That sounds good. Never understood though why Italian clubs sign foreign born defenders and GK's because traditionally, Italians excel in those positions.
This year Inter is pretty good in fielding Italian players. Candreva, D'Ambrosio, Ansaldi and Gagliardini all get time. Santon was playing more in the first half of the season.
Yes, Juventus. The team went from fielding 7 Italian players a couple of years ago to, maybe, 3 this year. It's Buffon, and 2 of: Bonucci, Chiellini, Barzagli, Marchisio. Once in a while Rugani and Sturaro get thrown in the mix. It was my team, but only reason I still (half heartedly) support it is because I'd like to see Buffon win the CL; don't think he has ever won it.
Everyone is guilty of using too many "stranieri". Until each club says enough is enough, I think we could then see more Italian players. If that doesn't happen , I think the amount of foreign players in Italy will keep growing.. it's sort of a sad reality.
I forgot about fake ass Eder. I didn't know that about Ansaldi. If he's not good enough for Argentina maybe we can cap him.
Even with Real Madrid and Barca you see the low number of domestic players. Those 2 teams once were the factories for the Spanish NT.
That was the point of my post. it's not 2-3 clubs. Probably 3/4 of the teams field more foreigners than Italians. Useless to point the finger are a couple of clubs when most of them are guilty of this.
Oh I see. I thought we were initially just talking about Italians on defense and GK but ya they've been fielding less Italians. You guys got Caldara now and Mandragora is owned by Juve I believe
Juventus? Fully healthy, you see Buffon, the 3 Italian CBs and Marchisio. Even taking out one of the CBS, that's still almost have the field squad as Italian.
Bonucci is 29 but the rest are all over 30 with the exception of Sturaro and Rugani. Juventus is definitely not all that young in Italian players. After yesterday's game, I also doubt they will buy Donnarumma from Milan anytime soon.
To their credit they will have Caldara, Orsolini, Spinazzola, and Cassata in the near future in addition to Rugani, Sturaro, and Kean. Somewhere down the line they will have Mandragora & Romagna. I agree, Juve can kiss De Sciglio and Donnarumma goodbye. So they might chase for Meret instead.
I'm not going to lie. Juve's close ties with Gli Azzurri have always driven my love for them over the years. With this new influx of foreigners, I find my self slowly caring less about them. Sure, I'd be ecstatic if Buffon lifted the CL trophy, but I am a little disappointed in how little they've invested in young Italian talent. I don't mean BTW buying young players and loaning them out. I mean buying young players who are ready to contribute right away. There is no doubt that Roma, Napoli, (and Inter to a lesser extent this year) have contributed to the cheap foreign imports into Serie A. But, let's not forget the worst offender of all. MOTHER FCKIN UDINESE. I despise that team. They make ZERO effort to buy or develop young Italian talent. Instead, they try to buy cheap young players abroad and hope they hit the jackpot with a couple and sell them for profit. This past Sunday they didn't have ONE single Italian on the field. Disgusting for a smaller club. Thank God for the Atalanta's, Sassuolos, and Torino's of the world.
I genuinely think Juve are back on track with that. The links with Verratti are the strongest with Juve. Caldara-Rugani is essentially a guaranteed pairing. We will likely buy an Italian successor to Buffon. The buys of Orsolini, Mandragora, Sensi, all point towards still wanting an Italian "core". Come 2018, half the team will likely still be Italian.