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

[Mike]

I agree with the fact that English football is getting better, but this is only because of the foreign players they take.
English football is going to return very bad, as soon as these millionaires with nonsense of money will change "hobby".
At this point without any cash in pocket, nobody wants to go playing in cold UK. Level will decrease immediately. Because statistics shows that English Players are genetically bad kickers. Look at Englang national team. 3/4 of these players would kick in Italian Serie B.....

[Sandro Valenti]

I don;t understand why you guys are bringing up football issues from years ago.It has no relavance to this story.

Regards the strenght of teams below the top four as has been discussed.
Serie A teams are well known for treating the UEFA cup contempt,i.e,putting out reserve side.Roma did this against Middlesborough,Parma almost got to the final with a reserve side.Palermo rested several keys players yet still beat West Ham.
Fiorentina also rested players against Everton as they were going for a CL spot.They were also without injured Mutu.
I'll accept that the Prem is the best league at the mo.With the takeover of Man City thsi will push Serie A further behind.What I won't accept is that the Prem is stronger than Serie A below the top four.Its teh other way round.

[peter]

The point about Franchi was made in relation to Glanville and Bothsford's article which primarily concerned an alleged attempt at bribing the referee in the 1973 Derby County match and that was the main point of that article. In fact in my response I name the referee as Francisco Lobo assuming you know, which I am sure you do, that he was the man who refereed the Derby County vs Juventus return match in 1973. Hence when you mentioned the inquiry it seemed you were referring to that specific case. I mentioned the Ortiz de Mendebil affair in relation to the 1965 match and in addition referred to the Bothsford and Glanville article in relation to 1973 Derby vs Juve allegation, asuming that readers who recall these events would make the connection between that article and this specific case. Maybe I assumed too much. According to my recollection, the article and the whole rumpus surrounding it and its sequels centred primarily around a famous official at both Inter and later Juventus and primarily around the Lobo -Szolti case. So I assumed you were referring to the perfunctory committee set up in the mid seventies to investigate this allegation. Franchi was President of UEFA then. So there must have been a misunderstanding there for which I apologise. Fair enough! I stand by all my points, otherwise.

[Gabriele Marcotti]

Peter -
1. I made my general points in my own response to Oli's post. Click the link and you'll see them.
2. "The youtube scene indicates nothing just the ordering the defence back and signalling for Corso to shoot."
My point exactly. Which means that he's not signalling for an indirect free kick as the mythology about the game suggests. If he simply waves his arm, he's NOT signalling for an indirect free kick. Check out the laws of the Game (from the FA's own website)
http://www.thefa.com/TheFA/RulesAndRegulations/FIFALawsOfTheGame/Postings/2002/05/12118.htm
3. Artemio Franchi, who was Italian, became president of UEFA in 1972. This game was played in 1965. Please reflect on that before telling me to do my research.
(Oh, and BTW: during Franchi's entire presidency, Italian clubs won two European competitions in nine years... if they were so bent and corrupt, wouldn't they have won a few more? Especially because it's not as if Italy were that poor a side in that period: they did reach the semifinal of the WC in 1978 and the semifinal of the Euros in 1980)
4. Christos Michas, for those who don't know, was the referee in the Leeds v Milan Cupwinners' Cup final of 1973. He was later found guilty of match-fixing (not for this game, but other ones) and banned.
He's accused of allowing Milan's goal from an indirect free kick to stand and of not sending off a number of Milan players. The refereeing those seem fairly bad (though, of course, these are selectively edited highlights):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFt3yCB8Q3s
That said, the business with the indirect free kick, like with the Liverpool game, is a bit of a myth. Watch the video. He doesn't signal for an indirect free kick. His arm is down.
5. As for the Anderlecht v Nottingham Forest game from 1984, yes, UEFA acted upon it (maybe you might want to do some research occasionally as well). Anderlecht were found guilty and banned from European Competition. The CAS, which is not a UEFA body, later overturned the ban and Nottingham Forest's players dropped their case.

[Mike]

Good points about Italian football. I come into contact with a lot of English-speaking Italian people, and it seems those of them that watch football never stop criticising the Premier League for no other reason I can fathom than jealousy. It is about time Blatter and all the other anti-English people in football turned their attention to Italy and the real problems they have there, instead of trying to bring the English clubs down.

If what was happening in Italy was happening in England - scandal, violence, deaths - FIFA would have English clubs banned from Europe for 5 years.

[Sandro Valenti]

Three questions for Gab(if that really is the real Gab posting on this page)
1/Can you stop wasting your time on this blog and do something about getting Serie A back on TV??!! Have a word with your buddy JR!
2/Any commets and input would be really welcome on the www.calciouk.co.uk
website.
3/Lastly,do you have Lauras mobile number ?

[peter]

The youtube scene indicates nothing just the ordering the defence back and signalling for Corso to shoot. I did not use the word "corrupt" but used "controversial decisions" And that's not the only incident in history. Do you remember the Christos Michas affair in Thessaloniki involving a well understrength Leeds United team? Furthermore, and with all due respect, Mr Marcotti, get your research right. The President of UEFA at the time that a perfunctory committee was set up to investigate the Francisco Lobo case, was none other than Dottor Artemio Franchi. UEFA's attitudes and investigations never convince me and seem like whitewashes to me. Did they act on the Anderlecht-Nottingham Forest 1984 UEFA Cup allegations?
Is that the only part of my answer you can pick on? What about the rest? And as for other correspondents,what's all this crap about the remaining 75% of the league not being up to Spanish and Italian league standard? That's the most gratuitous of statements! Now I know that there is nothing objective in this world-so much for the 'Objective Italian View,' unless this was meant to be tongue in cheek. There are however some facts which can easily lend themselves to some interpretations. Everton drew 2-2 on aggregate with champions league qualifiers Fiorentina only to be edged out on 'the lottery of penalties' (literal translation from Italian), Newcastle with only four first teamers (they too were in the relegation mire at the time and had to save players' energy for the more important league) won at Palermo in the UEFA Cup and Middlesborough were good enough to KO both Lazio and Roma (recent champions league contenders) in consecutive seasons. And Bolton's reserve team (Gary Megson was more concerned about Bolton's relegation dogfight than the UEFA Cup) was still good enough to eliminate Champions League qualifiers Atletico Madrid, for crying out loud. Laugh these off if you can. They must say something. They are not exactly top four teams are they?

Now we keep getting the Milan-Manchester United thrashing over and over again and Milan's defeat of Liverpool in the 2007 final which was quite close. nd there is an onvious reason for this repetition -such vitories (includign ilan's win over United home and away in 2005)are few and far between. her eis not much variety to draw on. Granted, there were defeats by EPL sides, for a variety of reasons (including the fact that a team could be concentrating soley on the CL and has no interest in a top league placing while its adversary is competing on three fronts and hence is less fresh and more injury ravaged), and there will continue to be defeats. That's part and parcel of the game. But for every defeat suffered at the hands of Italians in recent years epecially from 1999 onward there have been numerous, and I really mean numerous, EPL victories over(including four to seven goal thrashings) and elimination of Italian clubsides, including Milan. I have mentioned these in previous communications and need not rehearse them further. Do your research guys if you can only rely on a selective memory! Also while mentioning Milan in 2007, remember, that year, the EPL had three clubs in the semi-final just as they had last year with a fourth team, Arsenal, making it to the final stages where they were eliminated only by another EPL side. In 2006 there was one EPL side in the Champions League final and another EPL team, not from the top four, actually a team close to the releation zone, in the UEFA Cup final. In 2005 the year Liverpool won in 2005 there were two EPL sides in the semi-finals of the CL. Add to this the stat of five teams in a CL final for these last four years, at least one team every year in this period, and that must inicate something. Now I also firmly believe that the closest contender to the EPL is the Liga and EPL clubs' record is less rosy against Spanish teams, suffice to mention that both finals of 2006 were (one of them a thrashing) lost to teams from Spain.
I also agree that the rise of the EPL comes at a price as another correspondent indicated. As was the cs in Italy in its ominant yars at club level, some clubs ar eliving well beyong their means and the tendency to sell to foreign investors that saddle clubs with debts privies cause for grave concern.
The English national team is also a casualty but when was it really competitive save for 1990, 1996 and perhaps for a brief time under Hoddle (though it did not go far)? The same situation occurred when England dominated the UEFA Cup winning it 6 times on the trot between 1968 and 1973 and the European cup between 1977 and 1984 (save for one barren year, 1983) with the odd UEFA Cup win and CWC win to boot! There is no argument when it comes to the national side which looks like a hopeless case, not least with the club over country situation that prevails.

[kay]

Gab, perhaps you and Glanville can have this out on the podcast?
But are you seriously saying that none of the trophies that Italians below are boasting so much about were won by corrupt means? Juventus were notorious for it for at least forty years!

[Luciano]

Let me see if I understand your response, Mr. Kay, if it's not a trouble. You think Italy looked like England under Steve McClaren? Really? You think that an Italian team missing it's capitano Cannavaro and the world's best defender, could advance out of the "group of Death" with Holland, Romania and France, by beating the French on the final match convincingly, to then playing Spain without the best Italian player in Andrea Pirlo, and exhibiting perfect defensive shape and a brilliant strategy to suffocate the two most lethal forwards at the tournament with David Villa and Fernando Torres (neither got 1 shot or 1 chance in the whole match), producing for Di Natale and Toni the two best scoring opportunities of the match ... and you think this Italy looked like a team managed by Steve McClaren??? When did his team (or your country) ever show such force and discipline and tactical BRILLIANCE as the Azzurri displayed in negating the electric Spain for 120 mins? Spain, I should add, that blew every one out and won the lot in the end? The England I saw under McClaren looked nothing like Italy. The England that bombed forward and threw everyone up the park and chased for a mind-bogglingly unecessary goal v Croatia even though they were qualified at 2-2? You think that was what Italy looked like in refusing defeat v Romania, smacking Henry's France, and showing a cement, stone, unbudging CHIN v the Spanish for 2 hours of football? Madonna!

[Boban V.]

"Not attractive to fans worldwide" ??? So now you're saying that because Americans, Chinese, and Japanese --- not exactly Brazil, Argentina and France in terms of footballing cultures and countries --- don't fund the entire Italian league it's 2nd best? It's beginning to feel like Oliver Kay is Oliver Twist: an orphan, a child, a lost soul. As for fans in Italy, you do understand that Juventus and Milan have more Italian supporters than United or Liverpool or Arsenal or Chelsea have COMBINED in the whole of Britain, don't you? Ask Gab to send you an article Sports Illustrated published a few months ago on most supported clubs on the globe. I believe Flamengo was 1st.

[Davide Di Michele; Guidonia, Roma]

It is one thing to say that big 4 in EPL are better than the 4 best teams in Serie A. But why is there no mention of the teams 5-20 in both leagues? Surely 75% of the football teams in a league tell us more about the "quality" of the football than a mere 25%, no? And I know you can't possibly think that 5-20 the EPL is even in the same conversation as the strength and depth of the Italian or Spanish leagues. Or German for that matter. Or Romanian for that matter.

As for the best players in the world, I don't see them going to England in busloads as you state. I just looked at every single player transfered to the Prem this summer. Don't see it. Not now, or before.

About whom exactly are you speaking?

Calciopoli saw some of the best players in the world leave Italy, indeed: Cannavaro, Zambrotta (you think Boswinga's better than him, do you), Thuram, Zlatan ... they all turned down English clubs when leaving Juve, and Vieira rejected an offer from Liverpool.

Last summer the best player to transfer was Ribery, and he went to Bayern Munich.

Pato was the brightest South American prospect and he went to Milan. And he is indisputably the best footballer under the age of 20 on planet earth.

This summer? There's not been a more sought out player outside the big 3 leagues than Riccardo Quaresma, and he's just signed for Inter Milan.

As for the 2nd most sought after player outside the big 3 leagues, Benzema said at the Euro 2008, he'd only move to Italy or Spain.

Again, what do you mean by the best players are going to England? Riera? Cisse? Modric went to Spurs, and no top Italian side wanted him either. Flamini was voted one of the 3 best defensive midfielders in the Prem, French International, and he left for Serie A. Arsenal wanted to buy Amauri, he went to Juve for 18 million euros. Harry Redknapp wanted Vargas, he went to Fiorentina for 14 million euros. Zarate had "no less than 10 offers from Premiership teams" and he went to Lazio. Bruno Fornaroli was wanted by every english team outside the big 4 in england, and he went to Sampdoria.

As for La Liga and their money spent/incoming players, this was obviously a joke, correct?

Surely you didn't mean that (have you seen the numbers?) ...

[Edward]

If Italian football is so poor, why have more Golden Ball and FIFA World Player of the Year winners come from Serie a than the Prem over the last 10 years? If Italian football is in crisis, y is the Italian National team leaps and bounds ahead of their English counterparts? Could it be that foreign players, foreign coaches (including the English national team, which is ironically coached by an Italian), and foreign money have made the Prem the force it is today? Newsflash, there is very little English about the prem. Statistics clearly show this, yet the English press continue to label it as an English victory. England failing to qualify for the Euro during this period of Prem dominance is case in point.

I also find it very strange that you have used Milan as an example. It was Milan who brushed aside league champions United in the 06/07 Champions League, than Liverpool in the final. Also, why are players who continue to perform in their 30’s being slanted? If anything, it shows they possess more ambition and permanent class than most players, and that is why they their careers don’t tail off in their 30’s. There are countless examples (Del Piero, Maldini, Zoff, Zola, Totti, Cannavaro, Baggio, just to name a few).

[peter]

Caro Sandro,
Late seventies! Would be great to live that long and enjoy more european club football! While I appreciate your sardonic comment and humour, I 'm in my early fifties and let's just say I have been following club football for a long time, long enough to be able to base my arguments on facts without claiming to provide an objective view since there isn't any.

[Gabriele Marcotti]

(Sorry for the intrusion here, but this one really bugs me)
Peter - I know that the refereeing that Inter v Liverpool semifinal has become the stuff of legend on Merseyside. Maybe he was corrupt, maybe he wasn't, I don't know. What I do know is what I can see with my own eyes. And so can you, thanks to the magic of youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnvaLs53sII

1. Watch Inter's first goal (the freekick). Supposedly it was supposed to be an indirect freekick, but the referee allowed it to stand anyway (because he was allegedly corrupt). A referee signals an indirect free kick by raising his arm AND KEEPING IT RAISED. He clearly doesn't do that.
So where does this fantasy come from that it was an indirect freekick?

2. The other bit of lore is that Peiro' the Inter striker, kicked the ball out of the goalkeeper's hands just before scoring the second. Take a look (45 seconds in). The keeper is bouncing the ball. Peiro' doesn't touch him, he just flicks it away. And yet, again, we have this fantasy that he kicked the ball out of his hands. (You may also notice the way the referee is manhandled afterwards)

I honestly don't know if the referee was corrupt or not. I read the work of Glanville and Botsford and I'm not convinced. They cite a number of second and third-hand sources, accounts in Yugoslav newspapers of people being "spotted" in resorts and "confessions" which nobody has been able to verify. UEFA looked into it at the time (with a Swiss president and a German general secretary, so presumably some degree of independence) and yet this story rumbles on.
Who knows? But at least, perhaps, people can stop citing those two goals "evidence" because they "prove" nothing.

[Sandro Valenti]

Sebastian Giovinco,Mario Balotelli,Ricardo Quaresma,Jeremy Menez.All unknown to Oliver Kay and four more reasons to get excited about 'ageing' Serie A.
Quaresma 24 and Menez 21 new additions to Serie A,hardly pensioners yet.

Peter I get the impression your in your late seventies?Are you going to bring up the war next?
Read the posting by John Buckeridge,pretty much sums it up.

[peter]

Let's not talk about referees with regard to European cup matches involving Italian and English teams, shall we? There is a long history there and yes Inter's being hard done by in a 3-0 aggregate drubbing is sweet retribution for the scandal of 1965. Remember the controversial decisions of a certain Ortiz de Mendebil? In addition, has anyone read Brian Glanville and Keith Bothsford's very revealign and well documented 'Golden Years of the Fix'? History has a way of coming full circle. Just like Liverpool ousting Juve in 2005, twenty years after the tragic Heysel 'final' in which a Swiss referee made sure Juve are given the cup with a non-existent penalty for a foul well outside the penalty area.
Now listen to this: "The 'trouncings'given to Inter and Co were as impressive as those of Milan against Man U in two campaigns and then Liverpool in the final."
Let's set the record straight, shall we? That's collectively three ties against countless ties which English clubs won against their Italian counterparts in recent years. How many times were 'second placed' Roma (Capello and the likeable Spalletti) ousted (and often trounced either in one match-7-1- or on aggregate-3-0) by Premiership clubs? Same goes for Juve (Capello) against Liverpool and Arsenal, the latter a run around hardly reflected in the 2-0 scoreline, Milan against Liverpool (albiet on penalties) and Arsenal, Lazio aginst Leeds and Chelsea and one can go on and on -ever since United KO Inter and Juve to win the treble.

But being superior to Serie A sides in Europe does not make the Premiership the best since there is the Spanish Liga with which to contend and here the performances of premiership sides against La Liga sides were much less impressive in recent years. Premiership clubs have come a cropper agsint Spanish La Liga sides on several occasions and while last year was an improvement (with Bolton's reserves even ousting Atletico Madrid from the UEFA Cup) the matches were very very close (e.g. United's hard fought win against Barcelona). La Liga is the main rival to the premiership just like the Bundesliga was the main rival to the English league in the late seventies and early eighties when English clubs won the European cup six years on the trot and consistently beat their German rivals in the crunch matches -many of your correspondents are perhaps too young to remember this!

Now back to a more serious point. I am not one of those who would dismiss a league because it is enriched by people who failed elsewhere. That's a terrible argument to make. Surely the mark of a shrewd manager is to get somebody on the cheap because of his failing elsewhere and provide the motivation and incentive for him to produce peak performances. Remember how the great Brian Clough built a promotion winning, Championship and back to back European Cup winning side with players on the scrapheap - Larry Lloyd,, Frank Clark? That was part of his genius. Same applies to recent times. Take Van der Saar. A great keeper with Ajax who faltered at Juventus but recaptured his status as one of the best on the continent (though not quite as good as Buffon or Cech) at Fulham and then Manchester United. Henry represents the classic case. He was overlooked at Juventus by Ancellotti who is on record as having stated that this was one of the worst mistakes of his career. Look how rampant he has been at Arsenal not least in confrontations with Serie A sides in the Champions League, and a few Sapnish sides too (his grand performance and solo goal at Real Madrid).
Just because Andrea Silenzi was the English League's equivalent to Serie A's Luther Blissett, does this rubbish him as a former Italian international? Just because Dennis Bergkamp failed to set the San Siro alight, featuring in a long list of underachievers at Inter, does this stop him from being one of the greatest talents Ajax has ever produced, talents he amply demonstrated with breathaking goals for Arsenal in the English league and Champions League, especially against the likes of Lazio and Juventus? And while we mention Inter just look at what their rejects , Seedorf and Pirlo did for Milan and, in the latter case, Italy?

[John Buckeridge]

You may well be right Oliver Kay about the current superiority of the Premier League over Serie A. However, would it not be more pertinent to ask at what price is this new-found superiority is to the English game as a whole? At my team (Arsenal), I'm lucky to see one English player start a match and no young player has come through since Cole ten years back. The national team is appalling and prospects for the future are dim to say the least.

The Premier League is nothing but a league of imported mercenaries well-paid to do a job and entertain the Sky masses. What happens when the cash dries up, God only knows.

[Tony]

Whats makes the best league in the world anyway?
A combination of the best players,stadiums and european success I guess.
Therefore based on an all english CL final currently the best league is the Prem.
If La Liga teams dominate CL this year do we give it the title?
To really call yourself the best I believe requires almsot complete domination in all these three areas for a number of years.
This has not been the case with the Prem.

During the 11 seasons of 1989-1999 Serie A teams won the euro cup/champions league 4 times and had a finalist in another 5 years.In the same period Serie A teams won the UEFA cup EIGHT times.During this time there were FOUR all italian finals.This was at a time when the UEFA cup was a real competition.
Serie A also had the best stadiums and without doubt most of the worlds best players.
The Prems euro success over the last decade falls way way short of this.The stadiums are second to those of Germany and maybe even third to Portugal.As for the worlds best players,these are spread around the Prem,La Liga and Serie A.

[marco]

Mr.Oli, I think the only who's blind are you. How can you say that the greatest player are in PL...who are the "greatest player" in your mind. Let see. C.Ronaldo...ok, Rooney...ok, Drogba, Lampard,Gerrard, Torres, Fabregas...o god....i can list more than 6 players really great, ( maybe in your mind also Crouch or Lennon are GREAT players). In PL there aren't no good defenders except Terry and Ferdinand. NO goalkeepers. And NO young talents except Modric. In Italy we've got Ibrahimovic ( do you agree? ) Quaresma, Balotelli, Adriano, Kaka, Pato, Ronaldinho,Totti, Trezeguet, Del Piero, Amauri, Lavezzi, Pandev, Cassano...just for the strikers I think Serie A owns PL. Then whe have as midfielders Cambiasso, De Rossi, Pirlo, Seedorf,Hamsik,Camoranesi, Flamini....don't make me list our great defenders, I think I'll finish tomorrow morning. The same for the goalkeeper ( Buffon and Frey are enough)....We've got the greatest BOSSES, and are all italians except for Mourinho. And about the attractive of Serie A, you will be astonished knowning that this year two of the greatest young talents in Europe have choosen the Serie A (Quaresma and Menez). Open your mind!

[Sandro Valenti]

Oliver Kay your argument isn't about which is the best league in the world,it's about your suggestion that Serie A is a retirement
home for ageing footballers.
The Prem is the best league in the world right now because it's the richest and I think most italians would admit that.

Most of the arrguments against you are with regards to these so-called ageing footballers.
You say Shev & Ron,we say Ballack and Deco.
Its pointless throwing names around
we could go on and on.
The 'trouncings'given to Inter and Co were as impressive as those of Milan against Man U in two campaigns and then Liverpool in the final.
As for Liverpools elimination of Inter,I think even your countrymen would agree that was down to the ref.
Then again whats the point in this,your'll come back with Prem victories over Serie A and so on and so on.
Enjoy your success while you can.Rub our noses in it with a typical english arrogant manner.Rubbish our league as much as you
want and don't even bother with any research.Just do me one big favour however.
Please don't bring the international scene into this argument.For gods sake give me that.To bring up italys performance at a competition where your bunch of constant under achievers could not even qualify is a little too much.We can argue about our leagues but when it comes to international football we are sitting on top of the Prem and your lot are way back in the Conference.

[Adam Knight]

I think the article is unduly harsh on Italian football. Whereas it is true that financially the EPL is ahead of Serie A to suggest that in some way that Serie A is a retirement village is just nonsense.

After the banning of english clubs in the mid-80's Serie A stepped into the gap and produced some exotic intoxicating football. The financial resurgence of the English premier league has finally started to produce dominant teams but at what cost? and at what risk to the long term future of the clubs involved?

At the minute the fourth best team in England ( Liverpool ) can easily dispose of the best team in Italy ( Inter ) but there is no guarantee that this will happen again this season. One need only look at the way Milan despatched United en route to winning in 2007 to see that the difference in quality at the minute are still far more marked in financial terms than on the field of play itself. The big four in England are also, arguably, the best four teams in Europe at the moment but, as they say, the ball is round and moments pass.

[OLIVER KAY]

Well, well, well. It seems I've caused a bit of a rumpus. I'm astonished by the ferocity of some of your replies and by the fuss that my blog seems to have caused in Italy. Above all I'm surprised, because all the Italians I know (some journalists, some fans, a distinguished football person) agree that Serie A is not where it was in the 1990s and that the balance of power has shifted towards the Premier League. That was my basic point and I'm amazed that so many of you disagree so passionately. Some of you have made some very good points which have given me some food for thought and some of you indulged in some of the kind of one-eyed partisan, jingoistic responses that you were accusing me of.
I know that the Premier League's new-found strength (illustrated by the trouncings given to Inter, AC Milan, Juventus, Roma etc in the Champions League in recent seasons ...) is based entirely on money. I'm not stupid. I know also that the England national team is lousy and that even a great coach, who happens to be Italian, may struggle to get it to anything like the level of the Italian team (even though I hope you don't mind me saying that your team in Euro 2008 looked like it was being coached by Steve McClaren in some kind of job-swap). But I don't see how anyone can object to my basic point that, where once the best players in the world flocked to Italy, which made Serie A so attractive to us English, now the best players come to Spain or England. Look at where the world's best players were concentrated in the 1990s and early 2000s (many of them at Milan, Inter, Juventus, Lazio etc) and look at the same picture now, with far fewer in Italy and far more in England and Spain. Can you honestly not see that trend? Are you blind to it? Do you seriously think Italian football is as attractive as it was even three or four years ago?
I'm not blind to English football's problems or to the appeal of Italian football. It's just that some of you appear to be blind to the fact that Serie A is not so attractive (to players, to television companies, to fans worldwide and, most important of all, to fans in Italy) as it once was. Signing fading superstars may be a good way to rectify that. After all, it worked for us ... .

[Jimmy Sticklebricks]

Sally,

I'm not sure Premier League fans would be any better...

[Jimmy Sticklebricks]

This blog by Oliver seems very harsh, pointless sniping. Personally I think Serie A is on the up, Fiorentina and Napoli seem particuarly interesting for the upcoming season, and those remarks on Bianchi, three quarters of Serie A clamouring for him?? Lazio didn't take up his offer and he ended up at Torino - the least ambious team in Serie A!

English football fans seem to have a bizarre hatred of Serie A (despite the Premier League taking managers, football directors, players too young to sign professional contracts..(apologies for the sniping)) yet like La Liga. I have no idea why. Presumably because the football is not as fast and 'exciting'.

[Sally]

Italian football fans, so well-balanced, so mature...

And these are the intellectual, bilingual ones. God knows what the rest must be like.