Serie A

[Siregar]

So, opponents for CL are Juve, Inter, Atalanta and Napoli?

[nefremo]

Still too early I think. Maybe Roma will have enough to fight for it. I think Lazio just doesn't have it. They had a great season last year (until Covid), but it was a one off. Their quality really is 6-8 spot. Last season was a fluke imo, and it's starting to show. They got Inter next, and I don't see how they get anything out of that game. They'll be in a hole already.

Roma on the other hand has some quality. If everything goes well, I think they'll gather enough points to be in the mix come March.

We'll see how Napoli holds on. They are still an unknown to me and I'm not sold. I'm not so sure I believe in Gattuso's football just yet. We finished ahead of them last year, and I don't see them as much better this year. So I don't see why we wouldn't finish ahead of them again.

[Siregar]

Still too early I think. Maybe Roma will have enough to fight for it. I think Lazio just doesn't have it. They had a great season last year (until Covid), but it was a one off. Their quality really is 6-8 spot. Last season was a fluke imo, and it's starting to show. They got Inter next, and I don't see how they get anything out of that game. They'll be in a hole already.

Roma on the other hand has some quality. If everything goes well, I think they'll gather enough points to be in the mix come March.

We'll see how Napoli holds on. They are still an unknown to me and I'm not sold. I'm not so sure I believe in Gattuso's football just yet. We finished ahead of them last year, and I don't see them as much better this year. So I don't see why we wouldn't finish ahead of them again.

I am not convinced with Roma. Still inconsistent IMO. With Napoli, I am afraid they will be stronger than last season. They have strengthened their squad and Gattuso could also deliver good job with Milan, like he did in the first season with us. On paper Napoli now are much better in term of quality compared to Milan team Gattuso has ever coached. I fear Napoli much more than Roma.

Juve, Inter and Atalanta are pretty consistent. They might be ahead of us but if our character and mentality get better and stronger than last season, we could not only maintain our best form from last season but also improve it. My concern is more on how our players deal with the pressure especially we have to play in EL now, the player's focus could be distracted.

[nefremo]

As long as we consistently beat the lower table sides, we will be in the running. From thst point on, we'll have to get some positive results (wins) against our direct competitors (as you said, Napoli, Atalanta are the most likely one to be there in the end).

[Sleeping Giant]

Parma market, since takeover

Valentin Mihaila(One of Romania's best talent) - deal sealed for 7/8 M

Lautaro Valenti(highly rated Argentinian defender) - loan with obligation to buy at 5M.


Wylan Cyprien(Ligue 1 most underrated midfielder last season) - 1.5M loan and ~7M to buy, probably  their best deal

And they are closing in for HN Caviglia, Juan Brunetta, Simon Sohm, Karbownik and Amad Traore


WTF is going in Parma

[sylrus]

looks like they have a good project

[nefremo]

Watching Sassuolo - Crotone, and gotta say Crotone is unlucky to be down a goal at halftime. They've played really well. I've now seen all 3 promoted teams play a couple times actually, and gotta say Crotone actually looks the best of them. Weirdly enough, the best Serie B team last year, Benevento, looks the worst of them.

It's early days and the market is still open, I know, so things will likely change. But "our" Pippo has a lot of work to do.

I also saw Fiorentina lost again. Didn't watch the game, but that was unexpected especially because Doria has looked terrible so far this season.

[Sleeping Giant]

Nah, Spezia is one the that I found playing good football. Seen them against Udinese.

[reza]

In their opening match Crotone lost at Genoa, they were one of the worst teams I had seen, could have been nerves.

[nefremo]

In their opening match Crotone lost at Genoa, they were one of the worst teams I had seen, could have been nerves.

Could be. I didn't watch that one.
Of course, we have a very short sample size. I watched them vs us of course, and I thought they were solid. Didn't give us any trouble, but they were very organized and compact, which was quite different then what I saw from Spezia and Benevento. Today in the 1st half (and beginning of the 2nd) again they looked good, even better then Sassuolo. Then the game got away from them when they conceded the 3rd on a counter. I'd like to see what they look like defensively when they are a goal up instead of chasing the game as I've seen so far.

I like that these newly promoted sides try to play football and possess/attack....but I also think it'll be their downfall. Neither of the 3 promoted sides look solid enough defensively. Eventually they'll have to sacrifice this philosophy of trying to go toe-to-toe with the established Serie A teams and actually prepare for games in a different way. I mentioned Crotone (for me in the 2 games I watched) looked to be more compact then the other 2...but didn't manage to do it for 90 mins. 

I still think the league needs to be cut down to 18 teams. There is too much of a difference in quality between the top 15 teams and the ones at the very bottom.