The question was brought up today and I couldn't think of a single one. So does any one here know if an American has played in the Italian league?
Two other American-born Italian or Italian Americans played in the Serie A during the 1930s. One actually was capped by the Italian NT.
From his bio: "...Signed with Padova in the Italian Serie A on July 27, 1994 ... Scored three goals during the 1994-95 season, including winning goals vs. powerhouses AC Milan and Inter Milan..."
interesting: i just checked yanks-abroad.com and couldn't find any americans currently playing in serie b or any of the other lower italian leagues either... are the italian leagues really that insular? i know americans have played in la liga in the past... serie a and la liga really can't be that much tougher to crack than the premiership can they? is it the quality of play? is it language?
Probably has to do more with style of play. English soccer has a much more similar style of play to American soccer. You don't see too many English players in Italy or Spain, either, or vice-versa.
[ From Colin Jose: One of the two Italian-American players was killed during WW Two. He was executed by Nazi Germans in Yuogoslavia.
You used to see a lot more British players in Italy back in the 80s. I think back then there was a serious income gap between most Italian clubs and most English clubs. The European ban accelerated the moves of Italy of many players, as well as a general crisis of confidence in English football. That being said, it was limited to very few footballers - we're talking maybe twenty people, tops. Most of them were not successful, which is why players stopped going. A lot just couldn't handle the language barriers and the different style of football. The best British footballer in Italy, by far, would have to be John Charles.
English players had not gone aboard much lately. Hargreaves(does not really count), Beckham, Ince, McManaman, Woodgate and Owen were the only ones of note.
des walker was the best defender in britain when sampdoria bought him. was a complete disaster in serie a. david platt was the best offensive mid in england for villa when bari bought him. jumped around a bit. very disappointing, although not like walker. gazza was a no-show in serie a.
This is all rubbish. Des Walker had a superb Italia 90 and was a very good player in England, he was alright at Samp, definitely not awful. He was not the best defender in Britain at any point. David Platt was a good young prospect at Villa, had an excellent Italia 90, and moved to Bari where he played so badly that he had to move to lowly Juventus. After a year there he moved to Sampdoria where he was so awful that they later asked him to be manager despite possessing no coaching badges and and not being really allowed to manage in Italy. What a disaster. Paul Gascoigne was superb at Spurs until he broke his leg in 1991, before his move to Lazio. There he constantly struggled with injury but is still widely admired by fans who recognised his ability when he was able to play. Almost all the supposed British "disasters" in Italy are entirely apocryphal.
Great comeback. From most of your views I take it that you follow the game from a cave in Afghanistan.
walker stunk for samp and lost his starting position. gazza stunk at lazio (that the fans loved him means nothing). platt stunk at bari and Juventus and was decent at samp. end of story. just because you were a little kid when those guys were in italy, doesnt mean you cant get some knowledge about their careers there before you open your piehole. why do you think none of the italian teams want english players? because theyve been a failure again and again. ince was decent. he was englands best midfielder when inter bought him. then hes decent in serie a. pathetic.
Walker played 30 times in the league for Samp (source http://www.thefa.com/Features/EnglishDomestic/Postings/2003/07/56642.htm ), when exactly did he lose his position? He arrived for £1.5 million, he because Sheffield Wednesday paid £2.7m. His value almost doubled in a year. God he was awful. Gascoigne was permanently injured at Lazio, when he wasn't he was very good. Where do you get this stuff from? Platt was superb at Bari, he scored 11 goals from midfield in one season when Serie A was at its toughest. That's why Juventus paid £6.5m for a player who had cost Bari £5.5m a year earlier. If he was so awful why did Juve sign him? At Juve he struggled to get on, but when he went to Samp he was excellent. He scored 9 times in the league in both his seasons there, that is why they love him so much at Samp. I normally think I can learn from people on this site, but you have proved time and again that you are clueless and base your opinions on nothing, certainly not facts or statistics. They want them but they cannot afford them. The days of England being a poor league (in both senses of the word) and Italy the world's richest and greatest are over. If you mean he was the best midfielder in England, no. Keane was already clearly better, not to mention Giggs and other completely different midfield players. If you mean he was the best midfielder in the England team, again no. Gascoigne was fit again and still the most important player. Fergie let him go to Italy because he thought he was past it, not because he thought he was the best midfielder in England.
Yeah, that's completely false. When healthy, Gazza was great for Lazio. Why do you think we still like him? Because he played poorly? Because they can't afford them. And really, other than Claudio Ranieri, who's been particularly interested in buying Italian players? How was Ince England's best midfielder?
who cares why you like him. alotta people like him cause he was fun and a complete idiot child. doesnt mean hes a great footballer. he was never even close to great at lazio. i wasnt talking about when he was injured. obviously he didnt play too well sitting in the stands. cant afford them? hmm thats funny. if you compiled the top transfers the last 10 years id bet there were atleast double as many involving italian teams then english (not counting chelsea obviously, since they pay double value for everyone). and english teams dont go after the big italian names cause they know they dont wanna step down their career, yet. english teams have shown interest in Del Piero, cassano and gilardino recently. obviously english teams have no shot at getting italian players of that stature. he was when he left man utd. if you dont agree, who was better?
yes he was. why you think they sold him. and why to a mediocre team like sheffwed? if i remember correctly samp fought off man utd for his signature. after being embarrassed for a season in serie a he ends up at that club. yeah you could say his italian job was a success. we bought him as a back up and because he had previously shown huge potential. i can remember only one game where he shone. that was in the champions league against austria or something like that. lol i know alot of people from genoa and hes not loved there at all. nothing compared to the teammates he had back then anyway. hes a forgotten chapter at bari, Juventus and sampdoria. yeah, ill go by your fact that walker was a success in serie a. yep. good. dumbest thing ive ever heard. platt was better then gazza at that point. gazza was just bigger in name lol what? fergie didnt let him go because he was the best mid in england. what does that have to do with anything? if a player wants to leave you sell him. how good he is is irrelevant.
You really are a glutton for punishment aren't you? They sold him because they could double their money within a year. You still haven't come with anything to support you assertion that he was dropped, when he in fact played 30 league games. Great memory, Juve weren't in the CL the season Platt was at the club, nor did they play anyone from Austria in the UEFA Cup which they were in and won. You mean Roberto Mancini and Gianluca Vialli, probably the two greatest players in the history of the club? He is clearly so unappreciated there that he was appointed manager despite possessing no qualifications or coaching badges. No, that is an opinion, The fact is that he played 30 league games, despite your claim that he was dropped. Italian clubs are broke, the days of the big transfers are over. Fiorentina went to the wall, Lazio and Parma have come very close. These days they haven't got a pot to piss in. Compare the spending figures over the last 3 years and you will see a very different picture completely. I thought you said Ince was the best player a minute ago? Make your mind up. Platt wasn't even a starter on the national team. Fergie only sells players he no longer wants. Ince was not the best midfielder in England. Normal people would stop at this point, but I realise you aren't one of them.
Was it you who made the statement (which later proved correct) four years ago that clubs wouldn't stop spending themselves into debt until a big club died a very messy death as a result of it? I remember at the time we all thought it was going to be Chelsea, but it eventually ended up being Fiorentina. Edit: Guess not, as I see you joined in '03. I could have sworn you did, though...