Italian Serie A thread

Interesting comments from Nedved. Adamant that Ronaldo and Pirlo will stay, while it also seems clear they're selling Dybala. Even as fragile as Dybala has been this season, and while he's never quite hit his full potential, I know who I'd want to build my team around for the future. I wonder how much revenue they generate from Ronaldo. No doubt he's great for the brand and merchandising, but then he's also earning at an astonishingly high level.

Sounds as though Donnarumma and Raiola are being very unreasonable in contract negotiations. While my gut feeling is that they'll agree terms in the end, I think Milan could do without this bullshit and drama over a player whose reputation has always exceeded his ability (not that he hasn't been very good this season). And he's hardly the golden boy of Milan when he pulls this mercenary act (again).

 

If I was a Juve fan, I wouldn't care much about Pirlo or CR7 staying. The former has had a rough ride in his first season of management and others could do the job just as well if not better than him while the latter isn't exactly hitting the net let, right and centre. Agree that Dybala is essential to their long-term plans but it doesn't do anyone any favours to have him on the sidelines all the time. He just looks like he's going to have a relapse every time a defender challenges him. He really needs to toughen up.

Disagree about Donnarumma. Not about him and his agent being unreasonable but, at some level, the guy's one of the top goalkeepers in the world (top 5? definitely top 10); he's entitled to a big fat wage given he stayed with his club during the shit years (which I sincerely hope are over). Again, his teammates aren't particularly good (the defence is alright actually) and he could be playing with much better players and possibly earn more money elsewhere. The grass isn't always greener but some players have stayed loyal to their clubs and missed out on honours their talent would have warranted (Gerrard & Totti off the top of my head).

 

Hopefully this is just a freak season for Dybala, with all kinds of issues including Covid-19. I was convinced that he'd always had issues staying on the pitch, but when you look back he's broken 40 apps for Juventus every season barring this one. Remains to be seen how they act, surely they can't be as blasé about losing him as their comments suggest... But then they've made a lot of odd decisions and signings in recent times. You just take it for granted that Juve are a ruthless, calculated machine, making smart decisions and always getting it right, but they don't look that way just lately.

I just don't rate Donnarumma that highly - at least I don't think he's there yet. On any given day he's a monster, but there are issues all through his game. His appearance makes him look like a huge, dominant GK in the air, but the amount of times he makes poor decisions, coming flying out and missing the ball... and he has his share of awful punches at times as well. Long shots have always been a problem due to his footwork. His distribution and comfort on the ball really aren't great either (although I don't think they're anything like as bad as people sometimes suggest, and he's managed to mostly stay out of trouble this season).

One thing I do really like about him is his strength of character - when he makes a big error there's never a doubt in my mind that he'll leave it in the past and be back on his game the following week, a big asset for a GK. Well, I say one thing, of course there's lots to like about him, but I do think his reputation has always been bigger than his ability. This season he's been excellent, but he was largely unreliable in the years prior, while earning a king's ransom from Milan, which is why I don't like this mercenary act. But it's just Raiola all over, isn't it - I do think Donnarumma signs the contract and stays, at least for a year or two.

 

Our new logo, our new full name (Inter Milano) and our new 4th kit are probably the ugliest thing you're going to see this week.

 

Niente da fare, cosa?

Non possono!

 

But they did

 

Solo perché!! La storia è finita.


I'm gutted.

 

Yeah I saw the new logo the other week.... I don't think I've liked any new logo for a club in the last two decades. Just always seems to be a bland, oversimplified version of an older one. I really like the most recent Inter logo, but the new one looks like the crest of some random Eastern European club. I hadn't seen that new kit.... wow

Haven't seen much from the past weekend yet, but last week's fixtures were pretty wild. Story of Crotone's season, looking good on the ball at times and causing problems, but can't defend at all. Score 3 but concede 4.. Lord knows when Torino will win the derby again. If ever there's the time to do it, it's now, and it was there for them, but after going 2-1 up, they played so negatively, even seemed a tad cowardly. Seem to remember the game away from home was quite similar.