Italian Serie A - 2020-2021

OmarUnited4ever

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Young is very much a reject. He served us well, but we let him go because he was no longer of any use to us.

Lukaku there's some argument for, but it's no coincidence he left the two top PL clubs he played for and only shone at poorer sides.
Lukaku scored 25+ goals all comps in his 1st season with us, he did very well at Everton where he scored 25 PL goals in his last season with Everton , he had shit season in his 2nd year with us but let's not write off his time at PL just for 1 bad season .

and Everton isn't top PL club, they are mid table team who occasionally try to get top 4 but fail, so Lukaku didn't leave 2 top PL clubs (we bought him for 75m ffs)

my point is on the "Reject" label, it isn't fair on Lukaku, otherwise KdB and Salah are Chelsea rejects too.

on Ashley, he left as 33 year old who served the club for many years, won trophies and left for another challenge.

i can accept the reject label on Sanchez and Darmian, both totally failed us and we got rid of them .
 

Alex99

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That was harsh. We all know his has poor first touch, but he was still our top goalscorer in 17/18 with 27 goals.
You can argue he was never given proper chance to shine in Chelsea side when he was young, but so were Salah and De Bruyne.
Ultimately, he decided he wanted out at the first sign of having to fight for his place, and it wasn't a secret he struggled in games against the top teams.
 

Lay

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Glad for Inter, nice to see a change.
 

Alex99

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Lukaku scored 25+ goals all comps in his 1st season with us, he did very well at Everton where he scored 25 PL goals in his last season with Everton , he had shit season in his 2nd year with us but let's not write off his time at PL just for 1 bad season .

and Everton isn't top PL club, they are mid table team who occasionally try to get top 4 but fail, so Lukaku didn't leave 2 top PL clubs (we bought him for 75m ffs)

my point is on the "Reject" label, it isn't fair on Lukaku, otherwise KdB and Salah are Chelsea rejects too.

on Ashley, he left as 33 year old who served the club for many years, won trophies and left for another challenge.

i can accept the reject label on Sanchez and Darmian, both totally failed us and we got rid of them .
Chelsea are the other top club, not Everton.

Salah and De Bruyne aren't comparable because both went to other top clubs in the PL and excelled.

Lukaku didn't stay and fight for his place at Chelsea, and it was forgiven because he was young, wanted football, and did well at Everton. But then he did it again at United, and quite demonstrably had a poor attitude. If he comes back to the PL to one of the top sides and does well, I'll give him his dues.

Young isn't a reject in the same sense as Darmian, and he served United very well, but ultimately, he's another in an ever increasing list of ex-PL players who couldn't hack it at the top in England, be it because of age or ability, that has slotted in at the top of Serie A.
 

OmarUnited4ever

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Chelsea are the other top club, not Everton.

Salah and De Bruyne aren't comparable because both went to other top clubs in the PL and excelled.

Lukaku didn't stay and fight for his place at Chelsea, and it was forgiven because he was young, wanted football, and did well at Everton. But then he did it again at United, and quite demonstrably had a poor attitude. If he comes back to the PL to one of the top sides and does well, I'll give him his dues.

Young isn't a reject in the same sense as Darmian, and he served United very well, but ultimately, he's another in an ever increasing list of ex-PL players who couldn't hack it at the top in England, be it because of age or ability, that has slotted in at the top of Serie A.
Apologies on the top PL side comment I thought u were referring to Everton, my bad.

On the bolded part, it's still unfair on Lukaku, he only had one shit season in the PL, and as you said he left Chelsea as young and hungry striker who wanted to play football and did very well at Everton hence why paid 75m to bring him in, he had a good first season here and scored 27 goals in all comps, and a shit second season, so overall he did well in PL (if you count his years at Everton and first season at United).

Ole didn't want Lukaku, as he thought Lukaku didn't suit the team, and the club was able to sell him for top dollar to a club that wanted him, which happened to be a club in Seria A, it says nothing about Lukaku no longer being able to hack it in PL or not, because the fact is he hacked it in PL before and nothing says he can't do it again if comes back to PL in the future.

One more thing, I am not arguing Lukaku is among the top PL strikers like Kane or Aguero, or someone we should look at if want to bring a new striker, but he is an excellent goal scorer and he scored 113 PL goals in 252 games in the PL.

Of course Seria A is a low level league compared to PL and Lukaku would thrive there quite easily, no question about that.
 

Red Devil 26

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Congrats on the title win! Was curious about how Conte is viewed amongst Inter fans. Were many against his appointment initially due to his history with Juve? And if so, has that all been forgotten now the 11 year wait for another Scudetto is over?
 

JSVeron

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Lukaku singing CAMPIONI CAMPIONI OLÈ OLÈ on the top of the car wandering around Milano:lol:

we love you Big Rom
 

WeePat

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Congratulations to Inter. Nice to see a different winner.

What's the average age of Inter's squad? I'm wondering if they're set up to challenge for a while or will they have to rebuild the squad again soon. I'm only asking because my perception of them is that the filled with ageing players.
 

JSVeron

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Congratulations to Inter. Nice to see a different winner.

What's the average age of Inter's squad? I'm wondering if they're set up to challenge for a while or will they have to rebuild the squad again soon. I'm only asking because my perception of them is that the filled with ageing players.
The starting 11 age is:
37 (gk) - 26-29-22 (defence) - 23 24 29 29 32 (midfield) - 24-28 (forward)
the only starting player over30 is Ivan Perisic.
 

WeePat

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The starting 11 age is:
37 (gk) - 26-29-22 (defence) - 23 24 29 29 32 (midfield) - 24-28 (forward)
the only starting player over30 is Ivan Perisic.
Thanks - not as bad as I thought. Congrats on the season.
 

FootballHQ

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They played all of the old guys to get knocked out of europe early so was a good strategic decision in the end. ;)
 

JSVeron

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Congrats on the title win! Was curious about how Conte is viewed amongst Inter fans. Were many against his appointment initially due to his history with Juve? And if so, has that all been forgotten now the 11 year wait for another Scudetto is over?
Thanks!!!
I've immediately tried to forget Antonio Conte's past in Juve as a player first (he was the Captain of the Juve in 1st Marcello Lippi era in late 90's) and as manager later and I've supported him since his fist day at Inter, but I conferm that most of the interisti were initially against. Now they've changed their mind and we are all happy of Conte's job done here even if he's a bit unpleasant attitude. Juve fans now hate him as hell instead :D (the rivalry among Juve and Inter is a BIG thing here in Italy, they consider him as a traitor)
Thanks - not as bad as I thought. Congrats on the season.
We just have to sign some young player to replace Young, Kolarov and Vidal (bench players) and might sign a younger LW (and maybe a GK)
Thank you lad, we've been waiting for this too long. FORZA INTER!
 

Markolan

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That is fair enough but your initial statement was trolling of the highest order :nono:
The following sentence?:
Glad to see Lukaku and Eriksen finally win a trophy after so many years wasted in Premier League playing for unsuccessful teams

I completely disagree with that. The teams they played for simply weren't good to win a major trophy in England or Italy:
- Manchester United: nowhere near the current level.. There weren't Bruno, Cavani, an £ 80 million CB, Rashford still wasn't in his prime and Luke Shaw still wasn't the best LB in the league.. You all remember the games against Juventus better than me, Juve fully deserved the victory in Manchester and then dominated for 85' in Turin before conceding two unlucky goals in the final minutes...
- Tottenham: Only in 2019 could have won something.. Maybe. Juventus simply were one of the 3/4 strongest european teams in the 2014/18 quadriennium

It's absolutely fair to say that Lukaku and Eriksen wasted their prime in Premier League playing for unsuccessful teams. It would have been different if they had chosen Manchester City, Chelsea or Liverpool
 
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Dave Smith

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One thing I find weird with Conte is how great he is in domestic football and how dire he is in Europe. I cannot think of many managers with a record of 5 league titles in 7 season (in two different leagues) have such a poor record in Europe.
 

BorisManUtd

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The following sentence?:
Glad to see Lukaku and Eriksen finally win a trophy after so many years wasted in Premier League playing for unsuccessful teams

I completely disagree with that. The teams they played for simply weren't good to win a major trophy in England or Italy:
- Manchester United: nowhere near the current level.. There weren't Bruno, Cavani, an £ 80 million CB, Rashford still wasn't in his prime and Luke Shaw still wasn't the best LB in the league.. You all remember the games against Juventus better than me, Juve fully deserved the victory in Manchester and then dominated for 85' in Turin before conceding two unlucky goals in the final minutes...
- Tottenham: Only in 2019 could have won something.. Maybe. Juventus simply were one of the 3/4 strongest european teams in the 2014/18 quadriennium

It's absolutely fair to say that Lukaku and Eriksen wasted their prime in Premier League playing for unsuccessful treams. It would have been different if they had chosen Manchester City, Chelsea or Liverpool
Tottenham actually weren't average side, finished 2nd in 2017 with 86 points (most goals scored and least goals conceded), 3rd the year before, 3rd and 4th in 2018 and 2019 (with Champions league final, don't think Inter got to knockout stages in neither this or last season).

Fair play to Inter for winning the league and happy for them, loved their 2010 team under Mourinho but they are yet to prove themselves in Europe, Juve have been very poor this season in Serie A so Inter didn't really have competition. Conte winning another league title is no surprise, we all saw him with Chelsea few years ago doing it.
 

Stacks

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The following sentence?:
Glad to see Lukaku and Eriksen finally win a trophy after so many years wasted in Premier League playing for unsuccessful teams

I completely disagree with that. The teams they played for simply weren't good to win a major trophy in England or Italy:
- Manchester United: nowhere near the current level.. There weren't Bruno, Cavani, an £ 80 million CB, Rashford still wasn't in his prime and Luke Shaw still wasn't the best LB in the league.. You all remember the games against Juventus better than me, Juve fully deserved the victory in Manchester and then dominated for 85' in Turin before conceding two unlucky goals in the final minutes...
- Tottenham: Only in 2019 could have won something.. Maybe. Juventus simply were one of the 3/4 strongest european teams in the 2014/18 quadriennium

It's absolutely fair to say that Lukaku and Eriksen wasted their prime in Premier League playing for unsuccessful teams. It would have been different if they had chosen Manchester City, Chelsea or Liverpool
They weren't good enough to play for the successful teams is kind of my point. They were playing at their level. Man City ain't never signing Lukaku and Liverpool ain't building a team around Eriksen. No one truly wanted Eriksen hence why he ended up at Inter. Chelsea have not won major trophies in that period and we finished above them in 2018. Inter have won now Juve have fallen off so its the ideal time for them. Had they joined back in 2018 I doubt they would have won anything. Juve got 95 pts in 2018. The 2 players basally dropped down to a weaker league to build their CV and fair play to them.
 

rojo81

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They weren't good enough to play for the successful teams is kind of my point. They were playing at their level. Man City ain't never signing Lukaku and Liverpool ain't building a team around Eriksen. No one truly wanted Eriksen hence why he ended up at Inter. Chelsea have not won major trophies in that period and we finished above them in 2018. Inter have won now Juve have fallen off so its the ideal time for them. Had they joined back in 2018 I doubt they would have won anything. Juve got 95 pts in 2018. The 2 players basally dropped down to a weaker league to build their CV and fair play to them.
Nobody is building a team around eriksen and so far he has looked way better in the pl than in serie a, he has been mostly shite for inter. Does that make serie a better? Of course not, some players look better in some teams than in others, and it has little to do with if a league is weaker or stronger.

And lukaku, I know united fans have a bad history with him, but he is one of the top strikers on the world, thats pretty much universally recognized outside of united fans .
 

Stacks

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Nobody is building a team around eriksen and so far he has looked way better in the pl than in serie a, he has been mostly shite for inter. Does that make serie a better? Of course not, some players look better in some teams than in others, and it has little to do with if a league is weaker or stronger.

And lukaku, I know united fans have a bad history with him, but he is one of the top strikers on the world, thats pretty much universally recognized outside of united fans .
Eriksen was also shite in his last years at Spurs too. Everton fans had criticisms of Lukaku and when he was available NONE of the European giants went for him despite him being available for under 70 mill and plenty of them needing a new striker. didn't Real buy some kid instead? You think if Kane, Mbappe, Neymar, Lewa were available for 60-70 mill the top sides would let them go to Inter? what about Haaland at 60-70 mill? If he so recognized why did only Inter press for him and not a top European club? He is good for a side who expects to come bottom of their CL group but not one to compete.
 

JSVeron

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Jose back in Italy!!! next ASRoma manager
Can't wait to get back in San Siro for the next Inter-Roma. All the interisti will stand up for him, 100%!!!
 

BorisManUtd

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Jose back in Italy!!! next ASRoma manager
Can't wait to get back in San Siro for the next Inter-Roma. All the interisti will stand up for him, 100%!!!
Don't you Inter fans call San Siro 'Giuseppe Meazza' while Milan fans call it San Siro? Always wondered tbh.
 

rojo81

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Eriksen was also shite in his last years at Spurs too. Everton fans had criticisms of Lukaku and when he was available NONE of the European giants went for him despite him being available for under 70 mill and plenty of them needing a new striker. didn't Real buy some kid instead? You think if Kane, Mbappe, Neymar, Lewa were available for 60-70 mill the top sides would let them go to Inter? what about Haaland at 60-70 mill? If he so recognized why did only Inter press for him and not a top European club? He is good for a side who expects to come bottom of their CL group but not one to compete.
70 mill is a lot of money, and the fact you have to compare him to Kane, Mbappe, Neymar, Lewa and Haaland says it all. He is in the group below those players, so yea, one of the top strikers in the world.
 

giorno

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Don't you Inter fans call San Siro 'Giuseppe Meazza' while Milan fans call it San Siro? Always wondered tbh.
Wut? No. Stadium is called Giuseppe Meazza. We call it San Siro because it's the name of the neighborhood it's in, and it's easier/flows better on the tongue than call it meazza
 

JSVeron

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Don't you Inter fans call San Siro 'Giuseppe Meazza' while Milan fans call it San Siro? Always wondered tbh.
Hi! It’s the same!
The name of the stadium is “Stadio Giuseppe Meazza” and it is located in a neighborhood of Milano called San Siro.
You can call it both ways.

Maybe you wondered that just because Giuseppe Meazza is an Inter Legend (despite he played also for AC Milan one season)

how much I am missing watching matches there...!
 

BorisManUtd

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Wut? No. Stadium is called Giuseppe Meazza. We call it San Siro because it's the name of the neighborhood it's in, and it's easier/flows better on the tongue than call it meazza
Hi! It’s the same!
The name of the stadium is “Stadio Giuseppe Meazza” and it is located in a neighborhood of Milano called San Siro.
You can call it both ways.

Maybe you wondered that just because Giuseppe Meazza is an Inter Legend (despite he played also for AC Milan one season)

how much I am missing watching matches there...!
Oh thanks for clarification :)
 

Stacks

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70 mill is a lot of money, and the fact you have to compare him to Kane, Mbappe, Neymar, Lewa and Haaland says it all. He is in the group below those players, so yea, one of the top strikers in the world.
When you said top I assumed you meant them. He is in a group with the Jamie Vardys etc
 

mazhar13

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What's going on with the Coppa Italia? I woke up to this, today:

This is terrible for a cup tournament that's supposed to represent all of Italy. I don't know how much more money they can make off of the TV rights by closing the tournament out to teams outside of Serie A and B, but this is no longer a "Coppa Italia" in my eyes. I also wonder what this'll mean for the tournament in the future. Will Lega Calcio close this tournament out even more? Will they put the matchups more in favour of the top sides? As things stand, the top 8 Serie A teams all get involved from the Round of 16 onwards.
 

giorno

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It's already a pretty meaningless tournament with very little money in it

This really doesn't make any sort of sense whatsoever
 

Morty_

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So many big games today, most of them at the exact same time....
 

FootballHQ

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Another great half by Pirlo by looks of it, 0 shots on target.

Juve back in massive trouble if they lose this but think they'll turn it around second half, need to put Dybala on and play through the lines more.