Geordie Ahmed Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 2 hours ago, astraguy said: No Ronaldo in the cl is gonna be horrible I think they'll make top 4 (just) If they don't, he'd probably leave, can't imagine him wanting to play in the Europa League Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 Fascinating stuff. What a cock up. Lolllllll Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeyt Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 Nice to see Juve and PSG struggling to maintain their dominance Shame the Bundesliga is a closed shop Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geordie Ahmed Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 52 minutes ago, HTT II said: But they won the title last season with him and could have won more this season had they appointed say Conte and not a novice like Pirlo. Ronaldo is not the reason Juve have had a shit season or would be judged as a mistake signing. And like with any successful side that’s won so much over a time span, it was always going to lead to a period of a falling from grace if you like, Juve just never saw that and appointed the wrong manager and didn’t add the level of quality alongside Ronaldo that was inevitably going to be required to sustain yet more success. They just won it last season They've been getting worse The reality is, Ronaldo himself isn't a flop (goal record speaks for itself) but his signing has been a disaster for Juventus. As has been mentioned the money they gave him has meant the rest of the squad has been neglected. The league was a formality, he was signed to deliver the CL and in that regards they've gotten worse and got knocked out by less fancied sides Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wullie Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 Tricky away games at Bologna and Sassuolo, and Inter at home, they're going to struggle to even make the CL places. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 Rabiot, Ramsay, Bentancur, McKennie and Artur. Not really the midfield options of a team that aspires to be the best in the world. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponsaelius Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 (edited) 19 minutes ago, Geordie Ahmed said: I think they'll make top 4 (just) If they don't, he'd probably leave, can't imagine him wanting to play in the Europa League I think it's probably only Napoli they can overhaul at this point since Milan also have H2H over them now (as do Atalanta). Juventus have Sassuolo and Inter next to play and finish with Bologna. Napoli have Udinese, Fiorentina and Verona. So all teams with nothing to play for essentially. I don't trust Napoli to finish the job with 3/3 - but equally I am sure Conte and Inter will want to rub salt in the wounds. Edited May 10, 2021 by ponsaelius Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toon25 Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 The number of decent central midfielders that they've wasted is also ridiculous. Ramsey, Rabiot and Arthur to name but three Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponsaelius Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 (edited) 4 minutes ago, Disco said: Rabiot, Ramsay, Bentancur, McKennie and Artur. Not really the midfield options of a team that aspires to be the best in the world. Yep this is their major problem. Generally all good players but a lack of pace and energy. Regularly have committed to only playing a midfield two. Compare that to their midfield in the CL final of 2015: Pirlo/Pogba/Vidal/Marchisio Edited May 10, 2021 by ponsaelius Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geordie Ahmed Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 2 minutes ago, ponsaelius said: I think it's probably only Napoli they can overhaul at this point since Milan also have H2H over them now. Juventus have Sassuolo and Inter next to play and finish with Bologna. Napoli have Udinese, Fiorentina and Verona. So all teams with nothing to play for essentially. I don't trust Napoli to finish the job with 3/3 - but equally I am sure Conte and Inter will want to rub salt in the wounds. If Napoli didn't concede that late goal to Cagliari then I think that would have been tough for Juve The Inter game will be big, whilst Conte will probably want to win, how much in holiday mode will the players be? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 Conte's class, isn't he? Never made sense to me, the way Chelsea dicked him about and eventually made his position untenable. Loved his 3-4-3 in 2016/17; incredible spine to the team with Courtois-Cahill-Matic-Kante-Costa; Moses/Alonso providing the balance and Hazard/Pedro the flair. Unreal team. Just lacked a Drinkwater. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HTT II Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 Arsenal or Spurs should have went all out to get Conte, he’s brilliant! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponsaelius Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 3 minutes ago, Geordie Ahmed said: If Napoli didn't concede that late goal to Cagliari then I think that would have been tough for Juve The Inter game will be big, whilst Conte will probably want to win, how much in holiday mode will the players be? H2H is equal between them and Napoli currently have a 6 goal headstart there too. That probably gives them a little more leeway. I think Juve need to win 3/3 to do it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
triggs Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 Conte's record in the CL is really bad for some reason but there's not many/any better at winning leagues Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 8 minutes ago, ponsaelius said: Yep this is their major problem. Generally all good players but a lack of pace and energy. Regularly have committed to only playing a midfield two. Compare that to their midfield in the CL final of 2015: Pirlo/Pogba/Vidal/Marchisio Indeed. I don't watch much Serie A these days as it's not as easily available but it was so obvious how slow and one paced their build up was in the Porto games I watched (one of the worst Porto teams in living memory too). Obviously they have a bit of dynamism out wide but it's fairly formulaic just to be swinging endless balls into the box and looking to play behind the full backs on the counter and obviously if the opposition full backs don't attack you're a bit fucked. Not just them either but the two Madrid teams are the same. Midfields packed with one paced, technical players who are good when the game is going for them but can get overrun relatively easily compared to years gone by. Crowds not being there probably haven't helped, as much as influencing refs as anything else is the same for everyone, and also the fear factor is gone which is huge. Similar to what happened at Man Utd. Teams visiting think they can win rather than just being happy to take a draw. RE: Conte it'll be interesting to see how he carries on this summer given Inter's financial woes and his love of being a needy cunt. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neesy111 Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 It's the reason why Saul hardly plays any more for Atletico now for that reason. Got subbed on and off on saturday. Ouch. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponsaelius Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 1 minute ago, Disco said: Indeed. I don't watch much Serie A these days as it's not as easily available but it was so obvious how slow and one paced their build up was in the Porto games I watched (one of the worst Porto teams in living memory too). Obviously they have a bit of dynamism out wide but it's fairly formulaic just to be swinging endless balls into the box and looking to play behind the full backs on the counter and obviously if the opposition full backs don't attack you're a bit fucked. Not just them either but the two Madrid teams are the same. Midfields packed with one paced, technical players who are good when the game is going for them but can get overrun relatively easily compared to years gone by. Crowds not being there probably haven't helped, as much as influencing refs as anything else is the same for everyone, and also the fear factor is gone which is huge. Similar to what happened at Man Utd. Teams visiting think they can win rather than just being happy to take a draw. Absolutely. Fiorentina (who have been broadly shite this season with the exception of Vlahovic) winning there 0-3 probably broke the spell that they had over teams. Even the weaker sides in the league have fancied their chances of giving them the run around. Also as much I hate VAR, in Italy it has generally be implemented better and has made it much harder for Juventus to get away with scandalous and indeed blatantly corrupt refereeing decisions. A bit like the one season in history of Serie A where referees were randomly decided rather than being pre-selected by committee (84-85) resulted in Hellas Verona winning the league and Juventus finishing 6th... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 With regard to nowt I've just learned there's a team in Liga Nos that is from the Azores and that is just great to see. What an away day that would be. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponsaelius Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 One other thing about Serie A - there is no doubt in terms of quality it is far lower than it was in the past, and the teams are continually underperforming in Europe as a result. However in terms of the actual football being played it's actually far more entertaining than it was when I first started watching and the teams were much better on paper. The financial stakes are lower and as a result the old catenaccio has gone and the managers coming through want to play good and expansive football. Smaller teams like Atalanta and Sassuolo have had great success playing almost ridiculously cavalier attacking football. This has seen newly promoted sides like Benevento and Spezia with miniscule budgets trying to play expansively. Even Crotone who have gone down bottom and conceded 90 goals have a player with 19 league goals this season. Last night's game made it 119 games since there was a 0-0 draw and the average goals per game of 3.04 this season is well above La Liga (2.48), PL (2.64), L1 (2.76) and even Bundesliga (2.96). One of the biggest problems with Italian football is the unwillingness to accept the new economic reality and understand that it's not the 90s anymore. Teams still want to make 'star' signings and will sign aging players rather than play youngsters. It would be far better if they would take a leaf out of La Liga and Ligue 1's book and just have more confidence to play young Italian players instead. After Lukaku Inter's best players this season have undoubtedly been Barella and Bastoni. But so many players just don't get thrown in at the deep end - a bit like what was happening in England up until the last few years where it's finally changed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponsaelius Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 (edited) 19 minutes ago, Disco said: With regard to nowt I've just learned there's a team in Liga Nos that is from the Azores and that is just great to see. What an away day that would be. A Europa League tie between Santa Clara and Luch Energiya Vladivostok or SKA Khabarovsk is the dream. Santa Clara are heavily linked to Benfica I think - their badge is almost the same. Edited May 10, 2021 by ponsaelius Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raconteur Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 3 hours ago, astraguy said: No Ronaldo in the cl is gonna be horrible Wasn’t he certain to leave in the summer anyway? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wullie Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 Serie A has been a gambler's dream the last few seasons, loads of goals and loads of cards. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikky Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 46 minutes ago, Geordie Ahmed said: If Napoli didn't concede that late goal to Cagliari then I think that would have been tough for Juve The Inter game will be big, whilst Conte will probably want to win, how much in holiday mode will the players be? If there is a chance to deny Juve a CL spot then there’s no way Inter will relent - especially as it will cost Juve millions in lost revenue Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeyt Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 2 minutes ago, ponsaelius said: A Europa League tie between Santa Clara and Luch Energiya Vladivostok or SKA Khabarovsk is the dream. Santa Clara are heavily linked to Benfica I think - their badge is almost the same. Aye, I've just been down a wikihole. I think they were but when they were set up but are not anymore, at least officially. Got a Japanese international playing for them too. Wholesome stuff. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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