Nice beats Udinese. 4th place Serie A team against 14th place Ligue 1 team.

Pozzo and Udinese should be thrown out of Italian football. Udinese and other teams like them are the reason Serie A lost the 4th CL place.

Think you are over-reacting man..It's only pre-season.

Rapid Vienna beat Valencia 4-1 too, and we lost 3-0 to Hull as well

Chelsea lost every single of their friendlies last season and got owned in Charity Shield as well, but started the season with 5 wins in a row.

but yea, I don't like Udinese's mentality.

They beat Marseille 2-1 a few weeks back wiggles..

The Fonz wrote:They beat Marseille 2-1 a few weeks back wiggles..

What club, in any major league, or non-major league, weakens the team when they qualify for the Champions League? I can't think of one.

Lazio definitely should have been the team to qualify for the Champions League, however at the very least Udinese now have a fantastic opportunity to give Fabbrini his chance as a Sanchez replacement. Udinese really need to focus on some Italian talent now as they'll be less likely to leave the league after their breakthrough, keeping the talent that can get a team into the Champions League in Italy.

The pre-season friendly result isn't too much of a surprise, they'll be inconsistent until Guidolin establishes replacements around the board and finds out the capabilities of their midfield.

dostoevsky wrote:Lazio definitely should have been the team to qualify for the Champions League, however at the very least Udinese now have a fantastic opportunity to give Fabbrini his chance as a Sanchez replacement. Udinese really need to focus on some Italian talent now as they'll be less likely to leave the league after their breakthrough, keeping the talent that can get a team into the Champions League in Italy.

The pre-season friendly result isn't too much of a surprise, they'll be inconsistent until Guidolin establishes replacements around the board and finds out the capabilities of their midfield.

But, my question was, have you heard of any team that purposely weakens itself after achieving CL qualification? They've sold all their best players except Di Natale, and they probably would have sold him if he wasn't 30+ and could get a decent price for him.

Not in Italy recently - the surprise packages of Fiorentina and Napoli made immediate moves on the market and even in the Europa League teams like Genoa tried to improve - and I agree with you, though I could excuse their transfer of Sanchez as it was incredible business. Inler and Zapata wanted to move on, however that doesn't say much for the project that the players believe they're building. They should have been fired up for the next campaign, not looking for what they considered more stable ships.

dostoevsky wrote:Not in Italy recently - the surprise packages of Fiorentina and Napoli made immediate moves on the market and even in the Europa League teams like Genoa tried to improve - and I agree with you, though I could excuse their transfer of Sanchez as it was incredible business. Inler and Zapata wanted to move on, however that doesn't say much for the project that the players believe they're building. They should have been fired up for the next campaign, not looking for what they considered more stable ships.

The biggest condemnation is that they sold Inler to Napoli!!!! A team that is strengthening itself for the CL campaign.

I feel really bad for Di Natale tbh

wigglesworth wrote:

The Fonz wrote:They beat Marseille 2-1 a few weeks back wiggles..

What club, in any major league, or non-major league, weakens the team when they qualify for the Champions League? I can't think of one.

What club, in any major league, or non-major league, makes only 15m a year from ticket sales and is located in a city where a 30,000 seater stadium is deemed 'too large'. They do what they need to to get by.

1. If Serie A is being damaged by teams like Udinese qualifying for the CL, Serie A needs to step up their quality to prevent "too small" teams from qualifying. Udinese did well last season, but they're simply securing their long-term future instead of going for short-term glory.

2. Udinese's revenue last year was something like €45m.
They sold Sanchez for €26m + bonuses, so let's call it €30m. That's 67% of their annual revenue. If Inter got an offer of €110m for Eto'o or Sneijder (67% of their 2010 revenue of €167m), would you not sell?

When I said that the likes of Lazio, and Udinese do not deserve CL, back in the old forum, people thought I was just jealous Juventus or Roma didn't make it.
Udinese were lucky to have players like Zapata and Sanchez, and they sold him, because they wouldn't get other chances.

Not even Napoli deserves it. They have Cavani, Hamsik, and Lavezzi, but they all wanted to leave this summer. If Napoli finishes in the 4th place this coming season, watch them sink, like Fiorentina did 2 years ago.

Napoli absolutely deserve it and no, Cavani, Hamsik and Lavezzi did not want to leave. Cavani has stated several times that he feels that God led him to Napoli, Lavezzi's agent not Lavezzi himself was trying to churn the waters however nothing will arise from this, whilst Hamsik has confirmed that the rumours stating that he wanted to leave were just that, rumours, propogated whilst he was on holiday. Perhaps they want to leave at some point in the future, but not this summer after they've just reached the Champions League.

Napoli have built a squad with an incredible belief in their ability to succeed in the league, who collectively play for less than what Ibrahimovic earns. By January - I quote this as I do not know the figures for the remainder of the season - Napoli had secured an extra 21 points from matches in the final 15 minutes of each game throughout Serie A and Europe, the mark of an incredible fighting spirit evident in the team. Why do Roma and Juventus deserve it more when they don't have half of that mentality in their squad? Until these teams improve then Napoli absolutely deserve their place in Europe and their time in the spotlight, they've earnt it and they're still the third best team in Italy.

Napoli have strengthened through additions to the first team and with depth signings thus far, adding a very talented keeper in Rosati, quality midfielders such as Inler and Donadel and a few other players to ensure that they can better cope with three competitions and maintain their status.

Even if they do sink, why would they have not deserved to make the competition this year? They have the squad, they have the mentality, they have strengthened accordingly, they have an incredibly loyal fan base who have attended from when they were in Serie C to watching them build a great squad for very modest outlays, what more is necessary? If only teams who could win the competition were allowed into the Champions League then we should begin at the quarter finals.

wigglesworth wrote:Pozzo and Udinese should be thrown out of Italian football. Udinese and other teams like them are the reason Serie A lost the 4th CL place.

It sure makes me angry. Udinese will be destroyed in the CL and ignorant fools will laugh at the league.

That's called mid-table team mentality... Sell your stars to get some money and spend it on decent players just to stay afloat in the top 15 of the league.

I really think that Udinese's demise is being exaggerated here. They will no longer be worthy of a Champions League spot however they could well make the Europa League next season still if a few of their youngsters can effectively slot into their roles. 10th is the lowest they might slide, they co-own half of the youngsters in Italy.

Their first defeat in the pre season. They beat Bordeaux and the mighty O'M before that.

Question: Could the French league surpass Serie A this year or is there other factors to consider? Here are the numbers.. league coefficient Italy 50.409 France 45.178

wigglesworth wrote:

The Fonz wrote:They beat Marseille 2-1 a few weeks back wiggles..

What club, in any major league, or non-major league, weakens the team when they qualify for the Champions League? I can't think of one.

Yeah it's really sad, they remind me of some Brazilian clubs...

rsinatra wrote:

wigglesworth wrote:

The Fonz wrote:They beat Marseille 2-1 a few weeks back wiggles..

What club, in any major league, or non-major league, weakens the team when they qualify for the Champions League? I can't think of one.

Yeah it's really sad, they remind me of some Brazilian clubs...

like inter?

Ganso wrote:

rsinatra wrote:

wigglesworth wrote:

The Fonz wrote:They beat Marseille 2-1 a few weeks back wiggles..

What club, in any major league, or non-major league, weakens the team when they qualify for the Champions League? I can't think of one.

Yeah it's really sad, they remind me of some Brazilian clubs...

like inter?

well yes, but actually most brazilian clubs still have this mentality... only the biggest ones are changing.. which is something.. internacional need to learn it!!