I miss Serie A!!!

[Neish]

Does anyone know if any tv station are showing Serie A this season (live or highlights). I know Italian football is in dire straits in many ways for many reasons but I just miss "GOL ACCIO" and James Richardson (who's now on Setanta, ughh) on Channel 4. It's always a great league with a great atmosphere, and don't forget who our national team's manager is!
Some might say La Liga is a better league and they maybe right but they don't have a certain Jose Morinho now do they?
Cheers.

I'd say I miss the glory days of the early to mid nineties but apart from games between the top few teams (Juve, the Milan clubs, the Rome clubs and prehaps fiorentina) Serie A games I seen in last few years have been medicore at best and often poor

[OwlsFan]

Beckham will make his debut tonight versus Roma.


Played for nearly the whole game. He had a quiet game I heard but I didn't see it.

[Mr Maroon]

Played for nearly the whole game. He had a quiet game I heard but I didn't see it.
He did alright. Kept it simple. Not bad for a guy coming from MLS really.

[Mr Maroon]

Inter are playing Atalanta today and the ref for the match is an architect, a very good one apparently. The owner of Inter, Massimo Moratti and his wife are building a new house. The wife has visited today's ref and asked him to design their house.

Match fixing! Relegate them! :p

[Mr Maroon]

....Atalanta are beating them 3-0

[TheBoss]

It is a surprise result, 3-1 in the end. Inter do not always perform this season, they are not playing well all season really.

[Mr Maroon]

It is a surprise result, 3-1 in the end. Inter do not always perform this season, they are not playing well all season really.
Their fans are starting to get on Mourinho's back now.

[TheBoss]

I can see be gone at the end of season whatever they win and go Man City possibly.

[DiscoPants]

Lads, I made it to both the Milan-Fiorentina and the Bergamo-Inter games this weekend, and it was a really enjoyable trip.

Beckham was terrible On Saturday night, and that is not just having a go for the sake of it. Pirlo took over the frees after Beckham failed to clear the first man from five attempts. He gave away the ball at least six times in the second half and was hopelessly off the pace.

Pato won the game early on with a great finish, but Milan struggled for the rest of the game, with Kaka clearly a bit off given all the pressure he was under. There was a massive protest afterwards, with the fans marching on the club headquarters.

Sunday in Bergamo for the Atalanta v Inter game was where all the action happened. It was a really enjoyable game. Sergio Floccari [sp?] is one to watch out for - his first goal was a great turn and finish, while Doni was immense just in front of the midfield.

The Inter fans were as badly behaved as ever and I spent the first half dodging flares from their end, one of which hit the man next to me straight in the face!

I didn't really hear any Milan fans abusing Mourinho, as has been reported.

Anyway, great weekend's football, and with Bergamo just a two hours away with Ryanair, it's a trip that comes highly recommended.

Brian.

[Mr Maroon]

"You won a Scudetto in the court, the second because there was no competition and the third was one at the last minute. You are all a pile of ****."
-Jose Mourinho as quoted in La Republica after Atalanta 3-1 Inter.

[Closed Account 2]

Jovetic had a great game for Fiorentina tonight against Juventus, he could / should have got a penalty and put in numerous crosses and good passes (one of which set up a goal that was then ruled out - not sure why). He could cause us big problems in the Montenegro match at CP later in the year.

[Mr Maroon]

Maldini up for Azzurri swansong
Tuesday 3 February, 2009
Milan veteran Paolo Maldini would love to play one last game for Italy before he retires this summer.

The 40-year-old holds the record for Azzurri appearances with 126 international caps to his name.

Maldini is set to retire this summer and there have been calls for him to play one last game for his nation before he hangs his boots up.

“I would be happy to play one last game for Italy,” Maldini told the Milan Channel.

“It wouldn't be a return to La Nazionale but a chance to celebrate a long career and I would enjoy that.

“It's not up to me, it's up to Marcello Lippi to consider what the needs of the squad are.”

Lippi has admitted that he will take Maldini into consideration for the future, but insists it is too soon for him to play Brazil at the Emirates Stadium on February 10.

“We will think about Maldini,” he told Goal.com. “But at the moment it isn't possible.

“The game against Brazil is very close. There's less than two weeks to go and you can't organise something like that so quickly.”

[frog-gufc]

i used to watch it every sunday on channel 4 , watch revista de la liga now on sky sports not a bad substitute, i used to love eurogoals on eurosport yrs ago pity we lost the channel

[The Good Son]

Serie A back on TV next week.The Milan derby is being shown on BBC 3 on Sunday 15th February. Unfortunately it's only a once off. I presume the presence of Beckham is the reason behind this. If this goes well, then hopefully there might be a bit more Serie A coverage towards the end of this season and beyond. Now all BBC need to do is borrow James Richardson.

[brianw82]

I've watched a few Italian games online recently and, I have to say, they've been really good. It's much more attacking than I remember it being in the late '90s. Games I saw were Lazio v Torino in the cup, Lazio v Milan and Juve v Cagliari.

[Mr Maroon]

Don't know if it's true but....

After playing in the 1994 FIFA World Cup, Parma wanted to buy Dino Baggio. At first, Dino Baggio rejected the offer by Parma and wanted to stay at Juventus. Juventus were ready to offer Parma a youngster named Alessandro Del Piero instead of Baggio; Parma accepted, and with Del Piero all ready to go to Parma, Dino Baggio changed his mind on his decision and decided he would make the move to Parma. Del Piero stayed at Juventus and later became a legend at the club.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dino_Baggio

[TheBoss]

Thats the way football can work at times. I think he would have been loaned to them in fairness.

A reminder, Inter v Milan is on BBC3 on Sunday at 19.30.

[Mr Maroon]

Thats the way football can work at times. I think he would have been loaned to them in fairness.

A reminder, Inter v Milan is on BBC3 on Sunday at 19.30.

It'll be Maldini's last Derby della Maddonina.

[TheBoss]

That is what we said 3 times previously :D

[Mr Maroon]

That is what we said 3 times previously :D

but he means it this time :p


“It will be my last derby on Sunday night,” Maldini told the Corriere della Sera.

“In the second half of the season every game against every team will be my last, but I feel proud.

“My dream is to win this final derby and that is the only thing that matters to me.

“We need a win so that we can rekindle our hopes of winning the Scudetto.”

[Mr Maroon]

Inter 2-0 at half time in the derby.

[brianw82]

2-1 now, 4 mins left. Cracking game.

[Mr Maroon]

Finished 2-1 to Inter. Great game!

[Red4Eva]

Excellent game. Hopefully someone picks up Serie A rights on the back of it. Pato is pure quality

[OwlsFan]

Did Beckam play?

[Schumi]

A reminder, Inter v Milan is on BBC3 on Sunday at 19.30.Good game. Is this is a regular Serie A slot or just for a big game/David Beckham playing?

[DeLorean]

Did Beckam play?

Yes but came off injured in 2nd half. Wasn't overly involved. Great match though, Pato looks different class and Ronaldinho did some good things and some sloppy things. Milan were very unlucky really cos Adriano's goal was handball and they were denied an obvious penalty near the end. Inzaghi had a goal rightly disallowed for offside but as Fergie once wisley put it- "that fella was born offside!!"

[Closed Account 2]

Lazio finally manage to get a bit of form together tonight, they beat Bologna 2-0 with two goals from Zaraté, one being a superb free kick.

Juve won 1-0 against a spirited Napoli in Turin, I think it was Marchisio who scored, Napoli had a goal disallowed at the end.

[Mr Maroon]

Marchisio's goal took a huge deflection off Manuele Blasi. Navarro would have saved it if it hadn't taken the deflection.

The offside call to disallow Napoli's goal was border line. Juve were on top throughout though. Marchisio and Poulsen were very impressive in the centre of midfield. Nedved was rested so Giovinco took his place on the left and did quite well until Ranieri took him off for Salihamidzic in the second half.
Molinaro was impressive for once at left back for Juve.
Legrottaglie went off with a knee injury.

Napoli weren't much of a threat at all. Apart from the disallowed goal, their only attack of note ended with Hamsik unsuccessfully trying to chip Buffon. Hamsik had a poor game.


Zaraté's goals today for Lazio were his first in 2 months!


Inter play Roma tomorrow.

[Mr Maroon]

AC Milan lost to Sampdoria earlier and it's Inter 0-2 Roma at HT right now. Could be a very good weekend for Juve! :)

[Mr Maroon]

There's another war of words going on. This time it's about Mourinho going on a seven-minute rant against the media ‘conspiracy’ to make his club seem favoured by referees.

Mourinho:
“There has been the greatest amount of intellectual manipulation,”

“There was a concerted, organised effort to manipulate public opinion. It was fantastic work but it is unrelated to my world - I work in football.

“I don't like intellectual prostitution - I like honesty,”

“Over the last few days nobody has mentioned that Roma have great players but will end the season without a title.

“Nobody has mentioned that Milan have 11 fewer points than us and will end the season without a title.

“Nobody has spoken about Juventus, who have won so many points thanks to refereeing mistakes.

“We have only won one game thanks to a mistake and that was the Siena match.

“Claudio Ranieri said he is shoulder to shoulder with Luciano Spalletti? Well, I will side with all the Coaches who have fallen foul against Juventus - Cesare Prandelli, Pasquale Marino, Gigi Del Neri…

“Every time I turn on the TV I see Spalletti, who is everyone's friend, but I don't like prime time television.

“I don't know whether these people pay to be interviewed. I know that they offer me money for interviews and I refuse because I don't manipulate reality.”

------------------------------------------------------------
Juventus President Giovanni Cobolli Gigli:
“You could see on the slow motion replay that it was not a penalty on [Mario] Balotelli,”

“It was probably not an easy decision to make for the referee in that situation. At times refereeing errors go in favour, at other times against a club, but I don’t think there is any kind of voluntary malice behind them.”

“Inter have certainly not been among the most penalised, have they? The statistics say that Inter have not given away a penalty in a year.

“I can understand Roma’s recrimination. Referees must be helped to do their work well, finding solutions to increase the number of eyes watching incidents.

“[UEFA President Michel] Platini does not believe in the ‘moviola’ and suggests extra referees in the box. It’s worth experimenting, but we have to do something to find a solution.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------
official Juve press release:
“After having read with great care the serious allegations made by the Inter Coach, Juventus express their astonishment and disgust, asking Inter to publicly denounce these comments.

With his statements, the Inter Coach has not only shown a lack of respect for Juventus and their 14 million fans, but to all of Italian football.

Rather than feeding a dangerous culture of suspicion, the club representatives have a duty to show a sense of responsibility and civility – before, during and after games – to sustain the evolution of Italian football and its international image.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Inter statement:
“After having read with great care the official statement from Juventus FC, we underline that Jose Mourinho replied in clear and explicit fashion to an attack on the same level,”

“Our Coach expressed his ideas - without insinuation or malice, with the honesty that is his style and which is very much appreciated by this club.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------
The Italian FA could suspend Mourinho:
Jose Mourinho could be suspended after the FIGC confirmed it was “looking into his statements, which only serve to fire up tension.”

As Roma boss Luciano Spalletti received a one-match touchline ban for insulting the referee after the controversial 3-3 draw at San Siro, Mourinho is likely to follow suit.

“This only serves to fire up tension,” warned Federation President Giancarlo Abete.

“The tone adopted by the Portuguese Coach just make existing relationships even more fraught and bitter.

“His comments serve no use for the football world at all. Naturally the Disciplinary Commission is carefully evaluating the content of Mourinho’s statements.”

[Sandro]

All this bla-bla-bla will kill Italian football someday. I wish we had just a show like MNS on TV and not 3 football daily newspapers (where alse?). I happend to be guest in some local TV football show a couple of times and I almost fell asleep, just kept awake because they are so loud at times. Ridicolous times.
Thankfully the show on the pitch is far better, did anybody watch Lazi-Juventus last night? Superb match with lot of goal chances, Lazio deserved the win with a fantastic second half display up front despite Zarate was not playing

[Mr Maroon]

Thankfully the show on the pitch is far better, did anybody watch Lazi-Juventus last night? Superb match with lot of goal chances, Lazio deserved the win with a fantastic second half display up front despite Zarate was not playing

Yeah, I did. We (Juve) were extremely poor in the second half. We should have had it rapped up by half time. I'm very confident that we'll go through in the 2nd leg though.

[Red4Eva]

http://espnukblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/serie-football-confirmed-for-espn.html


absolutely delighted

[IsMiseSean]

Looks like I'll be subscribing to ESPN then....

[DeLorean]

This is a super bonus. Was gonna subscribe anyway so it feels like I'm getting something for free!!

[Denis The Red]

ESPN is free for Sky subscribers this weekend, channel 417. Juve v Roma on now and Milan derby tomorrow @ 7.30.:)

[Extra Extra]

Pretty bad way to lose from a Juve perspective.

[sheao]

Inter 2-0 Milan. Inter finished the game with 9 men .

[brianw82]

2nd sending off was dodgy. No way a deliberate handball. Justice was done when Cesar saved the penalty.

[Stevo Da Gull]

From what I saw it looked like a very good game. Have to ask questions about Dida for that second goal, but then again he does have a reputation for throwing in the odd shocker of a game.

[Infadel]

Once again Materazzi makes headlines in the Milan Derby
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/25012010/58/serie-materazzi-calm-berlusconi-backlash.html

[Closed Account 2]

another quote by Jose Mourinho, "I don't stick my head in the sand, I know there is only one team [in Italy] that has a penalty area 25 metres long..."

The team is, of course, Juventus - they have had a series of suspect decisions over the last few weeks.

[TheBoss]

While I was watching that Inter-Samp match, how awful was the Samp tactics, they were happy with the draw against 9 for 55 mins !!!