Well, tonight's the night for Inter. Almost certainly they will grab their first Scudetto won on the field of play for nearly 20 years. But how much, exactly, is it worth? One of their main rivals was taken out of the league while another was penalised several points. In addition they were able to cherry pick the best players from their stricken opponents. They have been ruthless and they have played some good football but it is widely recognised that it will only be next year that they can truly call themselves champions.
Elsewhere, Euro 2012 has gone to Poland and Ukraine ahead of Italy. Who knows whether recent violence cost the bid dearly. I suppose it is grudgingly nice for new nations to get a major competition. Certainly we have had our chances. Just the same it would be nice to see some of our stadia get an upgrade in the not too distant future.
And what is this about 100 milioni for Ronaldinho? Has Berlusconi gone cuckoo?
Showing posts with label Europe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Europe. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Friday, February 16, 2007
The route to self-destruction
Is Italian football really intent on killing off what little chance it had of being competitive in Europe? First of all Calciopoli robbed us of half of our best teams in the events. Now we are making them all play in front of little or no crowd.
I know we face a problem more grave than most but I don't remember anyone else inflicting such self-harm after such incidents. There has been plenty of coin throwing, pitch invading and senseless violence across Europe. I don't remember any of those nations bashing ALL their teams over the head because one of them offended.
It always looked like being a bad year but now I can only see failure in both Champions League and UEFA Cup. Our teams were weak enough without having much home support. It is true that the San Siro was often half empty for European games anyway but such limits on capacity will make for a poor atmosphere and definitely assist both Valencia and Celtic. At least Roma get a full house but they face the toughest game of all.
I know we face a problem more grave than most but I don't remember anyone else inflicting such self-harm after such incidents. There has been plenty of coin throwing, pitch invading and senseless violence across Europe. I don't remember any of those nations bashing ALL their teams over the head because one of them offended.
It always looked like being a bad year but now I can only see failure in both Champions League and UEFA Cup. Our teams were weak enough without having much home support. It is true that the San Siro was often half empty for European games anyway but such limits on capacity will make for a poor atmosphere and definitely assist both Valencia and Celtic. At least Roma get a full house but they face the toughest game of all.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
A strange kind of chart
We all like to get on our high horses about these ridiculous rankings that are produced from time to time in football so the latest one from soccer statisticians is bound to provoke debate. According to the IFFHS the greatest club team of all time is - wait for it - Barcelona.
To be fair, they have only taken into account 1991 to present day which explains a lot about the skew of the figures. Indeed, Parma (11th) rank ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea. Cool.
From their chart I have extracted the Italian standings for my own strange satisfaction. I have put in brackets their overall rating too.
1. Juventus (2).
2. Milan (3).
3. Inter (7).
4. Parma (11).
5. Lazio (18).
6. Roma (22).
7. Torino (33).
8. Sampdoria (56).
9. Bologna (71).
10. Genoa (77).
11. Fiorentina (81).
12. Palermo (87).
The biggest surprise to me is just how highly Torino got ranked. I remember them having one good season in Europe but a lot of time in Serie B during the period in question. It was also a bit of a shock to see Palermo pop in there on the strength of just a couple of seasons back in the top flight. My own Italian top ten - including all time history - would be more like this.
1. Juventus
2. Milan
3. Inter
4. Roma
5. Torino
6. Fiorentina
7. Lazio
8. Genoa
9. Bologna
10. Napoli
The first three are a no-brainer, I reckon. After that, it depends how much you rate old Scudetti against the new. I put Roma up high because of their outstanding record in staying in Serie A. The others, to be fair, you could swap around in any order. Certainly any top division needs all those teams in it. At the moment we are missing four of them which is another comment on how low the league has sunk.
To be fair, they have only taken into account 1991 to present day which explains a lot about the skew of the figures. Indeed, Parma (11th) rank ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea. Cool.
From their chart I have extracted the Italian standings for my own strange satisfaction. I have put in brackets their overall rating too.
1. Juventus (2).
2. Milan (3).
3. Inter (7).
4. Parma (11).
5. Lazio (18).
6. Roma (22).
7. Torino (33).
8. Sampdoria (56).
9. Bologna (71).
10. Genoa (77).
11. Fiorentina (81).
12. Palermo (87).
The biggest surprise to me is just how highly Torino got ranked. I remember them having one good season in Europe but a lot of time in Serie B during the period in question. It was also a bit of a shock to see Palermo pop in there on the strength of just a couple of seasons back in the top flight. My own Italian top ten - including all time history - would be more like this.
1. Juventus
2. Milan
3. Inter
4. Roma
5. Torino
6. Fiorentina
7. Lazio
8. Genoa
9. Bologna
10. Napoli
The first three are a no-brainer, I reckon. After that, it depends how much you rate old Scudetti against the new. I put Roma up high because of their outstanding record in staying in Serie A. The others, to be fair, you could swap around in any order. Certainly any top division needs all those teams in it. At the moment we are missing four of them which is another comment on how low the league has sunk.
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