Serie A: the retirement home for Europe's ageing footballers

Gabriele Marcotti responds: eight reasons why Serie A rivals the Premier League

In the years when the first Italian imports began to flock to England - with Gianluca Vialli, Roberto Di Matteo and Gianfranco Zola blazing a trail towards Stamford Bridge while Fabrizio Ravanelli, improbably, beat a path to the Riverside - their compatriots would dismiss the Premier League as a retirement home for ageing footballers or a get-rich-quick scheme for those who lacked ambition.

It is strange how the balance of power (and money) can change so quickly. As the Premier League goes from strength to strength, having provided three clubs in the Champions League semi-finals in each of the past two seasons, Serie A seems to have slipped into the doldrums, its reputation severely tarnished by the Calciopoli scandal and by another wave of hooliganism on the terraces and outside the stadia.

The new Serie A season starts this Sunday and the cast of new imports does not really whet the appetite. There will be curiosity about whether Andriy Shevchenko and Ronaldinho (surplus to requirements at Chelsea and Barcelona respectively) can arrest a three-year slump in form, but elsewhere you are looking at Souleymane Muntari, the former Portsmouth midfield player, at Inter Milan, Olof Mellberg and Christian Poulsen at Juventus and, aside from Milan's capture of Gianluca Zambrotta and Mathieu Flamini, not an awful lot else.

Watch the video clip of how Sky Italia reported on Oliver Kay's piece

We all know the difficulties that Italian football has brought upon itself, but did anyone expect the fall-out after the Calciopoli scandal in 2006 to carry on into a third new season? Could Italian supporters have imagined then that the only way they would be able to see Shevchenko or Ronaldinho in Serie A was if both players suffered two years of almost unmitigated decline? Could they have imagined that Milan would find themselves signing the hapless Philippe Senderos on loan from Arsenal or that Rolando Bianchi, an almighty flop in England, would have three-quarters of Serie A clamouring for his signature once Manchester City were finally able to offload him?

We in England should not be too smug about this, but Serie A now looks a long way short of the Premier League. Individual clubs will remain a force at European level, particularly now that Jose Mourinho has pitched up in the dug-out at Inter Milan, but the league is no longer anything like as exotic or as appealing as the Premier League or La Liga.

World Cup winners though they may be, Italian football badly needs a pick-me-up - and it remains to be seen whether Shevchenko and Ronaldinho, or for that matter Senderos, Bianchi or John Arne Riise, can provide it.

****

Only six days left before the transfer window closes and, while Chelsea and Manchester United await the arrivals of Robinho and Dimitar Berbatov respectively, there is much anxiety at the three clubs who finished immediately behind them last season.

Arsenal were arguably only one or two players short of a title-winning team last season, but right now, having lost Mathieu Flamini and Alexandr Hleb, they look further short. As much as I admire Arsene Wenger, I cannot begin to understand his faith in Manuel Almunia or his belief that his youngsters, however talented they may be, are ready to compete with Chelsea and United over the course of a 38-game Premier League season. As for the signing of Mikael Silvestre, that is a deal that has caused more mirth at Old Trafford than it has excitement at the Emirates.

Liverpool may have opened the Premier League season with two wins, but I cannot see them challenging for the title, let alone winning it, without signing at least one top-class new signing and it is questionable whether even that would do the trick. If it has become predictable to say that they lack width, it is because it is true. For all his success in other areas, Rafa Benitez has not sign a top-class winger in four years at the club and Espanyol's Albert Riera, much as he may have improved since an anonymous spell with Manchester City a few years ago, would not be guaranteed to break the mould. I still wonder whether Stewart Downing, of Middlesbrough, may be a better and indeed safer bet.

As for Everton, this was supposed to be the summer when they made the great leap forward, but it took until August 26 for them to announce their first summer signing and, when they did, it was Lars Christian Jacobsen, a 28-year-old Danish right-back who has joined on a free transfer from Nuremberg, signing a one-year contract - not exactly one to set pulses racing.

Everton's fans are wondering what the hell is going on, so here is the situation as I understand it: they have around £25 million to spend, but, having let players such as Lee Carsley and Andrew Johnson to go, David Moyes wants to sign another six players and so he has cast his net far and wide.

The question now is whether they accumulate greater strength in numbers, buying players such as Alan Smith, Stephane M'Bia and Emad Metab, or put quality before quantity.

An £18 million deal for Joao Moutinho, the Sporting Lisbon midfield player, is still just about possible, but it would eat up almost the entire budget.

A loan or cut-price deal for Shaun Wright-Phillips has also been mooted. Moyes is famously circumspect in the transfer market, but he really should trust his judgement more because few managers, if any, can match his record over the past five years.

****

According to Garry Cook, Manchester City's executive chairman, Mark Hughes operates in a kind of "comfort zone", preferring to bring in players that he knows and trusts rather than those that he does not.

Signing Craig Bellamy from West Ham would certainly fall into Cook's comfort zone category, given that he played under Hughes for both Blackburn Rovers and Wales. And severe injury problems last season means that this deal would represent a gamble.

But whatever Thaksin Shinawatra's greater aspirations for the club, he should trust Hughes's judgement. If managers like operating in comfort zones, so too do players. And if you asked Bellamy which manager he thought could revive his career, he would say Hughes without any hesitation.

Comments

[Gio]

How exactly does this sentence work?

"World Cup winners though they may be..."

So, winning the highest honour in football aside?

Italian football hasn't got better or worse but it is certainly more apart from the premiership than ever - hooray to that. When you watch a game in Serie A, there's every chance it will be a bad game of football, something the fans of the premiership are unable to admit about their own league.

Because Shev and Ronaldinhio are coming to Milan at a poor time in their careers doesn't mean their life as footballers is over. Di Canio went to West Ham at a crisis point - but look what he achieved. Two of the prem's biggest stars - Henry and Berkamp - were flops in Italy but they thrived over here.

Certain types of games and certain types of football suit different players. I don;t think Raul would have made it in Italy or England, Spain has been perfect for him.

Might also be worth looking at why so few English players are willing to test themselves in other environments.

The prem is as close to the WWF as football could ever be. It's pathetic.

[Setubal]

Wenger doesn't spend on experienced players because if he did then the likes of Fabregas, Flamini, Merida and Ramsey would stop joining Arsenal. Wenger has carefully cultivated an image that Arsenal are a youthful and attacking side. The former to get talent on the cheap - like Ramsey who could have gone to "experienced" MU - and the latter to sell seats worth 90 quid each.
The first priority of any football club is to earn money. Trophies are only a means to this end. London is a huge city with plenty of rich punters willing to pay up to watch the most glorious brand of football. Supporting Arsenal has become a type of football snobbery.
If they win something then that's an added bonus.
Also given the highly inflated prices for internationals like Barry, youth makes the most sense. And youth will join only if they need to compete with other youth. Not with experienced household Arsenal names.
Now please no more musings from journos on this topic.

[Hughesy]

Gio,
Why drag the World Wildlife Fund into it?

[pochonaples]

Italian Serie A's teams do not play a bad football. I watched Inter - Roma the other day ( supercoppa) and it has been an intense and spectacular match. There are football stars in Italy like Ibrahimovic, Trezeguet, Kaka' and young talents like Hamsik (napoli) and Balotelli(inter)

[bob]

Gio, I don't what English fans you're talking to, everyone I know admits most games are pap, you must distinguish us from the media.

Your other points are fair but if English football is WWF what's Italian, a gothic horror?

[Amadeo]

"World Cup winners though they may be..." Hehehe, "though they are," you mean, of course. And four times over, if you don't mind me saying so. Oh, and at both national side and club level, to booth.

Coming to think of it, this retiement home is the European nation to win most World Cups at ntional side level. It is also the league that produced the only European team to win the FIFA Club World Cup and end the South American monopoly - AC Milan, the reigning World Champions.

Actually, between Champions League / European Cup and FIFA Club World Cup / Intercontinental Cup the Serie A is again the most successful league in Europe, winning 11 of the former and 8 of the latter - an awe-inspiring 19 titles. Compare that to the great Premier League: 11 and 1, respectively.

If the Serie A is a retirement home, the Premier League must be a mortuary by comparison.

[pocholavezzi]

italian serie A's teams do not play a bad football. i watched Inter - Roma the other day ( supercoppa) and it has been an intense and spectacular match. if premiership has stars like C.Ronaldo and Drogba, serie A can count on Ibrahimovic and Kaka', just to write two names. premiership may be better than serie A , but the italian championship is not less attractive than the spanish Liga.

[RVP FOR MVP]

Oliver, one could also ask who exactly has an English club signed this summer. Wasn't Deco supposedly washed up at Barca, but now he is saving Chelsea? Didn't Real Madrid almost bring Manchester to her knees with the Ronaldo saga? Which top worldwide known player has an English club signed this summer? None. The strength of a league is not judged by the quality of the top teams but rather the strength in depth of the league. This is an area where the EPL has not caught up with the Spaniards and Italians. You can get a clue from the fact that the EPL cannot provide the English national team with quality players outside of the top 4. However clubs like Palermo, Sampodria, Livorno etc supply the Italian team with quality players, and Osasuna, Athletic Bilbao, Real Betis, Espanol do likewise with the Spanish national team. These countries have won the last two tournaments important to Europe, and England did not qualify for the last one.

Also, you cannot use the Champions league as a barometer of whose league is better. What if Juventus, Inter and Roma reach the semis of this year competition as they very well can do, would you crown Seria A as the best league in the world?

Finally, the debate of whose league is the best is a useless one. It is allowed only to create a false sense of sensationalism. Would you begrudge the Argentines for saying they have the best league based on the best form of attacking football played, the highest level of technique attained there and the high level of competitiveness of their clubs in the Copa Libertadores? Very likely. What would be your reasons? The very dubious ones you present in this article.

[D Morley]

Huh??? Serie A is far more competitive than the English league, it's not even close. Capello already said it, he can't believe the poor fare on display in the 10-20 teams, while in Italy they are filled with top players, and of course the best managers in world football. Milan, who thrashed Man United 3-0 and Liverpool two seasons ago before winning another european cup, finished 5th this past year to Fiorentina. Fiorentina, who knocked out Everton in the uefa cup, and then knocked out PSV in the next round, who had dispatched of another English team, Spurs, just a round before. No contest. Teams like Napoli, Palermo and Udinese would absolutely, positvely evicerate their counterparts in the Prem. David Dunn is a succesful Premiership player. This means he's better than Shevchenko? Sean Wright Phillips, for example, would struggle mightily to get into most Serie B teams.

[Fran]

Gio, please. English players abroad would resemble English players for the English national team: brainless, awkward, tactically inept, and downright shocking technically ... without the safety of world class europeans and south americans playing next to them at club level. Makes a big difference, I promise you. See them at the euros? oops ....

Milan: Nesta, Gattuso, Pato, Kaka, Pirlo, Zambrotta, Flamini
Inter: Chivu, Maicon, Cambiasso, Ibrahimovic,
Juve: Buffon, Chiellini, Amauri, Delpiero, Camoranesi, Trezeguet
Just a few names that will always make serie A more interesting than the EPL.
The EPL is definetely the greatest at splashing money around for useless players. Serie A, in the nineties along with La Liga a few years ago spent lavishly learned some hard lessons
The EPL looks like they are going down the same path and you can be assured huge debts and bankruptcies will follow
Why dont you save this space for some intelligent football stories.

[Peter]

Perhaps the writer should look a little further past the list of this season's signings before calling it a retirement home: Kaka, Ibrahimovic, Pato, Flamini, Chivu, Adriano, Muntari, Cicinho, Mexes, Lavessi, Hamsik...

Perhaps the Italian clubs are adept enough to develop their own talent to be able to prosper without being addicted to foreign imports to provide the nucleus of their club squads.

Perhaps the more deliberate, possession-based style of play suits older players better than the Premiership.

Perhaps the penalties given to Juve and Milan affected their ability to compete for top honours the past 2 seasons.

Perhaps Italian football is not as far behind, and in some important respects still ahead of, English football as the money flowing into the Premier League should suggest.

Perhaps one day the English media, led by Sky, will wake up to the fact that having the most popular league in Thailand is a poor alternative to having a football program able to produce a team capable of winning the World Cup.

Or qualifying for Euro, for that matter.

[Luca Frisio]

When you English (and Spanish, for that matter) will have competed in 6 World Cup finals and lifted the trophy 4 times, you can talk about catching up with us Italians. You are not even close! In spite of your "superior" football you couldn't even qualify for Euro 2006. That's hilarious!
I don't know, but a championship where the usual sides (Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool) finish in the first 4 places, year in year out, does not strike me as entertaining, at all. It's like watching a movie when you already know how it ends.
Henry and Bergkamp were kicked out, and then went on to rule the Premier League. What do you make of that? If you utter the name Bergkamp in front of Inter fans, they will start running.
Just drop this pantomime about "the best league in the world" once and for all. You have a nice spectacle, no doubt about it, but that's it. In Europe Italian football has no rivals, so I suggest you keep focusing on your cricket.

[Kal Shah]

During the late 80s right through out the 1990s Seria A was whose who of world football. Italian clubs would dominate all three European compatitions on a regular basis. The Milan clubs, Juva, Roma, Lazio even clubs like Parma, Fiorentina, Udinesa were packed with foreign world class talent.
It was considered harder to win Seira A then the champion’s league during this period.
How things change over a few years.

[David H.]

Go Gio!!

The first two pieces of this blog entry contradict each other. The first bashes the attractiveness of Serie A, comparing it unfavorably to the Premier League. The second bashes teams in the Premier League, implicitly admitting that only two teams have a chance of winning the championship. How in any way is that superior to Italy? The PL is a closed shop whose teams below 4th place are tactically naive, technically inferior to Serie A and will never win the PL in our lifetimes. At least the race to the Serie A title has been exciting and in doubt the past few seasons.

I'd rather stick needles in my eyes than watch the overpaid, egomaniacal players produce the dross seen in most Premier League matches. At least the midtable teams in Serie A can play more than one formation, adjust to their opponents tactics and attack with intelligence rather than simply with the blind enthusiasm of headless chickens.

Feel free to bash Serie A all you want. Have fun telling yourself the Premier League rules Europe. But as Gio said, sooner or later you gotta ask yourself if the PL is so great why aren't other leagues snapping up English players? Could it be they're not as good as Sky tells us they are? Could it be their monolingualism & lack of education means their chances of settling are between slim & none?

Who knows? Who cares? I'm just glad that when I sit down to watch an actually competitive league, like Serie A, the Bundesliga or La Liga, I don't have to watch Europe's least technically proficient players, the English, stinking up the field.

[Aravind]

I have to agree with this article .Seri A clubs could not fill the stadium , every team plays a boring 4-5-1 defensive formation .No money to attract star players .

Average attendance at juve is 23000 per season even bolton gets much higher crowds.The fast paced free-flowing physical football in England has set the world alight .I believe German football will be much better than seri a in a few seasons

[Ally]

The section on Serie A is truely laughable and shows the writer up as someone with truly very little knowledge of the game outside the Premiership.

I don't see how it's a retirement home, when the only old player Milan have signed is Shevchenko. He may have failed in England in his first season but was looking better in his second before unfortunately gettting injured just after his best game in a Chelsea shirt. He was unfortunate that Mourinho never wanted him and that he didn't suit Chelsea's style of play, where he was being fed balls by the likes of Lampard, Cole and Malouda as opposed to Rui Costa and Kaka.

Apart from that signing, the other signings can in no way be described as ageing footballers.

The 4 biggest sides in Serie A may not have splashed out on many exciting names (although Ronaldinho still excites) but it's not as if the top 4 in England have either... Instead you have to look beyond the big 4 and realise that Serie A is imporving considerably. The clubs in Serie A have spent £310m on new players, only £15m less than the money rich Premiership and the biggest amount since 2001.

The likes of Fiorentina, Lazio, Udinese, Genoa, Napoli, Palermo and Sampdoria have all improved and look to challenge for a CL place.

Plenty of exciting new talent will be playing in Serie A next season with the likes of Jovetic, Melo, Cerci, Paonessa, Dica, Grippo, Granoche, Di Gennaro, Papastathopoulos, Carrizo, Matuzalem, Zarate, Bernacci, Cardaccio, De Melo, Denis, Russotto, Lanzafame, Baptista, Stankevicius, Fornanoli, Zuniga, Sanchez, Igaho and Nef all exciting prospects.

Add this to an all star cast of exciting technical wizards already plying their trade in Serie A like Ibrahimovic, Kaka, Totti, Cassano, Del Piero, Camoranesi, Aqulani, De Rossi, Pirlo, Montolive, Mutu, Doni, Tissone, Cigarini, Volpi, Pizarro, Vucinic, Foggia, Cossu, Acquafresca, Mascara, Vergassola, Giovinco, Rosina, Martinez, Palladino, Gasbaroni, Nedved, Ledesma, Pandev, Hamsik, Lavezzi, Miccoli, Brienza, Di Natale, Quagliarella, Inler and Tissone - and I think it's fair to say that Serie A is far more than a retirement home and possibly has more talent than any other league in the World.

Add this to the wonderful football on offer, the drama, the craziness, the atmosphere, the unique culture and the history and rivalries then I think it's fair to say Serie A is the best league to watch in terms of entertainement, competitiveness and quality of football.

The writer alludes to the Champions League success of the Premiership, yet why don't I see an article berating La Liga? In the last two years Serie A has outperformed La Liga. This was despite Serie A being represented by 4 teams who weren't the best teams in Italy over this 2 year period.

One last thing, Bianchi was never given chased by 3/4 of Serie A and I don't think he can be considered a flop when he was barely given a chance. All Man City fans I've talked to have said they wished he was given more opportunities as he did well when he played.

[Fog]

The comments on Serie A seem misguided at best. For some reason, La Liga is being portrayed as a more appealing league. If the author had done some analysis, he would realise that La Liga clubs have spent a fraction (in gross and net terms) of what Serie A clubs have this summer. Aside from Barcelona, few clubs in La Liga have spent any real money at all. Some of Spain's best local players are now abroad. And top players such as Deco, Zambrotta, and Ronaldinho have left. Robinho appears to be on the way out also. Valencia is in a mountain of debt, and most of the clubs in La Liga simply feed Barca and Madrid their best players. Aside from the top two, there is not another club in the top 20 on revenue. Serie A will be back to 2nd place on total revenue when the latest figures are released by Deloittes. Teams outside the big four such as Fiorentina and Napoli are both in the top ten for net spending this summer. The depth is returning to the league, the spending shows that. So, please, a little more thought and analysis before you write. Of course, Serie A is still some way behind the EPL. But the point remains, the signs of Serie A's revival after the scandal are clear, you just have to look out of your own backyard to realise. Get over the retirement village comments from ten years ago. Check out the players that have entered Serie A this summer, and you'll realise that the EPL has recruited more players 34 years and over this summer.

[Hadrian]

Is the writer of this article out of his mind??? Seria A is the most difficult football league in the world, and it has been for over 25 years now!!!

[giuseppe]

what is the journalist that has writed this article???
in premier league is don't gone nobody this year. the serie a is better than premier league. in premier league there is not a gold ball or fifa world player.

[Leo]

hello i love premier..
si col cazzo che la amo

[Leo]

MILAN-Manchester 3-0!!
capello is italian,you haven't managers!!!

MILAN and Italy are the world cup winners (nation and club)!!!!!

KAKA-MILAN:::::::kaka loves milan....bye bye abramovic

Premier=$$$$$$£££££££ BUsinnes

Serie A=LOVE SPORT COMPETITION PAssion

[wonderer]

Maybe we should start considering the economical power of english and spanish teams before writing such kind of item.
Italian league has been so far the best at the beginning of 90's due to Sacchi's revolution but above all on the big investments.
We cannot forget that Maradona, Zico, Junior, Van Basten and many other "gods" of football had their best time in Italy.
Things changed when pay tv's started infecting football's world.
Italian teams had a gap that allowed them to keep the lead until the end of 90's, then just Milan and Juventus had the strength to compete with foreign teams.
Calciopoli created a big mess for sure, but not cos of referees scandal, but cos since then all teams are paying more attention to incoming and outgoing money.
Teams are not able to follow english example on investments and don't have light tax-system like in Spain, that's the reason why they cannot spend as much as others and they can just look for cheap solutions.
I don't know when things will change, but the lack of big names is not making of Serie A a less interesting championship than Premier League or Liga.
They still have so much to teach, best trainers are still in Italy.

Aravind...

Every Serie A team plays a boring 4-5-1 formation?
Actually, in recent years Serie A has reached the point where it has the greatest variety in tactics and formations of any European league. High scoring games are now a regular feature of the league, due partly to a more open style of late and also perhaps to poorer quality defending I agree that the Premiership is a stronger league,but not by a mile. You will see more tactial innovation and variety in Serie A than the Premiership and even La Liga. Go ahead, Check out an Italian football website and see how some teams will line up: 4-4-2, 4-3-1-2, 4-3-2-1, 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1, 3-5-2, 3-4-2, 3-4-1-3...were regularly deployed last season.

[Federico]

Dear Mr. Kay,
I came to know about this article from a partial translation posted on 'Gazzetta.it' (Italian sports newspaper). I traced the article purposefully only to contradict it, since I firmly believe in the beauty of my home league. My concern was that my comments might have been interpreted as biased (I'm Italian), however I am extremely pleased to see that a number of English readers share many of my views regarding this article. I will agree that in the last two seasons English teams have done better than Italian ones both at a national and international level, however I believe it is very early to be calling this a 'change in the balance of power'. Considering Calciopoli, and the fact that the team who comes 5th in the PL earns more than the team who wins the Champions League (£30 mil compared to £27 mil), I would actually say that Italian teams are not doing that badly compared to English ones, both in terms of the players they are attracting and in the quality of the game expressed. One last comment is that the PL leverages on foreign players even more than the serie A (which already harms its young talents by employing to many foreign players), and I apologise for attracting your attention to International football competitions to prove my point. Good national league, questionable to say the least when it's best home players come together.

Regards,
Federico

[Ugo]

Dear Sir,

I am surprised with the 'funny' piece I have just read. Look at the last 8 years and from which league the Balon D'or came from. It is quite funny to read this article after having reviewed the factbook. You'll see 6 out of 8 are from Serie A! Funny isn't it. As for appeal, everyone is entitled to their opinion. I personally would never swap my Sunday's watching a cold, dismal and rainy league!

[Raffaele Serusi]

The truth is the in italian football is dead with CALCIOPOLI which the real name is FARSOPOLI. The fake scandal CALCIOPOLI where nobody purchase games, where the sponsor of seria A TELECOM (which correspond exactly to the team INTER) used illegal phone interceptions and their judjes for elimate competitors and become champion afre many years. Reading some english and spanish articles about the Italian Football scandal i have to note that all contents are based in false notices. Two years ago an hurricane named “Calciopoli” has destroy one of the big soccer teams the “Juventus”. I am not a fan of Juventus just a love soccer, and sports in general. Anyway this team has been penalized with an illegal process where nobody (judges includes) have found any illegal behaviour which expected this penalty. This story was nearly 10 years in the making and has nothing to do with soccer and everything to do with money, power, and politics. I’m involved in various activities revolving around Calciopoli and have become somewhat of an expert in the topic. I’m fluent in Italian and as a result have been able to go through archives of newspaper articles, interviews, and books (written by lawyers). The most evidence you will get however is in reading the declarations and sentences left by the judges that presided over the trials and appeals. Most Juventus and Anti-Juventus fans (outside of Italy) have no idea that no shred of evidence existed linking Moggi and company to a single fixed game. Most people are unaware of the judge’s declaration that “no game was fixed and referee selections were legitimate” Cesare Ruperto CAF judge. Outside italy people guess that in Italy mafia have the power to control everything, and this is a kind of mafia.

There a many website where find all information about FARSOPOLI, italian newspaper hide every information about that, but in internet you may find everything even something translate in english :
http://forum.giulemanidallajuve.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=1266
Footbal in italy is not a sport but system where the sponsor INTER must win, no rules are respected since italian laws says that INTER has illegal behavouirs and must be penalized in serie B, laws says that Juve has be penalized unjustly. Mourinho arrived in the most dishonest team of Italy.

[Alexx]

It's a very strange article. Italian football is declining?
But who is the trainer of English national team?
Who are the trainers of the most important English teams?
The same old envy towards the champions of the world as club and national team.

RVP's comments are the most reasoned I've read here so far:

The true measure of the overall quality of a league, of its strength-in-depth, is its mid-ranking teams. Your Evertons and your Middlesboroughs versus Palermo, Sampdoria, Napoli and Racing Santanders and Mallorcas, and whether or not these teams are less likely to be brushed aside by the top 4 or 5 in their respective leagues. The notion of one particular league dominating Europe is outdated since the late 80s/early 90s when Milan were the last team to win back-to-back European Cups. Even the mid-table Serie A teams were stronger than the title contenders from other countries and Since then, what you see is the big 2,3 league in any country fluctuating depending on where such and such a superstar signing will go. If Ronaldo goes to Madrid, or Messi were to go to Inter suddenly the Champions League prospects of the big four in that particular country are enhanced. In almost no way does this enhance the standing of the mid-table teams.

[Mencattini Walter]

If I watch a english game, i just see the a pass from the difense to the attack, no middlefield action - so booring. I defentelty prefer to watch a serie A game sorry

[dave FORZA MILAN!]

the writer of this article is obviously a 65 yearold pub regular drinking down his guiness!!!! only people like that are so blindly proud of england that they will not admit there is better things out there, like football!!! you talk about the strenght of premiership? open a book and check out hte records/moneytransffers/statistics... the only reason you even thought of putting english clubs above italian ones is because of LIVERPOOL's champions league presence of the past 3 years, merely done by playing ugly football!!

PLAY TO WIN is the english game. along with liverpool of course there is chelsea... two of the most boring teams in europe. In italy there is competition, from year to year the top teams change and are constantly competeing. Fiorentina proved it last year. When was the last time any team made it 4th place except for arsenal liverpool chelsea and manU? the serie A will always be superior to any other football league in the world..do some research before you start writing like that or just get another job at KFC....

[Tony]

Serie A's problem is that there is far too much cheating on and off the field. The amount of diving that goes on in Italy is sickening. Furthermore, who will be paying the referees this season is anyones guess.

The reason English players do not play abroad is because they stand a better chance of wining the champions league playing for an English club of course.

[Bottega Claudio]

If you don't have an Idea what Football is, then don't talk about it...

The Football which is played in England remembers me more with a modern Art of Rugby...I don't like the English Way of playing Football.

In Italy the Game is more tactical and more difficult. So the Game is a bit slower.

Could you explain to me, why different players failed in the Serie A and in the PremierLeague they signed at least 20 Goals....?!

For me as a very strong supporter I am very glad that Sheva returned...He was too good for the English League. And I am so happy that we did not buy Adebayor, in the Serie A he would not sign 1 Goal!!!

[dave FORZA MILAN!]

HOW MANY ENGLISH PLAYERS DO YOU KNOW WHO PLAY ABROAD???MMMMMM I WONNNDDER WHY??? HAHAHA

THE ONLY WAY AN ENGLISH PLAYER COULD SETTLE ABROAD IS IF IT WAS IN SOUTH OF SPAIN OR A ON A GREEK ISLAND...

LOSERS! FIRST BRANCH OUT, THEN TRY TO PUT DOWN THE BEST LEAGUE INT HE WORLD!!!

[Milanista]

if u say so then why Italy is the world champion and why Italy played in Europe and none of British team has been shown.. are u going to say the forgienrs has affect the primer league i guess u r wrong simple they r engine of PL. However the old players u r talking about they r the falvour of football like vintage wine if u undertsand what i mean. can u tell me how many world class can be watched in primer league except of c.Ronaldo and Torres where as in calcio u will find Kaka, Rondlinho, Pirlo, Ibrahimvic, Zaniti, Maldini, Sheva, Inzaghi, Cambiasso, Delperio, Totti all of them has thier mark on national and international football what about primer league

[Me]

Who is the writer of this article? Seriously, it proves how he has put together a bunch of random facts and statements without really understading the dynamics of Serie A.
Also what does this mean? World Cup winners though they may be..
Italy has won four titles and whatever the writer think that's what matters. Also Serie A is probably the most difficult league in the world and yes the scandals killed the game and tehe whole system is trying to get back in shape.

[George]

Utter nonsense. The prem is by no means more exciting than La Liga or Serie A. The football played by English teams may be fast and rough but it is not as inteligent and tactically astute as football played in italy, and TRUE football is about tactics, passing and movement, not hoofing it up to the massive black guy and fouling each other.

Secondly, La Liga and Serie A are so much more exiting because you never know what could happen. In the prem, its always the same teams in the top four, the same teams fighting for the uefa cup, the same teams battling relegation and the same teams in mid-table. But look at serie a: AC Milan, Inter, Fiorentina, Juventus, Roma, Palermo, Lazio, Udinese, Napoli, Genoa and Sampdoria all have a chance of top 6 places, whilst in la liga; any of Barcelona, Madrid, Sevilla, Valencia, Atletico, Villarreal and even RACING SANTANDER can break into the top four, whilst a team with the quality of Zaragoza can be relegated.

Oh and by the way im English but i can't stand to watch the prem or our national side and people gloating about our terrible league make me embarrassed to be English.

[Ally]

The section on Serie A is truely laughable and shows the writer up as someone with truly very little knowledge of the game outside the Premiership.

I don't see how it's a retirement home, when the only old player Milan have signed is Shevchenko. He may have failed in England in his first season but was looking better in his second before unfortunately gettting injured just after his best game in a Chelsea shirt. He was unfortunate that Mourinho never wanted him and that he didn't suit Chelsea's style of play, where he was being fed balls by the likes of Lampard, Cole and Malouda as opposed to Rui Costa and Kaka.

Apart from that signing, the other signings can in no way be described as ageing footballers.

The 4 biggest sides in Serie A may not have splashed out on many exciting names (although Ronaldinho still excites) but it's not as if the top 4 in England have either... Instead you have to look beyond the big 4 and realise that Serie A is imporving considerably. The clubs in Serie A have spent £310m on new players, only £15m less than the money rich Premiership and the biggest amount since 2001.

The likes of Fiorentina, Lazio, Udinese, Genoa, Napoli, Palermo and Sampdoria have all improved and look to challenge for a CL place.

Plenty of exciting new talent will be playing in Serie A next season with the likes of Jovetic, Melo, Cerci, Paonessa, Dica, Grippo, Granoche, Di Gennaro, Papastathopoulos, Carrizo, Matuzalem, Zarate, Bernacci, Cardaccio, De Melo, Denis, Russotto, Lanzafame, Baptista, Stankevicius, Fornanoli, Zuniga, Sanchez, Igaho and Nef all exciting prospects.

Add this to an all star cast of exciting technical wizards already plying their trade in Serie A like Ibrahimovic, Kaka, Totti, Cassano, Del Piero, Camoranesi, Aqulani, De Rossi, Pirlo, Montolive, Mutu, Doni, Tissone, Cigarini, Volpi, Pizarro, Vucinic, Foggia, Cossu, Acquafresca, Mascara, Vergassola, Giovinco, Rosina, Martinez, Palladino, Gasbaroni, Nedved, Ledesma, Pandev, Hamsik, Lavezzi, Miccoli, Brienza, Di Natale, Quagliarella, Inler and Tissone - and I think it's fair to say that Serie A is far more than a retirement home and possibly has more talent than any other league in the World.

Add this to the wonderful football on offer, the drama, the craziness, the atmosphere, the unique culture and the history and rivalries then I think it's fair to say Serie A is the best league to watch in terms of entertainement, competitiveness and quality of football.

The writer alludes to the Champions League success of the Premiership, yet why don't I see an article berating La Liga? In the last two years Serie A has outperformed La Liga. This was despite Serie A being represented by 4 teams who weren't the best teams in Italy over this 2 year period.

One last thing, Bianchi was never given chased by 3/4 of Serie A and I don't think he can be considered a flop when he was barely given a chance. All Man City fans I've talked to have said they wished he was given more opportunities as he did well when he played.

[Ben Socmel]

Aged and experienced are two different things.

Maybe you've missed that experience in team games count twice then single player abilites (soccer it's not tennis...)

This is the Italy world cup champion team and you can see that there aren't young players.

Angelo Peruzzi 38
Marco Materazzi 35
Fabio Cannavaro (c) 35
Filippo Inzaghi 35
Alessandro Del Piero 34
Francesco Totti 32
Alessandro Nesta 32
Massimo Oddo 32
Mauro Camoranesi 32
Gianluca Zambrotta 31
Simone Perrotta 31
Fabio Grosso 31
Luca Toni 31
Gennaro Gattuso 30
Gianluigi Buffon 30
Simone Barone 30
Andrea Pirlo 29
Vincenzo Iaquinta 29
Andrea Barzagli 27
Alberto Gilardino 26
Marco Amelia 26
Daniele De Rossi 25

[Peter]

Foreign players moving to Serie A this season:

EUROPE
Norway:
Riise, 27, Roma.

Sweden:
Albin Ekdal, 19, Juventus
Mellberg, 30, Juventus

Denmark:
Christian Poulsen, 28, Juventus

Slovakia:
Tomáš Košický, 22,Catania.

France:
Steve Pinau, 20, Genoa.
Flamini, 24, Milan.

Austria:
Jurgen Saumel, 23, Torino.

Switzerland:
Frank Feltscher, 20, Lecce.
Stephan Lichtsteiner, 24, Lazio.
Simone Grippo, 20, Chievo.
Senderos, 23, Milan

Romania:
Nicolae Dică, 28, Catania

Serbia:
Dusan Basta 24, Udinese.

Montenegro:
Stevan Jovetic, 18, Fiorentina.
Nikola Vujadinović, 22, Udinese.

Greece:
Sokratis Papastathopoulos 20, Genoa.

Portugal:
Gonçalo Brandão, 21, Siena.

Ukraine:
Shevchenko, 31, Milan.

AFRICA
Nigeria:
Odion Ighalo 19, Udinese.

Ghana:
Muntari, 24, Inter.

SOUTH AMERICA
Columbia:
Zuniga 22 Siena.

Brazil:
Jefferson 18, Fiorentina.
De Melo 23, Palermo.
Felipe Melo 24, Fiorentina.
Coelho 25, Bologna.
Ronaldinho 28, Milan.
Felipe 20, Milan.
Matuzalem 28, Lazio.
Batista, 26, Roma.

Uruguay:
Britos 21, Bologna.
Rodriguez 23, Bologna.
Polenta 16, Genoa.
Ruben Olivera 25, Genoa.
Viudez 19, Milan.
Cardaccio 20, Milan.
Fornaroli 21, Sampdoria.

Argentina:
Carrizo 24, Lazio.
Domingo 23, Genoa.
Denis 26, Napoli.
Zarate 21, Lazio.
Carboni 29, Catania.
Ledesma 24, Catania.
Bottinelli, 24, Sampdoria.

Chile
Carmona 21, Reggina.
Sanchez 19, Udinese.
Corvetto 22, Udinese

[marekiaro]

PL is described as one of the greatest championship of the world... AND the most boring championship : the english big 4 are often too big for other teams. Look at Napoli : this serie A's team won over Inter Milan (ita champions- 1-0), Juventus (3-1), AC Milan (after that loss Milan wasn't able to obtain the 4th place - 3-1) and Fiorentina (2-0). This team won over the italian champions and the world champions and is 'only' qualified to the uefa cup. I'm saying that serie A is the most equilibrated and spectacular championship without forgetting that Inter, AC Milan and Juventus are 3 of europe's top clubs and are 3 of the favourites of next champions league.

[Steph]

this is so funny, good timing...Man City just declared its interest for Ronaldo(the Brazilian, not Cristiano) who's not exactly young and fresh and they were desperate to buy Ronaldinho a couple of months ago but somehow he preferred to go to AC Milan.Also Frank Lampard was very close to join Inter Milan in the summer, Flamini joined AC Milan...wouldn't say Calcio is facing some kind of crisis.

[Rob]

Spanish, English and Italians all think they have the best league, even the Germans think that. Serie A is a disgrace - hooligans, corruption, tiny crowds and so much cheating. Yes they keep possession and are good at winning 1-0, but there is no excitement. The stadiums are terrible as well, the crowds are much too far away from the pitch.

In my opinion, England has the best top 4, and Spain the best league in terms of all teams, if you look at UEFA Cup results. Italy is a distant 3rd.

[gek]

this article it s a shame!!!!
well i can agree serie a isnt like the one we had in the 1990-2000 but man what you say it s unbelieveble!
fisrt of all take a look of the owner of teams in england, chelsea,man utd, man city,liverpool,tottenham,qpr have a owner that isnt english, in italy that s would be not possible we have proudness and i dont care if a president bring me money i want a president that s a fans of the team.
Second thing make me very proud of my championsip is that we wont have any problem having a good ITALIAN TRAINER for the national team, SPALLETTI,MANCINI,ANCELOTTI,PRANDELLI, are only some names we can have to lead the national. well england in this thing was a joke...did you want sherarer to manage the national? what did he win??
third: the money you pay capello is a shame, well lippi when won the world cup had a salary quite cheap and he trained italy cause he had the emotions and the proudness of being italian.
dear journalist in the league of a national team is very important let play player of the national team and young guys that will make the difference in future.....well lets see how many stars will your shirt have!!!!!

4 times WORLD CHAMPION!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[giu]

the problem is that english premier league never will be like Serie A...
Years and Years of PURE FOOTBAAL!!
English League is saved only by money of strangers investisseurs..

[Luca]

I feel weird about this article. i think really nobody has the right to criticize unless those critiques come from a clearly superior point of view. Italian teams in the recent years won much more European trophies that English team did, while at the national team level England failed miserably. If you want to underline differences between tournaments that's sound good to me, but these senseless articles only boost stupid rivalries. Premiership is all based in dynamism while Serie A is all about "chess playing". Most probably players listed by the journalist are simply more suited for Serie A than Premiership and in the past moved over in England attracted by money but they found themselves in an environment that didn't belong to them. After all very few English players ever had any luck in Italy or in other European national championships in the last 30 years. Even the incredible Beckham didn't really impress anybody in Madrid. There are very few champions and you can see them because they perform well in any place adapting to different styles. Let's write about them and not being bitter against each other!

[Steven]

Rubbish article. Because two players move to a league doesn't make it a retirement home, particularly when that country is sitting on one of the best groups of youth talent in the whole world.

[Roberto]

BLA BLA BLA BLA......AND SO ON.....ITALY IS THE WORLD CHAMPION TEAM UNTIL 2010 AND MILAN IS THE WORLD CHAMPION CLUB!!!!

WHAT ABOUT IT??

[Fab1985]

If the Italian league is so un-attractive and so unimportant surely for a respectable newspaper such as the Times it would make no sense to keep publishing articles about it. I’m sure that the readers of your newspaper would rather you dedicated and focused on other matters regarding International football.

[Giovanni]

I believe that in europe there's no other league where every single match is difficult as it is in the serie a.
The 'minor' italian teams are napoli, fiorentina, sampdoria, udinese, with such players as Hamsik, Lavezzi, Montolivo, Mutu, Frey, Cassano, Felipe. Do you undestand what I mean?
And by the way, in these last years the english teams, in Champions League, play as they would be italian teams of 30 and more years ago.
Does anyone here remembers Manchester vs. Barcelona (or vs. Roma) with 9 players defending?
The serie A had been full of exciting matches last year.

[PEDRETTI FRANCESCO]

Mister Oliver Kay,

You should be a little bit more respectfull to Italy seria A. Just to remind you that all players world cup 2006 winners were playing in Italy. Italy got 4 stars now...i know it must be frustrating for you.
Regards
Francesco

[Gavin]

Any chance of backing up the point (throw away comment) on Almunia? When was the the last blunder, terrible let in, bad distribution, shot notstopped?....etc

[peter]

Article is one sided and exaggerated. Henry would have been considered a flop when he came to England where he blossomed into the world star we all acknowledge he was -ask the Italians about this given the amount of goals he regularly scored against their top sides in the Champions League. Some of the Italian reactions to this article are downwight stupid and reflective of a very very funny memory. Who is the genius who threw in the Man Utd (depleted defence) 0-3 result against Milan or the one who even childishly throws in ...wait for it...Fiorentina's penalty shoot out win against Everton in the UEFA Cup? To these corresdpondents, I have to childishly stoop to mentioning something very very recent; three ties involving the best of Serie A and the premiership in the KO stages of the CL this term -the Champions League, not the undervalued UEFA Cup or the unofficial intercontinental trophy which, together with the Super cup, only Italians take seriously in Europe. 3 ties, 6 matches. Result Premiership 8 goals Serie A 0!!! 7 premiership wins (with goals to spare) and one draw. Three of these wins (with goals to spare) on Italian soil. In case these correspondents were hibernating last year, save for waking up when the viola played Everton, here is a reminder of the scores

Liverpool 2 Inter 0
Inter 0 Liverpool 1
by the way, I believe Inter were runaway leaders of Serie A and back to back championship winners at that. Very impressive on Serie A's part!

Roma 0 United 2 - oh an improvement on their 7-1 drubbing the previous year
United , minus Scholes, Ronaldom Rooney 1 Roma 0

Then the big one

baby Arsenal 0 Milan 0
wait for it...Milan 0 baby Arsenal 2

Add to all this the fact that, in previous years, Premiership clubs seemed to be vying with each other in a competition for scoring most goals against Italians home and away

Inter 1 Arsenal 5 ( a decisive match which put the gunners through as group winners and KO Inter)
Lazio 0 Chelsea 4
Juventus 0-Manchester United 3
Roma 1 Arsenal 3
United 7 Roma 1

and there you have it.....ah but of course Milan twice KO United in recent years. Other than that how many victories were registered by Italian teams? You have to go back to Inter's 4-1 win at St James and Fiorentina rare Italian victory over Arsenal to add to the Italian's tally. And even so this would be grossly offset by the numerous victories of Arsenal against Italian teams, Leeds United (remember Roma -Kewell gem, Milan -Dida's blunder, and Lazio - Smith?), Middlesborough (yes even maclueless could eliminate Italians)against Lazio and Roma (albeit UEFA Cup). And one can go on and on. Fulham vs Bologna in the Intertoto???

Serie A ruled Ok in the late 80s and 1990s. Now it looks like the Premiership's turn, though I do not consider Serie A an elephant's graveyard yet, save for the few 'Blissets' and 'Silenzis' they took back -Sheva, Bianchi, Senderos, Rozenthal.But hten players can come alive in a different and perhaps more congenial environment.

The national team is no reflection on the strength of a league, otherwise the Brazilian league would be the best. Hats off to the Italians here and their superb record at national level which the English can only envy. But why the FA should recruit an Italian who has such an appalling record as a manager in European competititon against Premierships sides (regularlay KO and well beaten by the likes of Leeds, Liverpool [thrice], Arsenal in his mangerial spells with Roma and Juve) escapes me.

[Dave]

The Italians themselves know Serie A is on a downward trajectory - you only need to look at the declining attendances of the majority of Italian clubs over the years to see that. It is not the same league it was in the 90's, which is a shame.

[Stai Male]

hey guys why are you wasting time writing about this article, it's just a desperate way to get some people reading this hopeless article, otherwise no one would read this stuff.

[claudio]

Yes, I agree with the most of what is written in the article. However:
1) Ac Milan won the Champions League (defeating both Man. Utd and Liverpool) one year ago, not fifty years ago;
2) Ac Milan and FC Juventus played a totally Italian Ch. L. Final (in Manchester) in 2003 (not in 1903);
3) our national team has become world champion (for the fourth time...) immediately after Calciopoli scandal, two years ago.
Therefore I suppose we are STILL strong enough to compete at european level.
The truth is that in Italy we do have at present difficult troubles, but our national football league (which has run out of money!!! we don't have Russian oil investors, American tycoons...) is surely not the first of our problems!
Be proud of your Pr. League, but please don't forget our recent wins: 2003 (2), 2006 (3), 2007 (1)!
Ciao.

[Carlo]

Before I start... The Times = BSkyB = Murdoch (despite Sky Italia) = Anti-Italian football.

Oliver Kay - you are living in some other dream land my friend. This article shows how little knowledge you have of Italian football, and how little (if any) research you did about Serie A.

Rading all the comments on here so far, I don't think too many read anything past the anti-Serie A bit! LOL! I don’t blame them! Who’s going to believe the rubbish you write after the contents of your main article?

Let me dissect your piece, if you don’t mind…

Article title: “Serie A: the retirement home for Europe's ageing footballers”. Isn’t this the stuff you guys in the British media wrote about the German Bundesliga as well? LOL, pick on the most successful countries!

Paragraph 1: “their compatriots”. You mean Italian fans and journalists? I think if you had the Italian language, you would see that Italians (media and fans) show so much respect towards English football and the English Premier League despite not getting anything back from their English counterparts. Only when the EPL is on a high, you pay credit at long last to what Italian football was like in the 1990s. It’s a shame the English media and footballing authorities don’t have the same respect towards other countries!

Paragraph 2: “it is strange how the balance of power (and money) can change”. Well, despite Serie A needing money, I would rather have billionaires that are born in Italy and who have made their own money in their homelands than a whole bunch of foreigners taking over the clubs injecting cash. Would I rather choose to have a foreigner - Abramovich, Glazer, Shinawatra - in charge of my club or would I rather have an Italian – Berlusconi, Moratti? There is no debate for me. I think most Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City and other English fans would agree with me on that at the end when the bubble bursts.

Paragraph 3: “the cast of new imports does not really whet the appetite”. Well, I don’t think even if Italian football clubs signed Cristiano Ronaldo, Fernando Torres or Lionel Messi that you would be interested. I’m not going to list the star signings and players in Serie A – other people have done this. But Serie A is not just about a “Big Four” like the EPL! As you may not know Fiorentina crashed into the top four Champions League spots last year. And in previous years, Serie A (and La Liga for that matter) has seen its top four rotate year after year – unlike the EPL. “The cast” don’t all have to be at the “big clubs” - Milan, Inter, Juve and Roma – but also at the likes of Fiorentina, Napoli, Sampdoria, Genoa, Udinese and co.

As someone has pointed out already, who have the Premier League clubs signed? Manchester United = none, Arsenal = okay Nasri (if you even watch the French Ligue 1!), Liverpool = Keane (a player from a rival club trying to breaking into top four) and Chelsea = Deco (*cough* a player surplus to requirements at Barca). Outside that quartet, is there any notable top signings? You (if you’re still reading Oliver Kay) live in the North West, what have Everton done in the transfer market? Tottenham, Aston Villa, Manchester City, Newcastle?

Paragraph 4: There is no doubt we could’ve done without the Calciopoli scandal and the violence that sometimes still flares up in the stands and outside our stadia, but you really think everything gets sorted out as soon as the sentences are handed out? Juve only came up last year and qualified for this years Champions League.

As for Shevchenko, he’s already played in Serie A. Unfortunately; the Premier League wasted him away with a manager who didn’t want him. Who can play for a club when that’s happening? If you didn’t know, Sheva is a Milan and Serie A legend and always will be. Ronaldinho, yes he wasn’t needed at Barca, but don’t I remember another two English clubs wanted him during this summer - Chelsea at the start then Man City? He is still only 28 and if you think that’s retirement age, you’ll never see England win a World Cup again (if you saw that back in 1960s).

Rolando Bianchi was terribly unfortunate with the injuries. Before he went to Man City, he was a revelation with one of Serie A’s smaller clubs - Reggina. Three-quarters of Serie A were not “clamouring for his signature”! A few smaller clubs wanted him, and why not? He was proven in Serie A and had a very good goals record before he left for England.
Paragraph 5: “We in England should not be too smug about this”. LOL!!! Exactly whats been happening with Rupert Murdoch’s British press/media in recent years!
You say Italian clubs will remain a force at European level. Thats probably where watching a Serie A club ends for you. As I said earlier, its not just about the top clubs in Italy! We have football outside the top four!
Paragraph 6: “World Cup winners though they may be”. As somebody’s pointed out, that needs correction! We are World Champions, times 4.
PS. Serie A is live on Setanta Sports this season. Oopps, apologies for advertising non-Sky stuff here! :)

Finally, Signor Marcotti (if you happen to read this), don’t give this “colleague” of yours a kick up the backside - Silvio Baldini style! We Italians will continue to show respect for all, despite the rubbish written!

Thank you for reading. Have a good day.

[ja]

wow england pride!! but... capello?

[Ben]

In response to the contributor who cited the counter arguement of "every team plays boring 4-5-1 football", his opinion is valid, but flawed..seria a games may be indeed be high scoring now, but hardly surprising given that one of the formations he claims italian sides use, "3-4-1-3" doesnt leave room for a goalkeeper.

English teams have dominated the champions league in recent years, and along with "la liga" is seen almost exclusivly as the place to play.

[Emmet]

Seriously is this writer having a laugh?He hasn't a clue about football with his comments about the Italian game.

Every great player in the history of the Greed is Good league has been a Serie A reject except for Cantona. Zola wasn't wanted at Parma. People drooled over Zola's talent every week because English players were nowhere near as good as him yet Zola was crap compared to the genuises that were Roberto Baggio, Alessandro Del Piero and Roberto Mancini. All you had to do what tune into Serie A every weekend to see them 3 strut their stuff with sheer brilliance.

Henry, Bergkamp, Di Canio, Di Matteo, Ravanelli, Vialli were all not wanted nor needed by their clubs and so were sent packing. Ravanelli as much as I love him as a player had the time of his life in England because he had such a easy time destroying incompetent English defenders.

As for the Current Serie A climate, for 4 straight seasons Serie A outscored the Premier League (03/04, 04/05, 05/06, 06/07). Many games last season were exciting and any team can beat any team. Empoli can go to the San Siro and beat Milan like they did. Could Derby go to Old Trafford and beat Utd? Not a chance in hell. Who’s going to win the title this year? Utd or Chelsea. That’s it, there is no one else. Who can win Serie A? Inter, Roma, Juve, Milan. 4 sides that CAN win it. The EPL has 2 sides who can win it and 2 sides who lag way behind the top 2 more seasons than not.

How many Balon D’Or winners play in England? 1 if I’m correct and that’s Michael bloody Owen. How many play in Italy? Nedved, Ronaldinho, Kaka, Sheva. Cannavaro is Italian also.

Also another thing is why is La Liga rated higher than Serie A by this writer? La Liga was unbelievably poor last season. Roma brushed aside Madrid in the Champ League. Madrid nor Barca were decent sides last year. Villarreal are a mediocre side and Ath. Madrid is ok. If anything La Liga is what this writer is saying. Not Serie A.

The Greed is Good league bubble will burst sooner or later. It did in Serie A and La Liga and I for one cannot wait until it does.

[albo de mores]

yes yes,but players like Robbie Keane are superstars...........c'mon! Serie A always number 1 !!!!!!!!

[Maurizio Sabatini]

The writer of this article is either jealous, lacks knowledge of Italian football or has little people walking around in his head!!
Italy for 20 years has dominated football both on club level and on the world stage - are you aware that italian clubs have been in 12 champions league finals in 20 years and not to mention uefa cup and finals where there have been italians vs italians - how many stranieri play in the premiership???
how many stranieri coaches are there ???
Italy will always be the strongest force in the world and as for retirement home well it is pretty laughable as the likes of Chelsea and Man U can't get hold of the creme such as Kaka I wonder why!!
Shev and Dinho are still young and have lots to offer so to be negative in the article is pure ignorance.
I can understand countries like Belarus needing stranieri coaches to develop their football but the UK?? or maybe the UK are not at that level bravo!!!!

Why do you need Capello!!

[Pat]

Oliver (I know it's you; your English bias gives you away):
Do you actually believe that Serie A is dead or are you just trying to inflate the reputation of the P'ship by slamming Italian football? Why all the antipathy toward Italy, anyway? Many footballers like playing in Serie A and many, many fans around the world enjoy watching Serie A matches. For the love, mate, widen your horizons a bit.

[Anthony]

I want to remind you that the holder world champions club is an Italian team,Milan.And Milan couldn't be able to get the fourth place in the last Serie A season,and this year will play the Uefa Cup.I'd say that this is the better demonstration of the strength of the Serie A

[Pete]

Well just another poor attempt at journalism, it must be a quiet news day at the Times' offices in order for this article to make print.
I have no doubt that Mr Samuel prefers the Premiership than Serie A, thats fine,I cant argue with that, its about opinions after all. What I do have a problem with is that he goes on to justify this by attacking Serie A in a 'my Dads stronger than your Dad' sort of way. If Mr Samuel was to watch Serie A, see the fan passions, the quality football and the endless stream of highly talented national and international players then he would be in a better position to judge Serie A than he is now. Look at the premiership at the moment, only this summer the PL's biggest name, Ronaldo flirted and blinked his eyelids endlessly at Real Madrid, on the other hand we have Kaka who has been liked with Chelsea I dont know how many times failed to be attracted by their advances. Surely Ronaldo wouldnt want to leave the biggest club in the world playing in the strongest league in the world, well he wouldve in a flash if Real had backed up their flirtation with a concrete bid.
The PL's bubble is going to burst in a big way soon aswell. In Man City you have a corrupt Thai chairman, at Liverpool you have a bickering American twosome who dont see eye to eye with the manager, you have United owned by an American up to their eyeballs in debt an an endless stream of foreign owners wanting to make a quick 'pound', who will be out as quick as they arrived when the viewing public decide they dont want to pay their Sky or overinflated entrance fees to watch the premiership dross.
Look at the manager situation in the premiership, none of the top four are managed by an Englishman, the national teams not even managed by an Englishman and most of the teams have English players in the minority, in stark contrast to Serie A were the opposite is true for all these points.
So Mr Samuel it looks as though the Premiership may not be the bed of roses you think it is

[uge]

silvestre,berkamp,henry flop in italy
never good english football player play in italy...
why?????

[James]

The top article on Serie A is incredibly lazy journalism that one may expect from a tabloid but not from a supposed quality paper. No one doubts the current wealth of the premiership and the weakening effect of Calciopoli on Serie A clubs in europe, its effect on the quality of the league is rather harder to quantify. Perhaps a more accurate picture of Serie A's problems could be painted by looking at the financial collapse of various members of the 7 sisters in the early part of this decade. Teams that once challenged for the highest of European honours were made bankrupt, or came very close overnight. Roma, Lazio, Parma all neared financial collapse and both Fiorentina and Napoli had to start in the lower leagues. The fact that both Napoli and Fiorentina are both competing to reenter european competiton in the next few days is testament to the rebirth of the italian league despite all its problems of violence, that no matter what anyone says effects the quality of football played very little. While Milan may be pursuing a policy of buying superstars at knock down prices this is far less relfective of the league as a whole than a team like napoli that is investing in talented youngsters from south america and home grown talent. The wealth of the premiership results in far more overpriced average players than the exotic ones that the article suggests, Italy of course has seen this boom in prices before and they have learnt from the financial disaster this eventually lead to. There are plenty of exotic players in Italy, but now teams are hunting out talented youngsters before their price becomes too exorbitant in relation to their skill.

[PAOLO]

ITALIA IS CHAMPION OF THE WORLD
MILAN IS CHAMPION OF THE WORLD
AND YOUR MANAGER IS CAPELLO

AHAHAHHAHAHAAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHHAHA ENGLAND

[Marco]

England did not even qualify for the Euro Cup (LOLOLOL); an Italian is running the national side. The PL is a better league because there are a lot more money involved. Maybe international football is a better measurement of where England stands. And certainly, the UK might well have a great league, but the country stinks!

[peter]

I consider the reference to the Italian league as some kind of 'elephants graveyard' as rather exaggerated. Serie A still boasts some of the world's finest in Kaka and Buffon. But that the EPL is one of the top two leagues, with la Liga, is borne out by these facts:

There has been a premiership club in the final of the CL for the past four years

Last year four premiership teams made it to the final stages with Arsenal bowing out only to Liverpool

With regard to direct confrontations with Italian clubs, Premiership clubs have a tremendous record from 1999 onward.

Two correspondents ludicrously mentioned the Fiorentina-Everton penalty shoot out victory and the Milan Manchester 3-0 win. Since the year United won the treble, these and a couple of other rare Italian wins are offset by numerous premiership club victories over Italian sides in the CL, Uefa cup and Intertoto cup(only one tie in this competition) involving Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Leeds United, Middlesborough, Fulham (Intertoto) - all in recent years.

United, Arsenal, and Chelsea registered emphatic and decisive Champions League wins against Italian clubs involving waterpolo scores - Juve-United 0-3, 2003; Lazio-Chelsea 0-4, 2003; Inter-Arsenal 1-5 2003; Man U Roma 7-1 2007

One final statistic. Last season we had three KO ties in the Champions League involving six matches between the cream of the premiership, minus Chelsea and the cream of Italian Serie A. Liverpool-Inter, Roma-Manchester United and Milan-Arsenal.The overall result?
Premiership clubs 5 wins, one draw, Italian clubs nil wins. Scores: premiership 8 goals, serie A nil. Not a single goal conceded (so much for the so called fragility of premiership defences coompared to the Serie A ones -not a goal conceded in 6 matches) and EIGHT scored by EPL clubs(so much for Italian defences). Three of the victories were registered on Italian soil, two with goals to spare. All three English premiership clubs qualified with two to three goals to spare! If this does not speak volumes for the relative strengths of the Serie A and EPL then I do not know what does!

[tony]

No, World Cup winners they are! English footbal is so great that the managers of all the top clubs are foreigners! Your national team manager is a foreigner! An Italian! English football is awash in money, and every top team is awash in foreign not English players. You can brag about your league all you want, but when it's Italian players against English players, the Italians will always clean your clock. As far as the Spaniards and their league go, let's see what happens in South Africa. I already know what is going to happen there. Just look back at Germany 2006. The American coach, Bruce Arena, was said to be licking his chops at the prospect of playing the Italians. He was so sure he would beat them. The English say the Italians are lazy players. Poor old Bruce's players came out like bats from hell. In the end they were the ones who were exhausted, could muster only an own goal, and succeeded only at playing themselves out of the tournament. A warning. Never underestimate the quality of Italian football or its players!

[igor lario novo]

come on! this article is about money. italian serie a is pathetic if compared to spanish liga or english premier league... italian clubs don't have the money. they have to settle for declining players. or players in some kind of difficulties with their clubs. with some rare exceptions, the times when juventus would sign platini or zidane are long gone. it's tiago and poulsen time, now... and it's not by ranting and raving about how successful italian clubs are (or have been), or about how a fake scandal was set up by evil forces to end the illuminated juventus and milan empire that things change. come on: it's money that's being discussed here. this article is spot on!

[jim]

The English game is no way supperior to the Italian league, maybe only for leg breaking fouls!!
If you want brute force or gun hoe footy then premiership is the way forward but if u prefer your football with technique and flair I think serie A is above the rest.
Its true Italian footy does have more 2nd 3rd and 4th place teams interchanging and its nice not knowing whos gonna win the league before the season has started.

I also watched the Inter Roma game and would challenge anyone to say it was not entertaining.

I agree Milan should not have not taken Sheva back and I heard that Costacurta said the same thing. But Ronaldhino has definately got something to offer!

I'm fed up with these ignorant people always waiving the english flag just cos they feel they have to !

[Rob Hudson]

Mr Kay I am so worry but you have written so much rubbish in this article. Watch and study the other leagues before you write shocking articles like this!!!!!!!!!!!

[manzi]

4 world cups,you have managed to win one with a false goal.you dont know anything about football.you had to take an italian coach to try to
establish yourself with the decent teams in europe.
i may be wrong but i think that it will take anothe 40 years before you win a world cup again.
ciao.

Funny, where did Zola, Casiraghi, Mancini, and Vialli go when they couldn’t hack it? The Premiership has superior marketing and organization, but Serie A has its own prestige and is still fascinating, especially with the advent of sure-bets like Ronaldinho, Shevchenko, Zambrotta; and the rise of Balotelli and Giovinco (didn't Arsenal have their dirty hands all over him?).

Objectively, Serie A can improve and can learn something from the English (i.e. collective sale of TV rights, which are the main difference between mid-table sides in Serie A and the Premiership); while fighting the evils of violence and corruption (not only Moggiopoli, but the so-called "doping amministrativo" – cooking the books to meet the minimum requirements to register for the Serie A season). You're right: Italian soccer is so poor - remind me, who won the World Cup with a roster composed entirely of players from Serie A (its domestic league)? Who's England's coach? Who's Ireland's coach?

[Joey]

Everyone seems to forget that England as National team has not won any International competition (or not even qualified for the last Euro)... What's even worse is the fact that had to call an ITALIAN coach to make something happen... you want to talk an old league with lack of national young talent: I give you the EPL. Spain when thru the same process, it took them 88 years to beat Italy in an International competition, until they realized that the core of the players in La Liga should and must be spain nationals... Bottom line: Seria A is the best league in the world to grow national talent against experienced international footballers... Have you forgotten who the champion of the world, have you forgotten who was the only team Spain could not beat in Euro 08? Who is at the top in all the U competitions? We'll see this year in UEFA and Champions...

[Bong]

it helps that the english teams are the most experienced in the cl seeing we already know who the top four will be before a ball is even kicked in the premier league

[Fab1985]

Dear Sirs,

After having read your article and the many others that have been written regarding this subject. I ask why such an influencial newspaper such as the Times continues to invest time in covering Serie A football. Perhaps your readership would appreciate more articles covering leagues which you paper covers obscuerly!

[mark]

Even when english clubs wern't dominating the champions league,english players didnt play abroad for the same reason that england has n't won anything for 42 years,they simply are n't good enough. As for which league is more appealing, that's down to personal preferance and can never be resolved,although I should point out that the average number of goals per game is about the same now in england,spain and italy,and for tony to say the amount of diving in italy is sickening he must have watched a hell of a lot of serie a matches to make such a pronouncement with authority which leads me to the conclusion he must rather like it.
As for is the EPL stronger that SA basicaly yes, look at the recent performances in the CL, this shows the top 4 english clubs are stronger than the top 4 italian clubs,nothing more nothing less,and whoever said all italian teams play 4-5-1 basicaly does n,t know what they're talking about

[Enrico Canadian]

It is the usual old story of the english press, envious of Italy home of the world champions. Please note that you dont reach the world cup finals 6 TIMES with bad players.

The bottom line is that at the club level the mercenaries of football are playing all over the world, you just have to check the lineup of the top english, italian and spanish teams to find out that not very many native players are actually playing.

One final item, just remember that with English been the international language, you cannot make stupid comments about the various nations of the world anymore without receiving comments back.

Cheers have another beer!!!

[Freddie]

this article is simply ridicolous. You don't know anything about italian football. I strongly recommend to watch sarie A matches before commenting with such an arrogance. Premier league superior? My grandma can score with closed eyes in any of the uk goals with such defences english teams have.

[Shonil Chande]

This article is testament to the ineptness of British footballing journalism. The author merely recycles the conventional British view that Italian football is unpopular, weak, bankrupt and boring.

Italian football has greater depth, tactical innovations, drama and technical level. It is a sophisticated and refined league. The likes of Napoli, Udinese, Fiorentina and Sampdoria possess some of the most exciting players in Europe and have spent over $100 million between them this summer. They are better than their Premiership counterparts and made Serie A an even tougher league to win.

Italian football is Europe's melting pot for tactical innovation. Roma were the first European side to play without a number 9. There are so many different formations used.

Granted, Italian football does not 'look' as pretty as English football on TV. Picture production, sound and quality are poor, which makes it harder to attract new armchair fans. However, English audiences will be surprised to here that Serie A has a higher goals-to-game average than the Premiership and La Liga.

If you are true football fan who appreciates football, you will understand the quality of Italian football.

This article is laughable, at least... To tell you the truth i've been watching EPL myself in christmas time over the past years and they are as exciting as a rugby match, don't get me wrong i like rugby but football is something else or at least is supposed to be, about finesse and skills that one has, rather than his body size. if you write in your article that the new signings are all flops and ex-players Ronaldinho, Shevchenko "surplus to requirements at Chelsea and Barcelona respectively" how would you call Chelsea's hero Deco??? So my point is how do you measure the quality of a league? The amount of foreign money(american, russian or tailandese) ??? Personally i believe that a strong league should be unpredictable in results(and EPL is not, there are the same 4 teams that compete for everything year in year out) and feed continuously players to the national team and actually achieve something or at least be competitive( well there is no need for me to comment on that...) another thing when you say La liga is above Serie A that must be because Spain are the european champions and in that case Italy are world champions ... If that is so than you shouldn't meansion EPL among the big leagues.

[Joe Cool]

The premier league may be flourishing in recent years, but leave the "English" out of it.

"Your" strongest teams are funded by American dollars and Russian oil fortunes, or heavily sponsored and housed by an Arab airline. Oh, and does anyone speak Thai, for good measure?

These teams being trained by a Scot, a Spaniard, a Portuguese and a... Frenchman???

The "English" PL has its share of fun games, but I can hardly say that it is no more entertaining than any other European football league when it comes down to numbers of goals scored per match, technique...

What you do have is tradition, which is what keeps the die hard 40-60 generations that grew up waching "your" football in the 70's and 80's (when England still had some true talent but still couldn't win anything at national level...) hooked, and together with the recent flow of foreign investment (All of the top Italian teams are owned by Italians & Italian companies BTW??!!) into "your" teams is what is making the difference these days.

You've even got Steve McClaren trying to sound Dutch these days- or is he in exile and trying to cover up for it..???

[Kris]

Serie A is a retirement home? One word for you...

DECO

[Sandro Valenti]

As this article wasn't written by someone 'known' and respected like Martin Samuel then I'm not too bothered by it.
Oliver Kay who are you?
Of course yours is yet another ignorant and biased article by an english hack,
all too common and boring.
Writing that Serie A is now a home for retiring footballers is just plain silly.
You are just highlighting the big name transfers into italian football and are unaware of all the other transfers that are going on.
Don't forget Shevchenko was almost 30
and past his best when he went to Chelsea.As for Ron,he's only 28 you stupid boy !
Enjoy these golden years of the Prem which
are being 'brought' cos as we all know things can change very quickly.
At a cost is the pathetic demise of the english national team.So desperate
for success and now with a SECOND foriegn manager in charge.
As for the Azzurri,whether our league is weak or strong we always come good
and have our four shining stars to keep us company.

[Dan]

I am a fervent supporter of Italian football and Serie A. I will agree that the Premiership has attracted the best players in world over the last few years but it has also attracted a lot of foreign players that are at best mediocre and yet can earn perhaps two or three times what a 'European' club would be prepared to offer them. Add to this the lower technical ability of the average British player (compared to the average Italian or Spanish footballer) and what you get is a huge divergance in the quality of game you watch in the Premiership. When its good its very good to watch...but we're talking only when the top four or five meet. The rest of time its average...two teams running around like headless chickens trying to score more goals than the other. Absolutely no tactical elements involved; no thought on how to close the opposition out or how to overcome an oppositions defense. The managers are reduced to cheerleading squads yelling 'encouragement' to their players. All pace and power...no guile or technique. If that's what you want to shout out about then obviously Oliver is scraping the 'topical' barrel for something to write about.

I disagree that the likes of Ronaldinho and Shevchenko are failed footballers looking for a way back to the top. I think Oliver would be singing a different tune had Ronaldinho signed for Man City...AC Milan are one of the biggest clubs in the world and provides a player of Ronaldinho's obvious talent the kind of platform he needs to rediscover his best form. I don't hear Oliver making the same comments about Deco...a player who found himself in a very similar situation to Ronaldinho.

I guess the biggest complement I can pay Italian football is the fact that in spite of Calciopoli and the Ultras etc. Italy still lifted a World Cup and then had a club lift the Champions League a year later; a real testament to its quality...I would like to see if English football could do the same thing should it find itself surrounded by such crises...

[Daniel]

If the Italian league is lacking star players, then the English league is certainly lacking some decent journalists....

Firstly The Telegraphs Patrick Barclay describing England as 'worse off with Cappello rather than McClaren'. And now this.

Grand Slam Sunday?? Get over yourself.

[Robe']

Oliver. Hand in your P45. Get a new job. You sound like your average Sky Sports armchair fan who waxes lyrical about the Premiership and enjoys criticising Serie A. Sounds like an inferiority complex. (World Champions shhh...). How much Serie A do you watch? Do you have the Italian Sky Calcio package? No. You probably just look at the results and give it large. Useless. Visit your local employment agency please. Thanks then

[Australia]

Premier League is boring - ManU, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool to finish top - using a style of play that is expected week in week out against terrible defenses and even worse goal keepers. Read football blogs off some of the biggest football websites and you will see what other people around the world think about the Premier League. Money can't buy you class.

[Joe Turner]

I can't possibly imagine what the author of this "article" was thinking...we need to do some soul searching before passing judgement on other leagues. All I know is that AC Milan currently has three winners of the golden football in their squad (Kaka, Ronaldinho, and Schevchenko). Are they old? maybe, I can't say what would be the ideal age for a team member. If they perform up to specifications I can't discriminate.
If the average age was low then they would say that they are all "inexperienced". Me, I prefer an aggresive, quick passing game...so I like to see players in top form. One thing I have noticed in the major clubs in Italy is that they seem to have two clubs in one, kind of like an "A" team and a "B" team. The A team for the difficult fixtures and Champions League matches and the "B" team for games with the second half of the table. The younger players and those coming back from injury play on that "B" team with some assistance from some "A" team members. The fact of the matter is that in Italy they like their players to have experience that is why they have Serie A, B, C and D...

[Alfredo Lopez]

ooh yes ''As the Premier League goes from strength to strength'' but please tell me about your national team , is it the same progress? idiots!

[Jonatan]

The main point here is that English people are always very good at judging others, while they are not good at all to do the same with themselves. How much is the percentage of foreign players in UK? The truth is that Italy won 4 World Cups and dominated in Europe for many years at Under 21 level, while England won only one Cup, playing home and stealing it to Germany. the funniest thing is that now England is asking an old Italian as Fabio Capello to let them win. You are simply amazing guys!

[Len]

I remember going to watch the UEFA Cup; Carlos Tevez and West Ham playing Palermo, who had just come back to Serie A for the first time in over 30 years, 12 months earlier. West Ham lost 3-nil, I think it was 5-nil on aggregate! Top league, this old EPL of ours. Yes we have a lot of young players, especially young English players. Trouble is, as Fabio Capello said on Italian telly last week, "I cannot choose them because the young english boys aren't very skilled like ours". Indeed, as he said when taking the English job, "Once we teach the players how to pass with both feet, understand tactics, defend and find a goalkeeper, I'd say we can then qualify for the next World Cup."
I'm a West Ham season ticket holder and unless my team's playing, you couldn't pay me to watch the dross in our league over the Italian league. Even bottom table teams in Serie A look exactly like the Czechs did the other night: smooth, comfortable, classy in posession; and that was a footballing lesson they put on at Wembley.

[Vivi]

Is this article a joke or was this "A fan off the street gets to write and publish a football article"? Did you not see Arsene Wenger, who knows more about young footballers than anyone on the globe, talking via satellite at the Olympics 10 days ago saying "The best YOUNG talent in the world is in Italy at the moment" ... How did you miss this, were you watching Stoke City or West Ham (a club that tried to buy no less than 5 Italian prospects this summer, including Davide Lanzafame)? Serie A is bloated with young starlets, embarassingly so, the envy of all of europe, many of which Wenger has tried to purchase: including Jeremy Menez, who turned him down this summer before he purchased Samir Nasri, and Roma just bought last night for 15 million; there's Sebastian Giovinco, Edison Cavani, Stefan Radu, Andrea Russoto, Felipe from Udinese, Marek Hamsyk, Lavezzi, Pablo Osvaldo, Mario Balotelli, Pato (who has a higher buy-out clause than Leo Messi, at age 18), Fernando Forestieri, Steven Jovetic (who turned down Manchester United), I could go on and on but frankly I'm starting to feel bad for the author of this piece, and his editor, and his research assistants. Do you not watch football off your island? Did you not watch the entire Euros because England weren't there? This is almost a more laughable article than had I tried to pen a piece entitled "English managers and their much-admired football tactics" ... and by the way, who are the good young players in the EPL? Ashley Young, Charles N'Zogbia, Steven Piennar and Mark Noble? You don't see Wenger busting out the cash to buy them, do you?

[Phillipe Moufflet]

Pick me up? The Italian league never needs a pick-me-up, Mr. Kay, and never will do. This is the difference, and it's a massive difference, and you miss it. The Italian league doesn't need foreign imports to improve the level of play, nor will they ever ... They don't need pick-me-ups full stop. Because 70% of their league is made up of native Italian players, who are undeniably the strongest breed of footballer on the European continent, and have been for a very long time. 40% of your league is made up of English players, conversely, and they are not even in the top 16 breeds in Europe, as we know. I suppose it's unsurprising that you don't grasp this: the English football fan, so dumbstruck by the abnormal "anti-talent" in their own domestic ranks, from youth set-up to 99.9% of their Premier League english-born players, doesn't understand this when peering over at Serie A. He/she cannot seem to understand how great the league's domestic players are, without a flood of players from other countries.

The Italian footballer is, in the word's of Alex Ferguson, "Not only the best professional, but the best tactical and technical breed of player on this continent." He said that to your your colleague, Gabriele Marcotti.

I was watching some "highlights" of the premiership matches recently: and I was not the least bit shocked to see the likes of Robbie Keane, Obafemi Martins, Mido, and Jon Carew flourishing. Not just flops but rather deemed water-boys at best in the supremely technical Serie A, their "footballing characteristics" were much more suited to the English "style" game. I'm happy for them.

In closing, I was also lucky enough to watch the recent friendly betweem England -- those LIONS! -- and the Czech Republic. The best players England had to offer were on display, the immortal Beckham, the lung-busting Gerrard, the imperious Terry, the fluid Stewart Downing ... and never mind the result, but the best player on the pitch that night -- by a COUNTRY mile, I might add -- was the luminous Marek Jankulowski, he of the inch-perfect pass, the left leg like a wand. I kept saying to myself, "Who is this genius that's tearing England apart like a surgeon? They can't get near him!" when it donned on me that he plays in Serie A, for AC Milan, as a reserve.

[Peter]

You haven't a clue mate. How anyone pays you to write about football is beyond me. I bet you couldn't name the Fiorentina team that knocked Everton out of the UEFA Cup last season. It's a shame that some people can decide to write an article on something about which they know nothing. Money is not the definition of a competitive league, in all fairness. Otherwise we'd all watch the NFL. Wise up and watch the football, Channel 5 show it now, you may not have known, judging by the rubbish you've just scribbled.

[Steve]

An English journalist claiming England is the best and mocking other leagues he knows nothing about as inferior... it may be published in The Times by an adult but it is nothing more than playground name-calling.

You expect this from The Sun and their 'San Zero' headlines but when even established papers like The Times start resorting to publishing this gutter trash it is a sad day.

[albodemores]

so many english here going on about the declining attendances in serie A (it reminds me of the old story of catenaccio)....anyway..............I explain why........; every sunday,on Sky Italia we can watch any game we like, 8 channels and we can choose what to watch and change channel as many times we like ,something in england doesn't exists.................and also....have u ever heard italian clubs complaining about the lack of attendences? The answer in NO !