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Team of the Season 1999-2000 |
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Shevchenko |
Batistuta |
(Milan) |
(Fiorentina) |
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Nedved |
Veron |
Olive |
Fiore |
Sesa |
(Lazio) |
(Lazio) |
(Perugia) |
(Udinese) |
(Lecce) |
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Sottil |
Nesta |
Thuram |
(Udinese) |
(Lazio) |
(Parma) |
Toldo : Received little
protection from a weak defence so you can attribute
Fiorentina's relatively healthy goals against column to
Toldo's heroics
Nesta : Maintained the high standards he set in the
previous season despite
being on the end of some heavy defeats when injured
against Roma and
Valencia in the Champions League
Thuram : Had a mixed season for Parma which I attribute
to a lack of
motivation but is still one of the World's best
Sottil : Ok so he may not be best defender in the World
but gave many
solid performances and weighed in with plenty of goals
Nedved : Despite an injury hit season Nedved was once
again outstanding
Veron : Played out of this World football during the
first 2 months of the
season, took 3 months off i.e. stopped trying and
returned to form for the
crucial end of season run-in
Olive : Hard working, tough tackling, goalscoring
midfielder. Perugia will
sorely miss his presence
Fiore : Parma reject Fiore blossomed into one of the most
outstanding
midfielders in Round A, scoring and creating goals in
equal measure
Sesa : Lecce were among the favourites for relegation but
Sesa's partnership
with Lucarelli helped them to mid-table security
Shevchenko : In his first season in Round A playing in a
team that starved
him of decent service he finished top scorer. Imagine
what he would do in
a good team!
Batistuta : I keep writing him off but he keeps scoring.
Was particularly
impressive for Fiorentina in the Champions League
2000-2001
Season
ATALANTA
One of THE perennial yo yo clubs are back in Round A.
Ganz is good for around
15 goals a but Ventola has consistently failed to live up
to expectations after
a bright start for Inter two seasons ago. Their
partnership in attack will decide
Atalanta's fate as defensively, like most promoted clubs,
they will struggle.
Key Players : Ganz, Ventola
Prospects : Relegation
BARI
Bari start in Round A for the fourth successive season
and that is the limit to
their ambitions. Bari's biggest problem over the years
has been a lack of goals
despite the presence of highly overrated Cassano, Phil
Masinga and promising
youngster Enyinnaya. What the midfield lack in invention
they make up for
with their workrate though Daniel Andersson is a real
class act. With a
reasonable defence and good home record they should
finish mid-table.
Key Players : Andersson, Mancini, Osmanovski
Prospects : Safety
BOLOGNA
After relying on the heroics of loan signings for their
survival over the years
Bologna have finally got the cheque book out and made
some excellent
acquisitions. Padalino arrives from Fiorentina to add
quality to an already
solid defence, Olive will add bite to the midfield and
Locatelli and Binotto
will create the chances for evergreen Signori and record
signing Julio Cruz.
Could be the surprise team of the season.
Key Players : Cruz, Olive, Padalino
Prospects : UEFA Cup/Intertoto Cup
BRESCIA
Back in the top flight after two seasons in Round B.
Brescia's survival is
dependent on the form of Roberto Baggio and how many
penalties diving
twat Dario Hubner can win.
Key Players : Baggio, Calori, Hubner
Prospects : Safety/Relegation
FIORENTINA
Despite the loss of Batistuta, Fiorentina have what
appears to be a well
balanced attack in the shape of Nuno Gomes and the highly
rated Leandro
but more importantly they have managed to hold onto
playmaker Rui Costa
and Francesco Toldo, arguably the best 'keeper in the
World. Once again the
Viola have failed to strengthen a distressingly weak
midfield and unless
the likes of Cois, Vanoli and Rossitto give support to
Rui Costa, Fiorentina
can only look forward to a top seven finish.
Key Players : Nuno Gomes, Rui Costa, Toldo
Prospects : UEFA Cup
INTER
Same old, same old. Inter have spent a fortune, signed
three more forwards
and Vieri and Ronaldo are still on the shelf. While Inter
await the return Vieri
a lot will depend on the form of Frey and Vampeta. Frey
is THE best young
'keeper on the planet and Inter have been crying out for
a hard working
inspirational midfielder since the departure of Ince,
Vampeta is the answer
but also brings a goal threat. With Inter already of the
Champions League
Lippi simply has to deliver.
Key Players : Frey, Vampeta, Vieri
Prospects : UEFA Cup/Champions League
JUVENTUS
Defensively Juve are mess, particularly from crosses but
their strengths lie
in midfield and attack. Davids has the responsibility of
shielding the defence
and winning the ball, usually for Del Piero to weave his
magic. With Zidane
continually flattering to deceive the highly talented
Uruguayan Fabian O'Neill
could establish himself as one of Round A's finest
playmakers, given the
chance. Euro 2000 Golden Goal hero David 'Trezegoal'
Trezeguet will have
to fight hard to displace the much maligned Fillipo
Inzaghi in attack. Once
again Juve's success will depend on the form of Del Piero
if he can recover
mentally from his Euro 2000 nightmare.
Key Players : Davids, Del Piero, Van der Sar
Prospects : Champions/Champions League
LAZIO
It may have taken £200 million but nearly man Sven Goran
Eriksson finally
won Lazio Lo Scudetto more due to luck than judgement
(Perugia V Juventus).
Lazio's formidable squad is even more formidable with the
addition of Claudio
Lopez and Hernan Crespo though the loss of Conceicao
weakens Lazio's right
side and the defence is over-reliant on the awesome
Nesta. Like neighbours
Roma, Lazio's squad will be decimated by South American
World Cup
qualifiers, investing so heavily in Argentineans could
prove very costly indeed.
Key Players : Nesta, Nedved, Veron
Prospects : Champions/Champions League
MILAN
Pre-season gripes over a lack of big name signings have
been forgotten
following the teams solid displays in the Champions
League. Milan have
the best collection of young players in Italy thus
Redondo's arrival causes
more problems than it solves. Shevchenko still lacks
quality support from
midfield but Comandini or Jose Mari could prove to be
better strike partners
than Bierhoff. Milan's defence is still their achilles
heel, Roque Junior has
mistake written all over him, Maldini and Chamot are the
wrong side of 30.
If Zaccheroni takes risks and bloods more youngsters the
team could put up
a serious title challenge but given his past that's
unlikely.
Key Players : Abbiati, Coco, Shevchenko
Prospects : Champions League
NAPOLI
Back in Round A after a painful two year absence, Napoli
have entrusted the
tactically challenged Zednek Zeman with the task of
retaining Round A status.
he excellent playmaker Sesa arrives from Lecce and one of
the stars of
Portugal's Euro 2000 campaign, Vidigal from Sporting
Lisbon. The rest of
the team isn't so hot. Free scoring Napoli should survive
based on their home
record because away from home, like all of Zeman's teams
they ship goals.
Key Players : Amoruso, Sesa, Vidigal
Prospects : Safety
PARMA
Following Lazio's title triumph Parma will be convinced
that throwing billions
of lira around will buy success. More so than the
acquisitions of any other
team Parma have spent wisely and strengthened every area
of the squad
particularly where they needed it most in midfield and in
attack. Indeed
Parma's midfield looks particularly mouth watering -
Almeyda, Conceicao,
Lamouchi and Micoud although why they immediately loaned
Alex to
Flamengo is a mystery. Despite the arrival of Milosevic,
the immensely
talented Patrick Mboma has a real chance to shine in a
great team. Parma
must overcome their travel sickness and now trademark
slow start.
Key Players : Amoroso, Micoud, Thuram
Prospects : Champions/Champions League
PERUGIA
You could be forgiven for thinking Perugia's management
are determined to
see the club return to Round B given they have sold every
single of their
influential players with the exception of goalkeeper
Mazzantini - Alenitchev,
Calori, Olive and Rapajc. Unless new signings Jung-whan
and Ma Mingyu can
emulate the success of Nakata, Perugia are going down.
Key Players : Amoruso, Mazzantini
Prospects : Relegation
REGGINA
Reggina surpassed expectations last season and finished
in a highly
respectable 12th place largely due to the performances of
loan signings
Baronio, Pirlo and Kallon. They have returned to their
former clubs and
adequate replacements have not been signed. Fortunately
Reggina have
managed to hold onto their brilliant coach Franco
Colomba.
Key Players : Possanzini, Taibi
Prospects : Safety/Relegation
ROMA
Spurred on by the success of their bitter city rivals
Lazio, Roma have broke
the bank to prise Gabriel Batistuta from Fiorentina and
Emerson from
Leverkusen. Emerson will miss the first two months of the
season but Roma
are reasonably strong in midfield and even stronger in
attack. For Roma's
sake new signing Walter Samuel better be the second
coming of Allessandro
Nesta because the rest of the defence is the pits. The
exceptionally gifted
Totti can probably look forward to another outstanding
individual season
but will be helpless as the tactically naïve Capello and
shocking defence
comprise the team's chances of a long overdue scudetto.
Key Players : Batistuta, Emerson, Totti
Prospects : UEFA Cup/Champions League
UDINESE
For once Udinese have managed to hold onto most of their
star players for
this season at least - Fiore, Jorgensen and Giannichedda.
Admittedly they
haven't spent well and could use more cover in attack.
Dodgy passports aside
Udinese can look forward to another comfortable season.
Key Players : Fiore, Muzzi, Sosa
Prospects : UEFA Cup/Intertoto Cup
VERONA
Verona finished 9th, claimed famous scalps at home and
played some of the
best football in Round A last season. So obviously they
tried to build on last
season's success? No. Inspirational coach Claudio
Prandelli has left, Frey has
returned to Inter joined by midfield sensation Claudio
Brocchi and inexplicably
the hard running, match winner extraordinaire Fabrizio
Cammarata has been
sold to Cagliari in Round B! Can you say relegation?
Key Players : Ferron, Laursen, Mutu
Prospects : Relegation
VICENZA
Back in Round A at the first attempt and if their last
Round A campaign was
anything to go by I wish they stayed in Round B! Awful
defensively and even
more useless in attack. To be fair Vicenza have spent
well bringing in Longo
from Parma and the excellent forward Mohammed Kallon from
Inter.
Key Players : Kallon, Longo, Zauli
Prospects : Relegation
Summary
Just so you can use this against me at the end of the
season in alphabetical
order :
Top Four : Juventus, Lazio, Milan, Parma
UEFA Cup : Bologna, Fiorentina, Inter, Roma
Relegation : Atalanta, Perugia, Verona, Vicenza
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