2019/20 Italian Football Thread - Serie A

[mike123]

If you defend deep we will struggle

Wasn't impressed at all with our midfield game, relied far too much on the full backs to drive us forward, our central midfield was very deep and just passed it around doing bugger all

Plain and simple if we didn't have Insigne we would've lost easily, he's basically like for us what Eden Hazard was for Chelsea

Our team is very comfortable with defending deep from the Allegri years but I’m not sure Sarri or whoever will be on the sidelines will go with that.

 

[Adam_23]

Damn that hurt

 

[TubbsFarquhar]

How does a team consistently get luck season after season?

 

[mike123]

Out captain did his acl so I’m not feeling that lucky tbh.

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

What an amazing last half hour in Torino!! That OG was a killer. Bad luck to Napoli.

 

[Adam_23]

I didn't think we'd see a game in Serie A for a while that would come close to the craziness we saw in the Juve vs Napoli game, but we literally got one the next day in the Rome derby! Only finished 1-1 but that game was nuts, woodwork hit 6 times between both teams. Lazio looked the better team though, got some real match winners in their squad in Immobile/SMS/Correa/Luis Alberto.

Been a great first 2 weeks, shame about this international break now.

 

[go you pups]

Are the twilight/night games in place currently due to the Mediterranean summer heat?

Would be great to see some games on before midnight one of these weeks...

 

[go you pups]

Man streaming on a chromecast is far superior compared to my phone

Rarely drops out/buffers


Anyways


Need to tighten up at the back this second half, up 1-0 but Samp have cut us open on the counter 2-3 times only for Meret to save the day

Both teams missed chances, could be a 3-4-5 goal game already, bit like that Fiorentina/Napoli game from MD1

 

[go you pups]

Elmas showing some good signs this game

Definitely a midfield spot for him to take if he wants it

 

[go you pups]

Wowee, big Fernando goes from my English side to my Italian side and sets up Mertens straight away (might be an OG though)

 

[go you pups]

Mertens going for the poor mans Aguero kinda look there

 

[mike123]

Is Ruiz doing better as a 10 now?

 

[go you pups]

Is Ruiz doing better as a 10 now?

Was ok first half then became largely anonymous

Don't really rate him, feel he needs to get onto the ball more and do more in the final third instead of leaving it all up to Insigne and Mertens, he can recycle possession fine, but any old midfielder can do that, very very vanilla for mine.

Been a couple of Napoli midfielders I haven't rated over the last few years like Jorginho

Rate
Hamsik (mainly for his Lampardesque goalscoring ability)
Inler (did a solid job for a few years)
Allan (much needed aggression)

I'm on the fence with Zielinski, but he's fairly versatile, can play deep or out wide.

Elmas was good yesterday, looks to have decent dribbling skills and knows how to make runs, hope he gets a decent shot at it, CM is a position that for mine isn't really set in stone/is one of our weakest areas.

Fairly happy with our RB situation, Di Lorenzo is going ok, just needs to work on his positioning so he doesn't get caught out in the counter all the time, but he uses the ball well. Our CBs and ST/FWDs are quality.

Don't rate Rui, feel his ball delivery is poor, rather Ghoulam.

 

[go you pups]

Kinda feel if we had say Pjanic, SMS level mids then we'd be able to overhaul Juve one of these years, alas we don't, our strength has always been upfront, but now we have bookend depth

 

[mike123]

Do think Ancelotti set up team do James would be able fit in and is now forced to use Ruiz in that role becuase that movemdidnt eventuate?

I think that’s a fair assessment of you mids. I really rate Allan and Hamsik was always a threat.

Rui has never impressed me when he’s played. He seems poor with the ball and flimsy defensively.

Not sure Pjanic would be much help for you. He’s another mid who just recycles possession most of the time albeit he can occasionally pull off the killer pass that’s sets up a goal.

 

[go you pups]

Do think Ancelotti set up team do James would be able fit in and is now forced to use Ruiz in that role becuase that movemdidnt eventuate?

Perhaps

We signed Llorente on a free though

Maybe Insigne will play that role instead? Got Lozano and Callejon out on the wings now.

I think that’s a fair assessment of you mids. I really rate Allan and Hamsik was always a threat.

Rui has never impressed me when he’s played. He seems poor with the ball and flimsy defensively.

Not sure Pjanic would be much help for you. He’s another mid who just recycles possession most of the time albeit he can occasionally pull off the killer pass that’s sets up a goal.

Moreso just putting up names of quality mids who benefit other sides

We just don't have enough mids close to that level and imo is a reason why we've fallen short

Juves mids probably aren't as good these days as they were under Conte with Pirlo, Vidal, Marchisio etc but it's still pretty rock solid, but these days their attack is far superior compared to back then.

 

[go you pups]

Some interesting results last night

Brescia with an important away win at Udinese

Juve only won 2-1 against a ten man Hellas Verona

And Inter wins the Milan derby 2-0

 

[go you pups]

Fabian Ruiz finally doing something

We're playing either a 4-2-2-2 (a formation I wanted to see us play a few weeks ago) or a 4-3-1-2

Ruiz seems to be drifting out on the right side of midfield though in this formation as a wide playmaker, just scored a beauty from outside the box cutting in on his left



Really like our depth in defence and in attack this season, Ancelotti rotated and it's not bothering us much, need more depth in central midfield though I think.

 

[go you pups]

Some real Gomes esque goalkeeping from Ospina there

Just dumb

 

[DEVO]

Fiorentina are last. I don't think it's going to be a good season for la Viola, but hopefully we can avoid relegation.

 

[go you pups]

Fiorentina are last. I don't think it's going to be a good season for la Viola, but hopefully we can avoid relegation.

You've had arguably the hardest start compared to anyone in the league

Napoli and Juve at home

Genoa and Atalanta away

You were unlucky against us (4-3 loss) and you got draws against Juve and Atalanta

You'll be fine once your draw opens up

 

[Adam_23]

Fabian Ruiz finally doing something

We're playing either a 4-2-2-2 (a formation I wanted to see us play a few weeks ago) or a 4-3-1-2

Ruiz seems to be drifting out on the right side of midfield though in this formation as a wide playmaker, just scored a beauty from outside the box cutting in on his left



Really like our depth in defence and in attack this season, Ancelotti rotated and it's not bothering us much, need more depth in central midfield though I think.

I'm a huge fan of Fabian Ruiz. I know he's had a bit of a down start to the season, but i love his potential. He played his best football last season out-wide in a 4-4-2, back there overnight and looked better.

Been an excellent last week for us, but agreed about the depth in the middle of park. Can't afford to lose any of Allan, Zielinski or Elmas to injury.

 

[Adam_23]

Good to see some of the highly rated Italians starting the season really well like Stefano Sensi, Domenico Berardi, Lorenzo Pellegrini and Nicolo Barella.

Future (and present, really) of the national teams midfield along with Verratti.

 

[go you pups]

I'm a huge fan of Fabian Ruiz. I know he's had a bit of a down start to the season, but i love his potential. He played his best football last season out-wide in a 4-4-2, back there overnight and looked better.

Been an excellent last week for us, but agreed about the depth in the middle of park. Can't afford to lose any of Allan, Zielinski or Elmas to injury.

So is Ruiz's competition Callejon then?

Though completely different types of players and suited for different formations

As you say before Ruiz probably works well in a 4-4-2/4-2-2-2 whereas Callejon is more your 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 type of wide forward

Lozano I guess can float wherever too

Just feel we should be using Milik or Insigne in the 10 role, not Ruiz, play Ruiz as a RM or as an 8 in a midfield rotation with Zielinski/Elmas. Probably need another no 6 as Allan is our only quality one.

Really like Elmas, massive potential as a flairy ball carrying dynamic 8, feel he could easily go ahead of Ruiz/Zielinski in that position quickly the more I watch him.

Good to see some of the highly rated Italians starting the season really well like Stefano Sensi, Domenico Berardi, Lorenzo Pellegrini and Nicolo Barella.

Future (and present, really) of the national teams midfield along with Verratti.

Yeah I rate Pellegrini too

Don't forget Chiesa either

 

[go you pups]

Also, Absolutely rapt with the way Big Fernando has started too, easily my favourite Spanish striker, great going from my English club to my Italian club, lol.

He would've been able to show more of his worth at Spurs imo if Kane and Son weren't there. He dominated at Swansea helping them stay up his one year there too before we bought him.

He looks tailor made for this league, hopefully he starts regularly, something he couldn't do at Spurs, he looks fit and hungry