The Calcio Discussion Thread

[Arnau]

Napoli only defended and counter-attack. City deserve much more they absolutely dominate the match.

 

[Xifio]

ex-Laziale Kolarov producing a thunderbolt to deny Il Matador Cavani an away winner ... gonna watch the replay at some point, but it sounds like Napoli acquitted themselves decently well ...


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Inter ...

back to the old days?

good old days, Juve fans will say ...

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Napoli only defended and counter-attack. City deserve much more they absolutely dominate the match.

watched the Napoli match ... Mazzarri had them playing a counterattacking game from Napoli, and they scored a counterattacking goal ... nothing to be proud of in terms of gameplay, though they can take plenty of heart from the result, as well as from the execution of their pre-planned tactics ... let's see what they do in the home matches ...

Kolarov's freekick was no thunderbolt; it was technique and placement, not power ...

Moratti has always prized winning ... but De Laurentiis has talked about the Barcelona way after being humbled at the Camp Nou ... be it the Cruyff-inspired education in the cantera that started 15 years ago at Barcelona, or the Clairfontaine academy in France, Italy needs to looks at how to make the right foundational philosophy decisions now with youth education/development and footballing infrastructure, to reap the benefits in a decade ...

 

[Xifio]

not the best times for the city of Milano ...

Just give Zanetti the job.

 

[lucacalciatore]

Bout time we got a win...

 

[Xifio]

3 wins out of 3 makes it a great Matchday for calcio ... Napoli the standout team by far, holding their own in the Group of Death ... can't wait to see how much the deadly trio test Bayern ...

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[ShiftyPowers]

Will definitely be a good game. I'm terrified of Cavani (not so much the other two), but I was terrified of Aguero as well and he didn't do much. Anyway, I'll say 1-1 draw in Italy.

 

[theo]

any idea how clubs like Napoli or Firenze suddenly seem rich again after going through pretty big financial problems?

 

[Xifio]

any idea how clubs like Napoli or Firenze suddenly seem rich again after going through pretty big financial problems?

thanks to the family fortunes under the names of De Laurentiis (films) and Delle Valle (shoes) ...




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so Inter 0-3 Napoli ... back to crisis talk for Inter ...

I'm not a fan of Ranieri, but I can't not say that that is just wrong -- they got robbed by the ref ... well, they could have shown more heart after going down a man and a goal, but they were playing really well up until that moment ...

on a less dour note, look who came to watch the match:

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[Xifio]

good game to watch for neutrals ... excellent performance from Jove -- may only be against Catania, but it illustrates his penchant for starting wide left, and drifting in:

 

[Filipower]

Maxi fucking Lopez

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Really a shame Jovetic lost an entire season. He was terrifying when Bayern played Fiorentina in the Champions League back in 2010.

 

[Xifio]

^ one always worries, after such a long injury, whether a player would return the same ... glad "Yoyo" hasn't lost any of his ability ... another sweet strike yesterday, against Juventus ...

 

[Filipower]

How is that not a penalty on Marchisio?

 

[Juventino]

Yeah, very odd... The ref probably thought Marchisio couldn't make it to the ball anymore, but that was a f*cking foul.

FORZA RAGAZZI.

 

[Xifio]

the headlines were reading 'No Cavani, No Problem', until Napoli choked and surrendered a 2 goal lead ... made for an enjoyable goalfest for the neutrals, though ...

and excellent finish on the second goal from Goran Pandev; that looked more like the guy who chipped in with crucial goals for José's Inter en route to that historic treble ...


@Shifty: did you watch the Milan-Chievo game this past weekend? in the pre-match build-up, FSC showed an exclusive interview they got with Michael Bradley, talking about his experience so far in Italy ...


EDIT:

found a youtube clip of it:

 

[ShiftyPowers]

No I didn't see it. God, Bradley is such an intense dude. It's really hard for me to imagine him doing anything off a soccer pitch, like I feel the game is all he thinks about. Anyway, it seems to be a good fit, and from reports I've read about USMNT games (I haven't seen any), he looks to be taking back his rightful place in the team. I can't remember too many Americans in Serie A aside from Rossi... Lalas I think was Newcomer of the Year for Padova 15 years ago, but not much other than that.

Inter need Marco Reus. I hope they don't go after him, but that's the kind of player they are desperate for. Him and Sneijder would be so dangerous, especially if you give them a finisher like Forlan.

 

[Xifio]

hah, interesting ... I don't know Bradley to that degree ...

Inter need a lot of things, man ... Reus is not a bad suggestion, but it will mean changing the system, and benching an attacking option -- where they are quite overloaded as it is ... Moratti will want to sell before he buys again; and considering that they've already topped their Champions League group, I don't think he'll mind if this season is merely salvaged with minimal expenditure ...

Forlán is still recovering from injury, btw ... not sure when he's slated to return ...

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Do you think they're too far off the leaders to make a second half push for the Champions League spot? Maybe the cut from 4 to 3 makes Moratti less hopeful? I guess it also might not be the worst idea to do as well as possible in the CL this season, and then spend big in the summer on players and a new manager and let them gel as a team for a season without worrying about Europe. You'd have to think Sneijder would leave if they aren't in Europe though.

 

[Xifio]

I always think about Barça's 03/04 season when it comes to considering the need for a remarkable turnaround between the first and second halves of a season ... it was 6-6-6 (W-D-L) after the first 18 games ... enter Edgar Davids in January! from rounds 19 through 35 (which spanned Jan through May), Barça were unbeaten, winning 14 of 17 ... the team had gone from the bottom half of the table in December, to the runners-up spot at season's end ... AND Barça were, even by then, being hailed as the most entertaining team on the planet ...

I think it's fair to say that similar feats will not be accomplished by Inter this season ... in 09/10, José kinda did something of the sort, and it was easy to see how much his team and his system had progressed in the Inter v Barça semifinal, as compared to the corresponding fixture in the Group Stage earlier in the season ... but I can't really see that happening this time ...

it's also hard to see this Inter needing just one clutch signing to turn things around ... I mean that 03/04 season was a new Barça -- with Laporta, Rijkaard, Ronnie, et al ... Davids was merely the missing piece, the catalyst the team needed ... but this Inter is on a downward spiral, and every department needs refreshing ...

I do think they are a little too far off the pace to contemplate getting into the top 3 this season, especially when considering how strong Juve, Milan, and Napoli have been; and that's not including Udinese, and potentially the new Roma into the equation ...

Inter could have had some serious bank this past summer if they had auctioned Sneijder and Maicon to the highest bidders; it's an easy decision now, but at the time retaining their stars definitely seemed the better move ... what will transpire in summer 2012 seems a foregone conclusion now, though ... it's all made for undeniable similarities between Inter post-2010, and Milan post-2007 ...

having said that, it must be recognized that Moratti did invest in the youthful talents of Luc Castaignos and Ricky Álvarez this past summer ... both will understandably need time to adapt to a new country, language, and league, but the problem is that neither has yet shown much to suggest they are the future of the club ... Moratti just better not get strange with the change when it comes more new signings ...

maybe the better model to look at is that of the league leaders, and team of the season thus far, Juve: a new coach, new players, new stadium, and no unnecessary distractions during the bedding-in season (as you alluded to in your post) ... it's something that Moratti will consider very strongly when developing plans on how the phased sales/retirements of his aging legends needs to be executed starting next season ... I just don't see Ranieri being a manager around whom long-term plan can be built ... that should be the real starting point ... EDIT: Carletto and Don Fabio Capello would be the best options; shame that they have both ruled themselves out of the running ... maybe it's the opportune moment to get the Guus on the blower ...

 

[ShiftyPowers]

I always think about Barça's 03/04 season when it comes to considering the need for a remarkable turnaround between the first and second halves of a season ... it was 6-6-6 (W-D-L) after the first 18 games ... enter Edgar Davids in January! from rounds 19 through 35 (which spanned Jan through May), Barça were unbeaten, winning 14 of 17 ... the team had gone from the bottom half of the table in December, to the runners-up spot at season's end ... AND Barça were, even by then, being hailed as the most entertaining team on the planet ...

I think it's fair to say that similar feats will not be accomplished by Inter this season

Thought this was really funny.