i actually prefer arsenal/liverpool when it comes to big english squads...i like certain chelsea players and teddy sheringham in the only man u player i have ever liked...i do quite frequently wear a robbie fowler liverpool kit though

5/25/2007 8:00:33 PM

Quote :

"Roberto Baggio is my favorite player of all time... I've never been against Italy or Italian teams, in fact I used to pull for them when Baggio was playing I just don't really like any of their current team except for Maldini and Gattuso"

As far as Italian players, this World Cup had some great ones that I really like. Not to mention Buffon, best goalkeeper IMO.

As for AC Milan, I really like Inzhagi, Gattuso, and Maldini, to name a few. Not a big fan of the Brazilian players like KaKa, Cafu, and Dida. Cafu is an old fart, KaKa fucks up too much and Dida is no Buffon


Do you guys just watch soccer or do any of you actually play? I've been looking for a pick-up group to kick around with.

[Edited on May 25, 2007 at 8:31 PM. Reason : fda]

5/25/2007 8:31:02 PM

....fucks up too much?




you sure you're not watching Kakha Kaladze?





at any rate, I hate Italian football. It's slow. The players flop like you shot them with a 20,000 volt stun gun every single time you breathe on them.

There's a reason they call Serie A "the place where players go to die." Serie A = 35 and older Men's rec league.

5/26/2007 8:11:26 AM

bahh...not anymore...serie a is been "ranked" as the 2nd best domestic league every year behind spain and you have 3 of the all time great clubs...and there is no arguing the young talent that is present in that league now and with all the transfer rumors going around, it may very well replace spain next year

5/26/2007 12:05:10 PM

Quote :

"....fucks up too much? you sure you're not watching Kakha Kaladze? at any rate, I hate Italian football. It's slow. The players flop like you shot them with a 20,000 volt stun gun every single time you breathe on them. There's a reason they call Serie A "the place where players go to die." Serie A = 35 and older Men's rec league."

i call that Blind Hate. For a league that you think is '35 and older Men's rec league' they sure do know how to win titles. First Italy taking the world cup in 2006 and now AC Milan taking the European Champions League cup. hmm...

oh and before you add "Italy's national team != Serie A players" I'd like to point out that pretty much every player on the national world cup winning squad played/plays for one of the major Serie A teams.

Hell, even the non-Italian players in Serie A play for World Cup Qualified teams.

[Edited on May 26, 2007 at 4:03 PM. Reason : fda]

5/26/2007 4:01:49 PM

^ I'd never make that arguement because it's a well-known fact that the Italian federation won't select players who don't play in Serie A for the azzuri to begin with. Also, it's pretty much standard fare that a non-EU player HAS to be capped for their national team to get a work permit to even play anywhere in Europe, so that's a pretty weak point, especially considering that the same is true for non-native players in the Premiereship, La Liga, the Bundesliga, Ligue 1, the Eredivisie (shall I go on...?)


It's not really blind hate, it's my opinion. I can't sit down and watch italian games because they are slow and boring. Italian league players generally don't translate well into faster paced leagues, either, unless they're of NOTABLE skill. Nor is it a myth that older players go there to retire because of the slower-paced game and the greater amount of space. In fact, the harder I think about it, the only players I can name that have maintained the same impact on games in another league outside of Serie A are Ronaldo (with this season's start at Madrid the exception) - and he's back in Milan now - and Obafemi Martins, who is young enough to escape the italian school of thought and mold his game to anything.

I'll concede that AC Milan is pretty much the exception to the "Serie A = 35 years and older rec league" rule, but in general, other italian teams don't fare nearly as well in Europe or domestically (unless they're fixing matches).



Also, I'd like to see the rating scale that ranked Serie A above the Premiership this year, because whoever did so must be smoking some excellent crack.

5/26/2007 6:29:19 PM

of course serie a will drop solely because the loss of juve...when you look at the top tier of players in each league...spain is the only league that can compete in my opinion, and with all the talk of barca losing players to, yes...you guessed it, italian teams...

i would say real madrid has become the graveyard for great players recently...and clarence seedorf, who just won with ac milan, also won CL titles at the bernabeu and in amsterdam, so sucess can translate

italy is home to foreign gems like kaka, ibrahimovic, adriano, patrick viera, figo, stankovic, zanetti, crespo, ronaldo, pavel nedved, cafu, trezeguet...find me another league that can boast talent like that other than spain

here are the league rankings for the past few years according to this guy (who knows what authority he has to do this but oh well...)
2007
1. Spain 2. England 3. Italy
2006
1. Spain 2. Italy 3. England
2005
1. Spain 2. England 3. Italy
2004
1. Spain 2. England 3. Italy
2003
1. Spain 2. Italy 3. England
2002
1. Spain 2. Italy 3. England
2001
1. Spain 2. Italy 3. England
2000
1. Spain 2. Italy 3. Germany (5. England)
1999
1. Italy 2. Spain 3. Germany (6. England)
1998
1. Italy 2. Germany 3. Spain (6. England)
1997
1. Italy 2. Spain 3. France (7. England)

http://www.xs4all.nl/~kassiesa/bert/uefa/

[Edited on May 26, 2007 at 6:58 PM. Reason : ]

5/26/2007 6:58:28 PM

Quote :

"^ I'd never make that arguement because it's a well-known fact that the Italian federation won't select players who don't play in Serie A for the azzuri to begin with. Also, it's pretty much standard fare that a non-EU player HAS to be capped for their national team to get a work permit to even play anywhere in Europe, so that's a pretty weak point, especially considering that the same is true for non-native players in the Premiereship, La Liga, the Bundesliga, Ligue 1, the Eredivisie (shall I go on...?) It's not really blind hate, it's my opinion. I can't sit down and watch italian games because they are slow and boring. Italian league players generally don't translate well into faster paced leagues, either, unless they're of NOTABLE skill. Nor is it a myth that older players go there to retire because of the slower-paced game and the greater amount of space. In fact, the harder I think about it, the only players I can name that have maintained the same impact on games in another league outside of Serie A are Ronaldo (with this season's start at Madrid the exception) - and he's back in Milan now - and Obafemi Martins, who is young enough to escape the italian school of thought and mold his game to anything. I'll concede that AC Milan is pretty much the exception to the "Serie A = 35 years and older rec league" rule, but in general, other italian teams don't fare nearly as well in Europe or domestically (unless they're fixing matches). Also, I'd like to see the rating scale that ranked Serie A above the Premiership this year, because whoever did so must be smoking some excellent crack."

It still stands however, that Italy (made up of Serie A players) won the world cup which speaks highly of their talent as individuals and more importantly as a team.

A.C. Milan won the Champions League which also speaks very highly of the fact that a Serie A team has defeated all the other European teams.

Granted you are entitled to your opinion and I respect that, but at least give credit where credit is due. Coming from the bottom of the totem pole all the way to number one slot this year in UEFA says a lot for Milan. Also as for fixing matches, I'd think that Milan has proved that they can still win titles with or without fixing matches.

You may think Serie A is slow paced, I don't. Which it may be compared to other leagues, but as for me, I am a die hard fan and always will be.

5/26/2007 7:11:00 PM

^ fair enough. different strokes for different folks. I prefer to see the high-speed, bone jarring action that is the EPL. Hell, even the MLS is growing on me due to the speed of play this season.

Quote :

"patrick viera, figo, stankovic, zanetti, crespo, ronaldo, pavel nedved, cafu, trezeguet"

all on the decline



and to be fair:

Fabregas, Berbatov, Henry, van Persie, Mascherano, Tevez, Ashley Cole, Joe Cole, Lampard, Terry, Ferdinand, Gerrard, Cristiano Ronaldo, Rooney, Martins, Drogba, Robben







and while we're on the topic of italian football, Didier Deschamps quit Juve today after securing promotion back to Serie A - he's probably going to Lyon.


Too bad USSF pres. Gulati couldn't wait a couple of weeks, he'd have been able to bag Houillier as National team coach.




ahahaha or he would've fucked it up like he did with Kalifornia Klinnsman

5/26/2007 7:56:49 PM

the Fabregas to real madrid rumor mill is spinning full circle once again

don't get me wrong, i may seem like an epl hater but there are few things i would rather watch than an arsenal game...mls is growing on me as well, but largely due to the fact that i used to play woth/against a few players in the league now

5/26/2007 8:27:19 PM

Quote :

"patrick viera, figo, stankovic, zanetti, crespo, ronaldo, pavel nedved, cafu, trezeguet"

Viera from Arsenal
Figo from Real
Crespo from Milan to Chelsea where he couldn't cut it, and back again


and Ronaldo is old and fat as fuck...might as well list Cesc Fabregas for the EPL argument if you're gonna list Ronaldo.


Also, let's not forget about Ballack and Shevchenko (who will only be heading back to Italy b/c of his wife).

I'm not knocking Serie A, but I personally prefer La Liga and EPL. Serie A really is a slower game.

5/26/2007 9:31:07 PM

Quote :

"Crespo from Milan to Chelsea where he couldn't cut it, and back again"

Crespo doesn't play for Milan, he plays for Inter.

and yes, ronaldo is a old fat fuck, I don't like him at all. Never really did even in his prime. Watching him in this past world cup was like watching that one cherry picker kid during a game of pick-up that sits around by the goal hoping the ball will come gliding past so he can take a shot.

Ballack again is another guy i don't like. I was going for Germany (after Italy of course) because my brothers wife is german and i've always liked West Germany in the past as far as a team. I must say I wasn't impressed at all by Ballack. All the hype they built around him, saying he'll be leading Germany to victory etc etc. Frankly, he didn't do much for them. The player I was most impressed wtih was Phillip Lamn (sp?)

[Edited on May 27, 2007 at 1:21 PM. Reason : fda]

5/27/2007 1:18:49 PM

^ you don't like Ballack cause he's East German, hahaha



but Crespo did play for Milan at one point. it went Lazio > Inter > Chelsea > Milan > Chelsea > Inter, I believe.

5/27/2007 2:18:12 PM

i like ballack...i know it is irrelevant but he played at river plate and then started in italy at parma

[Edited on May 27, 2007 at 2:22 PM. Reason : crespo]

5/27/2007 2:21:54 PM

Quote :

"^ you don't like Ballack cause he's East German, hahaha"

huh?

if me saying i liked West Germany had anything to do with that assumption you would be wrong. I only said 'West' because back when I liked germany a lot was back in the day when it was called West Germany. As far as East Germany goes, my brother lives in East Germany and married into a east german family, so i have no problems with east or west.

5/27/2007 3:05:21 PM

top to bottom though, serie A doesn't compare to EPL... yes, their top tier teams are good but no league has overall talent like EPL

5/27/2007 4:22:45 PM

I just wish I had some sort of soccer channel to watch. I don't have cable or satellite. Too bad there isn't a soccer only dish network. Cause for me, its a waste of money to have cable or satellite. I never watch it unless there is a soccer match I want to see. Too bad there aren't any local bars or pubs that have regular games on.

5/27/2007 5:50:54 PM

Quote :

"Do you guys just watch soccer or do any of you actually play? I've been looking for a pick-up group to kick around with."

i play quite a bit...i used to go up to colonial in cary and kick around...during the summers i go back to my high school and play...me and some guys just recently played up at the soccer center and are trying to get a regular thing going...we all played club/high school so there are some good guys...if anyone is down to play we should get something going

5/27/2007 6:08:15 PM

I'm down. I played in high school some and played club at ECU my freshman year.

5/27/2007 6:55:05 PM

if you're in Raleigh, I play with a couple of buddies of mine at Eastgate park on mondays



I also play a lot of indoor. I prefer outdoor, though. Unfortunately I work too fucking much to play as much as I used to (5-6 days a week)

5/27/2007 7:31:14 PM

^^ when were you at ecu...i played club a bit at ecu my freshman year (02-03)

5/27/2007 7:55:04 PM

^00-01 (freshman year)

^^where's Eastgate park? never heard of it I never played indoor before but I can't imagine it being as fun as outdoor. Although I don't have the lungs to run a full field anymore....way too out of shape so i need to recondition myself for that.

5/27/2007 9:56:48 PM

^ It's off of Millbrook or Falls of Neuse, depending on which way you are coming



http://www.google.com/maps?q=4200+Quail+Hollow+Dr,+Raleigh,+NC+27609,+USA&sa=X&oi=map&ct=image




we don't usually play full field, though, because the mexicans get out there and play their stupid-ass 50 vs 50 games where you get to touch the ball once in a 2 hour period. we play short-sided games off to the side. coincidentally we're probably the only english speakers out there, too. not so bad because most of us speak (or understand in my case) spanish, but fuck if we want to play with the mexicans.

we're usually out there after 5-5:30... maybe earlier since tomorrow is a holiday, although I will be working so I can bank at least a half day and not be behind come friday.

[Edited on May 27, 2007 at 10:36 PM. Reason : .]

5/27/2007 10:34:53 PM