August 26, 2008
Signs of the times
It was not too long ago that the premiership was a laughing stock and SerieA was the envy of the football world but times, they are a-changing as could be seen from the recent transfers seen in both countries.
Not too long ago, players that were nearing or past their sell by date used to come to the premiership to finish their careers or they had failed in other leagues and then they would come to the premiership to revive their careers and then move on.
Recent signings at AC Milan have just brought it home how far Italian football has fallen. Okay money is a problem as there is a shortage and the tax situation does not help matters but for Milan to not only sign Andriy Shevchenko as a big sign of desperation but also Philippe Senderos would make even the most neutral of observers to despair about the current state of Italian football as regards the caliber of players it attracts.
Inter Milan with all their defensive problems are playing Esteban Cambiasso there instead of buying a quality centre back like Jose Mourinho did with Michael Essien at Chelsea only for him to bitch about it when things went awry.
Surely Inter are not that short of cash to get a centre back or 2 as no one knows in what condition Walter Samuel and Ivan Cordoba would come back in. Juventus have always been cheapskates but even they have taken it to a new level with their transfer targets.
Roma that needs 2 or 3 quality players to take their level to the next, which is the very highest level have gone for the likes of John Arne Riise and Julio Baptista.
Gone are the days where the best players in the world want to play in Italy as it is either the premiership (for the money) or Spain’s La Liga (for the football and culture).
SerieA now attracts the likes of Luis Figo in his dotage, Rivaldo, Senderos and Riise etc. Where are the best players of Spain, Holland, Portugal, Brazil and Argentina? Sure there are Ronaldinho, Pato and Kaka but they are all at Milan and it is uncertain as to where Kaka would play next season and afterwards.
The 1 saving grace is the fact that for the 1st time in a long time we have a SerieA comprising of Juventus, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Sampdoria, Bologna, Torino, Genoa, Fiorentina, Atalanta, Roma, Palermo, Napoli, Cagliari and Lazio. It would have been better even if Parma, Verona and Bari were part of the mix.
