Re: - Il Polpo Paul | Paul Pogba

by DeviAngel Mon Feb 01, 2016 3:58 pm

As I said its funny how much Pogba has grown in his role but its even funnier how dependent on Marchisio he is.

by S Mon Feb 01, 2016 4:26 pm

I dont think he necessarily 'depends' on Marchisio.

It just happens so that it elevates his performance when he has an apt player like Marchisio anchoring the midfield.

Its pretty much the same thing when Pirlo was pulling the strings in midfield.

So its a bit unfair to say he depends on Marchisio.Pogba plays with a lot more freedom and do his own thing when Claudio's around.

by sportsczy Mon Feb 01, 2016 6:40 pm

Every corner midfielder in a 3 man midfield is dependent on the center midfielder being competent... You can't have the opposition trap the corner mids against the sidelines so the central midfielder MUST be respected by the opposition. In some ways, it's easier to play in the middle because you're not constrained by the sidelines. But it's also harder in others because you need to have great work rate, good vision, good passing, etc.

Just to give you an example... in Carlo's first year, Madrid started the season with Illaramendi as the central mid. He was very poor and both Modric and Isco looked awful by association. Once Alonso came back from injury, everybody played back up to form.

by DeviAngel Mon Feb 01, 2016 8:12 pm

S wrote:I dont think he necessarily 'depends' on Marchisio.

It just happens so that it elevates his performance when he has an apt player like Marchisio anchoring the midfield.

Its pretty much the same thing when Pirlo was pulling the strings in midfield.

So its a bit unfair to say he depends on Marchisio.Pogba plays with a lot more freedom and do his own thing when Claudio's around.

Not dependent like he is nothing without him, depended like from that class of a player in that position. His roaming and free role depends on having Marchisio fit as DM in our team. I agree with what you said, I was saying basically the same thing with other words. (the bold one)

by S Sat Feb 06, 2016 6:33 am

Juventus have no intention of selling Pogba but they will have to consider it if the player asks for a transfer. #GdS

by S Sat Feb 06, 2016 8:42 am

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cadia9NW4AAJktY.jpg

by salmano9 Sat Feb 06, 2016 2:56 pm

Nice chart

by juvealbanian Sat Feb 06, 2016 5:40 pm

Nice indeed.It does't prove that he's already better than Zidane but however you can see Pogba is a better all-around midfielder with Zizou being more creative.Platini scoring instict was no inferior to his time best strikers despite him playing as trequartista.

by Adit Sat Feb 06, 2016 7:12 pm

Pogba better all around midfielder than Zidane lmfao.

Seriously on every level of game, be it dribbling,creativity,match control, passing,shooting,play making everything Zidane was on another level. Pogba is more close to Isco and Verrati than he is to Zidane.

About the statistics.

Zidane and Platini played at a time Serie A was uncontested best league in the world by far.

Pogba plays in a age where Serie A is closer to french league in quality than to the best leagues at the moment.

by Luca Sat Feb 06, 2016 8:55 pm

Adit wrote:Pogba better all around midfielder than Zidane lmfao.

Seriously on every level of game, be it dribbling,creativity,match control, passing,shooting,play making everything Zidane was on another level. Pogba is more close to Isco and Verrati than he is to Zidane.

About the statistics.

Zidane and Platini played at a time Serie A was uncontested best league in the world by far.

Pogba plays in a age where Serie A is closer to french league in quality than to the best leagues at the moment.

by juvealbanian Sat Feb 06, 2016 10:30 pm

Calma madrid fanboy...
I didn't said Pogba is better.I meant he is a mid who plays deeper than Zizou and like it or not his defensive game is what makes him all around better type of midfielder.

If Pogba played more advanced like Zidane did he will have even higher numbers in G&A (than his current ones)

I do agree about the level of calcio now and then but that's not even worth to mention as we all know.Even though he played with Alex and David upfront and not Matri or Quagliarella.

Also give time to poor boy,he's only 22.

Zizou > Pogba anyday ofc but...
Zizou is a Madrid legend and didn't played for other teams....what else can I say ? Very Happy

by juvealbanian Sat Feb 06, 2016 10:31 pm

And that comment about PSG league is stupid btw

by salmano9 Sat Feb 06, 2016 11:34 pm

Adit wrote:Pogba better all around midfielder than Zidane lmfao.

Seriously on every level of game, be it dribbling,creativity,match control, passing,shooting,play making everything Zidane was on another level. Pogba is more close to Isco and Verrati than he is to Zidane.

About the statistics.

Zidane and Platini played at a time Serie A was uncontested best league in the world by far.

Pogba plays in a age where Serie A is closer to french league in quality than to the best leagues at the moment.

Man, don't just come here and state the obvious and piss us off... You can't compare a legend with the best young MF in the world. I think I understand what the other guy was talking about with all the fights and tension that is happening in the RM section... Please keep the trash talk and BS out of here. It is calm here and we don't want problems.

by rincon Sun Feb 07, 2016 12:49 am

Young madrid fans tend to forget that zidane is also a juve legend and take it personally Laughing

by salmano9 Sun Aug 07, 2016 8:18 pm

@juve_gigi wrote:
Congrats to Manchester United and congrats to Firenze for winning the coveted GL belt.

I've been following European football since the 80's. Yes I'm much older than you folks. I was known as "Papa" back in the old forums. This whole one club is bigger than the other nonsense is just that, nonsense. Both clubs have huge history and are bigger clubs than the other in different respects. In Canada there are Juve fans everywhere, but also a lot of ManU fans. We have lots of English pubs out here. I have two good friends, one is a ManU fan, one is a Milanista and I am a Juventino. And we can all sit down and state our case as to who is bigger than the other.

At the end of the day Pogba went to ManU for the money. If you asked 100 people outside of GL 99 of them will tell you this. The ones that think otherwise are either somewhat delusional or have some type of hate going on for Juve. In reality Serie A cannot compete with the EPL money wise. To suggest Juve is not a big club because they can't keep their top players is very narrow minded. The reality is Serie A doesn't have a $5 billion+ tv contract. If we did we could easily afford to keep our biggest stars. The fact that we can challenge the likes of Bayern, Barca and Madrid and actually beat them or be real competitive against them is a true testament to the management of Juventus and Giuseppe Marotta, as he has built a super club on a shoe string budget. If ManU had the same budget as Juve they would be competing for the relegation spots in EPL not the CL spots.

I used to follow Serie A when they were the biggest league in the world with the biggest stars. Platini, Maradona, Van Basten, Maldini, Ronaldo, Zidane, Kaka, etc. I could go on and on. Those were the glory days. We were a much bigger League than the EPL or La Liga. If you look at all the Champions League finals Italy is tied with Spain for most final appearances as of right now with 27, so history tells you Serie A has been a huge league and the best league in the world at some points in its history. But times have changed and today money talks. That's it. It's only because of the money that Serie A is not in the same class anymore. ManU are re-building their team simply by BUYING the players. That's it. I don't see a lot of stars on their team that are from their youth academy or have been with the team for long stretches. Let's see where all this money takes them. It takes more than money to win. Mourinho has to find a "team" and a system that will work for his players. To think he will just walk the league is short sighted. Arsenal, ManCity, Chelsea will give him good competition. Watch out for Antonio Conte. He may surprise you. He turned a 7th place Juve into a powerhouse and an undefeated season in only one year. Don't count out Chelsea. They could surprise and win the League.

Anyways, good luck to Paul Pogba. The last 4 years have been wonderful to watch. We almost did it 2 years ago and we have a great chance to win the CL this year even without you, so too bad you couldn't stick around to enjoy the ride. Perhaps we will meet again next year in the CL.

Well said! This really makes sense and I couldn't have said it better. It is really nice to have you back talk abut the present Juve. It makes us, the younger generation, have hope that everything will be fine.

by juve_gigi Sun Aug 07, 2016 8:49 pm

Haha, thanks Salmano. It's frustrating for me as a lifelong Juventino to see posters half my age talk about how their teams have better history than Juve or that we are a feeder club, etc.

Juventus is known around the world as one of the biggest clubs in the history of European football. People my age know this. But kids only see the last 10-15 years and see La Liga as the bomb and the EPL as the league where all the Gods play. I mean ManCity and Chelsea are two of the top teams in the EPL over the last 10 years or so, what history do they have exactly? They've won a combined ONE Champions League in their history and they are bigger than Juve?

It's all driven by money now. Thank God Juve have their own stadium and we have smart people running the show. Giuseppe Marotta is the BEST director general in the world. Nobody could be doing what he is doing on a Serie B budget. He buys Pogba from ManU for FREE and then they pay us $100 million to get him back!! lol!! If they didn't have that money lying around they would still be crying about their $100 million mistake, as Pogba would have never left if it weren't for the OBSCENE wages ManU has to pay him in order to convince him to leave.

Anyways, I've seen much better players come and go from Juve over the years. Pogba doesn't even rank in my top 5 of players lost in reality based on his current form. He could turn out to be a future Ballon d'or winner, he has that talent, but as of right now he's not even the best midfielder in the world, so he has some work to do to live up to the hype. With him playing as a DM in a double pivot 4-2-3-1 formation, it might make it even harder for him to reach his potential, but he is not our problem anymore, so we don't have to worry.

I'm excited about the season. It looks like we have at least one more signing coming up, so I trust Marotta to sign the right midfielder. We will compete for CL glory this year, I am sure of it. EuroMax will see to this. Remember we were tied with Barca in the final with 20 minutes to go two years ago and last year we were on the brink of beating Bayern. This year will be no different. We will challenge for the CL. I know it.

Forza Juve!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :bow:

by rincon Mon Aug 08, 2016 9:00 am

Pogba has had such a positive impact at Juve that even after leaving I don't see the reason to dislike him or be mad.

He came for free at 18 with 0 experience and immediately became part of a stacked midfield under such a tactically demanding coach like Conte. How many 18 year old kids can break through Marchisio-Pirlo-Vidal? How many kids can convince Conte who values tactical awareness and experience above absolutely everything?

His play was great and every year he got better. This year he was ridiculously good once the team clicked and he changed his game so much in that "free" role. Really entertaining and likable too. He was never really "Juve" like the veterans, or even like Dybala and Mandzukic seem to be, but he still represented us well. I'm sure he got the club a ton more fans and publicity too.

On top of that Juve got a world record transfer fee, literally couldn't ask for more from a player who clearly was not going to be a 1-club man.

Best of luck to Pogba Molenation

I will follow Chelsea in the EPL next season cause Conte > everyone for me, but I wanna see Pogba succeed at United too.

by salmano9 Mon Aug 08, 2016 9:07 am

I completely agree with you guys, except that I still have some bitter feelings for Conte. The way he left really left some hefty wounds, but I do respect him. I won't cheer for him though. As for Man United, I can't support them. They are just like Man City now as Gigi said, trying to build a team by throwing their money around, hoping to create a great recipe. With the 4231 system and Mou, I doubt Pogba will do well, unless he changes the system to 433. Pogba is very ineffective as a DM in a 4231. In the Euros, he was very limited.

by S Tue Aug 09, 2016 10:47 am

#MerciPaul https://t.co/tBbDw97IgI
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) August 9, 2016

by sportsczy Tue Aug 09, 2016 11:26 am

class post by Rincon.

Pogba posted a video message to Juve as well:
https://twitter.com/paulpogba/status/762801359657824260/video/1

by juve_gigi Wed Aug 10, 2016 8:00 am

Juventus senza Pogba – will they survive without their talisman?

It is final then, Paul Pogba is going back to Manchester United for a fee that varies, but can safely be called large.

He leaves Juventus after four years, where he won four successive league titles, two Coppa Italias and reached a Champions League final.

Pogba will be much mourned in Turin for his athleticism and worldwide appeal, but Juventus’ history shows that his departure will not be missed for too long.

There are three examples that prove this. Back in 1982, Juventus were on the verge of a second championship in a row, and their fourth under Giovanni Trappatoni.

They had been led by the mercurial Irishman Liam Brady, but there was an issue. Juventus wanted to sign Polish striker Zbigniew Boniek and one of the world’s best players, Michel Platini.

The rules prevented Italian clubs from having more than two foreign players at one time, so Brady, despite being the star of the side, was sold.

Brady famously scored the penalty that won Juventus the title that year, even though he knew he was leaving.

Fast forward to 1995, Juventus had a problem called Roberto Baggio.

Baggio was perhaps the world’s best player, but he was seen as a luxury in Marcello Lippi’s hard working side.

He had also played a minor role in Juve’s title win due to injuries.

The Bianconeri were led instead by Fabrizio Ravanelli and Gianluca Vialli, alongside a young man named Alessandro Del Piero. Baggio, despite his status in world football, was allowed to go to AC Milan, whilst Juventus moved on to win the Champions League, trusting in Del Piero to take their legendary number 10 shirt.

Finally, in 2001, Juventus happily took £46 million for undoubtedly the world’s greatest player, Zinedine Zidane.

The deal made perfect sense, they gained a huge amount of money for a 29-year-old, and one who had been part of a side who had not won anything of note between 1998-2001.

With that money, they reinvested it into three world class players, Gianluigi Buffon and Lillian Thuram from Parma, and Pavel Nedved from Lazio.

These players led Juve to four league titles in five years (two were obviously revoked, thanks to Luciano Moggi’s machinations) and a Champions League final.

Recent history, therefore, shows that Juventus survive and thrive when they sell their best player, but will it be the same this season?

It certainly looks that way. With supreme arrogance, they have directly weakened their rivals by taking Miralem Pjanic from Roma, a good signing, and Gonzalo Higuain from Napoli, a questionable one.

Higuain cost €94 million, an astonishing fee for a soon to be 29-year-old, and one with a history of bottling it on the biggest stage.

Higuain may score 30+ goals for the club next season, but he might also miss a vital chance in the latter stages of the Champions League.

Mind you, even if Pjanic and Higuain struggle next season, Roma and Napoli will be poorer without them, and Juventus are still stacked with talent in midfield and attack.

This leads into one of two potential problems. Juventus are so far ahead of every other club in Italy it is embarrassing.

Their revenue in 2015 was €323.9 million, whilst no other club in Italy earns over €200 million.

Even last season, having gained just 12 points from 10 games, they powered on to win 26 of the next 28 games to win the title by nine points.

Serie A has become a procession for them, so to come anything other than first would be a humiliation for the club.

The yardstick for this season will be the Champions League, where they must improve on last season’s disappointing exit at the hands of Bayern Munich.

The other concern is Juve’s defence, which is either very experienced or ageing depending on your point of view

Two of their full backs, Stephan Lichtsteiner and Patrice Evra are 32 and 35 respectively, whilst they were joined by 34-year-old Dani Alves on a free transfer this summer.

Meanwhile, Giorgio Chiellini is approaching 32 and is beginning to be struck by regular injuries, and Andrea Barzagli cannot continue to defy the laws of time at the age of 35.

Young Daniele Rugani deputised for the injured Chiellini last season and effortlessly fitted into the side, but he has fallen down the pecking order due to the arrival of 29-year-old loanee Medhi Benatia.

How much more can these old men give?

Juventus will move on from Pogba. He was a very good player who improved the team, but Juventus were not built around him like Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid for example.

They have invested well in the midfield to work around his absence with Pjanic and Croatian Marko Pjaca.

The big question is whether their old defence can work as well as it has done for another season.

Many people have handed Juventus Lo Scudetto already, can they finally succeed in Europe without Paul Pogba?

by juve_gigi Thu Aug 11, 2016 11:38 pm

Serie A failed Paul Pogba...

The saga is finally over. The most talked about, most rumoured, most scrutinised transfer deal in years came to a head this week when Juventus sold Paul Pogba to Manchester United. Juve picked up a cool €105m on a player they signed for €800k four years ago, and United gain a potential world beater who can often dominate games single handedly and has only just turned 23. Everyone wins, right? Wrong.

Fans of the Bianconeri have surely been wondering, why would Pogba go back to a side that rejected him four years ago? Why leave Juventus now when Beppe Marotta and Fabio Paratici have constructed a side that has a realistic chance of winning the most coveted prize of all, the Champions League, for a team who isn’t even in the competition? The answer is money and a worldwide attention so vast that Juventus currently cannot possibly match.

Serie A has been in gradual decline for full decade now, Calciopoli started the process and the league has never recovered a fraction of its global prestige since. To give an example of how strong Serie A’s reputation was little over a decade ago, Andriy Shevchenko won the Ballon d’Or in 2004 for winning Milan the league and netting himself the Capocannoniere award despite Milan being eliminated from the Champions League at the quarter final stage. That’s simply unthinkable in the current age.

Pogba wants to win that same award and feels that he cannot achieve that whilst playing in Italy (although by the same token there has only been one Ballon d’Or winner playing in England in the last fifteen years, so maybe not the best of choices for the Frenchman in that regard).

Average attendances in the league have fluctuated ever so slightly up and down over the past ten years but have usually stayed within the 22k-24k bracket, yet this only tells part of the story. Watching Serie A games on TV can be a depressing spectacle. Neglecting the spectator aspect of the visual, the poor state of the stadiums, combined with the almost amateurish-looking production values beamed across the globe by MP & Silva, does nothing to attract viewers to watching Serie A games.

To use pro wrestling verbiage for a second, Serie A has ECW-esque production values and the Premier League is akin to Vince McMahon’s all conquering, all consuming WWE glitzy presentation. It’s a striking juxtaposition.

The decline of the past decade can be best exemplified by the Milan duo; they’ve lumbered from one disaster to the next and have been blighted with years of short-term thinking. Both failed to capitalise on Champions League success by maintaining the aging core of their squads and a failure to reinforce with younger players. Silvio Berlusconi essentially stopped pumping money into Milan ten years ago and when the older players retired or moved on, Milan plummeted.

Juventus, as everyone knows, regained their stability following the Secco years via building the J stadium. This was the key to their current run of nearly unprecedented domestic success. They have shown the rest of the teams in the league the way forward, yet no one has tried to emulate The Old Lady.

Roma announced their ambitious Stadio Della Roma in 2013 with the aim for it to be open by the beginning of this upcoming season, well over three years later and not a single brick has been laid in the capital, with the planning of the stadium still mired in bureaucratic wrangling that is Italy’s calling card. Roma president James Pallotta has said recently he hopes to have the stadium opened by 2021, eight years after it was first announced.

Half a dozen teams in the league have all announced new stadium ‘plans’ but nothing has come to fruition, Milan, Fiorentina, Napoli, Sampdoria and Cagliari have all had proposals for new or renovated stadiums stuck in political quagmires.

The building of stadiums won’t fix all of Serie A’s problems, but it will financially aid teams significantly, this in-turn will have a positive knock-on effect of driving up TV deals. On the domestic front Serie A has a very good deal. €1.2 billion a season from 2015-18, but it’s on the international deal that the league is losing serious ground, not only to the Premier League but to La Liga and the ever-growing Bundesliga. The league’s international deal is €186m for 3 years, compare that to the reported figures of €300m and €600m a season for the Bundesliga and La Liga respectively and you begin to see how behind calcio is.

In the age of social media, Juventus are also leading the way, with their website translated into several languages and their use of multimedia on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook garnering millions of followers. Upon taking over at Roma, Pallotta was amazed Roma had virtually no social media existence.

The Roma president spoke this year of club owners all working together to create an improved, more transparent league with all boats rowing in the same direction, and used the Premier League as the model to which Serie A should look up to. However most of the presidents in the league all push their own agendas, more concerned with their own team and not having the clarity to foresee the bigger picture (Claudio Lotito, Massimo Ferrero and Aurelio De Laurentiis being the prime examples). How else would a racist such as Carlo Tavecchio be appointed to look after the league’s best interests, and not be removed after the banana-comment scandal? You couldn’t make it up.

Arguably the only modern-thinking presidents are Andrea Agnelli, Pallotta and Sassuolo’s president Giorgio Squinzi. There might be fresh hope in the shape of the Suning group who has control of Inter and the new Chinese conglomerate who have an agreement to buy Milan.

So you might be asking, what has all this got to do with Paul Pogba? Pogba is a player with ambitions, and he rightly feels that plying his trade in Italy no longer matches said ambitions. Juventus, whilst currently being handcuffed by the dire straits of the rest of the league, can only give players like Pogba so much before they get itchy feet, just like Arturo Vidal before him.

The Bianconeri are like an A-list actor starring in a film with a poor supporting cast. Without Petrodollars or a Sheikh to entice players like Pogba to stay aground, their hands are ultimately tied. Serie A has failed Paul Pogba, not Juventus.

by juve_gigi Fri Aug 12, 2016 8:27 am

Interview: Braida explains why Barcelona didn’t go after Pogba. The Italian did state that if he could, he would bring Paulo Dybala to Spain. Interview by Alessandra Bocci of La Gazzetta dello Sport...

Although he’s a fan of Paul Pogba, Barcelona sporting director Ariedo Braida made it clear the Spanish side were never in the mix for the Frenchman due to his hefty price tag.

The 23-year-old completed a record-breaking €105 million move to Manchester United on August 8, and while the Italian admits he’s a great player, the Blaugrana were never going to spend that kind of money to secure his services.

What are your thoughts on Dani Alves’ move to Juventus?

“Dani Alves is a star. He has personality, technique, knows how to hold the ball, and how to play for himself and the team. He was loved at Barcelona but he wanted to test himself elsewhere. Juve have signed a great player.”

You also missed out on Pogba, the transfer of the summer. Why did Barcelona not pursue a deal?

“The economics of the deal explains why. Pogba will show his worth with Manchester United as you can’t question his ability. However if he doesn’t impress in every match, there will be questions. When people see certain numbers they think he must win matches on his own, and that isn’t possible.”

Is he not worth the €105m that was paid for him?

“Nobody is worth that amount. Every player is overvalued. When you hit certain numbers the gap with reality becomes very noticeable. You are talking about a deal worth €150m in total. The pressure on him will be enormous.”

There will be pressure on Barcelona given Real Madrid won the Champions League last season.

“The pressure is always there, as the rivalry with Madrid is the same every year. Barcelona will try to win everything, even though I can’t tell you what the primary goal is. The Champions League brings the most notoriety though.”

How do you think Frank de Boer will do at Inter?

“De Boer is a player that has travelled the world, and that has opened his mind to new experiences. Even though he doesn’t know Italian football, I think he will do well.”

Who will win the Serie A?

“I think it’s clear who the favourites are. Juventus are very strong, but football is strange and winning six years in a row isn’t easy. The loss of Pogba is big, but the club have made some great signings. They need another midfielder given Claudio Marchisio is injured.”

Can Juve challenge in Europe?

“They can be a top side, but I hope that Barcelona win it in the end.”

Which Serie A player would you bring to Barcelona?

“Paulo Dybala. And Gianluigi Buffon.”

Would you ever return to AC Milan?

“You never go back to a place where things went well. Whatever age you are, you must always look ahead. I am enjoying my time with Barcelona.”

by Glory Fri Aug 12, 2016 9:33 am

juve_gigi wrote:Serie A failed Paul Pogba...

The saga is finally over. The most talked about, most rumoured, most scrutinised transfer deal in years came to a head this week when Juventus sold Paul Pogba to Manchester United. Juve picked up a cool €105m on a player they signed for €800k four years ago, and United gain a potential world beater who can often dominate games single handedly and has only just turned 23. Everyone wins, right? Wrong.

Fans of the Bianconeri have surely been wondering, why would Pogba go back to a side that rejected him four years ago? Why leave Juventus now when Beppe Marotta and Fabio Paratici have constructed a side that has a realistic chance of winning the most coveted prize of all, the Champions League, for a team who isn’t even in the competition? The answer is money and a worldwide attention so vast that Juventus currently cannot possibly match.

Serie A has been in gradual decline for full decade now, Calciopoli started the process and the league has never recovered a fraction of its global prestige since. To give an example of how strong Serie A’s reputation was little over a decade ago, Andriy Shevchenko won the Ballon d’Or in 2004 for winning Milan the league and netting himself the Capocannoniere award despite Milan being eliminated from the Champions League at the quarter final stage. That’s simply unthinkable in the current age.

Pogba wants to win that same award and feels that he cannot achieve that whilst playing in Italy (although by the same token there has only been one Ballon d’Or winner playing in England in the last fifteen years, so maybe not the best of choices for the Frenchman in that regard).

Average attendances in the league have fluctuated ever so slightly up and down over the past ten years but have usually stayed within the 22k-24k bracket, yet this only tells part of the story. Watching Serie A games on TV can be a depressing spectacle. Neglecting the spectator aspect of the visual, the poor state of the stadiums, combined with the almost amateurish-looking production values beamed across the globe by MP & Silva, does nothing to attract viewers to watching Serie A games.

To use pro wrestling verbiage for a second, Serie A has ECW-esque production values and the Premier League is akin to Vince McMahon’s all conquering, all consuming WWE glitzy presentation. It’s a striking juxtaposition.

The decline of the past decade can be best exemplified by the Milan duo; they’ve lumbered from one disaster to the next and have been blighted with years of short-term thinking. Both failed to capitalise on Champions League success by maintaining the aging core of their squads and a failure to reinforce with younger players. Silvio Berlusconi essentially stopped pumping money into Milan ten years ago and when the older players retired or moved on, Milan plummeted.

Juventus, as everyone knows, regained their stability following the Secco years via building the J stadium. This was the key to their current run of nearly unprecedented domestic success. They have shown the rest of the teams in the league the way forward, yet no one has tried to emulate The Old Lady.

Roma announced their ambitious Stadio Della Roma in 2013 with the aim for it to be open by the beginning of this upcoming season, well over three years later and not a single brick has been laid in the capital, with the planning of the stadium still mired in bureaucratic wrangling that is Italy’s calling card. Roma president James Pallotta has said recently he hopes to have the stadium opened by 2021, eight years after it was first announced.

Half a dozen teams in the league have all announced new stadium ‘plans’ but nothing has come to fruition, Milan, Fiorentina, Napoli, Sampdoria and Cagliari have all had proposals for new or renovated stadiums stuck in political quagmires.

The building of stadiums won’t fix all of Serie A’s problems, but it will financially aid teams significantly, this in-turn will have a positive knock-on effect of driving up TV deals. On the domestic front Serie A has a very good deal. €1.2 billion a season from 2015-18, but it’s on the international deal that the league is losing serious ground, not only to the Premier League but to La Liga and the ever-growing Bundesliga. The league’s international deal is €186m for 3 years, compare that to the reported figures of €300m and €600m a season for the Bundesliga and La Liga respectively and you begin to see how behind calcio is.

In the age of social media, Juventus are also leading the way, with their website translated into several languages and their use of multimedia on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook garnering millions of followers. Upon taking over at Roma, Pallotta was amazed Roma had virtually no social media existence.

The Roma president spoke this year of club owners all working together to create an improved, more transparent league with all boats rowing in the same direction, and used the Premier League as the model to which Serie A should look up to. However most of the presidents in the league all push their own agendas, more concerned with their own team and not having the clarity to foresee the bigger picture (Claudio Lotito, Massimo Ferrero and Aurelio De Laurentiis being the prime examples). How else would a racist such as Carlo Tavecchio be appointed to look after the league’s best interests, and not be removed after the banana-comment scandal? You couldn’t make it up.

Arguably the only modern-thinking presidents are Andrea Agnelli, Pallotta and Sassuolo’s president Giorgio Squinzi. There might be fresh hope in the shape of the Suning group who has control of Inter and the new Chinese conglomerate who have an agreement to buy Milan.

So you might be asking, what has all this got to do with Paul Pogba? Pogba is a player with ambitions, and he rightly feels that plying his trade in Italy no longer matches said ambitions. Juventus, whilst currently being handcuffed by the dire straits of the rest of the league, can only give players like Pogba so much before they get itchy feet, just like Arturo Vidal before him.

The Bianconeri are like an A-list actor starring in a film with a poor supporting cast. Without Petrodollars or a Sheikh to entice players like Pogba to stay aground, their hands are ultimately tied. Serie A has failed Paul Pogba, not Juventus.

Great read bruh. Genuinely hope Serie A becomes a force as they were once before.

by salmano9 Fri Aug 12, 2016 9:35 am

No money No honey

by lucianomoggi Fri Aug 12, 2016 6:41 pm

I believe teamwork is the best way to beat the opponent, and without pogba i believe we will have less selfishness and as a result we will do better this season

I mean just think about it

World class strikers we have: higuain, mandzukic, dybala, zaza

We have high quality midfielders like pjanic, pjaca, khedira, marchisio, and the bench is not bad we have good options

And there is also dani alves who contributes too much on attack

I think we will be good

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