I agree. I think the culture shock is a lot less than what a South American would experience in England or Germany. With no disrespect to the large clubs in Italy, but now that expectations have been dampened, the pressure isn't as high as it is at a club like Barca, Real, Bayern, Chelsea, etc. When players move after playing in Italy, they have better time adapting and transition to England. Just look at Alexis Sanchez, for example. Udinese were patient and took their time with him. They loaned him out early on and then brought him along slowly in the first team. When he left for Barca, he was almost a finished product. I think the pressure at Barca got to him a bit and he got a raw deal from coaches, etc. while he was there, but he was more capable to handle those difficulties from his time in Italy. When he moved to Arsenal, he was basically a plug and play and contributed immediately at a high level. I certainly hope it's for the best of Italian clubs. I was spoiled in my younger days by a top quality product in Serie A. I prefer that league much more than today's EPL, which I also do enjoy. Maybe it's the nostalgia, but I'm really rooting for Serie A to return to become arguably the top league. As far as Italian youngsters are concerned, it's a valid concern. I never seen the talent pool as dry as it is now. It's alarming that foreigners are starting to break into Italy's ranks at a higher rate than before -- Vasquez, Eder, Jorginho, etc. Italy has always been our rivals, but they are rivals that I've always had the upmost respect for, including their players.
He wouldn't be the first Brazilian to fly under the radar though. Did nothing in Brazil and explodes in Europe.
I still have my doubts about him, but his run has been impressive in Italy. Every once in a while, a player slips through the cracks, for whatever reason. I always would prefer to see a larger sample size before acknowledging that a player is legit (UCL next year, it seems). Just as an example, Felipe Melo was whack when he was at Fla. I never imagined that he would even become the player that was. Say what you want about his temperament and what not, but he was a NT level player. When Juan (ex-Roma, Leverkusen, now at Inter) was at Fla, he was a bit like Samir in the sense that he would commit silly mistakes, but the torcida was also very harsh with him. He ended up turning into a hell of a player.
Yea I'm not trying to be one of those SA fans who hates on a player because he didn't play club football here or star here like Argies do with a lot of players even Messi. I'm sure Dunga doesn't care what people think and that's a really good trait but if you call an unknown player in brazil expect to get backlash. Juan used to be one of my fav players when Roma used to be good. The Felipe Melo thing is puzzling to me although I think there is way more pressure playing for Flamengo than Lazio. I have serious issues with the Serie A, the stuff I saw from September to December was pretty bad. I was watching 3 games a week probaly. First of all i'm not seeing a hell of a lot of defense anymore and I don't think that is because the attacking is great. Who is really even a quality side besides Juventus? The officiating has always been questionable and still is now. I don't agree with the poster in regards to depth in the lg either, I just think sides like Roma, Lazio, Napoli, and Milan get beaten by smaller sides because they aren't quality teams. I guess my question to you is what would someone like Montillo do in Serie A? I think he would tear it up personally.
Agreed. But in Felipe's case, he wasn't an unknown. He had a certain level of hype from his achievements at the youth level, so he was known to the real football fanatics. I agree that the disparity among teams are much smaller, allowing for smaller sides to get results vs larger sides. The larger team in Italy, maybe bar Juve, is littered with average or even poor players that you would never seen 10-15 years ago. Sure, larger teams usually have 1-2 players on the squad that don't necessarily belong, but in Italy, a higher percentage of the squads have these type of players. Yeah, I could see Montillo having success in Serie A, and to a certain extent, in La Liga for a mid-table side.
I've become a huge fan of Felipe Anderson and even stared following Lazio but I hate seeing him linked to all of these big teams so early on. I want him to have a full season in Lazio doing what he is doing. Today he was linked with Manchester City and their official Twitter page announced it while tagging him. And reportedly Jose wants to spend 30me on him.
I think it stupid on a club part to buy a player based on one season of good form. He could be a one hit wonder or he could be a hit. Let him stay at Lazio another season and evaluate.
But staying at Lazio and doing well will further increase his value as well as the number of suitors he may have. A club's goal in this extremely overheated player market is to find the potential stars that go "under-the-radar" first before their price starts getting stupid. Part of that means taking risks on potential one-hit wonders.
I wonder how much longer till someone like @NotreDameFlamengo asks for Dunga to call up Jonas, who is lighting Liga Sagres up.
He didn't really do much. He scored twice vs Egypt I believe and that's all he scored in several appearances.
This Marco Rony Lopes kid is seriously the real deal for Lille right now. Luso-Brazilian... God this kid will be world class soon.
Did you see him say that recently? We sent a delegation to speak with him last year and he was warming up to the idea of playing for the Seleção.
He didn't say anything that I know of but I know he represented Portugal since youth. I think if both made a pitch, he choose Portugal.
The portuguese boards I check in on with has always treated him as a done deal to play for Portugal and nothing to worry about.
He scored another goal in the 4-0 demolition of Empoli. Ultimately it is up to Felipe Anderson whether he wants to stay or leave. So far him nor his agent have not said anything about leaving.
I don't think he'll leave if he just signed another contract. I know he wasn't playing much before but its still so random that he just exploded onto the scene like that. One more season at Lazio will prove if he is the real deal. And if he is, you guys could get some good money for him.
I think Allan also deserve a look at. Hopefully, he moves this summer. Casemiro should say at Porto IMO. He would be wasted at Madrid.
I think he'd fit in well at place like United, despite their track record with Brazilians. He's the type of DM they need.
From highlights Looks like an average player too early to say he is selecao material. For a AM to play for nt you want to see more midfield passing than dribbling and holding the ball, maybe the hightlights are just a sample ,but the amount of ball holding when he could have passed the ball makes it hard for me to see dunga picking him this soon. You might see cuthinho in that role before he tries other options