Exactly the talent was quite clearly there, problem with football fans (and we have a fair few here) once they have a grudge towards a player they won't let go. They can't see anything positive in them and the same happened at the Emirates. It was a toxic atmosphere for someone whose confidence was already shot so best for all parties he left.

Serie A is a bit of a joke too, cant forget that.

5 days later

Massimo Moratti just sold 70% of Inter to some Indonesian billionaire. Did not see that coming.

Klaus wrote:

Massimo Moratti just sold 70% of Inter to some Indonesian billionaire. Did not see that coming.

Really ? I knew this was gonna happen. It was in the news yesterday.

Aren't they going to be getting their own stadium too? Would be nice to see Serie A get the recognition it deserves again. Still a top league, better than the Bundesliga.

Whoa ... what an outrageous thing to say.

Not at all. Serie A is better than Bundesliga. A fair bit better in my opinion.

Outside the top 2, Serie A is significantly better.

Roma vs Napoli tonight should be brilliant, two of the more aesthetically pleasing sides in Serie A.

Pjanic is the new Xavi, what a player. Wish he was better defensively.

Rudi Garcia is a class manager, he's getting the best out of Totti and has put together a nice midfield. 8 played, 8 won, 22 scored, and only 1 conceded so far this season. Hopefully Totti won't be out too long.

DaG, do you feel Garcia could take over when Wengie steps down?

Garcia is a very good manager, not sure he's cut out for Arsenal. Still relatively young, let's see if he can guide Roma to the CL and keep them there. He's quite strict with his 433 system, not sure if I like that or not.

I think it was Sacchi who said something along the lines that Garcia has once again proven that a team is more important than the sum of its part. The implication was that he has lowered the overall quality of their squad this summer but improved the way they play. I don't think it paints a complete picture though. While Roma obviously play better football this season Garcia also gets more out of the individuals than Zeman and any other manager has done for a long time. De Rossi is boss again, Pjanic (who looked miserable last year) is back in business and Gervinho is blazing. Not to mention Totti who is world-class at 36, but he was pretty great last season too.

Benatia at CB is also at least as good as the highly rated Marquinhos was last season. Maybe better.

Always felt that Marquinhos was slightly overrated. He's a class footballer but he got more attention due to his skills on the ball than his actual performances merited.

You could say the same thing about Lamela come think of it. Class player, but all you really have to do when you have Totti in the side is to time your runs.

He's no Varane but he's class. Not having the best start to his career at PSG mind. Lucas has gone off the boil as well, he was immense last season. Ruined Valencia and Barcelona.

In fact, quite a few players at PSG are wildly inconsistent. Only Silva, Matuidi, and Ibra regularly do the business for them. Motta is solid too.