Topic: Serie A

[kloppagetime]

Yeah he's done an absolutely smashing job tbf, they're about 13 points off the top four but finished just 1 point behind it last season. Give him a contract extension.

You do know he took over during the season when Milan were in 13th place by the time he took over top four was pretty much gone. Also the top four in Italy have been remarkably consistent this season all of them are already on over 70+ points with 3 games remaining.

[Caligula?]

You do know he took over during the season when Milan were in 13th place by the time he took over top four was pretty much gone. Also the top four in Italy have been remarkably consistent this season all of them are already on over 70+ points with 3 games remaining.

How was it gone? He took over when they were four points behind 4th place. They're currently 13 behind. Progress.

[OsirisMVZ]

Expect Juve to still win the title but what a poor result that was. Normally you would just read they beat Udine 2 or 3 nil and seal the title with a couple of rounds left to go. Sarri is a good tactician etc but he's still got a way to go when it comes to things like motivation.

[kloppagetime]

How was it gone? He took over when they were four points behind 4th place. They're currently 13 behind. Progress.

They were also 3 points off relegation at that time, it's taken him a bit of time to implement his ideas across but since the turn of the year Milan have been one of the best teams in Serie A.

It's tricky taking over a team midseason because you haven't had a pre-season to get to know the players better and the initial results can always be hard to get.

[Caligula?]

They were also 3 points off relegation at that time, it's taken him a bit of time to implement his ideas across but since the turn of the year Milan have been one of the best teams in Serie A.

It's tricky taking over a team midseason because you haven't had a pre-season to get to know the players better and the initial results can always be hard to get.

Fair enough then. I personally think a few end-of-the-season wins against the top sides doesn't paper over the cracks, but if they want to take that risk then it's on them. A few more years of no CL could really hamper the club.

[surfer. Fuck you generator.]

Pioli always does this haha.  The issues usually come when the team wants to take the next step up from stabilisation.

[elsewhere]

Milan up 1-0 against Atalanta. I understand why they kept Pioli as the manager, you can't argue with the record since he came and it was the safe choice to stick to him. Calhanoglu has been immense for them since the manager change, it feels like he is scoring and assisting every single match. Likewise Rebic, Ibrahimovic all upped their game. Next year will be a big test though, if they think they are good enough for Top 4 because of recent results, they are not, They still need 3 quality starters and get rid off some deadwood imo.

[Caligula?]

1-1 now and Atalanta have also missed a penalty. I expect them to go on and win it now.

[elsewhere]

Sassuolo has been quite good surprise this year, fighting for a spot in Europe when i expected them to be relegated.

[elsewhere]

Sassuolo had 4 goals ruled off for offside, has to be some record

[J_Kopite]

In what must come as a huge surprise, Juventus win the title again!

[surfer. Fuck you generator.]

Don't do this often but can't resist here..

Sassuolo has been quite good surprise this year, fighting for a spot in Europe when i expected them to be relegated.

Both Giampaolo and De Zerbi (the coaches of Sampdoria and Sassuolo respectively) are interesting names to watch if you look at them as pure coaches, analysing the movements, decision-making and speed of execution of their players only. The level of talent will limit how high up the table their teams can go (for now, both have had good starts), but it's nice to watch these teams play as they are well-coached, positive.

I remember Giampaolo following Sarri at Empoli but the first phase of the season wasn't really noteworthy, had some doubts after the great work Sarri did there; though they ultimately did well and finished in a good position. De Zerbi's rise is is more pronounced due to his young age, but for now both coaches are where they should be to develop imo.   

[kloppagetime]

Ronaldo at 35 has scored 31 league goals this season in 32 games and rival fans say that our front three is getting old 

[IanZG]

I've watched a few highlights this morning and there was like 5 penalties in 3 matches. Is this normal for Serie A or was this an outlier?

[Chris~]

Looking at their top scorers Immobile scored 13/14 penalties and Ronaldo 12/13 I'm  guessing serie a just gives a lot of penalties. The most a team has ever got in a season in the premier league is 14, Manchester United this season. 2 teams got 13 in a  season. Actually just had a look and 4 teams in serie a got 14 or more penalties this year with 2 rounds of games to go.

[LovelyCushionedHeader]

Looking at their top scorers Immobile scored 13/14 penalties and Ronaldo 12/13 I'm  guessing serie a just gives a lot of penalties. The most a team has ever got in a season in the premier league is 14, Manchester United this season. 2 teams got 13 in a  season. Actually just had a look and 4 teams in serie a got 14 or more penalties this year with 2 rounds of games to go.

177 penalties were awarded in Serie A this season compared to 92 in the Premier League. That is an amazing difference. The number in the Premier League has been pretty consistent year on year over the past five seasons, but the number in Serie A is generally between 110-130 so this season is either a freak outlier or something has systematically changed in how games are officiated. Either way, it's clearly harder to get a penalty in England, unless you are Man United.

[Iska]

or something has systematically changed in how games are officiated

VAR came in a year earlier in Serie A I think.  Could it be that?

[LovelyCushionedHeader]

VAR came in a year earlier in Serie A I think.  Could it be that?

Only if they decided to implement it differently / more robustly this season.. 59 more penalties compared to last year.

Would be interesting to see how many have been given (or overturned) as a result of VAR though.

[kloppagetime]

Josip Ilicic is apparently suffering from depression and contemplating retiring from football because when he went back to Slovenia he caught his wife cheating on him. He won't be taking any part in Atalanta Champions League campaign huge below for them as he's been brilliant this season.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Josip Ilicic is apparently suffering from depression and contemplating retiring from football because when he went back to Slovenia he caught his wife cheating on him. He won't be taking any part in Atalanta Champions League campaign huge below for them as he's been brilliant this season.

Wow thats terrible.

[elsewhere]

It feels strange that Juve will win the league by 1 points only but it was never this close to be fair. They would've won the last 2 against Cagliari and Roma if they had to imo. Lazio was the team to surprise everyone but they went 6 matches without a win to fuck their chances up.

Big day tomorrow for Lecce and Genoa.

[Dynasty]

Unreal from Ibra at 38 which probably means Ronaldo is going to banging them in for another few years.

[DelTrotter]

It feels strange that Juve will win the league by 1 points only but it was never this close to be fair. They would've won the last 2 against Cagliari and Roma if they had to imo. Lazio was the team to surprise everyone but they went 6 matches without a win to fuck their chances up.

Big day tomorrow for Lecce and Genoa.

Genoa seem to have a lot of Verona connections so most of Italy thinks they are nailed on to stay up. Miguel Veloso's family christmas dinner would be amusing though if Verona relegated Genoa. (He's married to the daughter of Genoa's owner)

[elsewhere]

Genoa seem to have a lot of Verona connections so most of Italy thinks they are nailed on to stay up. Miguel Veloso's family christmas dinner would be amusing though if Verona relegated Genoa. (He's married to the daughter of Genoa's owner)

[PoetryInMotion]

It feels strange that Juve will win the league by 1 points only but it was never this close to be fair. They would've won the last 2 against Cagliari and Roma if they had to imo. Lazio was the team to surprise everyone but they went 6 matches without a win to fuck their chances up.

Big day tomorrow for Lecce and Genoa.

Yes, but the table doesn't look great for Conte bashers.

[thaddeus]

What a season by Immobile.  He scored 36 and assisted 9 of Lazio's 79 goals!

Weird for Juventus to win it with the only the fourth best goal difference.  I know they did like us and took their eye off it a bit towards the end but it still seems like their era of total domination may be coming to an end.

[Samie]

Got to love this man, His team losing and he's smoking. 

[BobPaisley3]

Yes, but the table doesn't look great for Conte bashers.

He was always going to do well there. They’ve dropped some silly points at home and the table is closer than it should be, but next season they’ll push Juve all the way.

[elsewhere]

it feels strange saying it but Ashley Young actually did well in Serie A so far.

[PoetryInMotion]

it feels strange saying it but Ashley Young actually did well in Serie A so far.

Even Victor Moses shone as a Wing-Back in Conte's system.

[elsewhere]

Paolo Maldini said that he sees Zlatan Ibrahimovic as a part of AC Milan for next season.

Ibrahimovic's contract expires this summer.

"We have created something this season which needs continuity. Zlatan is part of this project," club legend Maldini said. "It won't be any easy negotiation but we want to move forward with him. In attack with him we feel content, then there are Ante Rebic and Rafael Leao as well as other young players who can grow exponentially with him. That is our line."

Ibrahimovic became the oldest player to score at least 10 goals in a single Serie A campaign.

[IanZG]

He was always going to do well there. They’ve dropped some silly points at home and the table is closer than it should be, but next season they’ll push Juve all the way.

I felt like they had a massive bad run of form in the middle of the season, dropping points everywhere. Quite surprised to see them finish 2nd, only a point back. Hope they push them further next season, this Juve team is painfully boring to watch...

[elsewhere]

I felt like they had a massive bad run of form in the middle of the season, dropping points everywhere. Quite surprised to see them finish 2nd, only a point back. Hope they push them further next season, this Juve team is painfully boring to watch...

Juve basically threw the last 2 games imo

[IanZG]

Juve basically threw the last 2 games imo

Yeah and lost to Udinese before clinching the title. I'm actually impressed more by the fact they finished 2nd, thought Atalanta and Lazio were way ahead and much better in form.

[elsewhere]

Yeah and lost to Udinese before clinching the title. I'm actually impressed more by the fact they finished 2nd, thought Atalanta and Lazio were way ahead and much better in form.

Lazio could have been the champions if they didn't have that mental collapse and went 5 or 6 matches without winning.

[elsewhere]

Genoa seem to have a lot of Verona connections so most of Italy thinks they are nailed on to stay up. Miguel Veloso's family christmas dinner would be amusing though if Verona relegated Genoa. (He's married to the daughter of Genoa's owner)

you were right, easy 3-0 in 25 minutes for Genoa and they wrapped this up.

[BobPaisley3]

I felt like they had a massive bad run of form in the middle of the season, dropping points everywhere. Quite surprised to see them finish 2nd, only a point back. Hope they push them further next season, this Juve team is painfully boring to watch...

They did, although the final game before lockdown was away to Juve. Had they won I think they’d have only been a couple of points behind. On paper their squad is the second best in the league so not massively surprised they finished where they did. Shame Lazio didn’t last the pace but they’d probably have taken 4th at the start of the season.

[aw1991]

So Conte went ballistic on Sky last night, saying he and the players weren't given enough protection from the club. You can read a translation of the best parts here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/FCInterMilan/comments/i2eqkg/translation_of_contes_sky_sport_interview_the/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

Rumors that the rift between him and the club is too big, he might get the sack and replaced with Allegri

[Garrus]

Conte has to be one of the biggest moaning bastards out there. The club invested pretty heavily last year, pretty much got him all his major targets, including the likes of Young and Moses (!!), signed a 40m wing back for next season too and he still isn't happy.

[Jookie]

Conte has to be one of the biggest moaning bastards out there. The club invested pretty heavily last year, pretty much got him all his major targets, including the likes of Young and Moses (!!), signed a 40m wing back for next season too and he still isn't happy.

Conte is definitely a moaner but he's done a good job at Inter this season. They spent a fair bit last summer but also recouped a fair bit with the sales of Icardi and Barbosa during the season.

I think the context of how well Conte has done is Inter's league performances over the last 10 years. They've only managed to break 70 points on 2 or 3 occasions in the last 10 seasons. They hadn't come 2nd since 2010/11 and hadn't broken 80 points since winning the league in 2009/10. Most seasons in-between they were getting somewhere near 55 -65 points.

In that context Conte has done well during his 1st season. Despite the ~80M net spend and a few signings being misses (Eriksen(so far), Lazaro, Politano (who to be fair was a loan signing previously). I do wonder how much say Conte had in some signings. Some players bought don't seem to fit his preferred system.

Inter look to have invested well for next season, with Hakimi and Tonali. Hakimi seems really well suited to Conte's 3-5-2. Much more so than any team who'd want to put him in a flat back 4. Conte seems high maintenance but he's a very good manager. If I was an Inter fan I'd be desperate for him to be in charge for next season.