Re: The 2017/18 Calcio Thread: Part 2

by Kaladin Mon Oct 23, 2017 1:55 am

Brother, this is a knock on MDS rather than Bonucci, of course that bald squinty eye'd primadonna doesn't deserve 6m, heck i'm sure we have GL'ers here that can put in a bigger shift than him

To be completely frank with you, when the deal happened, lot of people got caught up in it and started dreaming big, when in reality this would never have happened if Bonucci didn't have a falling out with the Juve camp. Some fans are so eager to see us back at the top, that they forgot where we currently are

by Luca Mon Oct 23, 2017 2:18 am

ES wrote:Brother, this is a knock on MDS rather than Bonucci, of course that bald squinty eye'd primadonna doesn't deserve 6m, heck i'm sure we have GL'ers here that can put in a bigger shift than him

To be completely frank with you, when the deal happened, lot of people got caught up in it and started dreaming big, when in reality this would never have happened if Bonucci didn't have a falling out with the Juve camp. Some fans are so eager to see us back at the top, that they forgot where we currently are

It's not over yet. I think this summer was still positive for Milan.

I remember a few years ago when Milan were "forced" to sell Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva -> when the decline was realized

Now you're spending and in the midst of that, there are always going to be some poor transfers and some really good ones

The issue here is, Montella isn't the one to bring it together and the squad is incomplete. An average manager with a great squad will probably be successful but this Milan squad is not great so a manager who can overachieve is what is needed to get the ball rolling

That's what Conte is, that's his specialty. I think its a perfect match and he'll raise Bonucci from beta cuck level to alpha captain like he did to begin with

Remember when Bonucci joined Juve? He was rated as the lesser defender of Bari's defence containing Ranocchia and himself. His first year was very forgettable and our season, that year, is looking like your season, this year

Another issue is Milan got caught up in the best version of Serie A in the last decade. The teams above you: Lazio, Inter, Juve, Roma, Napoli- what do they have in common? Players who have played together for more than a season. Only Allegri can change 5-6 players every season, integral players, and make it a functional team but to be fair, he's usually going from strength to strength.

So, I apologize for the rant but I think even if Milan finishes 10th this season (would be better than making the EL, as @robes can confirm), it can still be a positive one. I have no belief in Montella however, and I have no idea why anyone would or can still back him after what he has failed to do

by breva Mon Oct 23, 2017 5:22 am

There are a few more teams above AC Milan at the moment in Serie A. Atalanta, Fiorentina and even Samp.

by Warrior Mon Oct 23, 2017 6:28 am

Fiorentina i am unsure if they are top 10 material or not.

Chiesa is a hard worker and above average football IQ. Benassi i always had a decent opinion of him, same for Giovanni Simeone. Astori good defender. Besides them it's one of the averagest squads.

The way things are going Milan's magic number is 6. Torino, Atalanta, Sampdoria, Chievo might share the positions 7-10.

Chievo are quite in form, unbeaten in last 6 games. Seems like they got tired of having the same team since forever and got some fresh blood this year... cool for them.

by Robespierre Mon Oct 23, 2017 9:56 am

ES wrote:@Robes we need to combine Milan and Inter, enough is enough, we need the Catania stripes. Collectively we wil stomp on Serie A imo

Basically we should return to situation prior to 9 March 1908 hmm

by dronte Mon Oct 23, 2017 11:56 am

This is rather funny:

Referees chief Marcello Nicchi accuses Vincenzo Montella of “not understanding VAR” as “he wouldn’t be moaning if Milan had turned things around.”

https://www.football-italia.net/111723/%E2%80%98montella-doesn%E2%80%99t-understand-var%E2%80%99

by rincon Mon Oct 23, 2017 3:18 pm

I think Fiore's squad is good for top 10. Pioli seems to have found good systems for them too. It'll be a good competition between them and Milan, Torino, Atalanta and Sampdoria imo.

I don't know who Veretout is but their core seems talented and solid enough. Sportiello, Astori, Badelj, Chiesa, Simeone and Benassi are dependable group.

by Robespierre Mon Oct 23, 2017 3:22 pm

Well I listened Montella yesterday and he was delirious, saying disjointed sentences ( for example the Bonucci red card was a TV red card , not a thing that has to do with pitch. And I am playing my career for it. ... And so ?. ) . He is in mental difficulty because he feel that the sack can be close

by Robespierre Mon Oct 23, 2017 3:23 pm

Fiorentina is definitely good for top 10 , also because .. I mean .. if we want to talk about the overall level , it's not so difficult to be a top 10 team ... Fiorentina is enough to be it.
Atm Torino are disappointing expectations, they depend on Belotti and then .. personally I never rated Sinisa. Giampaolo is much better than him.

by rincon Mon Oct 23, 2017 3:49 pm

Next round starts already tomorrow!

Inter-Samp will be another tactical game like Napoli-Inter. First Spalletti vs Sarri and now Spalletti vs Sarri-lite.

Some Samp players return and they are all in form. Their midfield 4 should give Inter all sorts of problems. Borja and Candreva are supposed to be rested for Mario and Eder. Without Candreva exploiting Samp's lack of width thing look bad for them, maybe they'll play Cancelo. I don't think Inter wins this. I think it will be a draw.

Bologna-Lazio will be fun. Two solid teams that like to attack. Lazio obviously are favorites, the question is how long can they win for? The only team that has beaten Bologna at home is Napoli. Torino and Inter could only get draws. I think Bologna gets points here, Immobile could screw it up ofc.

Juve-SPAL, Atalanta-Verona and Roma-Crotone. Enough said about that.

Fiorentina-Torino might be the best game from a neutral perspective. Two teams of similar level going through similar form and both are more attacking. Belotti is still out, Fiore have all their main guys. Hard to tell, only Juve and Roma have kept Torino from scoring. Maybe a draw with goals, maybe a Fiore win with Torino scoring too.

Genoa-Napoli not straight forward. Napoli are feeling the heavy schedule and have to have one eye for the Sassuolo/City games within a week. Insigne will likely sit it out to get fit. Diawara and Zielinski may come in too. It could be one of those frustrating games for Napoli where they take 65 minutes to score and then make it 0-3. I think they win.

Chievo-Milan Sad

its not even funny anymore. RIP Montella. I don't see Milan winning in Verona. Chievo has only lost (anywhere) to Juve and Lazio. The game for Milan to win was against Genoa, now against Chievo I don't think they can do it.

by Robespierre Mon Oct 23, 2017 4:50 pm

Inter - Sampdoria will be a tough match , even more difficult than Milan and Napoli for some aspects.
The motivations, the tension won't come spontaneously as than those 2 matches , but the technical difficulty is not much inferior to the derby and Giampaolo >> Montella.
Besides the tiredness (while Samp closed the match after 1st half against Crotone).
Last year we lost it 1-2.

by Luca Mon Oct 23, 2017 5:35 pm

Great preview @rincon

I think there are a lot of quietly good matches this week. Genoa vs. Napoli can be a trap game for Napoli, away in Genoa is a massive pain.

I think Milan will squeak a victory with Chievo to set them up for obliteration by Juve on the weekend

by iftikhar Mon Oct 23, 2017 8:40 pm

Inter is playing at home, right? I think they are going to win it. Stopping Napoli must have given them huge confidence, and they don't have the added burden of EL/CL. You are spot on with Napoli. But if they are to win anything, they have to win it this way. Bit surprised seeing Bologna and Chievo so far up the table.

great preview @rincon

by Luca Mon Oct 23, 2017 8:42 pm

iftikhar wrote:Inter is playing at home, right? I think they are going to win it. Stopping Napoli must have given them huge confidence, and they don't have the added burden of EL/CL. You are spot on with Napoli. But if they are to win anything, they have to win it this way. Bit surprised seeing Bologna and Chievo so far up the table.

great preview @rincon

Inter are at home but given that they did just play on Saturday and now again tomorrow, the turnover is the same as if they were in the CL because they will then play again on the weekend, making three games in one week. Two of those games being Napoli away and Sampdoria at home, two difficult matches.

by iftikhar Mon Oct 23, 2017 8:55 pm

Luca wrote:
iftikhar wrote:Inter is playing at home, right? I think they are going to win it. Stopping Napoli must have given them huge confidence, and they don't have the added burden of EL/CL. You are spot on with Napoli. But if they are to win anything, they have to win it this way. Bit surprised seeing Bologna and Chievo so far up the table.

great preview @rincon

Inter are at home but given that they did just play on Saturday and now again tomorrow, the turnover is the same as if they were in the CL because they will then play again on the weekend, making three games in one week. Two of those games being Napoli away and Sampdoria at home, two difficult matches.

Agreed. They have a congested schedule for this week (just as the other teams). But they didn't have such intensity earlier and so they should be fresher then JJ, Napoli, Roma, Lazio, Atalanta and [wait for it] Milan. IMO

by rincon Mon Oct 23, 2017 9:08 pm

I'm not sure that fatigue is even the main factor for this game. Sampdoria would be really hard to beat even for a fresh Inter.

by RealGunner Mon Oct 23, 2017 9:16 pm

I think Lazio will drop points. Draw maybe.

Agreed with the rest.

by rincon Mon Oct 23, 2017 9:24 pm

Yeah I have Lazio drawing as well, not toonconfident about it though. They've been too clinical.

by juve_gigi Tue Oct 24, 2017 12:44 am

Watching Bonucci flop at Milan gives me hope that De Sciglio will turn it around and start playing as he did when Allegri was at Milan.

Bonucci changing his stripes from black and white to black and red turned him from the world’s best into a shaky libero...

by Perucho21 Tue Oct 24, 2017 7:17 am

Aren't most of you also fans of the Italian NT? I understand the Milan Juve rivalry but I wouldn't want a key NT player like Bonucci to be in bad form when the playoffs are around the corner... Just saying

by Warrior Tue Oct 24, 2017 8:02 am

NT is not a problem. Chiellini will make him look better than he truly is, like in good ol Juve days.

by Robespierre Tue Oct 24, 2017 10:20 am

rincon wrote:I'm not sure that fatigue is even the main factor for this game. Sampdoria would be really hard to beat even for a fresh Inter.

Yes, agreed. Fatigue is just futher problem

by Robespierre Tue Oct 24, 2017 10:23 am

Perucho21 wrote:Aren't most of you also fans of the Italian NT? I understand the Milan Juve rivalry but I wouldn't want a key NT player like Bonucci to be in bad form when the playoffs are around the corner... Just saying

I am that less passionate among Serie A fans here about Nazionale and I am the only one Italian , the world is weird mate Very Happy

Life of death just for my Club

by rincon Tue Oct 24, 2017 11:36 am

Perucho21 wrote:Aren't most of you also fans of the Italian NT? I understand the Milan Juve rivalry but I wouldn't want a key NT player like Bonucci to be in bad form when the playoffs are around the corner... Just saying

Can't really ask for better treatment from fans after such a move. Like Warrior said, Chiellini is there in the NT and in beastly form. I expect them to pair up like always when they get together. If it's a back 3 then even more as he would be next to Barzagli as well.

by farfan Tue Oct 24, 2017 2:25 pm

Robespierre wrote:
Perucho21 wrote:Aren't most of you also fans of the Italian NT? I understand the Milan Juve rivalry but I wouldn't want a key NT player like Bonucci to be in bad form when the playoffs are around the corner... Just saying

I am that less passionate among Serie A fans here about Nazionale and I am the only one Italian , the world is weird mate
Life of death just for my Club

That's one of the weirdest things about foreign Serie A fans. They tend to be more chauvinistic about Italy and the Italian NT than actual Italians, some even insert themselves in political discussions that have nothing to do with them ( Regional pride, separatism, north/south divide etc...)

And don't even get me started on the " Italians" in Lyon, Marseilles etc... Laughing

by rincon Tue Oct 24, 2017 3:34 pm

Tbh for me it wasn't much of a choice. I was a fan of the NT before I was a fan of a club. My family used to watch every NT game together, WC '98 was the first football competition that I remember from start to finish. After that it was also Serie A with Juve (as the family are fans as well), before I watched it too (as we did every weekend) but I don't remember them in all the detail.

NT football>>>club. It's always more passionate for me, a matter of preference.

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