On the Eve of the new Season...

If only this could translate into international football:

'English nightmare' haunts Serie A
12 March 2009, 15:40

Following the elimination of all three Italian sides at the hands of Premier League clubs, newspapers in the Belpaese were left to lament on "l'incubo inglese" ? "the English nightmare". For the first time in seven years there will be no Italian team in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League.

'Disappointing quality'
ACF Fiorentina were first out, failing to get beyond the group stage, before Juventus, FC Internazionale Milano and AS Roma fell to Chelsea FC, Manchester United FC and Arsenal FC in the last 16. "Maledizione!" ("Damn it!") screamed the headline of La Gazzetta dello Sport, with La Repubblica stating: "Our league has a disappointing quality, the average attendance at the stadiums is constantly decreasing and the results in Europe are unsatisfactory."

Tough times
For the world's top players, Serie A is no longer the league of choice. Where once Diego Maradona and Zinédine Zidane entertained Italian fans, now the world's stars flock to the Premier League or the Spanish Liga. The Bundesliga and Ligue 1 now boast some of the country's top stars. Italy won the FIFA World Cup in 2006, but since then results for both clubs and country on the international stage have been disappointing. The sporting fraud scandal in the summer of 2006 hit Italian football hard, but that is not the only problem. Italian clubs simply do not have the same financial clout as their English rivals.

Old problems
Inter, who are poised to win their fourth Scudetto in a row, turned to José Mourinho in the summer in a bid to bring their domestic dominance to bear in Europe, but just like last season the Nerazzurri were eliminated in the Round of 16 by an English side. Turin sports daily Tuttosport said: "Just like under Roberto Mancini the Nerazzurri don't go far in Europe ? nothing has changed with Mourinho."

'Yes we can'
The fact Inter, the best Italian side in recent years, failed to reach the quarter-finals for the second season in a row has set alarm bells ringing among Serie A teams. In addition, of the five Italian outfits that qualified for the UEFA Cup only Udinese Calcio remain. The clubs know change is needed, but it is not easy to find a solution. Kaká's decision to spurn Manchester City FC's audacious overtures in January at least struck a moral blow for Serie A and the fevered support for Juventus on Tuesday suggests the passion is undimmed. Juve fans displayed a banner that read 'Yes we can' before the return leg against Chelsea. It is from that kind of support and optimism that change will come.

i cant see italy being a favorite for the wc next year. all of their best players are ancient

as far as club football goes, these things are always cyclical, right?

godsshoeshine wrote:

as far as club football goes, these things are always cyclical, right?

Are you saying the fall of the pound is going to have a negative effect on English football?

Of course they are and taking out the quarter-finals country protection rule will likely keep two English teams from making the final again, which is probably a good thing for football.

Nonetheless, I will still revel in this.

fall of the pound, foreign investors running out of english teams to buy, the financial trouble the la liga sides are facing…what have you

then again theres always the european SUPER league that the bloggers like to talk about

Saturday, March 14

[move][glow=red,2,300]8:40am Manchester United vs Liverpool (Set)[/glow][/move]


I guess I should mention these other games too…

10:40am Arsenal vs Blackburn (Set)
11:00am  Everton vs Stoke City (FSC)
5:30pm Hull City vs Newcastle (FSC)
7:30pm Bolton vs Fulham (FSC)
7:45pm Sunderland vs Wigan (Set)
9:30pm Middlesbrough vs Portsmouth (Set)


Sunday, March 15

9:00am Chelsea vs Manchester City (Set)
12:00pm Aston Villa vs Tottenham (FSC)


Monday, March 16

4:00pm West Ham vs West Brom (Set)

Didn´t see the game, but incredible what Benitez is capable of, first year the Champions League, then another final and now in four days he trashes Real Madrid and Manchester United. Would not want to face Liverpool in the Champions League now. As for Manchester United, a bit like at the beginning of the season, this year they do not look like last year.

Premiership and Champions League seem to be wide open.

Barcelona wrote:
Didn´t see the game, but incredible what Benitez is capable of, first year the Champions League, then another final and now in four days he trashes Real Madrid and Manchester United. Would not want to face Liverpool in the Champions League now. As for Manchester United, a bit like at the beginning of the season, this year they do not look like last year.

Premiership and Champions League seem to be wide open.

the key phrase there is didn't see the game - fair play to Liverpool and all but if there ever was a score not reflective of a game then this was it - if anything I think Man U were the better team over the 90 minutes. We made 4 horrendous defensive mistakes and Liverpool scored off each one - the odds of that happening again are slight

As for wide open, I'll take 4 points with a game in hand any day of the week - Man U have lost 1 game after one of the most incredible streaks in Prem history - it had to happen sooner or later

We'll see what happens next week at Craven Cottage - I'll be there cheering the lads on!!

I agree with Brennser on this one.  This was an uncharacteristic loss for United in that it was ripe with HUGE errors on United's part, many of which were not created by anything Liverpool did.  I would say the same for United's goal…

I'm actually more concerned about what to about Vidic in future Liverpool ties than I am about the title race.  I'm no expert, but I know the difference between a trend and a problem and 4 red cards in 5 ties sure looks like a problem to me.

brennser wrote:
We'll see what happens next week at Craven Cottage - I'll be there cheering the lads on!!

Ouch.  That hurts a little bit because I'm super jealous, but kudos to you.  Have a GREAT time.

vansmack wrote:

brennser wrote:
We'll see what happens next week at Craven Cottage - I'll be there cheering the lads on!!

Ouch.  That hurts a little bit because I'm super jealous, but kudos to you.  Have a GREAT time.

Thanks Smackie - really looking forward to it. Craven Cottage is meant to be a nice little ground as well. Just hope the score is better than my last game, a 1-0 loss to West Ham in Curbishleys first game in charge

HUGE sporting weekend over the pond with Ireland going for the Grand Slam against Wales on Sat - wish I could teleport myself to Cardiff after the Man U game

I'll also be in Dublin for the Ireland-Bulgaria game but will unfortunately have to skip because of wifeys birthday

speaking from a neutral view, the score was entirely too harsh. while vidic was shocking i thought that man u would still win up until the third goal. i dont know if its really that wide open, you have to figure that man u has to drop points in four matches, and their two hardest remaining are arse and an out of form villa, but they get both at ot

brennser wrote:
I'll also be in Dublin for the Ireland-Bulgaria game but will unfortunately have to skip because of wifeys birthday

3 points there would be great for the republic

Sorry for the late notice but this is a makeup game and wasn't on my schedule…

Tuesday, March 17

3:45pm FA Cup 6th Round: Arsenal vs Hull (set)

i should watch this and root for injuries

lots and lots of injuries  :(  :(

Villarreal - Arsenal
Manchester United - Porto
Liverpool - Chelsea
Barcelona - Bayern Munich

afraid of the second game in Munich. Great to see Liverpool against Chelsea again.

great? thats the worst possible draw. liverpoor vs chelzzzz = snoozefest

terrible draw, as a neutral none of these matchups really get me going. maybe barca/bayern

Anyway, first time in my life, leaving now to see a live cricket game. West Indies against England, 50 overs game in Georgetown, Guyana. I will go for the afternoon session, interesting to see the atmosphere when the two guyanese players bat.

I think the Chelsea Liverpool games are going to be good. Barcelona against Bayern should be quite open, lots of goals. Villarreal Arsenal should be open, wouldn't assume that Arsenal will go through easily. Porto tend to be always good, it will depend how the first game ends in Old Trafford.

As a United supporter, I probably couldn't have asked for a better draw for the club, but you're right, as a football fan, this is maybe the worst possible draw.

Look at the bright side, there won't be a Chelsea-Liverpool snoozefest final…

yeah, instead we'll have it over two legs

maybe uefa is trying to prove these things arent rigged

Saturday, March 21

8:40am Portsmouth vs Everton (set)
10:40am Fulham vs Man Utd (Set)
11:00am Tottenham vs Chelsea (FSC)
1:30pm Newcastle vs Arsenal (FSC)
7:45pm Blackburn vs West Ham (Set)
9:30pm West Brom vs Bolton (Set)

Sunday, March 22

9:25am Wigan vs Hull (Set)
12:00pm Liverpool vs Aston Villa (FSC)
5:30pm Manchester City vs Sunderland (FSC)

brennser wrote:

the key phrase there is didn't see the game - fair play to Liverpool and all but if there ever was a score not reflective of a game then this was it - if anything I think Man U were the better team over the 90 minutes. We made 4 horrendous defensive mistakes and Liverpool scored off each one - the odds of that happening again are slight

As for wide open, I'll take 4 points with a game in hand any day of the week - Man U have lost 1 game after one of the most incredible streaks in Prem history - it had to happen sooner or later

2-0 against Fullham, if Liverpool wins tomorrow this thing might be open.  Barcelona was 12 points ahead of Real Madrid and in three weeks the difference went down to 4 points. I think Manchester United this year is not as strong as last year.