When Donkeys Fly: Michael Bradley at Chievo, pt 1 [R]

what are the papers saying about Bradley's recent performances?

 

Go back a few pages, before the derail, several different links were posted.

He was one of Chievo's best players during the game.

 

There is nothing wrong with getting excited over his performance during the last game. He played a solid game where he contributed to the effort as he should have, making few mistakes while setting up chances. He looked like a solid player who could improve as he got used to playing with his new team, which is necessary in your first game in order to prove to the coach that you are able to contribute to the team. Without this he would be coming off the bench all year, or just watching the games from the sidelines.

Without this we would not have the chance to see if he can perform all season long. While he has had his problems in the national team, he has always given his all and will continue to be a good choice for the first team.

 

Considering his price tag, I think he had a good deal of leeway in the beginning. I don't think Chievo was going to drop a couple million dollars on a player that might or might not start for them. Obviously it's great that he came out in his first two games and took the bull by the horns and really cemented his place for the future in the team.

 

That's how it was approached by those who may have had a bias against MB. His two game benching for Gladbach in 2009 was brought up continuously in previous MB threads as "extended time on the bench" by those who had some sort beef against him.

Indeed there was one poster who must have been sent to the other room when he was little and forced to watch Soccer Made in Germany and old Green Bay Packer highlights whenever Bradley Sr. came to "visit" his mother (but he shall remain nameless..), who was particularly vociferous in pointing out these so called shortcomings of MB. Or at least that is the only way to explain his vitriol towards MB.

I agree with you however, that two games does not a season make. I am excited by how Mike has played, since he has been given the opportunity. I wish him well in the future and understand that it is difficult to keep up a great run of form for the entire season. Bradley has been an excellent player for the Nats and for all Yanks Abroad, and if he is successful in Serie A, it can only pave the way for future players (I hope)

Those who are over excited about his play I take their posts with the same large grain of salt I take, for example, with the posters who were saying StuHo was ready to go full boar before the Arsenal game or those who "knew" that Charlie Davies was ready for the world cup last year.. MB has been (in my mind unfairly) a magnet of negativity on this board due to who his father is. I hope with time that people can appreciate his game for what it is and what he has accomplished for what it is.

 

This just shows how weak Serie A has become.


*ducks*

 

I dunno how serious if at all you were being but I actually think Serie A is getting a bit deeper. Only problem is so many teams at the bottom of the table have little money

 

I'm so pumped for Bradley, I hope he keeps up this stellar form.

He's a huge part of the team.

 

Doez Italyen soccerball haz any fanz?

 

Actually, yes. Problem is they all live in the United States or (if they live in Italy) can't afford to go to the games in person.

 

Love the Bradley threads. Nobody can analyze Bradley's game rationally.

He's a good player. He's never injured. He's consistent. He has some issues over-committing at times, but I think he'll improve playing in Serie A where tactics are stressed.

As for his distribution game, I think it is underrated in some ways. He has more than his fair share of good passes for the Nats, and we know his knack for scoring big goals.

None of the other center midfielders for the nats have been doing what Bradley has been doing for as long as he has been doing it. And lets not forget, he's younger than both Edu and Holden.

 

Just my opinion, but I really feel people's hatred for Bob, combined with the belief that Jones is an elite player and Holden's development have made people really overly critical of Mikey. Combine with his loan to Villa (which in hindsight was not a good move) and Gladbach turning it around after he left make some people feel he's not very good.

In Italy, his style of play is gonna make him beloved by the Italian fans. For all the flak Italians get for flopping, they do have a lot of hustle players that will run like hell. And as others have mentioned, there are so many different tactics used in Serie A that Bradley will be learning new techniques.

I honestly love Serie A more than the Bundesliga and La Liga. As I said earlier, the money issues in Italy make crowds small, and hurts some of the smaller teams, but it's starting to improve.

 

I think, much bigger than the money issue, is the fact that all matches are televised without local blackouts and the Tessera del Tifoso just makes it a real pain in the EPL to walk up to a ticket window and get into a match.

Chievo will never have much attendance because they are the second (by a VERY wide margin) most popular team in a small city.

 

Chievo specifically has very few fans. I believe the joke is their crowd consists of two men and a dog on a picnic.

 

no biggest is outdated stadiums next is your

 

What is this?

 

Here's a pretty good summation, in English...

 

how i understood it you have to have id card to get into stadium and something like that. you can't buy tickets for other people

 

Note that the article above is from June '09.

 

I think new stadiums would give a one or two year boost per city but I don't think it's a major issue though I do have friends and family in Italy who disagree.

I live in Boston and I think the Red Sox (in their 99-year-old stadium) have had several hundred sell-outs in a row.

Consider that a LOT of the teams in Serie A are from pretty small towns. Udinese is practically considered one of our "bigger" clubs and they're from a town of 100k with no metropolitan area to speak of.

Novara 100k
Siena 50k
Bergamo (Atalanta) 120k
Lecce 100k
Cesena 100k
Cagliari 150k
Parma 175k

I honestly have no idea how that compares to the EPL, Bundesliga and La Liga but it seems (to someone who doesn't follow it) like half of the EPL is from London and that England (for example) has more urban sprawl and bigger metropolitan areas than Italy does.

I know that the cities I enumerated above are very small by American top-flight sports standards.

I'm totally in favor of promotion/relegation, though, even though having Sampdoria, Torino and Bari permanently in the top flight would probably be good for the league.

 

Don't know about Italy, but in Ukraine the construction of new stadiums has seen attendance increase sometimes tenfold. Going from a maybe a thousand or two to sometimes thirty to forty thousand.


I do see why those regulations would be frustrating and obstructing to get into the stadium.

 

You may be right. Everyone says I'm wrong on this point. I couldn't see *myself* going to more games because the stadium is all new and shiny so I guess I just have trouble imagining others thinking that way. I could see myself on a business trip to Torino and going to Juventus' new stadium *once* to check it out, though, if that were legal in Italy.

FWIW Juventus became the first Italian team to own their own stadium this season (brand new) and my team (Fiorentina), Palermo and Roma (with their American ownership) are all at least seriously talking about it. The plan was that Italy would get Euro 2012 and a bunch of new stadia but that never transpired. I would like more Italian teams to actually own their own stadia.

 

What happened in Ukraine is that originally the stadiums were complete dumps. They were just concrete shells, with nothing there except the ticket takers. The crowds were generally some of the lowliest, fowl smelling, foul language guys you could find in the city. After they built the stadiums, put in real concession stands, built team stores (you couldn't buy a Metalist jersey until a few years ago), jumbo screens, nice seats etc, it suddenly became a popular place for families and couples to go. You still had the hardcore fan element, with all that entails, but that only gets a few people in the seats and the atmosphere was like a funeral.

I don't know if it would work in Italy, but the Genoa game reminded me of Metalist game seven years ago, only with more people. Now they regularly draw 30,000 a night.

 

That's good to hear.

Let me say one more thing especially as it relates specifically to Chievo Verona...

The "other," and far more popular, team from Verona is Hellas Verona. Their fan base is on very good terms with the fan base of my team (Fiorentina). It used to be that, when Fiorentina travelled to Verona to face Chievo, there would be literally thousands of Hellas Verona fans (they, like Chievo, wear blue and gold) to support Fiorentina. Since the Tessera del Tifoso was adopted that sort of thing has diminished markedly.

Fiorentina away to Chievo in 2006...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiC8MAnUZAI"]video ultras fiorentina mag. ' 06 - YouTube[/ame]

 

So is it possible for me, as an American, to go watch a game in Italy?