as they don't have a single Serie A striker in their squad right now, unless they bring one in before the window closes they'll be in the relegation battle.

I think all three of the recently promoted sides will struggle to stay up, and I think (and hope) Chievo will join them in the bottom.

As for Udinese, I feel much of their recent success has been based upon the big clubs under-performing, with Di Natale a year older, clubs like Inter, Roma and Lazio improving and the Pozzo's increased focus on Watford I can see Udinese falling down a few spots in the table.

Agree totally about Cassano, think he'll have a very good season. World Cup year as well. The Inter v Spurs second leg last season showed he's still top drawer when he feels like it.

I thought the same about Udinese last season and they still came 5th! Although the shocking campaigns of Inter and, depressingly, Roma helped them.

I think Juventus will win it again yeah but they should have more of a challenge from Napoli, Fiorentina etc. Maybe Milan although they haven't really strengthened over summer, Galliani always seems to be happy with what they have. Mazzarri at Inter will be worth keeping an eye on, but their squad isn't top 3 quality IMO. (Never thought I'd be saying that 3 years ago).

Strootman and Benatia should prove to be good signings but unfortunately can't see Roma cracking the top 3, agree with you there.

If we had a reputation system you would have got your first positive vote from me ever, Franck.

Only way I can see Udinese staying where they are is if Luis Muriel scores enough goals to compensate for the likely inevitable drop-off from Di Natale, while some of their many youngsters have a breakthrough in the midfield/defence. I really can't see them finishing ahead of Roma, Inter and Lazio again.

As for Juve, I really don't think it'll be closer than last season. Adding Tevez and Llorente to their weakest position without losing anyone of significance really puts them in a dominant position. That central midfield of theirs is arguably the very best in Europe, only Bayern and Barcelona could argue otherwise. It would take either a complete implosion or an injury crisis of epic proportions for the scudetto to end up anywhere other than Turin.

Inter will probably be a very good team 2-3 years from now when Kovacic, Jesus, Icardi et. al. are in their prime years and tired old men like Chivu and Samuel have fucked off. I doubt Mazzarri will be the manager who reaps the rewards from that though, a certain Jose perhaps?

And had you told anyone that Juventus would be the best team in Italy and that Napoli and Fiorentina would be the key challengers 5 years ago they'd have rightfully told you to fuck off. Pretty amazing how much the Milan clubs and Roma have declined in that period.


Good things can happen when I'm bored.

Winners: Juventus
Second: Fiorentina
Third: Milan
Fourth: Roma
Fifth: Napoli

4th would depend on which one of Garcia and Benitez would adapt quicker.
My money's on Garcia, high time Roma actually did something useful.

Winners: Juventus
Second: Milan
Third: Napoli
Fourth: Inter
Fifth: Fiorentina

Overachievers: Verona
Underachievers: Torino

Relegated: Sassuolo, Livorno, Torino
Promoted: Palermo, Empoli, Novara

Coppa Italia: Lazio (why not...)

Capocannoniere: Mario Gomez.


As has been discussed above it's difficult to look past Juventus for the title, they've improved their forward line and while I wouldn't expect either to break the 20 goal barrier given the demands Conte puts on his forwards they'll still be a big upgrade on what they had last season.

I actually think Milan will have a decent season in 13/14, they finished last season well and should they get into the CL I think we'll see one or two more signings, not to mention Honda's potential arrival in the winter. Balotelli and El Sharaawy working together will be key for them.

Napoli are an interesting one, a huge Cavani shaped hole has been partly filled by Higuain and their other attacking signings give them a lot of flexability. The midfield's as good as ever but even with Albiol that defense looks a bit suspect. It'll also be interesting to see how they balance Europe and Serie A.

Inter are my dark horses this season, they were dreadful last season but to be honest if you put a rookie manager in charge of any other side and took away 8/9 players the result would probably be the same. With the young lads coming in they have a few more options up front and providing everybody stays fit I can see them doing well, with no Europe and nobody caring about the Coppa they can focus solely on Serie A.

Like Napoli Fiorentina have an excellent and flexable attack coupled with an average defense and at the time of writing no goalkeeper to speak of. Another side that'll be looking to balance Europe and Serie A I can see them flying out of the blocks but stumbling a bit around New Year when the fixtures start to bite.

Just outside that list Roma have added some good players like Benatia & Strootman with some odd ones in Maicon & De Sanctis, the key for them as it usually is these days will be adapting to a new coach and new system. Lazio have added a bit of depth and variety to the midfield with Biglia and Anderson and early fixtures indicate we could be using a back 3 more often which suits the players better than a back 4. Striker depth is an issue though, Klose can only manage 20/25 league games + Europe and neither Floccari or Kozak have shown they can fill his boots. Then we have Udinese, as usual they've lost players, look weak on paper and will no doubt start slowly, perhaps with some European humiliation thrown in but they seem to be the anti-Lazio though and come alive after the New Year so I wouldn't be surprised to see them in 7th or 8th.

The best of the rest will probably be Catania who despite losing Lodi will be solid enough, a Cassano inspired Parma and I think we could see good seasons from Genoa and Atalanta. I also think Verona will be closer to 10th than the relegation spots.

Finally the relegations spots, Sassuolo will probably put up a better fight than Pescara last season but I can't see them reaching 17th, same for Livorno who's squad is starting to look like an Inter B side. Torino have lost their best defender and their main goal threat, not to mention their keeper copping a 3 year ban for his part in match fixing in his Bari days. With all that I can see them succuming to second season syndrome. Samp look weaker as well and could be in for a tough year, Cagliari's stadium situation is still going on and could impact them on the field and Chievo have been oddly active this window with murmers of 'changing the system' which goes against the 'if it aint broke don't fix it' approach that has seen them play terrible calcio but overachieve year after year.

I really like the renderings I've seen of the redeveloped Stadio Friuli, it'll be great to finally start seeing some modern stadiums in Serie A.



Apparently the Friuli is just a massive build site right now, it's entirely possible that Udinese will be forced to play much of their season at Stadio Nereo Rocco in Trieste, infamous for being Cagliari's distant home away from home.

I'm pretty sure they registered the Nereo Rocco as their stadium this season... Personally I assumed the Friulli was going to stay open and they'd use the main stand and the one opposite while the curva were redeveloped. Given the state of the place it's probably wise to choose somewhere else, the scale of the work means the whole place will be a building site like you said, it's not like doing one stand where you can just fence it off.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/serie-mauri-banned-six-months-part-calcio-scommesse-093524399.html

Typically that article fails to mention that Mauri did nothing wrong, he's been betting on tennis and basketball so the only thing they could charge him with was failing to report illegal betting. Whether he knew it was going on or not is a different matter.

Hamsik signed a new 5 year deal with Napoli, the most underrated footballer in Europe is going to stay underrated, it seems.

He's far from underrated, De Laurentiis is just very, very good at keeping his players.

I doubt he'd have signed a deal like that if they hadn't had such an ambitious summer this year, or if he did it would have been a Lavezzi/Cavani style deal where he was probably going to be sold but with the release clause he leaves on Napoli's terms.

Hasn't he said he wants to retire at Napoli? (I know, modern footballers etc...)

Happy 40th!

Still looks the same as he did 10 or 15 years ago, there's probably a painting in his loft that looks like Moratti with a hangover...

Not much happening here, so here's a picture of the Pope meeting the Pharaoh:

Dorian Gray style?

Yarp

Today we wish Marco Materazzi a happy 40th birthday! May many cards be shown, penalties scored, French tears shed and testicles stepped on in his great honour!

And despite having turned 29 a few days ago, Chiellini threw a 31st birthday party at his house.

Gattuso sent off in his first game in charge at Palermo.

You would think El Shaarawy would get a fucking haircut for meeting the Pope.

Why? The Pope didn't give up little boys to meet El Shaarawy

Shame Gattuso didn't do it when he had the chance...

In other news Innocent Emeghara has moved to Livorno, seems another season battling against the drop in Serie A was more appealing than a move to Celtic.

Was Flamini pretty decent last season?