I'm curious about the style of play for some of the big Serie A clubs like AS Roma, Inter, AC Milan and Juventus. I've begun to fall in love with Arsenal in the EPL because of the style of football they play, but I haven't seen much Serie A yet. I do know the general impression I hear is that Serie A is much more defense based vs EPL or La Liga for that matter. I'm just curious what style the different big clubs in Italy play. Thanks!
The defensive thing isn't as true as it once was. Italian football is more tactical whereas English football is more "kick it up there and hopefully our guy gets to it first." On the other hand there is much more money in English football at the moment (even if that is catching up with them a a bit) and so they have more superstars than our league has lately. There are other differences, as well. England Italy
It depends on both the coach and the players. Roma used to be praised for playing beautiful football, but now Spalletti is gone. I thought Milan was enjoyable to watch last year, but again, Leonardo is now gone too. Actually, it's pretty interesting since all except 1 club you mentioned has a new coach. Actually there's been a lot of coaching turnover. Overall Italy has a reputation for tactics and defense, but of course, the league will have teams of different styles so you will see variety. My advice is to be open to what you watch, and not fall into stereotypes. There's been stats about the Italian league having more goals scored per game than all the other 'big' leagues in past years and there has been great drama with the entire table going down to the last week, but if you listen to the haters (or the English), they'll write all Italian football off as boring and say the same team wins the league every year
Serie A is more tactical and technical than the other leagues in Europe. The game is played at a relatively slower pace than the more physical of the bigger leagues (EPL, Bundesliga) when not counter-attacking. Sides are more patient in breaking each other down, and the talent is more well distributed around the entire league. The derbies are also more intense because of stadium atmosphere, and some of the players who grew up in the city understand what they mean. The league can also be quite physical. It differs from La Liga in that it is less flashy, more tactictal, and more physical as well. It differs from the other 3 big leagues in its lack of wing play. It is my favorite league, with the Brazilian Serie A for the reasons above. Players don't just run a marathon the entire game and play the game like it's still the early 20th century.
I'd ask in the Napoli subforum. I think they played a 3-4-3 last season. They have some very potent attacking players; Hamsik (who you said you liked), Lavezzi, Maggio, etc... I can't comment a ton as I have hardly watched any matches the last couple seasons. Their support is insane, though, and probably have the highest average home attendance in Serie A I would think.
inter is a bit different from the rest of italy. they try to play both attacking and defensive depending on the opponent. but then again in the same game youll see them attack and defend at the same time. the 4-3-1-2 they played had 6/7 defensive minded players who would join in the attack at times. theyd score then try to keep the ball basically.. then with the 4-2-3-1, it was very offensive and it should have been used more throughout the season. roma with spaletti tried to play very good football, until he left. then ranieri took over and they just went all out attack in a nutshell. they attacked left and right with vucinic totti toni and pizarro. but didnt attack uncontrollably like the epl. juve... i dont think they knew how to play this year. they were so lost that moggi couldnt even find them.