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General Football News

Claudius

Just finished watching Napoli - Inter. I can't get enough of these guys. Even without Cavani, guys like Inler, Hamsik and Lavezzi shone. One hopes that they manage to keep those guys and Gargano / Cavani healthy this season. Would be something to see a fairytale victor in one of the big 3 European leagues.

Certainly, all of the players mentioned above could be useful to our threadbare team

IBL

Watching MoTD and Norwich should have been 3-0 up on United before they scored

Klaus

Caligula wrote:
Just finished watching Napoli - Inter. I can't get enough of these guys. Even without Cavani, guys like Inler, Hamsik and Lavezzi shone. One hopes that they manage to keep those guys and Gargano / Cavani healthy this season. Would be something to see a fairytale victor in one of the big 3 European leagues.

Certainly, all of the players mentioned above could be useful to our threadbare team

I'll never understand why Serie A gets so much stick. Then again it seems that the only ones complaining about the league are the people who never watch it. It's been amazingly entertaining in the last few years. The distribution of quality in the five-six top teams is better than anywhere else outside of Premier League at the moment. Napoli would probably win Bundesliga tomorrow if they were somehow transferred to Germany.

Clrnc

Rubbish, Bayern will ease them over.

Thats not to say I disagree with you though, although I still maintain that some of the big games in Serie A is boring beyond hope in recent seasons therefore that thinking that Serie A is boring. This season's matches alone should have completely changed perception of that if people watches it

Klaus

Maybe they will, maybe they won't. Bayern have a good team this year to be fair but both their squad and their starting eleven is still full of dross. Not sure they will last a full season. I'd say that Napoli are about equal to them in terms of quality. Point was more along the line that Serie A has a lot of depth anyway. A team like Napoli can measure up to the best clubs in Germany.

Claudius

I'd say that on paper, they're behind Bayern, but they're probably ahead of the other Bundesliga clubs. In terms of star (-like) power, Bayern can call on Moeller, Lahm, Neuer, Ribery, Pigmounter, Robben increasingly Gomez and to a lesser extent Kroos. There's still experienced talent like Olic and Pranic that can be drafted in as well.

Napoli are really about the 4 or 5 players that I mentioned, and I fear that an extended injury to one of Hamsik, Lavezzi or Cavani could be fatal, whereas the only player whose absence would hurt Bayern longterm, I believe, would be Pigmounter.

Klaus

I think they'll be worse off if Gomez picks up a long-term injury, actually. Schweiny is their best player without a doubt but Gomez is the constant in their attack. He's the player that has to score 30+ goals each season for the team to work.

Claudius

Yeah, I can see where you are coming from regarding Gomez. They need to find ways to make someone like Muller more of a scorer. If he can get 5-7 more goals per season, then it would ease pressure off Gomez. Muller might be hurt somewhat by his versatility.
Even though I picked Schweiny as the most instrumental, I don't think he's as good as either Ribery or Robben when they're on song. Those players are world class (oops) when they're on form. Schweiny doesn't quite hit those peaks, but is probably the most consistent top performer on the team and doesn't really have a replacement while Ribery and Robben are interchangeable or can be spelled by Muller.

Claudius

Who are you boys picking in the Juve-Milan game? I'm super excited about that.

Klaus

Not sure! But it feels like a typical draw in my opinion. Juventus look like the better team on paper at the moment. They have no injuries and are full of confidence, but they haven't faced any good opponents yet either. Conversely, Milan have only faced upper table opponents and they're struggling with injuries. They can't afford to lose this game though, and they generally don't when that's the case. Ibrahimovic is supposed to be back too, which means that they will function as a team again. Think we're looking at 1-1. Possibly a Milan win. I'd leave the result alone and put some money on Zlatan to score instead.

By the way, the odds on Palermo at home to Siena tomorrow/today are insane. Twice the money for a win. Bundle them with Udinese at home against Bologna and earn some free money. Unibet offered me 3.20 for that double. Too good to turn down.

Biggus

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/football/view/213836/Crystal-Palace-2-West-Ham-2-It-s-Carew-to-Sam-s-rescue/

Almunia joined the Hammers from Arsenal on loan on Friday to help out in a goalkeeping crisis.

His first touch of the ball was to pluck it from the net after Palace took a sixth-minute lead.

😆

Claudius

Poor Manuel. Can't shine even in the Championship. We should send him back to the Spanish 2nd division (where we found him).

Clrnc

Klaus wrote:
Maybe they will, maybe they won't. Bayern have a good team this year to be fair but both their squad and their starting eleven is still full of dross. Not sure they will last a full season. I'd say that Napoli are about equal to them in terms of quality. Point was more along the line that Serie A has a lot of depth anyway. A team like Napoli can measure up to the best clubs in Germany.

I love Napoli and their team but currently they are way off Bayern's level. Bayern this season with their squad and new coach has brought so much praises, it's their best team for a long long time and currently I think only the top 2 in Spain can match them. They without their best player Robben has steamrolled past everyone in Bundesliga up till now, conceding only 1 goal. Same in the UCL as well.

I don't think injuries will hit them as big as you think, they have capable fringe players ready to step up. Rafinha and Boateng has been excellent additions to their backline, Luis Gustavo has been the unsung hero for them this season doing all the dirty work in midfield. They will have those wonderkids like Alaba and Usami to call upon. In striking force, if Gomez is injured they can call on Petersen who was one of the best strikers in Bundesliga for Cottbus last season

Armor

Klaus wrote:
I'll never understand why Serie A gets so much stick. Then again it seems that the only ones complaining about the league are the people who never watch it.

Exactly 😆 Its probably my favorite league to watch tbh. I watch a lot more PL but its just not fun seeing Utd stumble to another victory when the opposition shit themselves.

And as you say the top teams are very evenly matched, this season more than any imo. I backed Inter before the season as i felt they had the strongest squad/team. Didn't fancy Milan to win it twice in a row and my worry with Napoli was whether they could juggle the CL with the league.

So hard to call it now. Inter are struggling bigtime - although i thought they looked good last night until Obi got sent off, harshly it has to be said. I'd fancy Napoli actually if they were used to playing in the CL but generally a team new to it, struggle to get the balancing act right.

Napoli's first team is very strong but beyond that i'm not sure they have great depth. Some of the lesser rated players are fantastic. The back 3 is very solid, Maggio is a brilliant wing back, I like Zuniga a lot and they obviously have star players in their attack.

flobaba

Juventus vs AC Milan has been an absolute clinic on how to play basic and effective football by juve. They've been wonderful to watch today, especially Vucinic. He's one striker I've long admired, the polar opposite of Ibrahimovic when it comes to attitude and work rate. Vidal was excellent as well. 2 Marchisio goals to nil now. Abbiati with a horrible mistake on the second.

GreAt game.

Klaus

Stunning double from Marchisio. What a player.

Claudius

I thought the 2nd was a horrible goalie error, but Marchisio took his chances.
The game was largely a midfield stalemate. These teams could have used some of the Napoli playmakers today. Final balls were really lacking.

As Flobs said though a clinic on basic and effective football. A way to enjoy football again after the mess we saw from Arsenal

Klaus

It was an amateur error from Abbiati, but still. Marchisio has a skillset that Juve have been missing ever since Tacchinardi grew old. He's a bit of a mix between Tacchinardi and Davids. I do love a good filtering midfielder.

Claudius

So Juve clearly had at least a midfield 3. What happened to the 4 2 4?

Biggus

Just saw the Rodwell sending off, what the fudge has the ref in his eyes- He clearly got the ball.........

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