Italian football 2011/12

Don't know how Borriello gets so much gametime. Should only be 4th or 5th choice imo

Hamsik 2-0. Looking good for Napoli!

On the counter Hamsik makes it 2-0

Well done napoli fully deserved they played so well.

Don't think we'll see Levezzi or Cavani in Napoli colours again, end of an era.

Juventus need some top strikers, they should try for Cavani maybe.

Go ahead, John Henry, bid for Cavani. If you get him, that's less money you can spend on the Red Sox. If you don't, hey, your own fault for not spending what it takes to get Liverpool into the Champions League.

Wenger should bid on both Cavani and Levezzi.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story ... ng?cc=5739

Another match-fixing case in Serie a with Conte being one of those investigated.. Don't know what to think really, would be a huge blow for Italian football if it turns out to be true.

Serie A has been dying a slow death for decades now and somany things need fixing before it can reclaim it's past glory when every footballer dreamt of playing there.

They can start by getting their house in order from TV rights to league fixtures which gives a huge advantage to the so-called big boys just like Spain and can they get rid of the hooliganism and the racism?

In my opinion racism & Hooliganism will exist as long as the so-called Ultras exist, some of them are so powerful that they're invited to board meetings and have a say on who gets hired and who gets fired including players.

This is big problem for italian football alot of match fixing happen in last years, if this true maybe would drop juve to serie b again.

match fixing in italy has been going on for as long as there has been football and it will continue these cases no matter how big (calciopoli) won't stop it.

It's not just a problem in Italy anymore. It looks like there are several wide networks in Europe and Asia that are involved in match fixing. Match fixing is a big issue now and in many countries games have been investigated.
The times that match fixing was only an issue in less developed countries are over, this needs to be solved as soon as possible.

Juve is as scum as they come and the two Milan clubs aren't that far behind either.

BAH Juventus... at least, we were invincible WITHOUT match-fixing. Surely RVP wouldn't want to go to that price-fixing, corrupt club in a competion with a very low attendance?

To illustrate that the issue of match fixing is much broader than just Italy, here's a citation of a European Commission report:

''The first case of match-fixing in modern sport seems to have occurred in 1915 in a match between Manchester United and Liverpool, which was fixed in Manchester’s favour. United won 2:0 and avoided relegation. One of the latest major incident in Europe concerned Finnish football matches. One team, Tampere United was suspended indefinitely from Finnish football for accepting payments from a person known for match-fixing (BBC News 2011).
Between these two events, European sport has been affected by a number of other cases of match-fixing including the “Zheyun Ye” case in Belgium 2004-2006; the Italian football scandals 2005-2006; the “Apito Dourado” Golden Whistle affair in Portuguese football 2004, and the Hoyzer and Bochum scandals in Germany, the arrests of 71 people involved in a soccer match-fixing scandal in Poland in 2007, or the Greek match-fixing scandal in 2011, to list the most recent ones. The 27 EU Member states are not the only countries affected by match-fixing. The universal nature of this problem is illustrated by other cases such as the Brazilian football match-fixing scandal in 2005; the scandal of sumo competitions in Japan in 2011; the scandal of the Pakistan's summer 2010 cricket tour of England with players deliberately bowling no-balls and the recent match-fixing investigation by authorities in Turkey where nearly 93 people are suspected to have been involved with fixing games in 2011.''

http://ec.europa.eu/sport/news/document ... ion_en.pdf

It would be naive to think that match fixing isn't possible in the English football league system imo.

The Italian League has more shady figures than the rest of Europe together. I mean... Silvio Berlusconi? Don't forget that the Mafia is the biggest economic power in South-Italy.

I do not think that the EPL is 100% clean, however the corruption is not anywhere near the scale of the Serie A or one of those other leagues mentioned above.

BAH Juventus... at least, we were invincible WITHOUT match-fixing. Surely RVP wouldn't want to go to that price-fixing, corrupt club in a competion with a very low attendance?

tbf he's getting investigated for his time in Siena, don't think Juventus has anything to do with it, at least from what I've read.

Serie A was more interesting than Spain this season, I want Inter to get stronger and we could have 3 very strong teams pushing for the league next season.

Hopefully this new scandal doesn't take away from a league that is on the up I reckon.

Wow I didnt even know that Juve went unbeaten an entire season.

Many congratulations, and its a shame it didnt receive greater acclaim, at least to the extent of our Invincibles.

Wow I didnt even know that Juve went unbeaten an entire season.

Many congratulations, and its a shame it didnt receive greater acclaim, at least to the extent of our Invincibles.

Its been done 3 times before so hardly that special, and also the games are rigged so hardly worth a gold scudetto.

Sad news. http://www.football.co.uk/italy/italy_-_tragedy_for_toni_as_child_stillborn_rss2252650.shtml

Juve showing their class by counting titles won by cheating. Saw the same in the Giro (Italian cycle tour), where they showed stats for Italian cyclists including victories, which were stripped for doping use.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012 ... e-stripped

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/cont ... 04193.html

Juventus Coach Conte is set to serve a 3 month ban for failing to report match fixing while at Siena.

Now, I bash Italian football tons but I have sympathy but I have sympathy for Conte. He failed to report because hes dealing with the Mafia and he still values his life. But it is more evidence to the rotten stench of Italian football and how corrupt it is.

Conte will face a full hearing, could potentially get a 15 month ban.

In other news, China Railways Corporation buy 15% stake in Inter and will fund the building of a new stadium not too far from the San Siro.

Here's the players Milan used against Madrid last night at Yankee Stadium:

G: Abbiati (De Sciglio, Amelia)
D: Acerbi - Bonera - Antonini (Yepes) - Abate (Mesbah)
M: Ambrosini (Bakaye Traore) - Nocerino (Valoti) - Flamini (Constant)
F: Robinho - Cassano (El Shaarawy) - K-P Boeteng (Emanuelson)
Subs not used: No one you need to know

This was AC Milan? Pato was unavailable, as he is in London with the Brazilian Olympic team. But except for a goalie, you could make a better team out of players they've let go in the last couple of years: Zambrotta, Thiago Silva, Nesta, Van Bommel, Gattuso, Onyewu, Mexes; Seedorf, Pirlo, Antonini, Aquilani; Ronaldinho, Inzaghi, Ibrahimovic.

Contrast that with Madrid, as Jose Mourinho could have, and did, use some of the greatest players of this era:

G: Casillas (Collado)
D: Varane (Sergio Ramos) - Pepe (Albiol) - Coentrao (Sahin) - Nacho (Kaka, playing the Makelele/Song role)
M: Khedira (Xabi Alonso) - Lassana Diarra (Granero) - Cristiano (Morata) - Di Maria (Callejon)
F: Benzema - Ozil (Huigain)

You can see the issue: Mourinho (Shut up, Sven!) treated this game the same way I did, as, effectively, a UEFA Champions League match in New York; while Allegri treated it as a friendly. That it was 1-1 at the half was solely due to a nice Nocerino pass for a class goal by Robinho. Other than that, Madrid dominated, especially Crissy, who, though still an arrogant *****, was better last night than Messi was in the U.S.-Argentina match I saw at the Meadowlands last year. It was his show most of the night: He owned the match until Jose mercifully took him off after 80 minutes. It was 5-1 at the final whistle, and it wasn't even that close. Milan ought to be ashamed of themselves.

There was a play where Casillas got challenged, and 9 out of 10 goalies would have conceded a penalty. But this man knows. He was able to play it just right and it turned into only a goal-kick.

Kaka came on late, and as a legend for both clubs (with a rumor going around that Milan are trying to buy him back), he got the biggest ovation of the night. He deserved it: He assisted on all 3 of Madrid's 2nd half goals, including a lefty corner that was turned into a downward header and bounce by Sergio Ramos, right out of the 1990s Winterburn-to-Adams playbook. At this stage, Kaka is like Henry: He's lost a step, but the skills and the hunger are still there.

I'm glad Huigain played: He wasn't on the Argentina squad that I saw play last year. Di Maria was, and he scored the first goal last night. All 6 goals were legit, no flukes, no screwups. Just Madrid taking advantage of a weak Milan defense.

Two weeks ago, when Chelsea and PSG played at Yankee Stadium, the attendance was 38,202. Not good, considering how many Chelsea fans, and how many French people, live in New York. Last night, it was 49,474, a sellout. Although, with the huge Italian community in the Tri-State Area, I figured Milan would have more fans. I didn't count on a lot of Latinos supporting their linguistic brothers: Madrid had about a 3-1 edge on fans.

I saw 4 Arsenal shirts there, plus an HENRY 12 France shirt.

Arsenal should play a friendly in NY next year. We have a bit of a following in the states and with Henry there we have a commercial draw.

Also that AC Milan lineup is sad. Unless something changes, I can't see them ending up anywhere near Juve.

especially Crissy, who, though still an arrogant *****, was better last night than Messi was in the U.S.-Argentina match I saw at the Meadowlands last year.

You should be ashamed for missing Argentina's friendly against Brazil about two months ago in which Messi scored a hattrick. Don't know if you live in NYC or some other county, but New Jersey shouldn't be that far from you either way.

Conte has banned 10 months for match fixing.

Not for match fixing but for Omessa Denuncia, meaning for failing to press charges for two games that he's allegedly had knowledge of being fixed.

Nothing's changed in Italy, that Conte has been indicted is a joke. Chief witness Carobbio has already been indicted for actual match fixing, and he's the one witness whose testimony overrules that of more than twenty other witnesses who testify to Conte's innocence.

Even if Conte actually is guilty of knowing about the fixing, it's ridiculous how he received the longest ban of all who've been indicted, and that includes people involved in the match fixing itself! The FIGC is a joke, but then again all sports/arbitration courts are, and Italian courts in general of course too.

The rifts between Juventus and the Italian FA are getting deeper by the day, now they lose their manager and co-manager for more than half a year (their title is untouched by this, Conte's been before court for his time at Siena in 2010/2011). Will be interesting to see what happens next in this soap opera.

The Italian league is a joke.

Can't help but wonder if any of this crap goes on in the Prem as well though.