Zlatan left it without a superstar, so let's just await the next scandal in the Serie A season 2012/13

Antonio Conte may be ready, as long as he doesn't approach the touchline.

http://gaalkacyonews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/antonio-conte-juventus.jpg

Alex Pato is not ready, again. I'm sure he'll have a cracking season in about 4 years time and leverage it against Milan to move to United tho.

http://www.thefootballramble.com/images/blog/AlexPatoIntercrop.jpg

Kinda secret superstar, totally ready

http://forzaitalianfootball.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Cavani1.jpg

The season started with the Viola beating Udinese 2-1 and Juve are currently 2-0 up against Parma and looking strong.

I didn't see that game but I think Udi will find this season hard, you can't just keep selling your best players and just hoping to come 3rd every year (lol this coming from me.)

Fiorentina otoh, look to have gone through a v. exciting summer, maybe the best summer turnaround of any team in Europe, in terms of manager AND players, and if it pulls off they could be well worth watching.

Milan look to be either a car crash you want to drive past slowly OR the evolutionary first step of my poncy farmers market organic ffp movement dreams.

Juve should win it again. My guess is that while Napoli and Roma look stronger than both Milan teams, both mess it up somehow and we'll get the boring big 3 start emerge again.

Saw the Juve game this morning

1-I missed the news that Juve had signed the atomic ant Giovinco
2-Parma's away kit is fucking boss
3-Juve back to playing in proper black and white stripes and not that pink monstrosity
4-Pirlo has grown a fabulously scruffy beard and is one step closer to unveiling himself as the second coming
5-Juve got awarded a dodgy goal where the replays were inconclusive as to whether it had crossed the line or not. Still, it was Pirlo so who cares?
6-Asamoah was in beast mode playing a LWB
7-Vidal was class even though his penalty sucked
8-Juve now play music after they score. 'Chelsea Dagger' since you asked. SMH.

Cassano -

" Massimo Moratti wanted me here since the days of Roberto Mancini. However, as I was completely crazy at the time, it was right not to sign me. "

ha

BOJAN TO AC MILAN

(Is he going to be the worst player to ever play for every big club?)

re the thread title -- sneijder?

ability doesn't come into it

PAZZINI HATRICK

Guess the Cassano switch wasn't as stupid as people made it out to be

penalty converted after a dive to win it, tap in from a yard after keeper dropped the ball, actually v nice flick to redirect nocerino shot

milan started with only one non-italian player last night. hasn't happened since 95 or something like that.

lots of interesting games today, udinese - juventus, inter - roma, fiorentina - napoli.

totti killing it vs inter now. great game. roma up 1-2.

roma were v impressive and the 2nd goal in particular was a thing of beauty.

2 mins in http://youtu.be/YdAjBoiTFmQ

actually more like 2m 15secs

Hernanes was outstanding for Lazio y'day, and Klose bagged his usual goal.

Also Juve's defence looked pretty dodgy vs Genoa and they had Buffon to thank for only being 1-0 down when they mounted their comeback. Admittedly Lichsteiner and Asamoah started on the bench, but still I fancy Chelsea to score at least a couple on Weds night.

What's Juventus' shape, 3-5-2 with those two you mentioned as the wing backs, otherwise the same central midfield (Pirlo Marchisio Vidal) as last year?

Yah, they've been persisting with the 3-5-2 ish, with the caveat that Giovinci is not really an orthodox striker. Giacherini played well y'day, but I think the 3 you mentioned are the preferred 3.

I'm not sure that's a great way to line up vs Chelsea, but I guess they must have a back 4 system they can revert to.

I can't remember where I saw the ilx debate of what they show in airports but Luxor tv is showing Napoli catania. Napoli seem to be playing 3-3-4 and hamsik is everywhere. 0-0 though

Luxor, eh?

Yeah. Egyptians love their Italian football. Also wearing an Arsenal shirt is a mistake, so many 'what happened van persie fabregas? Support man u' conversation starters.

I don't suppose you took in a Zamalek or Al-Ahly game?

Egypt is pretty low on my list of places to take in a game, in fairness

anyone know of a good preview for the fiorentina/juve match tomorrow? especially a tactical preview?

This has anticipated lineups and a bit more, not much non-stat analysis though: http://www.whoscored.com/Matches/651534/Preview/Italy-Serie-A-2012-2013-Fiorentina-Juventus

nice thanks. i'd never seen that site before.

rally enjoyed the first half of this last night, not so much the 2nd. Fiorentina were the better team, Pizarro was excellent. Giaccherini looked overmatched in midfield.

Edinson Cavani scored a hat-trick to lead Napoli to a 3-0 win over Lazio on Wednesday after the visitors had an early goal disallowed when Miroslav Klose owned up to handling the ball. The Germany forward put the ball in the net in the third minute for Lazio and the goal was initially awarded but the referee changed his mind when Klose admitted using his hand.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELudZAlTI9Y

should've been a pen, getting held like crazy!! Fuck being honest with cheating defenders around imo.

Fucking hell that tackle on Henderson!!

wrong thread, d'oh.

i just read this in giuseppe meazza's wikipedia article and i think i'm going to spend a few weeks thinking about it:

"I also saw Pelé playing. He did not achieve Meazza's elegant style of playing. One day, at the Arena, I witnessed him doing something astonishing: he stopped the ball with a bicycle kick, elevating himself two meters from the ground. Then he landed with the ball glued at his foot, dribbled over an astonished defender, and then went on scoring a goal with one of his hallmark shots, sardonic and accurate to the millimeter."[1]
—Luigi Veronelli

nothing on youtube

not sure i've ever witnessed a sardonic goal before. Perhaps Balotelli's shoulder shrug from last year?

This opens up a whole nightmare of possibilities. Though I suppose players have always been scoring ironically against their former clubs.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1181935/ex-inter-youngster-lifts-lid-on-club%27s-youth-academy?cc=5739

what is UP with this roma side

shapeless like 11 kittens in a sack

is di rossi injured or smthg? He's not in the starting eleven, think he criticized zemen last week?

brilliant goal, great ball from the 36 yo (!) totti

no di rossi, no osvaldo

ha watching the half-time highlights, roma look to be playing 2 at the back.

oh wow what a pass from totti

penalty surely?

pogba just scored a pretty brilliant first time dipping volley from 25 yards

Oh damn I forgot, and I knew this was kicking off early as well :(

napoli had been pretty resilient until a couple of minutes earlier (subduing pirlo very effectively except for one 40 yard chipped mass than matri was too clumsy to control) when the sub caceres scored off a corner and then pogba who had replaced vidal all of 10 minutes earlier kills the game

matri has a touch of elmander about him

mass/pass

oy some idiot in the crowd has a varsity jacket emblazoned with 'university of life'

downside of high definition

I love that. Is the initial over the heart U or L?

it was written around the emblem tho i don't remember what the emblem itself was

quite possible that an ultra doesn't know the translation?

FFS

http://www.abload.de/img/untitled-7irkoh.gif

Juventus FC [calciomercato 2012/2013][Juventini Kaskus & JCI ...
www.kaskus.co.id › ... › Soccer & Futsal Room - Translate this page
27 Jul 2012 – gak debat sih gan, cuma yg dateng belakangan nimbrung manas2in terkesan jadi berdebat benvenuto mario pogbatelli.

contrary to all of the ppl around manchester who supposedly mistook him for balotelli, and despite the shared penchant for terrible haircuts, they don't really look alike

but in terms of talent, image and successfully trolling the two most successful managers around while still teenagers, u have to allow it

i guess in mourinho's case he countertrolled balotelli tho

His teammate Isla referred to him as "pogba balotelli" in a tweet earlier this season, due to haircut and general style I imagine.

now watching bologna inter. diamanti straight up punched in the face in the first minute of the game.

conte's syrup is so legit

Juventus v Inter kicking off in twenty minutes, I'll try and clock in later.

19 seconds!

Good game this. Pirlo looks amazing with the beard. I kinda wish he hadn't grown it ... but he still looks great with it.

1-1, Milito pen with half an hour left. Really good free-kick leading to the penalty - Cassano eschews the shot, playing a short pass on the ground into Cambiasso at the penalty spot, who touches back for Milito who's taking a step forward from the back of the wall, one member of which can't resist giving his shirt a tug.

I dunno if that sounds like much, but there were a dozen players within a couple of yards so it was really intricate choreography.

Inter could well win this now. Either could tbh, this is excellent stuff.

2-1 Inter, Milito. It's been coming.

oooh the unbeaten streak going to end? how long left?

Finished 1-3, Inter got a third with a minute left.

rip old lady heaven need a fascist

Absolutely tipping it down for the Rome derby. Roma killing it so far, 1-0 after 15 mins. The pitch will be waterlogged by half time at this rate.

Juve ripped Pescara 6-1 y'day incl 2 overhead kicks and a sweet Atomic Ant volley.

Candreva just walloped a free kick in from 30 yards, straight thru the goalie from what I can tell. 1-1.

Mishit Hernanes shot, klose pounces. 2-1

De Rossi off for a left hook to the face. Same old DeRossi.

still the real blitw

Guy who was flattened by DeRossi just got Lazio's third.

Roma 3-2 Fiorentina just now, still half-an-hour to go. Serie A appears to have turned itself into the EPL while my back was turned, spills n thrills n missed chances a-plenty.

Also those half-dozen grainy pixels that could never be mistaken for anyone other than Aquilani - he has such a recognisable silhouette, we should've retained him for iconic reasons alone.

this game is nuts. Roma could have 8 by now. there is nobody in midfield, truly end to end. totti's black boots look so cool.

I was just reflecting that I've been to see Roma twice, in 1997 and 2001; Totti was playing both times, and here he is in nearly 2013. Those Roma sides though - Cafu, Aldair, di Biagio, Balbo, Totti all playing in 1997 (Ayala on the other side, Zeman on the bench); Samuel, Cafu, Totti, Batistuta, Montella in 2001 (with Materazzi on the other side and Capello on the bench).

The slightly oversized letters on the back of Roma's shirts are the coolest.

The first Fiorentina goal was hilarious. Roma played about seven of their guys onside from a free kick.

Oliveira should have been off in the first half for a stamp.

Stunning variation on the Scholes volley-from-a-corner routine from Guerin in Inter-Napoli just now - Cassano floats/drills it to the far corner of the six-yard box, where Guerin has made a blind late run to sweep home. It was gorgeous.

This is a beautiful game of football btw, Napoli are really going at it

And of course it's immediately 2-0 Inter - neat finish by Milito, who must be the most underrated player in world football.

lol:

http://img577.imageshack.us/img577/6148/picture1ii.png

This was such a great game. 2-1 Inter.

Has this been posted yet? This guy rules.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/world-of-sport/udinese-cheered-serie-match-precisely-one-fan-152055117.html

Superb!

only way that could have been a better story is if the police kept him in the ground for 3 hours after the game while samp ultras bayed for blood outside after losing

It'd be even better if it was the other way round

Was kinda lolling at the "brutal five-hour drive" part... over here that'd just about get us to our nearest league rival.

I've had Roma v Milan on for fifteen minutes now, during which Milan have been totally dominant, almost the whole thing played in and around Roma's box. Then boom, sucker-punch on the counter, and Milan are now 4-0 down.

yeah that first half hour was crazy

This year's Roma kit is one of the best ever, except for that little squiggle of blue on the front.

Currently taking a 2-0 beating from Napoli. Proper goalie celebration there from the Napoli keeper after and stunning double save plus Bradley flashwide. Funny day - Inter start the year with a 3-0 shoeing from Udinese, while Juve lose 2-1 at home to ten-man Samp.

Ooh, Cavani hattrick, 3-0.

Ach, Cavani taking a dive while rounding the keeper - you don't want to see that, the true beast takes any amount of roughhousing and still tries to slot it in from flat on his back.

Does anybody know much of Fredy Guarín? I've seen Inter a couple of times this season and he's done remarkable things both times - just now a fine cutback assist from the byline, off a breaking ball he shouldn't've been getting to. Seems quite a player.

Sorry, 'a breaking ball he had no right to be getting to', my mistake.

Saw him a bunch of times for Porto and a couple for Colombia. Gets overshadowed a bit in the press by James Rodriguez but Inter getting him for 11m Euro was very good business.

kickin off in turin

I hope that's not meant literally, I'll be wasting my time starting up if it is

nah at the final whistle juve finally started feeling some urgency, last minute penalty turned down, quality conte scenes follow

So it was the opposite of 'kicking off' then?

Every channel I found was showing Falcao hagiography instead, so not time entirely wasted.

switched to cracking depor-valencia game tbh

absolute banger of a game that, 3-2, red cards, last minute winner

Lazio reach Coppa Italia final with injury-time winner in the second leg against Juventus. But the other semi isn't 'til April 17, wtf?

Roma beat Juventus 1-0. Zeman may be gone but they can't help themselves - four minutes' injury time and they send five men forward looking for a second. It's saved, Juventus break and force a corner, Buffon comes up ... only for the ref to blow for full-time a minute early.

Absolute rocket of a shot by Totti for the winner btw.

Milan derby ... first half was pretty good, Milan leading through El Shaarawy, Inter just hanging on. Now it's restarted I can't see anything for the smoke.

Again Guerin looking like a beast going forward, though seems he's poor defensively?

Don't think I've seen much of El Shaarawy before; that was a beautiful finish. Is he the real thing?

I think so. He looks phenomenal every time I see him. Still improving too.

It would certainly seem so. 20-odd goals for the club this season and has looked good on the ball every time I've caught him, although that might be because I'm constantly seeing his highlights. Not watched too many games with him getting the full 90, only CL games. But it would seem that him and Balo are the hot new thing for club and country. Potentially a very enjoyable and exciting partnership. Also, the latest FM rates him mad high, which I'm always inclined to put an almost unreasonable amount of faith in.

good header from the metal dude

Italian World Cup-winning midfielder Gennaro Gattuso has been appointed player-coach of Swiss club Sion.

Manager Victor Munoz was demoted to a scouting role after Sunday's 4-0 defeat by Thun in the Swiss Super League.

Sion said in a statement: "Until further notice, the players will manage their activities themselves. The management entrusts responsibility for the group to its captain, Gattuso."

didnt know where else to put this but lol ouch

Oh dear. I always feel sad when I see ex-gaffers resurface as assistant gaffers, but at least they're still in or around the division. Scout is local flyweight undercard stuff.

Klose got five against Bologna this afternoon.

still time for a few more

Sadly he was subbed for Louis Saha with twenty five minutes to go.

Saha is at Lazio? Who knew

Pogba sent off for spitting

Why would you take him off so early ffs? Opportunities to probe the limits of human endeavour arise so seldom.