I'll hang it up after this. When I played (at a low level) in France, fans said Paris Saint Germain could never win the title for cultural reasons. Not sure about the validity of the rationale but before 2010, it was true empirically. Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Monaco, Sainte Etienne all had periods of success. Since then, it's Paris Saint Germain.
Well, there was a very big change in power dynamics around 2011. Something like that could happen in Italy as well to alter the tables. It could be happening with Como right now and the money they have. Financial Fair Play will make it difficult to have another Manchester City, PSG spending sprees and rise. IMO.
Also, in Italy anyway, outside of Milan or Turin (the two most industrious cities) , there are only 5 other teams to have won a scudetto in the last 40 years. Verona in 1985, Napoli in 1987, 1990 in 2023 and maybe this season, Sampdoria in 1991, Lazio and Roma in 2000-2001, respectively. Napoli has an owner, Attlio De Laurentis who made his money-making films and he is the only reason they have found success. American Dan Friedkin at Roma has spent money but I doubt he will win much when all is said and done. The same goes for Claudio Lotito at Lazio. Despite a 75-year-old Italian-American billionaire as owner, Rocco Commisso knowing Florence as I do, I doubt Fiorentina will ever win anything. Joey Saputo is making noise in Bologna and God Bless him but I can't see them keeping up their success. South of Rome or Southern Italy is a total mess and there is a lot of organized crime and corruption. Sadly, I don’t think that will ever change and their clubs can barely survive so that brings us back to Inter, Milan and Juventus as the only teams having success.
O On the other hand, less club games in a regular season could be a great benefit in a WC year. Plus, I like the idea of CP being one of the players who helps being Milan back to the top.
Yeah selfishly for US if he can be a main guy, focus on league play and be fresh for WC is solid. Have a great WC to big transfer possibly.
Napoli been in the title hunt this season because they don’t have European competitions to deal with.
I'd say there's probably an "unknown/shiny new thing" premium too. CP's Chelsea stint didn't do his brand any favors and that probably (rightly or wrongly) affects desirability a bit.
I agree that’s a part of it. But Christian was great for Chelsea early on, helping them win the Champions League and proving he can be a difference maker in the Premier League. He had some injuries and then was victim to horrible mismanagement. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Chelsea has been far worse since he left. That whole team was in shambles and still are to an extent. So he gets sold to Milan for a bargain from a desperate seller and immediately becomes one of the better players in Serie A. He’d be a steal and an instant impact for most clubs.
Como could equal a 1990’s Parma who had Calisto Tanzi’s crooked Parmalat money behind them but they need a bigger stadium as well as more sponsors to buy better players who are able to compete with the big boys. They did well this year but these one hit wonders are common. Rather they can hang for a year or two but then they go right back to their losing ways. Even if Como can hang on for another year or so like Berlusconi’s Monza did, without reinforcements , they will be back down into the Serie B or C in a years time. It’s a constant struggle that Italy’s smaller clubs face on a yearly basis.
Yeah, to be clear, I don't think it's proper reasoning, but I do think there is big "shiny new thing" energy in the EPL often and it probably shades this valuation comp a bit.
The Como owner is the richest owner in the league and financial backing to be a mainstay. I'm not saying it will happen, just that they have the means to grow their club. Will it happen? Idk.
Yeah maybe but it remains to be seen how serious or how much he is willing to invest in the club. Their stadium , Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia is the smallest in the Serie A and smaller than Venezia. It only holds 10k seats and I believe I read because of the rules set forth by the FIGC , they will need to expand to at least 20k seats if they want to continue.
it would be interesting to see whether he'll look to leave or stay despite Milan downward trajectory...I suspect Leao, Reiijnder and Theo will be leaving....Would Pulisic wants to stay while all these guys heading out the door?
The perception is he wasn't good at Chelsea. I've heard it many times from pundits on Talksport. Real soccer people (those looking at potential players for their team) hopefully can evaluate better. But I'm cool with him staying at Milan another, helping them get back in European competition, and being more rested for the WC.
You can’t really replace what Leao does well. But you can certainly try to find a better all-around player. Theo has been terrible. Reijnders is vastly overrated at the moment because he’s had a career season in goals scored. But it won’t continue and he’s really not that great at the other aspects of his position.
He'll help pack their bags. Prolly because they're too lazy to pack them themselves. Well not Reindeer. He can stay.
Roma-Milan 3-1, pagelle: follia Gimenez, Maignan e Tomori bocciati. Mancini leader, Leao si fa murare da Svilar. Paredes padrone del centrocampo - Eurosport Christian PULISIC 6 - Gioca con grande impeto soprattutto quando la squadra rimane in dieci. Punto di riferimento. Christian PULISIC 6 - Plays with great intensity especially when the team is down to ten men. He is a point of reference. Roma-Milan 3-1: le pagelle della partita di Serie A | Sky Sport Christian Pulisic voto 6.5