Italy - Serie A

Napoli will fall because whenever Lavezzi and Hamsik don't play, they are garbage.

I've had that theory for a while and in the Torino game it was fckn obvious.

Genoa is getting more stronger...they are going to sign Pele from Porto

Merda - Milan is the big game of the next matchday.

Either Merda are going to find themselves in an awful position again or Milan will be dragged into our little UEFA battle.

Laziale`` wrote:

Genoa is getting more stronger...they are going to sign Pele from Porto

The deal is far from closed at this point, but you are right that Genoa is looking for reinforcements to their midfield and while most pundits suggested they were going for Chievo´s talented youngster Simone Bentivoglio, they now seem to have turned to Pele.

For a long time, Pele was actually my dream for Lazio (he still is). In the summer we were linked to him in an exchange deal with Stendardo. I always doubted that rumour since Inter was always more likely to include Pele in the deal for Quaresma, but even more I couldn´t think of one reason while Inter would give up a talented player like Pele for our clumsy Willy.

In any case, I can´t think of a more perfect player for our tactics than Pele (at least not one that is within our budget). Apparently his price is around 6 million Euro. Of course, that´s a considerable amount of money for Lazio, but I think he would be a safe investment and much more suited for our team than the likes of for instance Elano who seems to be Lotito´s prefered choice.

goal.com's Serie A Team of the Season thus far: http://www.goal.com/en/news/1717/editorial/2008/12/24/1025610/calcio-debate-serie-a-team-of-the-season-so-far

thoughts?

Except for Jankulovski and the formation being completely unreasonable I guess those are the individuals that made the 1st half of the season.

Sile wrote:

Except for Jankulovski and the formation being completely unreasonable I guess those are the individuals that made the 1st half of the season.

I think they've got it spot on too, although Janks is a dubious choice. Even down to the honourable mentions, it's accurate.

same feelings, though i'm trying to think of another choice for outstanding left back.

I think Jankulovski is the correct choice. Certainly one of the best left backs around...

There are not that many great left backs..

Who would you guys have chosen ? Riise ?

Inter 0-1 Cagliari (20 minutes) left.

This would be some result and why have Inter allowed one of their players (Acquafresca) to play AND score against them.

They need a comeback and fast.

Caxi wrote:

Inter 0-1 Cagliari (20 minutes) left.

This would be some result and why have Inter allowed one of their players (Acquafresca) to play AND score against them.

They need a comeback and fast.

Make that 1-1 now, great work from Crespo and Ibra. Why did Cagliari push for a second???

Biondini should have scored their 2nd... and acquafresca just missed an open goal...

Cagliari look very good, and I am happy if they lose tonight for 2 reasons. 1 - we dont need another team involved in the mid-table battle for the spots in Europe and Cagliari have played good enough lately to compete with us. 2 - Of all teams I dislike that are involved in the fight for scudetto, I dislike Inter least...

i can't believe kaka' might actually be headed to man city, or that he's leaving milan in general. wonder if they're gonna go get a replacement or just let ronaldinho take over from now on.

Trequartista wrote:

i can't believe kaka' might actually be headed to man city, or that he's leaving milan in general. wonder if they're gonna go get a replacement or just let ronaldinho take over from now on.

I think they will recall Gourcuff. Problem solved and £100 million earned...

Gourcoff is not even comparable to Kaka, guess no availabke player in the world is. It is enormous sums they are talking about, hard to resist, but the loss of Kaka will be a major set back for Milan as he is - by far - their best player...

But money talks...as always...

What setback are you talking about? 110 mill€ can buy you 10 new Kaka's and seeing how Milan have another exceptional young Brazilian (Pato) and with their scouting they will take the money I'm sure. They might just wait for the bloody Man Shitty to further up the bid.
Another Chelsea, that's exactly what football today needs. EPL is starting to look like a bloody joke.

I know what they can do with all the money and bla bla bla, but no matter how many players they can buy in the future, they will miss Kaka badly as he is their best player - outstanding in quality compared to others in that team.

Cash wrote:

I know what they can do with all the money and bla bla bla, but no matter how many players they can buy in the future, they will miss Kaka badly as he is their best player - outstanding in quality compared to others in that team.

I couldn't agree more. I still remember against Man Utd at Champions League semi-final in 2007. He was the team.

Sile wrote:

What setback are you talking about? 110 mill€ can buy you 10 new Kaka's and seeing how Milan have another exceptional young Brazilian (Pato) and with their scouting they will take the money I'm sure. They might just wait for the bloody Man Shitty to further up the bid.
Another Chelsea, that's exactly what football today needs. EPL is starting to look like a bloody joke.

I totally agree, and I for one pray this move doesn't go through, not so we can still watch Kaka at Milan, but because I think this could be the end of football as we know it. Just when player prices were returning to normal Man City come out of nowhere and start going crazy, and it's insane, in the midst of a national credit crunch. 500k per week wages is just sickening, and no club can compete with that. If this move goes through, the calcio mercato will go upside down and that will hurt teams like us.

One of my best mates is a huge Man City fan. He said to me he doesn't know if he will be delighted or disgraced if Kaka signs for them.

We've been following it closely and from what I can gather, it all depends on Kaka. Apparently he is not happy that he is being pushed out the door of Milan but football is a business first and foremost and then a sport. Milan can and intend to bring back Gourcuff who would take Kaka's spot with ease and they could use that windfall to rebuild a new squad which they need to do. Kaka was outstanding in 2006-2007 but he wasn't great last season and hasn't been great this season either. For Milan, it is an absolute no-brainer to accept the deal, they just have to.

People talk about the loyalty of Kaka to Milan but it's not strictly true. He almost signed for Inter before he went to Milan so unless his heart is rooted at AC, he's going to go.

Caxi wrote:

One of my best mates is a huge Man City fan. He said to me he doesn't know if he will be delighted or disgraced if Kaka signs for them.

We've been following it closely and from what I can gather, it all depends on Kaka. Apparently he is not happy that he is being pushed out the door of Milan but football is a business first and foremost and then a sport. Milan can and intend to bring back Gourcuff who would take Kaka's spot with ease and they could use that windfall to rebuild a new squad which they need to do. Kaka was outstanding in 2006-2007 but he wasn't great last season and hasn't been great this season either. For Milan, it is an absolute no-brainer to accept the deal, they just have to.

People talk about the loyalty of Kaka to Milan but it's not strictly true. He almost signed for Inter before he went to Milan so unless his heart is rooted at AC, he's going to go.

He doesn't want to leave but its virtually forced upon him because Milan want the money to rebuild their squad.

Will be interesting to see if he plays as per normal against Fiorentina tonight.

I know it's unusual and fans hate to see it, but I don't think this is effectively "killing" football. Who knows, perhaps it's a good thing and this turns out to be a wake up call to the sport.

Trequartista wrote:

I know it's unusual and fans hate to see it, but I don't think this is effectively "killing" football. Who knows, perhaps it's a good thing and this turns out to be a wake up call to the sport.

It's disturbing the balance and sooner or later there will be the ultra-rich clubs and all others. It is already tiresome to see the same old teams winning mayor trophies, now middle-sized clubs will not stand a chance of prospering if every time they develop a player some sheik/tycoon buys them away, no matter the price. You can't put a price on a scudetto or a CL trophy, at least you couldn't so far. Would you sell Zarate if it meant setting your title aspirations 2 years back?

As for Kaka, it's not a matter of loyalty but of ambition. If he's had enough of playing for a trophy-contending team and want's to make a quick buck advertising merchandise then go and play Barnsley in the FA Cup or Osasuna in Intertoto. City is not in the same position as chelsea was then.
If Kaka wants to keep playing on a high level and Milan are willing to let him go then he can declare himself available and start talks with Real Madrid as whoever will be elected new president would sell his soul to the devil to sign him. Or stick it to the bloody money-grabbers and switch to Inter, that would be a sight.

I read that UEFA were contemplating starting a new rule to stop private investors using their own money for football transfers. I was something along the lines that if the club in question continues to purchase players on borrowed money then that club will be excluded from Champions League or UEFA Cup football.

I hope this happens, then maybe football can get back to normal, and some other teams can win trophies for a change.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/uefa-warning-to-debtladen-clubs-955065.html

Interesting round just passed...the most important game tonight of course, but some interesting results this round:

Atalanta - Inter 3-1 !!!

Torino - merda 0-1 (baptista decisive for the punks again...scored on ot)

Milan - Viola 1-0 (last night, viola within our reach...)

Chievo - Napoli 2-1 (!!!)

Lecce - Genoa 0-2 (Genoa just grow stronger and stronger...)

Samp-Palermo 0-2 (palermo only one point behind us now...)

Cagliari - udine 2-0

Catania - Bologna 1-2 (Di Vaio gets a goal again...)

Siena - Reggina 1-0



merda is now level wit us after baptista has given them 6 points in two games on his own. we need a win tonight as that would bring us in very close contact to the fourth spot, and also we would pass viola and go up on level with napoli. it is sooo tight, a win or a lost makes lots of difference. I fear the Inter lost might fuel juve even more...