Newsgroup: it.sport.calcio.juventus
Titolo: Premiership V Serie A

Hello,
    First of all I must say thank you to the members of this group for the
friendly responses to my English posts. I do find my inability to speak or
write Italian slightly embarrassing and I appreciate the grace and warmth of
the formidable Juventus fans.
    The question I would like to raise is whether the English Premiership
really does rank alongside or even surpasses Serie A? If one believes all
that is written in our press than there is no contest. Serie A is portrayed
as a lacklustre, sterile affair characterised by half-hearted displays from
the big stars and bad sportsmanship alike. Whilst the premiership is shown
as a fast paced, exciting league with a rich depth of talent and passion.
    Personally I find this view astounding and quite indicative of the
rampant nationalism which is currently rife in the English media today (just
look at our current dispute with the French, mind you, who likes the French
really! Zizou excpeted -joke-). I was very pleased when the Azzuri beat
England at Wembley a couple of seasons ago 1-0 with a superb goal from Zola.
It took the English attitude down a peg or two. This is important, for if
one does not appreciate one's weaknesses how can you possibly begin to grow
stronger.
    I believe that both leagues have something special to offer, and both
leagues are essentially different, a difference which should be celebrated.
I am curious to know what you all, as Italians make of the undoubted
phenomena which is the Premiership . I also wonder if the English realise
how much the Premiership is enhanced by the presence of 'stanieri'.
Remember, possibly the most skilful team in England,  Chelsea has for it's
coach someone we all know well, 'our Vialli'!
    Ciao
    Forza Juve
richard

 wrote in message
941098477.257860@mother...
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Hi!
I think your posts are very interestig 'cause it's nice to exchange opinions
with other nation's football fans!
I personally think that Serie A is still a little bit better than the
Premier... Maybe not talking about "big" teams, but on the average: in Serie
A all the teams are difficoult to beat, and there is no easy match... while
i think that in the premier league the "low table" teams are not so good.
In Italy we're not very nationalistics (and i think this is a good thing),
in the press here you don't find things you find in the english papers.
I often watch Premier League's matches on TV and i really like them, you're
right when you say that both leagues have a lot to offer and they are quite
different... one thing is obviously in common : the presence of a lot of
foreing players, but i think we should think that now we're in the United
state of Europe (or this is the intention) and so maybe this is not so bad.
FORZA JUVE
Michele

Hi Michele,
    Thanks for your response. I think you have it exactly right when you
point to the larger gap between good and bad teams which exists in the
English Premiership. It is often said that the Premiership consists of three
divisions, teams such as Aresnal,  Man Utd, Chelsea etc who will always do
well, then there are the club who are generally safe from relegation and
whose aim is perhaps UEFA qualification, then you have the eternal
strugglers who 'yo-yo' between the Prem and Div 1, say for example Sheffield
Wednesday (the team which I support in England, no doubut you've heard of
them -maybe).
    The presence of foriegn players can only be a good thing for everyone, I
myself have been lucky enough to watch Benito Carbone & Paulo di Canio, both
excellent players. Though I do know that many people in Italy blame the
amount of stanieri playing in Serie A for the decline (!) in fortunes of the
Azzuri, particularly Italy's lack of a 'Fantasista' (?), style player?
Ciao
Forza Juve!
richard

 really does rank alongside or even surpasses Serie A? ...(cut)..
Uufff, that's a tough one!
You know, with all the things of England I like, there's one I can't really
stand: and that is your countrymen's disproportionate nationalism and
chauvinism (I'm not sure I've written it correctly...).
Is it a wide-spread feeling over there, or is it just typical of some
popular newspapers and some of their readers (especially those with a lower
education and  who tend to prefer a pint of Guinness in a pub to anything
else in their leisure time - Incidentally, I love Guinness too, but not
every night)?
Going back to your question, I think the only way to compare the two leagues
is to look at the results of the English and Italian Team in the European
Cups.
If you consider the last 10-12 years (after the end of the exclusion of your
teams from international competitions), Italian teams has won more titles
(Champions' League, Cup Winners' Cup and Uefa Cup), even if Manchester Utd.
are the current Champions.
Generally speaking, I believe the Italian League is still slightly better,
due mainly to a greater tactical ability of our teams.
For sure, the passion, determination, honesty and personality of the English
teams is something we all envy and appreciate so much.
Two different styles, which offer the best when they "clash" against each
other.
Anyway, apart from the general opinion that the British teams are generally
not as "tactically mature" as ours, nobody down here would dare to show
towards your league the same bad opinion someone in your country seems to
have about ours.
We' all too glad to have the opportunity to watch the games of the
Premiership, and with a reason!
I wish the British thought the same thing about the Serie A. I don't really
believe we deserve all that "snooty" attitude, do we?