Roma: with a very good grade of 7,5, the team boasts some of the best players in the world: Hässler, Caniggia, Mihajlovic, Giannini, all 4 star calibre. In goal, Cervone is one of the best in Italy and nothing short of a UEFA spot finish is expected. Their strength is in midfield, which is considered one of the most talented in the world and they have a quality and experienced manager in Boskov. Their weakness is their defense, despite a top-class goalkeeper.
Sampdoria: with a solid 7,5 grade, the Genoa side boasts one of the rare 5 star rated players in the league: veteran Mancini. Their strength lies in their defense, one of the strongest in the league, with one of the top goalkeepers in Italy (Pagluica) and one of the best defenders in Europe, England’s Walker. In addition, the experienced Vierchowod. Their weakness is their attack, now that Vialli had departed. Their manager is the Swede Eriksson, who has Serie A experience, but can he fill the void from the departure of former legendary Serbian coach, Boskov ? Anything short of a UEFA spot finish would be seen as a failure.
Torino: with a 6,5 grade and boasting one of football’s top players, the 5 star Enzo Scifo, the squad is expected to reach the UEFA zone. Their strength is their attack but they also rely on a decent defense, with a top-class goalkeeper. If there is a weakness it may be in the midfield, and in their manager, but overall a balanced side that should cause problems for many top teams.
Udinese: one of the newly promoted sides and arguably on paper the weakest, with a modest grade of a 5. Their objective is to survive the relegation zone. Their top player is Dell’ Anno, rated with 4 stars. Their strength is their defense, with an experienced Serie A calibre goalkeeper in Giuliani, but their midfield and especially their attack suffers and is not held in high regard, despite having Argentinian international Abel Balbo up front.
Before I make my way through the beginning of the following season, I found some additional information from the first half of the 1983-84 season. In El Gráfico’s magazine, they graded the performances of the South American foreigners through 15 rounds. It is said that Passarella, with a grade of an 8 out of 10, had returned to his best form but that Fiorentina, his club, didn’t produce “friends” in the press like those that played in Rome, Milan or Turin. In other words, Passarella received less favorable reviews due to where he played and because of his aggressive style of play, which drew few friends amongst the neutrals. In regards to other top names, Zico was seen as someone that produced mixed reviews, that alternated with frequent excellent displays followed by discrete performances. Falcao was seen as rarely reaching the heights of his previous season, but admittedly still the focal point of the team and essential in the team’s ambitions to defend their title.
As with the previous season, below each match there’s the confirmation of the “migliore” (best) and “peggiore” (worst) of each game.
There has been a change of how the top ranked players of each weekend are voted from the previous season. Now in charge of the subjective criteria is Carlo F. Chiesa. This time only 5 players/managers are chosen. The key difference is that of the 5 players or managers chosen they are rated from 1 to 10. The bottom 2 players that received any grade below a 6 are viewed as the worst of the weekend, while any player that received a 7 or higher is the best. For example, below is round 1. Signori received a 9 as the best of the weekend, followed by Galeone and Massaro. The last two with grades of 5 and 4 were the worst of the first round.
Carlo F. Chiesa’s top and worst of the weekend (in green and with ratings of 7 and above were the best; the worst in red with grades of 5 and below). GS round 2
Due to the depth that AC Milan possesses, Ruud Gullit’s days seem to be numbered. Yugoslavia’s Savicevic seems to be a preferred option to be a starter.
Carlo F. Chiesa’s top and worst of the weekend (in green and with ratings of 7 and above were the best; the worst in red with grades of 5 and below). GS round 3
Found this 1989 interview in El Gráfico with Careca, Brazil’s famous striker of the late 1980s and early 1990s. I just thought I’d share his thoughts about how he viewed the Italian league at the time. He states: “The Italian championship is tremendous, every Sunday it’s a test, with the danger that at every turn one can get supplanted without mercy. But in that competitiveness lies the secret of its beauty.”
Another interview of El Gráfico in 1989, but with Enzo Francescoli. It pertains to the thread because Francescoli would in a few seasons play in Italy. He was playing in France at the time and briefly spoke about the differences of how it is to play in that country. He said there is little interest in France, no pressure and that stadiums rarely got packed. It is not like in Argentina he said. He also wanted to leave and go play anywhere but Italy was his first option, for all that it represents in the world to play there, and then Spain and Argentina as alternative choices.
Let us rewind back to how Brazilian players in Italian football were viewed Between 1980-1985. According to El Gráfico and in many Italian spheres, Brazilians struggled to adapt to the Italian life and cold winter weathers. With the exception of Junior, most Brazilians didn’t keep a consistent level throughout their spells in Italy. Number one case was Zico, who started well but faded through injuries and suffered tremendously the cold weather. It is also important to point out that by his second season he lost faith in the club, who had promised they would improve the squad, but failed to abide by their promises. He no longer was content and wanted to go back to Brazil. The investment of Udinese in Zico eventually went sour. Socrates was another case, considered a total failure. He never could adapt in only one season at Fiorentina. He complained about the toughness of the league, the training and how certain players didn’t get along with him. He wanted to go back to Brazil. Falcao had a great career at Roma but his ending was unfortunate. His last season plagued by injuries and trouble with management. At this stage Cerezo was also struggling with injuries and at odds with management. But later in the late 1980s he would flourish with Sampdoria. During the 1980s there was a stigma, that Brazilians couldn’t adapt and shine in Italian football. According to many experts, Argentina had players better equipped to play in the winter campaigns of Italy. As Helenio Herrera put it in this article: “When one looks at the history of Italian football, very few Brazilians ever excelled in Italy, only Julinho, that great winger that shined for Fiorentina, and in certain phases Altafini, but that’s it...” There of course is some credence to this belief. With the exception of Kaka or Cafu, which Brazilians truly left a strong legacy in the past 30 years in Italy ? High-profile names such as Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Pato (too many injuries), Adriano (too many ups and downs) and Robinho, all struggled either through injuries (Ronaldo and Pato) or Rivaldo and Ronaldinho never quite matching their heights like they had done in Spanish football. There were other exceptions, like Careca, but it coincided with Maradona and Careca had a European wit about him that some joked if he really was Brazilian. In any event, Italian football many times ended up being the downfall for Brazilian players.
What argentinians thinks about brazilian football or players (or about Brazil in general) doesn't really matter. Can you compare the ratings of Brazilians and Argentinians in the 80s according Guerin Sportivo? Brazil always had enough players and minutes in the Italian League, for example. https://fbref.com/pt/comps/11/36/nations/1998-1999-Serie-A-Nationalities Altafini scored 295 goals (in 599 matches) with the shirt of Italian teams, more than any argentinian?
https://www.erubik.xyz/esm/nation.php?id=Argentina&view=alltimetable https://www.erubik.xyz/esm/nation.php?id=Brazil&view=alltimetable Brazilians also appeared more times in the ESM team of the month playing for the Italian teams (1995-2020).
Mate, it is tedious to go back hundreds of pages, but you are welcome to stroll through every page to reveal that yourself.
On the bold comment; The Onze Mondial vote (Francophone readers) had him as the 4th most voted in the attacking midfielder category. Behind Brian Laudrup, Hassler, Abedi Pele but ahead of Michael Laudrup, Scifo and Baggio. So I think in Europe at least he had still a relatively strong profile (helped by his presentation or the charisma people attached to him). After a very quick and brief search I found this november 1993 article of the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/26/sports/soccer-gullit-finds-his-separate-peace.html "Gullit has never felt the need to take even a vacation in the United States -- and why should he? It is a very big world out here. But Americans would feel very much at home with the Dutchman with dreadlocks. He has come back from major knee surgery with the inner-directed intensity of Bernard King, and his presence on the soccer field is sweetly extraterrestial, a cross between Earl (the Pearl) Monroe and Earvin (Magic) Johnson. [...] Most soccer players tend to have little education and less social conscience, but Gullit often speaks out on social issues." In brief (he was two days ago on television to speak in the evening about the Serie A) this shows Gullit's unease in Capello's efforts to manage him. He was occasionally frustrated by that he was playing well and yet rested. From Capello's point of view (and he wanted Gullit back in '95; Gullit sees going back as his "biggest mistake") there were concerns about Gullit's knees and whether he could play three games in a week. Milan had the ambition/desire to play on all fronts (not that they always succeeded btw). Gullit had some really very excellent comments, I might find them back. To his credit (looking beyond the 'aura' or what it might be), only Van Basten and Batistuta (excluding penalties) had more match winning goals this season than him, and I also count 5 match winning assists. The observation can still be made he contributed well enough to the unbeaten season. His GI rating is among the better ones of his time. Obviously he was better in 1993-94 with a 3rd place finish and Coppa Italia win (he sees this as his best season; his most underrated is 1994-95 I personally think; Sven Goran Eriksson had him in his XI of best players he managed but ofc added it is hard). I don't want to claim either way he was 'better' or 'worse' than Zola or Scifo here. Both fantastic players and I've always said on this board Scifo, despite his up and down career, at his peak was one of the best players of the Serie A (when the league was at an actual peak). I've said it before but the 'aura' he had often triggered a certain reservation and scepticism among many observers of his own country. But therefore it is also good to look at it with a more 'factual' view. "Is Gullit a talented manager? He sells himself excellently, without question, but can he build a team? Make soccer players better? Develop a clear, successful strategy? Don't those English think too quickly: it's Gullit, so it's good? I don't want to nag, but isn't it a bit of an exaggeration to decorate his biography with the subtitle 'Portrait of a genius'?" https://www.volkskrant.nl/sport/hullit-is-groot-hullit-is-machtig-toch~bcf079f6/ Seems actually that this is an interesting book to read or flip through. "Brian Glanville devoted his Sunday People column to Chelsea's new player. He wrote: Ruud Gullit his signing for Chelsea is a tremendous coup for the Stamford Bridge club. Even today, at the age of 32 [almost 33], after all those fearful operations on his right knee, Gullit is among the few great players in the world. Fans will come to see him. There's no doubt at all about his ability to play as sweeper as he demonstrated in his early years with Feyenoord and PSV. It's really just a question whether the Chelsea team will be able to adjust to the unfamiliar tactics. He shouldn't find it too hard to work with Hoddle, and the Chelsea players will surely learn from him."
Thanks. Around this period late 1992 he was going through a transfer process of being released from Napoli to Sevilla. Any particular detail that you are looking for?
Just some report about his return and maybe some review on his comeback performance in La Liga with Sevilla. In '90 he was still seen as the best and im curious to know what was the consensus in '92 when he made his comeback.
I have some sources that vary between English and Spanish that address some of those questions. I will see what I can find.