Football espresso 2019 - 20

[Insidious Von]

This is the first time I'm hearing about this. United are in for a couple of midfielders. Fernandez from Portugal and Maddison from Leicester City.

It was reported on calciomercato back in July. He's 22 with his best years still to come, surely he's worth more than $37.7 million.

Moise Kean is languishing at Everton, he doesn't have CR7 to motivate him. His partying pal Nicolo Zaniolo took the transfer of Henrikh Mikhtarian to heart, he went wild against a Turkish club in the Europa. The EPL starts earlier than Serie A, being in better shape I expected the Armenian to make an impact in his first game with Roma.

It makes me happy when a Canadian scores.

 

[Insidious Von]

There's a rumour making the rounds that Qatar Investment Group wants to buy Roma. Is that legal, they already own PSG? James Palotta has denied it but the Byzantine Roman bureaucracy has worn him down. They still haven't broken ground on his new stadium.

It may happen, their streaming service DAZN has been taking a beating from Mediaset (who now own TLN) who are striving to become the premiere Latin languages broadcaster. It's not clear if TLN will carry La Liga, the ever ambitious Pier Silvio Berlusconi may launch Mediaset Espana in Canada - if he can get CRTC approval.

https://www.football-italia.net/137819/pallotta-roma-must-demand-stadium

 

[Insidious Von]

Aaron Ramsey finally makes his start with Juve. He went on a charm offensive when he got to to Torino to hide the fact that he was damaged goods. I don't have the details of his contract with Juve only substantially more than what Arsenal paid him.

Time for him to start earning his paycheque....he just scored.

 

[Insidious Von]

Antonio Conte's gambit worked. They sleepwalked their way in the CL then thoroughly dominated Ac Milan. The final score could have been 5 - 0 had the Neroazzurri not hit the woodworks three time. Milan could only manage one sog. With all due respect to Van Dijk and de Ligt, Stefan De Vrij is the best Dutch Defender.

Inter are so deep they could field two starting rotations and still win...they look like ManCity. The best player against the Czechs was Valentino Lazaro - some are comparing him to Saido Mane. I thought he was one of these ethnic Italians now coming up the Primavera - he's actually Austrian, from Arnold's home town.

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

With all due respect to Van Dijk and de Ligt, Stefan De Vrij is the best Dutch Defender

No way is he better than vDijk. He is slower and his forward runs and passes arent nearly as good

 

[Insidious Von]

No way is he better than vDijk. He is slower and his forward runs and passes arent nearly as good

I'll admit de Vrij's footwork is average but he's a dedicated stopper. When the opposition gets an odd man rush he's there. The forward press doesn't bother him, he wont make an errant pass like van Dijk did for Napoli's second goal. de Ligt plays a similar game to Bonucci, it wasn't working. Demiral got the start against Verona. They are both 21 year olds, eventually they will run the show for Juve - with de Ligt on the right where he belongs.

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

Kluivert is off to a good start with Roma, looks like he might stick if he continues his form

 

[Insidious Von]

Kluivert is off to a good start with Roma, looks like he might stick if he continues his form

Eight goals in two matches, there has been a turnaround from the disastrous Monchi regime. Paolo Fonseca is giving Kluivert starts, last season he scored only one goal, his role on the club wasn't defined. He has the rugged young Canadian Bryan Cristante playing behind him, which allows him loots of room. With his pace, he knows how to get open.

 

[Insidious Von]

Entering his second season with the Partenopei, Fabian Ruiz went from being Europe's most under-rated midfielder to one with massive buzz.

he helped Spain win the Under 21 Title. He left his home club Real Betis in the summer of 2018 for Napoli. Now Real and Barca are expected to make bids for him. He's on a four year contract but I'm expecting Giada's uncle to sweeten the pot...he made the best defender in the world look like someone with two left feet.

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

3 Dutchies in FIFA world XI. Not bad since we're such a tiny country:

https://static.voetbalzone.nl/images/photos/originelen/2019/9/getimage (2)60133000.png

 

[Insidious Von]

What a goal!

Frank Ribery is only playing an hour for the Viola but it's quality! There's a 15 year age gap between him and Fred Church, but they appear to understand each other. Federico Chiesa, the next Arjen Robben?

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

What a goal!

Frank Ribery is only playing an hour for the Viola but it's quality! There's a 15 year age between him and Fred Church, but they appear to understand each other. Federico Chiesa, the next Arjen Robben?

Great finish by Ribery!! :thumb:

Robben was left-footed btw, but point taken

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

AC Milan now in relegation territory. What happened to this once great club?!
I looked at their lineup and could only recognize on name (Donnarumma), all the other ones are unknown to me

 

[Insidious Von]

AC Milan now in relegation territory. What happened to this once great club?!
I looked at their lineup and could only recognize on name (Donnarumma), all the other ones are unknown to me

Wow who's the fox?

What happened to Milan, Silvio Berlusconi hung on to the club too long. He was distracted by politics and the club floundered. Their biggest mistake was selling Thiago Silva to PSG, it was downhill after that. They voluntarily opted out of the Europa League to avoid FFP fines. They got thumpted by Inter last week, selling Patrick Coutrone was a major mistake. They don't have any major prospects upcoming - Inter has three. Watch out for Giancarlo Esposito.

Romagnioli who is now captain, is the only other player of note.

 

[Insidious Von]

Inter started one of their blue chip prospects against Sampdoria in a 3 - 1 victory. It wasn't that difficult foe Alex Bastoni lining up with Skriniar and de Vrij.

Historic match, Inter lost the scudetto in the final game in 2002 against Lazio. It was to be Ronaldo's final game with the club, he had a rough time again Jaap Stam.

 

[Insidious Von]

Ac Milan 1 Fiorentina 3

The misery is never-ending for Milan. Chiesa and Castrovilli will both be with the Azzurri next summer. When he was substituted, Frank Ribery got a standing ovation from the San Siro.

 

[Insidious Von]

The worst part for Milan is Inter being unbeaten. Liverpool are getting high praise for going undefeated - they lost to Napoli. Inter hasn't lost to anyone but they face their toughest test. The go to Camp Nu on Tues then it's the Derby d'Italia (Juve) on Saturday.

Sarri is using Aaron Ramsey as a trequartista. Paolo Dybala was supposed to be the False 9, but he's been a disaster since Pogba left.

 

[Insidious Von]

I was reading Il Corriere dello Sport, the front page had Aaron Ramsey's picture with the title "Vai Rambo". He's made a bright start as a False 9 with Juve, if he can play consistently the Italian Press will love him even more.

He's not the first Welshman to play for Juve. John Charles was a legend of the Boniperti era, Ian Rush had two so so seasons with the club at the end of the 80's. In the build up to the 88 Euro, Rush did something very rare, he nutmeged Franco Baresi to score the winning goal for Wales against the Azzuri.

 

[Insidious Von]

de Ligt played his best game as a zebra against Beyer Leverkusen. When interviewed by Taj after the match he said he was beginning to feel at home. Beyer had ball possession, Juve only played 30 minutes of actual football. Replacing Chiellini was always going to be difficult and de Ligt made numerous mistakes but he has steadily improved. Having to play as a stopper will do his career good in the long run...he's big enough and athletic enough to play that position.

When Inter bought Stefano Sensi, it was time for Ivan Peresic to move on. He joined Bayern on a loan deal, it seems both clubs have benefited, I wasn't expecting this result!

 

[Insidious Von]

As it happens.

Genk vs Napoli
Inter vs Barcelona.

Ancelotti has made drastic changes, lets see if it works. Imho Alex Meret should starts for the Azzurri over Donnarumma. Genk are coached by Phil Pile (Fillip Mazzu)...son of Italian immigrants. Paul Assenmacher was a relief pitcher for the Cleveland Indians.

Napoli are playing Monty Python's Collection of Norwegian carpenter songs - they've hit the crossbar twice.

Flagrant foul by Pique on Barella, almost red card.

Fascinating match, Ter Stegen is keeping Barca in it. The announcer said De Jong is playing out of position. He's having problems, he's being pressed. Valverde wanted to keep him away from Brozovic Grozny, it's not working.

Barcelona came back strong in the second half and won the match. I don't like Messi, he's a traitor but he's also a difference maker. Inter have a solid club but no superstar.