Comments on: Lecce at Inter

By: Johonna

Johonna — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 06:25:47 +0000

I dont give a rip what Ranieri and Mou say to/about each other – just so long as we beat Juve when the time comes.

By: MAD

MAD — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 20:31:57 +0000

Another Mourinho riposte to another Ranieri lunge from this summer, if I am not mistaken.

By: alessio

alessio — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 19:32:28 +0000

“At the age of 70, it takes a while to learn…”

By: MAD

MAD — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 18:42:24 +0000

The Tinkerman still can’t leave Mourinho alone, even when Mourinho has said nothing for a week. And as usual, Mourinho puts Ranieri in his place. This from Fox:

“Ranieri suggested that the head coach should be responsible for talking with the media “out of respect for the fans and sportsmen in all of Italy.”

“Do you think it’s a lack of respect when for three months, a coach studies Italian four or five hours per day so when he arrives for the first time in a new country he can speak with fans and journalists in their language?” Mourinho responded.

“After five years in England, Ranieri still had trouble saying ‘good afternoon’ and ‘good morning.”‘

By: MAD

MAD — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 18:11:38 +0000

You know I thought about it overnight and I could be wrong about the Europa League. I am just afraid that it turns out to be like the College Basketball thing where it’s not necessarily the best team, it’s the one that can take a zillion game tournament and survive.

On the other hand, more TV and teams means more cash to participants… I think. Which would make it more attractive to play for, thus make teams try harder to attain in a league, hopefully making the league more competitive. So maybe it could be a good thing.

Kabir, we need to see if we can take advantage of Juve dropping points these two matches in a row. Any advantage we can cling to this early means that we will be better off later.

We need a result tomorrow. No points would be very bad for business league standing-wise and morale, even this early. We have an important Champions League Match on tuesday, I think that we need to be up for as well.

By: Kabir

Kabir — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 17:54:37 +0000

Juve just dropped some more points…

By: Kabir

Kabir — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 16:49:41 +0000

Johonna any chance of having a preview up before the game??

Just saw the squad…Maxwell is out.

Do you folks think Adri will start again? I missed the Torino game and he certainly wasn’t stellar vs Lecce. I would like to see a Quaresma/Zlatan/Mancini, but Adri seems to have a special place in Mourinho’s heart!

By: ursus arctos

ursus arctos — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 05:48:02 +0000

The branding aspects of the “Europa League” are annoyingly stupdid, and MAD is right about the nature of the political pressure that led to their adoption (though I find the 24 team Euros much worse).

That said, ale is right in that the rationalisation of the currently ridiculous group stages and the central marketing of television rights (which should mean that buying ppv cards for porn channels will no longer be the only way to see some of the matches) are steps forward.

As long as the Champions League continues to have 4 representatives from each of the major leagues, the UEFA Cup will never regain its past lustre, but it can be a better competition than it is right now.

Figo has broken a bone in his foot and will be out for three weeks; Maxwell is also doubtful for the Derby.

By: alessio

alessio — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 18:36:03 +0000

I think it’s high time for the Uefa cup to get a change, and it’s an improvement.

By: Kabir

Kabir — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 16:33:23 +0000

This UEFA Europa League business is pretty bizarre…but hopefully we won’t have to deal with that competition anytime soon!

Moving to the derby, I must admit that even though he’s in pretty poor form I would much rather play Milan without Shevchenko. The guy just loves playing against us.

It should be a tight game. If we can control Kaka, I think we should be fine. Their defense without Nesta looks shaky and if Zlatan et al have a good game, we should get 3 points.