Well at the San Siro, the athmosphere is dire and the stadium is almost empty. Whether it's because Italy are in a worst financial state than us and the Italian's can't afford it I don't know?
I know managers get interviewed for about an hour after the game.
I think you will find that Paolo has managed to combine being a great footballer with being a Manager with excellent potential plus being as nutty as a fruitcake !
There are only three teams with less points than games played, which suggests strength in depth. Then looking at the top teams, despite their last Champions League results Milan and Napoli are still very good sides.
Plus Juve have looked decent again this season, Udinese ran Arsenal close, whilst Lazio have overachieved and Roma and Inter underachieved this season. Then you've got clubs (still with some top players) like Genoa and Fiorentina in lower-midtable.
Atmospheres are usually a lot better than people give them credit for as well, certainly better than most English grounds. Their goal to game ratio is nowhere near as bad as most people think either, there is a lot of attacking football about. So yes, yes I would say he is talking crap.
The betting/match fixing scandals in Italy really effected the supporters and lots of fans at all Serie A clubs were lost together with the financial crisis. Additionally Italian Sky taking over the tv coverage more recently than the UK, Italian fans less likely to attend the matches. Lots of italian fans still feel that some of matches are fixed and no point in going. Paolo has a point
Man City 1-1 Napoli Napoli 2-1 Man City Napoli 3-1 Chelsea- although they exit after extra time against a club that cost 100s of millions to assemble Milan 4-0 Arsenal (albeit 4-3 on agg) Barcelona 2-2 Milan
I would say this would prove that Serie A has held its own this season in Europe despite Il Duce's thoughts to the contrary. BTW haven't the PL's leaders just been completely outclassed home and away by a side 7th in La Liga? Just a thought...
And finally I was offered a ticket to Chelsea this week- and whatever people say about Italian fans, they had 10 times the passion of the Chelsea mob, who need to put a plastic flag on every seat to be able to generate "an atmosphere."
Italian football is not so strong as it used to be, mainly because the owners who spent money like water have been or soon will be banged away on fraud/extortion/money laundering/tax evasion/you name anything else you fancy charges, and the best new Argentinian talent is being displayed in Spain. Still the Italian league must be stronger in depth than (say) Poland, Portugal, Belgium, Holland etc etc... and the way things are going.. Ingerland. Methinks the PL wages bubble will burst very soon and the 'lads and boys' will have to start actually working for a living.
Man City 1-1 Napoli Napoli 2-1 Man City Napoli 3-1 Chelsea- although they exit after extra time against a club that cost 100s of millions to assemble Milan 4-0 Arsenal (albeit 4-3 on agg) Barcelona 2-2 Milan
I would say this would prove that Serie A has held its own this season in Europe despite Il Duce's thoughts to the contrary. BTW haven't the PL's leaders just been completely outclassed home and away by a side 7th in La Liga? Just a thought...
And finally I was offered a ticket to Chelsea this week- and whatever people say about Italian fans, they had 10 times the passion of the Chelsea mob, who need to put a plastic flag on every seat to be able to generate "an atmosphere."
Up the Addicks!!!
When PL teams are going through a big period of transition it's not the best comparison to make. The PL is still more exciting than Serie A, as has been La Liga & Bundesliga this season.
As for Chelsea, what do you expect to happen to atmospheres when their traditional support are eased out & replaced by new fans? It's happened at many premier clubs and throughout the championship.
For a game Udinese would never qualify from. Their priority is UCL qualification- hence the low crowd.
really.... so 2-0 down from the first leg and 15 mins in di natale gets his 2nd and the tie is all square ................. and udinese put out a strong team and ended up losing 2-3 on aggregate
maybe they were recovering from their Serie A defeat at Novara in front of 11,000 fans
That's all the Novara ground holds. To hear the PL lovers talk you'd think that every game here is a sellout- matches at Bolton, Villa, Blackburn, Wigan, Sunderland, West Brom even might suggest otherwise. Yes, Serie A isn't what it once was but things are looking better- how many clubs in this country could you name that would get 60,000 in the 3rd division like Napoli did?
That's all the Novara ground holds. To hear the PL lovers talk you'd think that every game here is a sellout- matches at Bolton, Villa, Blackburn, Wigan, Sunderland, West Brom even might suggest otherwise. Yes, Serie A isn't what it once was but things are looking better- how many clubs in this country could you name that would get 60,000 in the 3rd division like Napoli did?
Napoli is an exception. Every country has them. Villa when they were iun div3 attracted enormous crowds.
There's some good teams in the league but I've never been entertained by a Serie A game.
I watched Napoli's last league game (a 6-3 win over Cagliari) and it was very entertaining indeed. I don't buy the whole "Italian football's boring". I think a lot of those stereotypes were based on the style of play in the 1990's when it was broadcast live on Channel Four. Nowadays the games are entertaining, the style not so defensive and some of the greatest players in the world are there. The problem is we're used to Premier League games being hyped to death so before you know it half the population believe the Bolton v Swansea is the biggest game that week in world football just because it's on Sky. The coverage of Italian football (or even non-Classico Spanish football) is not so over the top, so I think some people are left feeling like they haven't witnessed an "event" just because they haven't seen Jamie Redknapp or Ian Wright butcher the English language before the game, or a montage of close misses and bad defending to rock and roll music at half time.
Comments
I know managers get interviewed for about an hour after the game.
La Liga, Premier League, Bundesliga are all ahead and in my opinion these are the four tier 1 European leagues.
Plus Juve have looked decent again this season, Udinese ran Arsenal close, whilst Lazio have overachieved and Roma and Inter underachieved this season. Then you've got clubs (still with some top players) like Genoa and Fiorentina in lower-midtable.
Atmospheres are usually a lot better than people give them credit for as well, certainly better than most English grounds. Their goal to game ratio is nowhere near as bad as most people think either, there is a lot of attacking football about. So yes, yes I would say he is talking crap.
Napoli 2-1 Man City
Napoli 3-1 Chelsea- although they exit after extra time against a club that cost 100s of millions to assemble
Milan 4-0 Arsenal (albeit 4-3 on agg)
Barcelona 2-2 Milan
I would say this would prove that Serie A has held its own this season in Europe despite Il Duce's thoughts to the contrary. BTW haven't the PL's leaders just been completely outclassed home and away by a side 7th in La Liga? Just a thought...
And finally I was offered a ticket to Chelsea this week- and whatever people say about Italian fans, they had 10 times the passion of the Chelsea mob, who need to put a plastic flag on every seat to be able to generate "an atmosphere."
Up the Addicks!!!
Still the Italian league must be stronger in depth than (say) Poland, Portugal, Belgium, Holland etc etc... and the way things are going.. Ingerland. Methinks the PL wages bubble will burst very soon and the 'lads and boys' will have to start actually working for a living.
As for Chelsea, what do you expect to happen to atmospheres when their traditional support are eased out & replaced by new fans? It's happened at many premier clubs and throughout the championship.
Udinese v AZ .......9,500
maybe they were recovering from their Serie A defeat at Novara in front of 11,000 fans
Stadio Silvio Piola,
Novara, Italy
(Capacity: 17,000
novara's average is 12,150 this year
average prem league crowd 34,497
spanish la liga 30,262
bundesliga 44,765
what is my logic whiskers i'm just showing attendance figures and italian crowds are down and ours are up over a ten year period
obviously crowds mean nothing , look at celtic and rangers great support shit teams
the italian game is not as strong as it once was