Calcio has been in decline recently yet there are signs that the league is making some improvements. Serie A has been in decline since the new millenium. Financial problems have been a part of the decline but calciopoli and the Catania riots have done more damage to calcio's image. The soccer stadiums aren't in great shape and the Legge Pisanu has to be followed. So far, some improvements have been made to the stadium. I agree with DIECI that it will very good be for the like of Juve to have new stadium. The EPL clubs are being bought from rich businessmen worldwide and many countries around the world now have EPL rights. Channels like Sky and Fox manage to have these rights, show many games and the clubs sell lots of merchandise. It also helps that English is the universal language of the world. La Liga clubs have plenty money too and it has so many quality foreigners. Their local talent is better than England's but not as good as Italy's. Spain has many good sides and the mid-table sides aren't pushovers. They can still play great soccer. Italian clubs don't have that many great presidents these days. Only the likes of Moratti and Berlusconi can really afford the big names. In Italy, the smaller clubs can't afford the big names like they used to. In the 90s, Brescia could have a player like Hagi, Fiorentina could have Rui Costa and Batistuta and Napoli had guys like Fonseca and Zola. Parma even had several world-class players. Italy's local talent isn't as good as it was in the 90s (Baggio, Maldini and Albertini just to name a few) but we still have some fantastic players. Gattuso, Pirlo, Totti and Nesta are quality senior players in the Serie A and young players like Montolivo, Rosina and Quagliarella are making an impact. Even guys like Corona and Rigano' who have played in the lower divisions for many years, are making an impact. Italian soccer has always been very technical and tactical. It's not as good as it was in the 90s but although La Liga has some great technically gifted players now, most of them are foreign stars. England lacks technically gifted players and tactical know-how and Italians are the masters of tactics. England's best teams have international coaches, even some of the weaker sides. Most coaches in Italy are Italian. This season looks promising as Juve, Napoli and Genoa have been promoted (they have big fan bases) and Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina will start on zero points again. The purchases aren't as great as they used to be like Spartak said but more Italian players are coming through the ranks. Although 2006-07 hasn't be the best time for Italian clubs, it seems that there have some promising signs, especially from the young players and it seems that there have been improvements off the field. They aren't the greatest improvements but being Italy, nobody should mess around.
Somehow my first post got taken way out of contexts. I never talked about stadiums or dwindling fan bases. I simply said what Spartak said before, the elite players are prioritizing Spain and England teams before ours. Remember how in the 2006 world cup we were the only team to have all of our roster playing for actual Italian based clubs? That will never happen again. Some of our biggest talents and upcoming stars are choosing to move out of the country for more money than to stay in their hometown team. Cannavaro, Zambrotta, Toni, Grosso, Rossi, Bianchi. Even a lot of our goalkeepers are taking off. What I'm saying is that I dread the day that we become like Holland teams that discover talents and ship them away promptly to other nations for loads of money that they simply cannot pay themselves. I mean when in Italian football history have so many elite Italian stars chosen to go play abroad?
It's all related. Fan violence + decrepit stadiums = less attendance = less revenue = less money for stars foreign and local. But i agree with you. Just go back and check the transfers of 10 years ago. The season that Inter bought Ronaldo. Serie A was the hollywood of the football world. As for local talent, an advantage of having all your national team play in the same league is familiarity. Everyone plays against and with eachother. Everyone knows the same the same style and tactics. This was forever one of Italy's strengths.
In terms of big names yes more and more head for the EPL and Spain but 60% of the players in EPL clubs are FOREIGNERS, in Italy only 30% of the players are foreigners. Yes the stadiums are in a poor state and attendances are low but ultimately a strong national team helps the domestic product. and clubs are no longer spending beyond their means. As for the EPL, the collective debt is over £1 billion. Some of these clubs, including Man United, are heading for bankruptcy, just as we saw with Parma, Lazio and Fiorentina in Serie A.
I actually think this season will be one of the best (most competitive) in a few years. With teams like Roma, Juve, Milan, and Inter Milan looking very strong, fiorentina, torino, palermo, and maybe udinese looking like good challengers to european cup qualifying places, and new boys like Napoli and Genoa wanting to be the top teams they used to be, this season just looks really interesting. In addition, I think this season will have the most derbies in a season for a while...and who doesn't like derbies...right? ed. OK...so I think Torino should be much better than they are...but I think they might do decently this year...the derby with Juve will be fun to watch...oh...and Lazio...Yah...I guess they'll do ok this year.
god i hope Italy never is like the EPL. Italian Ultras maybe can settle down, but they are the heart and true spirit of this game...especially in Italia. Ultras per sempre
I'll pray to that every night. One thing we don't need is calcio to become a sport and not a way of life. Also a better standard league rather than business is more important. Also i don't want any bandwagoners, but truly passionate supporters of the italian game. ITALIA PER SEMPRE.
People are brushing upon this point, but I think it is important that it be stressed. It should not be forgotten that the great advantage we have over the other two major leagues is that our homegrown talent is notably better than what is produced in England and Spain. While I don't think it can be denied that we haven't been attracting top foreign talent these last few seasons when compared to the other two top leagues, the great equalizer is that the domestic players in our league are better than those in the rival leagues. That said, it is concerning to see players like Toni, Grosso and Bianchi leave.
I don't mind seeing some Italian players leaving Serie A, mostly because it creates more exposure for the Italian talent that is being produced in Italy, and hopefully attract more attention to the Serie A. Recently it's been the EPL and La Liga that has received most of the attention, but hopefully this will change soon. If Milan would've captured Ronaldinho this summer, I think Serie A would've jumped La Liga in terms of spectatorship. I'm not saying that one player has that ability, but...who wouldn't want to see kaka, dinho, pirlo, and ronaldo all play together?
Sorry to burst your bubble. The Ultra's are a Major problem and need to be dealt wih harshly. like they did in the EPL.
Maradona did to some extent. In 1984, Napoli was selling more season tickets and since the foreigners ban was lifted in 1980, we were getting better foreigners than everybody else. The English First Division had mostly stars from the UK and that was it.
things are definitely looking up for serie a. in fact, i can't wait for next season to start. i found this new site (www.seriea.tv) and now i will finally be able to follow every single roma game from here in the states. it's going to rock!
http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/jul31m.html If you needed anymore proof that serie A calcio was on the decline than this is it. Can you imagine Fiorentina selling R.Baggio to a team like Sevilla, or Aston Villa back in the early 90`s!? Ideally i would have wanted Napoli to sign him, but if that didn`t happen i would have liked to see him stay in Italy with one of the big clubs. But this really really really sucks
I don't believe the Serie A is on the decline. On the contrary. It suffered a great deal last year but it will bounce back. When you have newcomers as Juventus, Napoli and Genoa, you will pretty much increase attendance with every match. Each one of those teams will average 50k a home match and there will be 2 extra derbies. Genoa-Samp Toro-Juve + Napoli-Roma has always been considered a big match as has Juve vs. anyone else, for that matter. When you have those many fans in a stadium, you are bound to raise the level of play as well as afford top players. I predict great things this year and beyond!
And if the attendance figures don't help anything? What then? No one can deny that every season that passes by the quality of talent is getting thinner. Now with G.Rossi signing with f'n Villareal of all places this confirms it for me. We cannot afford to lose of our local talent... and it's happening. There are so many advantages of having 90% of your national players playing in your league.
Usually, the amount of fans in a stadium will raise any level of play regardless of the quality. Having a Juventus in Serie A will guarantee a much higher standard and/or level and quality of play no matter what anyone wants to think. To tell you the truth, I think the amount of foreign talent that Italian clubs have signed every year since the Bosman ruling has been greatly exaggerated. When a nation like Italy who has always excelled in the defensive and goalkeeping positions forever, has to go after and sign 40 year old Italians as well as Brazilians to fill those same positions , obviously something is definitely wrong with the system we have in place. I'm all for givng younger Italians a way to better themselves and give them starting Serie A positions instead of wasiting them away on the Serie A bench or in the B or in many cases C divisions. When you think of what Fabio Grosso accomplished in just a few years time from the C2 to the World cup final, you wonder how many more talented players like him play in Italy. "In italia si dice largo ai giovani"! Ed io penso che hanno ragione!
The other factor is he is American. I dont see him as a National team player for Italy. For the USA yes.
Come on guys! We are WORLD CHAMPS! Those players all played in Italy and never really left. Do you really think EPL/LA LIGA or anyone else will beat us in the long run???? MAnchester United beat Roma but they lost in Rome and Milan won the CL......We are in no way on the decline! I campioni siamo noi! ALLA FACCIA DI CHI CI VUOLE MALE!
not having a go, but personally i disagree. nobody can take away the fact that he scored 9 goals in 19 games in serie a. if gila is an azzurri player, rossi, especially considering he can get much better certainly has the potential to be an azzurri player. he ain't baggio, but let's not pretend that he ain't as promising or more so than almost any other player at that age, not only in italy, but in the world as a whole. he is class, and i expect him to do well at villareal, maybe not the first season, as their is always adjustment to teammates, environment style of play, but within two to three years he should be a strong candidate for the azzurri.
It's that he was with Manchester United. It's that English language hype machine. I've seen him play - he's a fast seconda punta with above average finishing. It will be interesting to see what he can do with a half decent team around him, see if he has some vision of the game. He played a lot like Foggia when I saw him.