Shame about Lazio imploding, Immobile is one of my favourite strikers in the world right now and has never really gotten the recognition I think he deserves
Shame about Lazio imploding, Immobile is one of my favourite strikers in the world right now and has never really gotten the recognition I think he deserves
He is class, totally agree with it. If he was at Juventus people would be raving about him, would have been nice to see someone else lift the trophy too.
I saw Everton was linked with him and loads of their numpty fans were like "pony player in a pony league why would we want him" and I think they're mad, his style of play would suit English football IMO
though i really like Immobile for me personally my favourite Italian forward knocking about at the moment has to Belotti. not the best for natural talent but his passion makes up for that.
though i really like Immobile for me personally my favourite Italian forward knocking about at the moment has to Belotti. not the best for natural talent but his passion makes up for that.
Feel a bit for Belotti this year, he’s stuck playing for an absolutely awful Torino team. They really are shocking this season.
On an individual note, Belotti has now scored in the last 6 league games in a row.
I described Sassuolo as “a budget Atalanta” to someone earlier.
they play some really good football, have multiple goal threats (aside from Atalanta they are the only team with 3 players with 10+ goals) and often get involved in a “we’ll score more than you forget about defending“ mindset. Only the top 4 have scored more goals than them this season and they’ve won their last 4.
Currently having a real ding dong with Juventus, 2-0 down then 3-2 up. Now 3 all with 20 minutes left.
Juve beat Lazio 2-1 and will now almost certainly be champions again. 8 points clear with 4 games to go.
Ronaldo scored both and in doing so breaks a number of records.
First Juventus striker to score 30 goals in a Serie A season since the 1950s. The first ever player to score 30 goals in a season in the premier league, La liga and Serie A. First player ever to score 50 goals in total in those 3 leagues. Fastest player in history to reach 50 goals in Serie A (61 games).
AC Milan are back. 5 games since the restart, 4 wins and a draw, including wins over Roma, Lazio and last night Juventus.
2-0 down after an hour, they scored 4 times in 15 minutes.
Zlatan (obviously exaggerating) said after: "If I was here from the beginning of the season, we would have won the Scudetto!"
They’ve looked fantastic since the restart, which makes it look crazy that they’ve announced a new manager for next season.
Former Leipzig boss Ralf Rangnick will take over at the end of the season.
Pioli has only been there since October, admittedly it was only supposed to be a short term appointment, but taking over mid season he never actually had a chance to put his own ideas to the team, he frequently mentioned how much he would have loved a preseason with this group of players. Then lockdown comes and on the restart is the first chance of a mini preseason where he can get his ideas across and work on things without a game coming up in a few days. First time he really gets to put his own ideas across and look at their results. 4 wins and a draw, including 3 wins against teams in the top 6.
I don’t doubt this deal with Rangnick has been planned for some time, and he looks set to become sporting director too (a position he also held at RB) but it does seem harsh on Pioli.
AC Milan are back. 5 games since the restart, 4 wins and a draw, including wins over Roma, Lazio and last night Juventus.
2-0 down after an hour, they scored 4 times in 15 minutes.
Zlatan (obviously exaggerating) said after: "If I was here from the beginning of the season, we would have won the Scudetto!"
They’ve looked fantastic since the restart, which makes it look crazy that they’ve announced a new manager for next season.
Former Leipzig boss Ralf Rangnick will take over at the end of the season.
Pioli has only been there since October, admittedly it was only supposed to be a short term appointment, but taking over mid season he never actually had a chance to put his own ideas to the team, he frequently mentioned how much he would have loved a preseason with this group of players. Then lockdown comes and on the restart is the first chance of a mini preseason where he can get his ideas across and work on things without a game coming up in a few days. First time he really gets to put his own ideas across and look at their results. 4 wins and a draw, including 3 wins against teams in the top 6.
I don’t doubt this deal with Rangnick has been planned for some time, and he looks set to become sporting director too (a position he also held at RB) but it does seem harsh on Pioli.
Milan changed their minds and paid him 2m to cancel their pre-contract agreement.
I'm 50-50 on this. Pioli has obviously done well, built momentum, and they're playing good football. Apparently the first time in over 20 years they've scored twice in 9 successive games. But how much of this is down to Pioli and how much of this is down to them improving since Zlatan arrived? Pioli is not going to be around long term, this is his 14th job in 17 years.
I wonder if they've been swayed by Zlatan saying he didn't know who Rangnick was? As surely this means Zlatan will stay next season now.
Rangnick was going to come in and (i assume) start to build things the same way he did at Leipzig. Young players bought cheaply who would grow with the club playing exciting football.
Ultimately if Pioli continues to do well then it's great for Milan, but if they start next season badly, Gazidis will be under big pressure for doing a u-turn on Rangnick. If i was Gazidis i'd have kept Pioli as coach but brought Rangnick in as a director of football.
Juve beat Lazio 2-1 and will now almost certainly be champions again. 8 points clear with 4 games to go.
Ronaldo scored both and in doing so breaks a number of records.
First Juventus striker to score 30 goals in a Serie A season since the 1950s. The first ever player to score 30 goals in a season in the premier league, La liga and Serie A. First player ever to score 50 goals in total in those 3 leagues. Fastest player in history to reach 50 goals in Serie A (61 games).
20 goals from open play in one of the big 5 leagues in Europe is not to be sniffed at, if I was manager of a big European club in the UCL I'd be trying my hardest to sign Immobile up, if he scores again this season he'll be top scorer in Europe this year
20 goals from open play in one of the big 5 leagues in Europe is not to be sniffed at, if I was manager of a big European club in the UCL I'd be trying my hardest to sign Immobile up, if he scores again this season he'll be top scorer in Europe this year
True but i wonder if he's one of those players who's just suited to a certain league, same as Soldado was in La Liga.
Immobile went to Dortmund and he was terrible in the Bundesliga.
Pirlo as a manager is interesting, obviously looking at the relatively good job ex players like Lampard and Arteta are doing and doing the same (they'll also be given more leeway by the fans and won't command huge wages like a Mourinho, Ancelotti or Guardiola would)
So, it’s over. The season that would never end finished with both Charlton and Atalanta suffering injury time daggers to the heart in final games.
Juve stumbled across the line winning the league with what is surely their worst team that has won one of the last eight Serie A titles. They are slow, old and one dimensional. Ronaldo is not far off becoming a target man and loses to Napoli in Coppa Italia final and Lyon in Champions meant that Sarri had to go. You don’t get time at Juve and Pirlo will do well to avoid the Angelli chop if things don’t start well for him.
Conte did well ok at Inter. They had the strongest squad in the league, and had he not had a meltdown pre covid and just after then they may have put enough pressure on Juve for them to faulter. Moses and Young both did very well although Eriksen has been a major disappointment and unbalanced the team. They will win the league next year in my opinion.
The surprise package was Lazio and the continued rise of their manage Inzaghi. Bright, intelligent and not scared of making bold decisions it was Lazio that at one point looked like they might finish on top the pile. Immobile scored, worked hard and now makes him the standout Italian no9. Not that there is huge competition for that right now.
The league has a whole was not very strong and you could argue that Charlton could beat Spal, Brescia or Lecce (who all went down). No Italian teams in Champions semi - final. The gap between now what is the big 8 and the rest is getting larger. Doesn’t seem to be all leagues around the world though?
Atalanta. It is hard not to start without talking about Covid. It was frightening what happened here. The hospitals couldn’t cope, everyday (and all day) all you could here were ambulances, and everybody here knows somebody that died. Awful times and whilst at one point I was tempted to fly the kids back to UK we dug it out. Stayed indoors for two months and ultimately Italy and Bergamo have come out the other side. The Ultra’s and the Alpini (kind of adult scouts) built a temporary hospital. There was a truce between Brescia and Atalanta fans and even a joint banner went up on one of the bridges that separate the provinces. It lasted 5 days before it was tore down but somebody. There are lots of stories around the nightmare of February and March my own is that a friend cut his hand badly in the kitchen and phoned the hospital to ask if he could come in to get stitches, they told him to not come as the hospital was full of Covid. So, what did he do? He got it stitched at the vets! That is how bad it got and how resourceful people got.
Football. Atalanta are brilliant. They really are. The league at one point looked possible and in the end they finished five points behind Juve in third. They scored more goals than anyone and despite the fact that most Italians are not admirers of the Bergaschi it was Atalanta that everyone cheered for as there second team. The Champions league run was incredible and despite looking like they would be knocked out in the group stages they of course made it to the quarter final. Ultimately, they run out of steam last night and I don’t really want to go into the ins and outs right now. I will point out though that Gollini the first-choice keeper and of course Ilicic missing was crucial. I have mentioned before that Illicic is a strange bloke and he sits in the corner of the dressing room almost alone. He is popular with the other guys though and they have been very supportive of his absence. It has been reported that he hasn’t played because of an issue with his wife and an affair. Nobody really knows what is happening, but my understanding is his wife has major anxiety about Covid and didn’t want him to play.
The club is in a strange place. Again, they have had a good year. But they are not flush with money. Sponsors have been difficult to placate with 30% of home games not open to the public meaning sponsors could not do the corporate thing. Gate receipts obviously lost and the owner Percassi has himself suffered financially has much of his empire is built on retail. He recently brought the rights to Starbucks in Italy. The stadium is in the next phase of development and they are doing a good job of turning a listed building in to a modern stand. Not easy. The Atalana u19’s again won the league and the club still have the strongest youth set up in Italy possibly Europe. The new facilities dedicated to youth at the training ground are astonishing good.
Sadly, for me much of the work I have done with Atalanta this year hit a roadblock because of Covid. We had many youth teams and schools booked from all round the world to come and enjoy the Atalanta experience. Fingers crossed on that. One thing is for sure that four years ago when I started this project, I couldn’t have imagined the exposure the club have got. I will post some more updates further down the line but like the rest of Italy I am going on holiday.
Inter 1-0 down, 2-1 up, 3-2 down, then score on 88 and 89 to win it 4-3.
Also realised tonight, that the premier league is the only top league that voted against sticking with the 5 subs. Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga and Ligue 1 have all kept the 5 subs rule.
Inter 1-0 down, 2-1 up, 3-2 down, then score on 88 and 89 to win it 4-3.
Also realised tonight, that the premier league is the only top league that voted against sticking with the 5 subs. Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga and Ligue 1 have all kept the 5 subs rule.
Comments
PS- i do quite like Atlanta, just a light hearted joke.
Juve will win the league again, Lazio have imploded. AC Milan are on a good run
his record at Lazio has been fantastic. shame he has struggled at times for the national side.
On an individual note, Belotti has now scored in the last 6 league games in a row.
they play some really good football, have multiple goal threats (aside from Atalanta they are the only team with 3 players with 10+ goals) and often get involved in a “we’ll score more than you forget about defending“ mindset.
Only the top 4 have scored more goals than them this season and they’ve won their last 4.
Currently having a real ding dong with Juventus, 2-0 down then 3-2 up. Now 3 all with 20 minutes left.
Ronaldo scored both and in doing so breaks a number of records.
First Juventus striker to score 30 goals in a Serie A season since the 1950s.
The first ever player to score 30 goals in a season in the premier league, La liga and Serie A.
First player ever to score 50 goals in total in those 3 leagues.
Fastest player in history to reach 50 goals in Serie A (61 games).
I'm 50-50 on this. Pioli has obviously done well, built momentum, and they're playing good football. Apparently the first time in over 20 years they've scored twice in 9 successive games. But how much of this is down to Pioli and how much of this is down to them improving since Zlatan arrived? Pioli is not going to be around long term, this is his 14th job in 17 years.
I wonder if they've been swayed by Zlatan saying he didn't know who Rangnick was? As surely this means Zlatan will stay next season now.
Rangnick was going to come in and (i assume) start to build things the same way he did at Leipzig. Young players bought cheaply who would grow with the club playing exciting football.
Ultimately if Pioli continues to do well then it's great for Milan, but if they start next season badly, Gazidis will be under big pressure for doing a u-turn on Rangnick. If i was Gazidis i'd have kept Pioli as coach but brought Rangnick in as a director of football.
Immobile scored a hat trick for Lazio and moves to 34 goals.
Ronaldo has 31 goals.
Can't believe the amount of penalties these 2 get given though. Immobile has scored 14, Ronaldo has 12.
Immobile went to Dortmund and he was terrible in the Bundesliga.
The 1st time since 2006-7 that it hasnt been won or shared by a La Liga player.
Sarri sacked today, and they've named Pirlo as their new manager.
Was a dot on the cards.
So, it’s over. The season that would never end finished with both Charlton and Atalanta suffering injury time daggers to the heart in final games.
Juve stumbled across the line winning the league with what is surely their worst team that has won one of the last eight Serie A titles. They are slow, old and one dimensional. Ronaldo is not far off becoming a target man and loses to Napoli in Coppa Italia final and Lyon in Champions meant that Sarri had to go. You don’t get time at Juve and Pirlo will do well to avoid the Angelli chop if things don’t start well for him.
Conte did well ok at Inter. They had the strongest squad in the league, and had he not had a meltdown pre covid and just after then they may have put enough pressure on Juve for them to faulter. Moses and Young both did very well although Eriksen has been a major disappointment and unbalanced the team. They will win the league next year in my opinion.
The surprise package was Lazio and the continued rise of their manage Inzaghi. Bright, intelligent and not scared of making bold decisions it was Lazio that at one point looked like they might finish on top the pile. Immobile scored, worked hard and now makes him the standout Italian no9. Not that there is huge competition for that right now.
The league has a whole was not very strong and you could argue that Charlton could beat Spal, Brescia or Lecce (who all went down). No Italian teams in Champions semi - final. The gap between now what is the big 8 and the rest is getting larger. Doesn’t seem to be all leagues around the world though?
Atalanta. It is hard not to start without talking about Covid. It was frightening what happened here. The hospitals couldn’t cope, everyday (and all day) all you could here were ambulances, and everybody here knows somebody that died. Awful times and whilst at one point I was tempted to fly the kids back to UK we dug it out. Stayed indoors for two months and ultimately Italy and Bergamo have come out the other side. The Ultra’s and the Alpini (kind of adult scouts) built a temporary hospital. There was a truce between Brescia and Atalanta fans and even a joint banner went up on one of the bridges that separate the provinces. It lasted 5 days before it was tore down but somebody. There are lots of stories around the nightmare of February and March my own is that a friend cut his hand badly in the kitchen and phoned the hospital to ask if he could come in to get stitches, they told him to not come as the hospital was full of Covid. So, what did he do? He got it stitched at the vets! That is how bad it got and how resourceful people got.
Football. Atalanta are brilliant. They really are. The league at one point looked possible and in the end they finished five points behind Juve in third. They scored more goals than anyone and despite the fact that most Italians are not admirers of the Bergaschi it was Atalanta that everyone cheered for as there second team. The Champions league run was incredible and despite looking like they would be knocked out in the group stages they of course made it to the quarter final. Ultimately, they run out of steam last night and I don’t really want to go into the ins and outs right now. I will point out though that Gollini the first-choice keeper and of course Ilicic missing was crucial. I have mentioned before that Illicic is a strange bloke and he sits in the corner of the dressing room almost alone. He is popular with the other guys though and they have been very supportive of his absence. It has been reported that he hasn’t played because of an issue with his wife and an affair. Nobody really knows what is happening, but my understanding is his wife has major anxiety about Covid and didn’t want him to play.
The club is in a strange place. Again, they have had a good year. But they are not flush with money. Sponsors have been difficult to placate with 30% of home games not open to the public meaning sponsors could not do the corporate thing. Gate receipts obviously lost and the owner Percassi has himself suffered financially has much of his empire is built on retail. He recently brought the rights to Starbucks in Italy. The stadium is in the next phase of development and they are doing a good job of turning a listed building in to a modern stand. Not easy. The Atalana u19’s again won the league and the club still have the strongest youth set up in Italy possibly Europe. The new facilities dedicated to youth at the training ground are astonishing good.
Sadly, for me much of the work I have done with Atalanta this year hit a roadblock because of Covid. We had many youth teams and schools booked from all round the world to come and enjoy the Atalanta experience. Fingers crossed on that. One thing is for sure that four years ago when I started this project, I couldn’t have imagined the exposure the club have got. I will post some more updates further down the line but like the rest of Italy I am going on holiday.
More of a question about letting Cengiz Under go now Zaniolo has another ACL injury.
Kumbulla in from Verona is a good signing, confirms no return for Smalling no doubt.
Meanwhile, problems with Miliks fitness (knee injury) means the transfer is on hold, which also pus Dzeko to Juve on hold.
A 4-2 win today away at Torino for Serie A's great entertainers.
Inter 1-0 down, 2-1 up, 3-2 down, then score on 88 and 89 to win it 4-3.
Also realised tonight, that the premier league is the only top league that voted against sticking with the 5 subs. Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga and Ligue 1 have all kept the 5 subs rule.