Hopefully they keep Pirlo for another season. Anyway, Juve need 3-4 players (winger, CM, DM, maybe RB) but guess they'd have to move some first.
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Italian Serie A - 2020-2021
- Thread starter van der star
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) is joined by CEO Duncan Drasdo and Financial Director Andy Green from the Manchester United Supporters Trust for a special episode on all things behind the scenes at Old Trafford including a brief history of MUST and their aims today, views on INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe so far, and the Old Trafford regeneration.
How have Juve managed to lose single horse race?
Well actually that's one good and sensible idea by Pirlo, on which he's working since the start of the season.
Bernardeschi's got the technique, physique and work rate to excel on the flank, but in many years at Juve he just showed that he lacks the spark, clinicality, killer instinct - ultimately, the end product - to justify himself occupying a forward winger spot in a top level club.
I've always thought that Juve could very well try and pull a Zambrotta - who also was an attacking winger until around 24, praised for his potential but never showing enough creativity, precision or lethality to really cut it - on him too.
Jury's still out on that working.
Juventus suck big time, they in a generational-switch and havent managed to do it in a good way. They thought C Ronaldo would be able to overshadow their imbalance but they were wrong. Milan is better than Juventus at the moment, i really think so.
It's taken them to February to give Sena a chance, and it's about time. What a glorious player. I love watching him.
I'd love him here. He'd add some much needed composure and press-resistance to our uninspiring, workhorse like midfield.
A decimated Milan, that had half the squad out, unfit players starting and a right-back as a midfielder, was level with Juve until Chiesa bailed them out in a game where Szchezny made more saves than he had ever done for Juve.
The pre injury crisis Milan ripped Sarri's Juve apart, 4-2 and that was a stronger Juve than the current one.
All teams at full strength, Milan would be without a doubt the best team in Italy. Shame we never got to see it in this injury and COVID-19 ridden season.
Without a doubt. 
I think you're getting carried away a little bit here... Milan have been doing great since coming out of the covid break, but your current position is largely the result of overperforming in the first half of the season with an injury ridden squad. Actually the moment you briefly got most of your starters back coincided with your slump period and back to back losses against Spezia and in the derby which made you lose the top spot. And if you think about the abnormal number of penalties you have been awarded (just to be clear, most of them were actually correct calls), it is an obvious outlier that boosted your winning streak.
In my view, in terms of players' quality you are somehow on par with Napoli, but definitely nowhere close enough to Inter and Juve. For example, how many Milan's players would reasonably fit into on of the top teams in the continent? I'd say only Gigio, Kessie, Theo and possibly Bennacer.
That 4-2 win that you mentioned came against a Juve team that simply switched off in the second half, and that was playing with no urgency at all given that they had all but secured the title at that point. This year, the 0-3 losses against Atalanta and Inter (fielding your best lineup in the latter) clearly showed that you need one more step to get back at the level Milan deserves to be. Luckily for you, Maldini has been doing a great job so far, and the CL money means you'll probably be able to add a couple of much needed pieces for next season (a second striker and a quality right winger to begin with) and reduce the gap.
You think this extremely chaotic period where old starters are being rushed back just to get reinjured, new signings are being integrated and there is an almost entirely different lineup each game is what I'm referring to when I say Milan at full strength?
Spezia had one of the worst Milan lineups of the season if you consider the terrible state Bennacer, Hakan and Kjaer were in and that we were missing Calabria, who has worse substitutes than those players.
A fully fit Krunic or Meite is better than an unfit starter.
Zlatan is more of a burden than help if he's not synced with the rest.
The team didn't fall apart when he got injured at the end of November because they also know how to play a different way that revolves around the pace of Rebic and Leao. When he returned, he returned to a different team that played in a different way and even had different players because his old partners Hakan, Rebic and Bennacer were missing. The performances deteriorated as a result and reached rock bottom when those old partners returned in terrible condition.
The team has had to deal with absences all season but it was relatively stable until mid December. And that's when Inter began reducing the points gap between the two Milano teams.
Hakan too. He seems to have recovered from COVID now.
Zlatan scores at a higher rate than any other player in Serie A.
That's a lot of starters. Only Saelemaekers looks out of place for a top team.
Individually, I agree, this isn't a squad for the Milan history books, but it's a case where the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts thanks to the coach and the compatibility between the players. I prefer that to being a paper tiger, like the Milan of 2008-2012 or the current Juventus.
Continent? I'm comparing the pre-injury crisis Milan with this pathetic Pirlo Juventus team and Conte's erratic Inter, not with Bayern Munich, Man City, Allegri's Juventus or Mourinho's Inter.
The starting lineup against Atalanta was a joke. I love Pioli but he got that game all wrong, although to be fair he needed to experiment since several important players were missing.
We did not see the best Milan lineup against Inter. Far from it. If Tonali is starting and Tomori is on the bench then it's not the best lineup.
Tonali is even getting benched by Meite these days. Romagnoli-Kjaer used to be a great duo but the former never really recovered from the horrible injury at the end of last season. He has been terrible all season but especially in that derby game.
I actually liked most aspects of the team performance that night. It was clear that Rebic, Zlatan and Hakan hadn't start together in a long time, but they shook off the rust after a while. The high press worked but you had Handanovic performing miracles on one end and Romagnoli and Tonali gifting you goals on the other end. You only do counter-attacks and that's no longer a vulnerable point for us since the arrival of Tomori.
I'm not arguing that everything is perfect - I'm not even sure the team will finish in the top 4. Obviously it's a very delicate moment where we might lose players as bosman, or loaned players like Tomori turning into our own Cancelo .
All I'm saying is that the pre-injury crisis Milan was the best team in Italy.
Very well said.
Don't forget your glasses on the table though, you will keep needing them.
Don't forget your glasses on the table though, you will keep needing them.
Are those Noel Gallagher's?Very well said.
Don't forget your glasses on the table though, you will keep needing them.
ow. That is something.
I wouldn't want to sound harsh and cynical, and clash with the tone of his letter, but I've really been thinking for a long time that Prandelli doesn't have it in him as a coach anymore in terms of drive and mental strength, and I was really surprised when Fiorentina called him back for the hard task of steering a rudderless ship mid season.
I really hope that the melancholy that hovers on his words won't drag him down for long and that the liberating resolve that also transpires is well rooted in him and will guide him to new happiness and purposefullness.
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De Ligt to be the next captain of Juventus after Chiellini quits according to Tuttosport. 21 years old. Would be quite an achievement by him.
That would be a very good decision. He has truly played and acted like a leader, unlike certain senior players who seem disinterested (Bonucci, Sandro, Ronaldo etc).
The only regular over 30 who plays with any kind of passion is Cuadrado.
The one player (Chiesa being the other) that I am envious of as a Bayern supporter.
New Inter logo is:
... I'd say horrible but few years ago I said the same about Juventus logo and now I like it.. We'll see.
... I'd say horrible but few years ago I said the same about Juventus logo and now I like it.. We'll see.
I could see something good in the Juventus logo, which is why I didn't hate it so much but felt saddened by the loss of an iconic logo. This, however, is a monstrosity. It's not slick, it's incoherent, and you can't even discern the club name from it in any clear way. Then again, Inter's whole marketing revolves around being different and unconventional, so I guess this fits their style.
I look at that and can't figure it out. Knowing it's Inter obviously clears it up but looks confusing, incoherent, etc.
That looks like a cheap car company.
In other news, Buffon has been banned for one game for blasphemy.
In other news, Buffon has been banned for one game for blasphemy.
Old one was better, with the gold background
No idea how much this cost, normally these things aren't cheap. It is awful.
Looks like something from some random Eastern European team you would see in the Europa league.
Theo
Ac Milan run out of gas I take it.....top 4 isn't certain for them now all of a sudden.
Big blow to go into the europa again after the season they've had.
Big blow to go into the europa again after the season they've had.
Juve 
1:0
Chiesa
1:1
Sanabria
2:1
Sanabria brace
1:0
Chiesa
1:1
Sanabria
2:1
Sanabria brace
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Ronaldo
2-2
2-2
My god. Look how they massacred the boy.
In all seriousness it really looks like something you’d see in Pro Evolution Soccer where, because they didn’t have the rights, they had to make it worse on purpose.
Terrible. They had such a good logo too. Shameful!
Is that juve outside the top 4 now.
CL next season potentially with no Liverpool, Juve and Dortmund
CL next season potentially with no Liverpool, Juve and Dortmund
Torino - Juventus 2-2. Serie A standing
Juventus play Napoli on Wedsnesday (18.45 CET). If Bianconeri fail to beat Napoli then they'd be outside top 4 (H2H is Serie A first tiebreaker and Juventus lost the first match).. That would be quite dramatic given that they still have to face Inter, AC Milan and Atalanta..
Juventus play Napoli on Wedsnesday (18.45 CET). If Bianconeri fail to beat Napoli then they'd be outside top 4 (H2H is Serie A first tiebreaker and Juventus lost the first match).. That would be quite dramatic given that they still have to face Inter, AC Milan and Atalanta..
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Not Inter's best game, but... Lukaku 1-0
New Inter logo is very nice and clean, i like it, think it will grow.
Scudetto incoming?
Scudetto incoming?
Lose today and Pirlo is probably as good as gone
I'm interested in seeing Meret start given the recent stories from the Italian media about Everton's interest and his desire to leave for more regular football. Let's see if he can convince Gattuso against Juventus. Meret has shown glimpses of his talent, but he's also made several mistakes, so he hasn't been as reliable as Ospina.
EDIT: Juve look like they have their strongest possible lineup, and besides the midfield being a bit of an issue, defensively, I don't see too many problems elsewhere. Napoli have a solid lineup, too, but Rrahmani and Meret are the obvious weak points in the team.
EDIT: Juve look like they have their strongest possible lineup, and besides the midfield being a bit of an issue, defensively, I don't see too many problems elsewhere. Napoli have a solid lineup, too, but Rrahmani and Meret are the obvious weak points in the team.
Sitter from Ronaldo.
Lineups for Inter vs. Sasuolo:
Inter are fielding Darmian at LCB to play Bastoni's role. I wonder how well he'll do there. The last time I saw him play that kind of a role was when United beat Conte's Chelsea, which had Herrera's famous Hazard-marking performance. The midfield is quite attacking, too, with no one really capable of offering much protection, but that's been typical of Inter this season. At least both Barella and Gagliardini are good tacklers and can cover a decent amount of the pitch. I think Sassuolo have to exploit Inter's left side, especially with their pacy attacking players. Speaking of which, they'll really miss both Caputo and Berardi, though they do have lots of pace with Traore and Boga. Toljan starting is also interesting given that he's not so good in defending 1-on-1's.
Inter are fielding Darmian at LCB to play Bastoni's role. I wonder how well he'll do there. The last time I saw him play that kind of a role was when United beat Conte's Chelsea, which had Herrera's famous Hazard-marking performance. The midfield is quite attacking, too, with no one really capable of offering much protection, but that's been typical of Inter this season. At least both Barella and Gagliardini are good tacklers and can cover a decent amount of the pitch. I think Sassuolo have to exploit Inter's left side, especially with their pacy attacking players. Speaking of which, they'll really miss both Caputo and Berardi, though they do have lots of pace with Traore and Boga. Toljan starting is also interesting given that he's not so good in defending 1-on-1's.
Great goal. 1-0 Ronaldo.
The refereeing tonight in both games has been shocking.