The El Shaarawy sub doesn't make sense. I hope he doesn't pick up a yellow. It would of been nice to see Salamon/Cristante...but Allegri has other ideas.
My money is on Fiorentina in the Europa. Montella doesn't seem like the kind that will play a depleted squad!
Hey be nice. If Pescara still had their Serie B team with Zeman as coach, it would likely be a different result I can tell you that. Also my dad is from a village opposite Verrati's
Not in a million years, people need to get over the hype that is Zeman. He's a horrible failure. It wasn't his team, it was his system. It sucks. It does not work in top flight Serie A. This years disaster at Roma is proof. I could just imagine how much worse it would have been at Milan with the turn over in defense we had this year. The young defenders being left all alone like that. It could ruin their career. I shake thinking about it. /end
You want to give Zeman credit for Totti being Totti? Here's what I don't think happened by accident. I don't think Roma climbed the standings after Zeman was fired by accident. I don't think Roma lost by huge margins when Zeman was coaching them by accident either. I don't think Zeman is anyway responsible for Totti being a talented player either.
C'mon lets take the blinders off for a second. Totti, it is well known, is having an above average season by his standards...its not Totti being Totti because Totti up until very recently barely even moved around the pitch or went into challenges to get the ball back or was even remotely thought of having any quickness or pace left. It is well documented that Zeman has a very intense physical regiment that most ego-centric players find offensive but nevertheless more often than not he gets his teams sprinting most of the game. Totti succumbed to the regime that Zeman gave him - the results bore out after Zeman's sacking but the fact is the entire team is playing one of the highest tempo-type games in Italy today. Yes they're shit defensively and no doubt Zeman is a culprit for that but nevertheless Roma was tied for having most goals for the majority of the season up until Napoli's recent surge. Zeman is not a coach that can handle the egos of superstar-esque players, but if you give him a bunch of know-nothing/impressionable athletic-youth types, watch the ******** out because he'll get them scoring on you like you would never imagine. Pescara was playing Barca-type football in friggen Serie B, I don't know if you have any idea how difficult and unforgiving a league Serie B is but football enthusiasts will tell you that as far as second division leagues go, its probably the best in the world and one of the most difficult to score in.
Me? Look can we keep personal insults out of this? I get it, you like Zeman. You like all out attack football. I like attacking football too, but with Zeman it's a double edged sword. Football is played at both ends of the pitch, something Zeman seems happy to ignore and it shows in top flight football. "it is well known"? if you say so I never really thought Totti had average seasons to be honest, but I'm just going to refer to the math here... 2012/13 STATISTICS 32 games 12 goals 12 assists = .375 goals per game, or 1 goal every three games essentially 2011/12 STATISTICS 26 games 8 goals 7 assists = .307 goals per game or same 1 goal every 3 games 2010/11 STATISTICS 31 games 15 goals 8 assists = .481 goals per game or 1 every 2 games. Do we give Montella some credit here? 2009/10 STATISTICS 21 games 14 goals 6 assists = .667 goals per game or more than 1 every 2 games Totti is having, per his goal averages, about the same season as last year. Both are down from previous years but he's aging. I also seem to recall that Enrique had a bit of a problem with him in the beginning. Totti obviously played less as a result, but the numbers he put up are almost exact. Sorry bro, I'm not buying into your theory. It's just Totti being Totti in my opinion. There's no denying that Roma put up some impressive victories, but also with some pretty devastating losses to boot. There was little stability from week to week, not good. I'm not a fan. If you want Milan to finish in 8th spot, or worse, and score 5 goals one game, then get 5 scored on them the next, and have super exciting games followed by super lows, then ok...bring in Zeman. Personally I prefer some stability. Or cmon now, let's put this old beast to rest already. There's a reason no big clubs, especially outside of Italy, come knocking. No one else in the know, has given Zeman a real chance in over 13 years. That's pretty telling if you ask me! Roma had an idea based on one good season in B, after he put up some average ones also in Serie B. They gave Zemanlandia another shot, probably and most definitely hoping that if it was successful and his all out attack football was taking charge of Serie A, they could seriously market the team abroad. It didn't quite exactly work out. There was a lot of hype in the beginning and a lot of wishful thinking that when looked at through rational lenses turns out were nothing more than smoke and mirrors. Some people haven't yet gotten over it. In a weaker Serie A, with a pretty competitive squad (personnel wise) he sort of, kind of, totally failed at Roma. Then again we are talking Roma management here, not exactly stable themselves. So the shoe fits really. They let Montella go, remember? Hows he beein doing since then? So now Roma's back in EL contention in spite of Zeman, not because of him. Here are some more numbers if you need the proof... {you made me do a lot of work here, I hope you appreciate it } With Zeman in 23 games you get 10 wins (one was awarded by the league), so 9 earned, 9 losses and 3 draws for 33 (30) points and a winning percentage of 43% and that's inclusive of the free 3 points given to them. 50 goals for (3 given by the league) so 47 earned / 42 goals against goals per game in this period are 2.04 goals against in this period are 1.82 difference of .22 Without Zeman in 13 games you have 7 wins, 3 losses and 4 draws for 25 points and a winning percentage of 54% 19 goals for / 12 goals against goals per game in this period are 1.5 goals against 0.9 difference of 0.6 That's three times better! Every number has improved. And the most goals against with only Pescara out doing them in that department, after Zeman depleted them defensively as well. There's that double edged sword again. In Serie B maybe. BTW, I consider all footballers athletic, and I think you also touched on another key point with know-nothing. Put him in a situation where players actually do know something, tactically, and you see what happens... negative .500 football! It's still Serie B, not A. He also had some average seasons before that. I'll give the players as much credit. He had a good bunch to work with, obviously. Aside from that, if Zeman can't handle ego's, which every other coach in the world has to deal with as well, then there's another check against him as a weakness, not a strength. How about the manner in which he almost destroyed Stekelenburg? We're not talking about Amelia, but a main stay on the Dutch national team, not a one season wonder here. Honestly, I see a lot of rationalization going on and I'm sorry but I just can't agree with most...almost all of it. Nothing personal. If you want to give credit to Zeman for the goals for, then be fair here and admit the goals against are as much an outcome of his system, if not a more glaring one. Understand that his system is lop sided. The numbers above show that this doesn't work in Serie A and it's a weaker Serie A. Personally, I don't want him destroying Milan, and thankfully he won't get the chance. If you like the all out attack mentality, that's one thing...again, it comes with a cost, there can be little denial there. I think the only real argument you sort of made was that Zeman made his team fi. Conte does too apparently. Well if that's the answer, then hire a good fitness coach, because he's tactically inept defensively. Ok, Ima throw a bone out here; obviously his system will be advantageous to the offensive players. Totti is an offensive minded player. Having more attackers in your presence is certainly going to give you more options. Sure, I'm not going to argue that. It still comes with a huge cost and Totti still put up the same numbers this year as he did last year and last year with a coach who was trying to phase him out. This high tempo game void of defensive priority get's you into 11th spot in this league with a fairly talented team, obviously. When some stability was implemented, Roma climbed the ladder. That's enough for me to hope that if Zeman is ever hired for another team in Serie A, it's not Milan.
Growing up Italian soccer was known for it's defense. Scoring 5 goals a game is fun and exciting, but if the other team scores 6, you still lose. I'll take a 2-0, 2-1, 1-0 win any day. Defense wins. Milan and Italy have won with great defense. I like a good D, maybe cause I played D or it's just something that most Italians like. I don't know. I like how things are going in Milan now. No reason for big changes.
I don't see the appeal of Barfa style soccer. Their D and keeper stink. The only reason they don't get blown away more is cause the mid field eats up the clock playing keep away. If they can't do that, they get rolled over, like they just did in CL. Teams and people give them too much respect/credit. Hopefully their hype is almost over.
Lol no personal insults intended bro (I didn't think the word 'blinders' would get anyone defensive lol. And you're right about him being one dimensional. First I'll say thank you for illustrating some of the stats, his appearances per game are back up from the previous year so I think that could be contributed somewhat to an overall improvement in physical condition considering he's older now than before. Incidentally, I think it could be argued that soccer stats are tricky. Its not cut and dry as say baseball or NFL football etc (to this day I haven't found a credible website/archive that documents advanced Serie A football statistics i.e. possessions forfeited, completed passes, set piece percentages, fouling percentages etc.). You really have to watch the games in order to get an impression of a player overall, especially if the player functions in-between the attack and midfield. IMO seeing him play compared to years before, there's a noticeable improvement in his conditioning and movements. You can see that during the latter parts of this season he actually attempts to dribble out of pressure instead of just using quick touches and he also moves with the ball a lot quicker. Again, this isn't going to win me any arguments but I'm a close follower/admirer of Totti and Zeman and I think there's some empirical evidence that suggests they rubbed off each other quite well. Its a product of Zeman football unfortunately. It was the same when he coached for Lecce all those years ago and its happened again with Roma. However we know that under the right circumstances his philosophy can help teams flourish like it did with Pescara. They played some unbelievable up tempo football and were the darlings of Serie B for the entire season last year. Funny enough I bet Roma fans wished they scored five goals a game; we know that Roma wasted more goalscoring chances in a single season than likely any other time in their clubs history - Osvaldo and Destro were duds in front of goal and there are numerous games were Roma should have been ahead by greater margins. You can't blame the coach for lack of finishing, that's on the strikers. He's got an outcast-type personality. I won't hold it against him. He clashed with half the team. That's ultimately his fault - being the coach you have to be adaptable and centralize you ideology so that everyone buys in and that didn't happen. However, I think we can be a little more understanding when you consider that De Rossi and Stekelenburg hated the guy (I'm speculating) and forced the coaches hand. Those are two substantial players that you need playing as much as possible. I disagree completely. Andreazzoli (sp?) inherited a team that was on a physical upswing which was founded earlier in the year. Again I appreciate the legwork you put in but I don't think the numbers tell the whole story. But for the hell of it; look at Pescara's 2011/2012 stats. GWDLFAGDGFAGAAPpGPtsRankHome Record 21 15 2 4 45 22 23 2.14 1.05 2.24 47 3 Away Record 21 11 3 7 45 33 12 2.14 1.57 1.71 36 2 Overall Record 42 26 5 11 90 55 35 2.14 1.31 1.98 83 1 They scored 90 friggen goals in a single Serie B season and only let in 55. If you're coach shopping and you see those stats, you pick up the phone. Maybe not good enough for Real Madrid or Chelsea etc. but like you said for a Roma team that's trying market themselves to a larger audience, it makes sense. I don't understand what you're saying here? What did he deplete? Pescara made it to Serie A, that's all that matters. Well you have to have some kind of talent to work with. I remember when he coached Lecce and Chevanton had a career-type year and Lecce made a good amount from his sale (throw in Ledesma to) afterwards these players went on to have average careers but it was Zeman who got them their attention. We don't know the whole story there. Zeman hasn't said anything in the press about it so for now its just all speculation. Ok but your use of stats is not that rational in the context of what I'm arguing. Goals and assists tell a very small story in the world of football, I wish there were more advanced stats like you have in the NBA but unfortunately there aren't. Well I don't know if he would destroy Milan so it all speculation at this point. I would obviously share your concerns with the defense being affected (and our lack of adequate defense has been emphasized enough as it is) but its a young team with a bright future. If you give Zeman an impressionable SES/Niang/Di Siglio/Cristante to work with combined with some other eager players with good physical qualities, who knows what he'd be able to accomplish?